My Carnival Glory Photo Review- Norfolk to the Bahamas

Hello everyone! I’ve been lurking here a bit on the Carnival Boards for some time, as I planned our cruise on the Carnival Glory. Thank you for the time you take to post advice and opinions. I’m just repaying the favor as I write about our trip. I hope it’s helpful to someone.

For those of you who may remember me from my previous review, I write very detailed, day-by-day reviews. They can become pretty long, so if you’re looking for a quick read….you’ve been warned :)

Chronicling my trip also helps me relive it in the weeks and months to come. It may take me a couple days to post about the whole trip, so keep coming back to read more!

My Mom, best friend Rae, and I decided that we needed a quick and simple vacay. Just a girls’ trip, leaving our husbands at home. I’ll be sailing with my husband this fall- to the Southern Caribbean again!

I love cruising, having sailed the NCL Crown to Bermuda from New York (oceanview mini-suite), and both the RCCL Adventure of the Seas and the Serenade of the Seas to the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan (both balcony staterooms).

My absolute favorite cruise has been the Serenade to Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Croix. My Mom sailed with us on the Serenade of the Seas (review is in my signature), and this was Rae’s first cruise.

We felt that there was no need for a balcony or window stateroom, we just wanted to get on the ship! Any cruise is a good cruise in my eyes (well, so far). After searching through several websites, I found out that the Glory was sailing from Norfolk a couple weeks in May. The sailing stopped in Nassau and Freeport, in the Bahamas. Being from the Northeast, we liked the fact that we could drive there and not have to deal with flying.

The price was right, the timing was great, so we booked an inside guarantee. We booked the cruise about 3 weeks before departure. About 3 days before our sailing, I noticed on our reservation (on the Carnival website) that we had been assigned inside stateroom #6338. We were just happy to be on the ship, you really couldn’t beat it for the price.

Day 1: Travel to Norfolk, VA and Embarkation

Rae and I live around the corner from one another, and she offered to drive. The morning of our trip, we left NJ around 4 AM to pick my Mom up, who lived about a half hour south of us. We were all packed in the car and officially on the road by 5 AM. Here’s a shot of the Delaware Memorial Bridge as we crossed it:

We took 295 South across the bridge to 13 South. We stuck with 13 all the way down. A lot of people tend to take Route 1 South, but my father reminded us that there are a bunch of tolls on Route 1. We noticed that 13 had lots of signs trying to steer us toward Route 1, which we ignored. We had a scenic and easy drive, no traffic at all. Route 1 got congested a bit- we could see since the two highways ran parallel to one another for a while. But I digress; we had a nice, easy drive.

About an hour outside of Norfolk, we crossed one of my favorite bridges: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel ($12 toll). It's pretty cool since it alternates between bridge and underwater tunnel twice:

View of both bridges:

Heading into one of the tunnels:

Can you believe that this one side used to be the whole bridge for both directions?! Still beautiful though...

It’s an incredible bridge. My parents used to take me on a vacation to VA Beach every summer, and I always looked forward to crossing the bridge. I’m just glad that it’s now two bridges, one going in each direction. Used to be a single bridge with one lane going in either direction- scary! Per our tradition, we stopped at the rest stop on the bridge. They have a nice shop with souvenirs, a café with beautiful ocean views, and a fishing pier.

Looking forward to more!

An opportunity for some nice photos. Me and Rae:

Rae on the fishing pier:

Rae and Mom:

Me and Mom:

We reached Norfolk around 11 AM, and chose to park in the Cedar Grove Parking Lot ($15 per day). It was very easy to find, and the process for parking was simple and easy. We paid cash before entering the lot, and we were given a receipt. Porters took our suitcases from the car and helped us place tags on them while Rae parked the car. They have tags that you could write on, but I printed the Carnival Tags and had tape with me so we could use those- just makes me feel better. Seems like we were some of the first in the lot, since she was able to park the car very close to the shuttle area, maybe 10 cars down. It had to have been about 90 degrees out there! I actually love hot weather so I was a happy camper. Our luggage was placed under the bus we (thankfully) boarded an air-conditioned, pretty spiffy bus:

I love the Glory and can't wait for more sailings out of Norfolk! I also look forward to the rest of your review!

So excited to read this review--I'm on the Glory next Jan for a Western Caribbean--my first cruise ever and I am just loving all things Glory right now! I love your writing style and details and can't wait to read more! :)

Albeit, it was only about a 10 minute drive, it was nice to ride in such a nice bus. Upon arriving at the cruise facility, we were excited to see the Glory. We took our carryons with us, up the elevator and into the checkin area. We saw one person who had forgotten their identification (birth certificate or passport), and was turned away. Please be sure to check that you have these at least 3 times before leaving home! Checking in was easy, Mom and I had Passports and Rae had her Birth Certificate and driver's license. No problems either way. We went through security and then entered the beautiful waiting area. Lots of seating and natural light.

Arrival at Half Moone Terminal:

Inside the Terminal:

We were given cards with numbers on them and asked to sit and wait until the number was called. It worked as a great system for crowd control for about 10 minutes….and then they started calling all the numbers at once. We all had to stand in line for about a half hour. Kind of defeats the purpose of calling the numbers out, but no worries, we’re on vacation! Checkin was simple, we each had our own onboard accounts, linked to our own credit cards. After that, we were on our way to the ship!

Our first view of the Centrum through the elevators:

I instantly noticed the difference between a Royal Caribbean ship and a Carnival Ship in terms of the appearance. RCCL's ships The decor is a little more bold and bright on a Carnival ship. Not a bad thing at all, just one of my first impressions.

I think were got on around 12:30, and we were able to head to our stateroom immediately. I’ve never had an inside stateroom before, and I was happy with the room:

We had two twin beds, with a Pullman. It was just enough space for the three of us. Plenty of space under the beds for our suitcases as well as closet space, and we were comfortable.

Flat Screen TV:

great start

I love the Glory and can't wait for more sailings out of Norfolk! I also look forward to the rest of your review!

So excited to read this review--I'm on the Glory next Jan for a Western Caribbean--my first cruise ever and I am just loving all things Glory right now! I love your writing style and details and can't wait to read more! :)

Thank you ladies! It's fun sharing our trip with you :)

great start

Thank you! :)

Some sample-size toiletries were provided in the bathroom:

Shower gel and shampoo were provided in the shower stall. We never used it though:

About having an inside stateroom: I noticed that I was out of the room a lot more than I would have been if we had a balcony. I like to read on our balcony, have breakfast out there, and view sailaway and the night sky from our own balcony, and those were things that I missed….not enough to pay the extra $400 or so pp for it though, lol. It’s not that big a deal for a girls’ trip in my opinion. If I had to choose between staying home and getting an inside...we're going cruising!

After we dropped our bags off and took some pics of the room, we decided to head to the Red Sail Buffet. Upon opening the door, we discovered that my luggage, as well as my Mom’s luggage, was at the door. It had to have been around 1:15 or so. What a nice surprise! We put the luggage inside and went to Deck 9 for the buffet.

Now, I had heard on the CruiseCritic boards that there was a Fish and Chips area, deck 10 Aft, just above the aft area of the buffet area. We made a beeline for it, lol, and we were not disappointed.

Fish and Chips Area:

They had this wonderful soup, called bouillabaisse, which had shellfish in a wonderful tomato-based broth:

I think we ended up having it about 4 out of the 5 days on the cruise. Whenever we went for lunch, there was a man there who ordered at least 3 bowls of it at a time!

Here are the condiments available at each table; hey, some people want to know, lol :D

After having that as an “appetizer,” we went downstairs to the actual buffet and had a full lunch. Thankfully, we were able to find a table by the window pretty easily.

View of the Battleship Wisconsin from our window. This view will be nothing but beautiful ocean the following day!

Mom is so cute- looks like she's in full vacation mode by now:

Yall were right about Carnival's food. The food was great! Seasoned well, especially the roast beef, which was prepared rare and flavorful. Roast beef, Mediterranean tilapia, roasted potatoes and veggies :

Most of the time we stuck with water, iced tea, and lemonade (all included in the cruise fare) at meals. We saved our money for the froo-froo drinks on the pool deck ;)

We needed to take a walk after all that food, so we toured the ship few a little bit.

Pool Deck Area:

Starboard side deck, looking aft:

After that, we easily found some chairs around the main pool. We ordered what would become my fave drink on the cruise, a Kiss on the Lips. If you love peaches, you will love this drink. It’s even better with an extra shot of rum ;):

 



 

Thank you so much for doing a review and for your photos of the bridge-tunnel! Aside from sailing on Glory (3 weeks!:D), we're driving down to Charleston via Norfolk in August to sail on Fantasy. Love the bridge tunnel - sailed over the tunnels on Pride last summer.

More, more, more ! I love your review so far. Thank you for easing my anxiety about the Bay Bridge Tunnel. The first time I was on that was 30 years ago. Having grown up in the midwest (Cleveland and Detroit, ) I was used to water begin NEXT to you, not UNDER you. Lake Erie is wonderful to ride beside. SO, driving over that water sent me in a panic. The only other time was on the CBBT was about 20 years ago and I don't remember being very fond of it then.

Now that I have lived in Delaware for 20 years and have driven the Bay Bridge to Baltimore numerous times, the photos you posted don't look that scary at all. I don't like tunnels, but the bridge parts look ok.

Thanks for the many details, we'll be on the Glory from Norfolk on Oct. 16 on our way to Bermuda. It will be our first Glory experience. I'll look forward to the rest of your report.

Thank you so much for doing a review and for your photos of the bridge-tunnel! Aside from sailing on Glory (3 weeks!:D), we're driving down to Charleston via Norfolk in August to sail on Fantasy. Love the bridge tunnel - sailed over the tunnels on Pride last summer.

I'm so glad you're enjoying the review! Oh wow, Charleston- that's a place I really want to visit. We were considering the Fantasy from there, but couldn't pass up cutting back on our drive by 6 hours by sailing from Norfolk :D Enjoy your cruise on the Glory!

More, more, more ! I love your review so far. Thank you for easing my anxiety about the Bay Bridge Tunnel. The first time I was on that was 30 years ago. Having grown up in the midwest (Cleveland and Detroit, ) I was used to water begin NEXT to you, not UNDER you. Lake Erie is wonderful to ride beside. SO, driving over that water sent me in a panic. The only other time was on the CBBT was about 20 years ago and I don't remember being very fond of it then.

 

Now that I have lived in Delaware for 20 years and have driven the Bay Bridge to Baltimore numerous times, the photos you posted don't look that scary at all. I don't like tunnels, but the bridge parts look ok.

 

Thanks for the many details, we'll be on the Glory from Norfolk on Oct. 16 on our way to Bermuda. It will be our first Glory experience. I'll look forward to the rest of your report.

The bridge used to be really scary to me when it was just a two-lane highway. :( Now that it's two bridges, I'm much more comfortable on it. I don't like the tunnels that much either but for some reason (I guess it was because there was hardly any traffic), we seemed to zip right through them.

Bermuda is absolutely gorgeous!!! We sailed there in October 2006 for our honeymoon. Be sure to take a ride to Horseshoe Bay beach. The perfect pink sand beach, with cliffs that stand in such awesome contrast to the ocean. One of my mental "happy places," :cool:. Thank you, have a wonderful cruise on the Glory!

After work today and teaching a class tonight, I'm exhausted! I'll start posting more tomorrow morning. Thank you all so much for following along with me :)

I am so enjoying your review. Wow, the Bay-Bridge Tunnel....Traveled that alot during the time MDH was stationed in Norfolk. Brought back alot of memories.. We are booked on Glory in February out of Miami. Can't wait!

Good morning everyone! Now where was I….

We had a great time just people watching and reading the magazines we had saved just for this trip. We also called and texted our hubbies as much as we could before we set sail. The sky was a perfect blue, with just a couple puffy white clouds. Such a nice day!

Around 4:00 or so, we looked over our shoulders to see the most ominous rain clouds approaching. We decided to make a dash for our rooms pretty quickly. I would say that about 10 minutes after we went inside, the skies opened and poured down heavy rain. We changed and got ready for the muster (safety) drill, and by the time we got to our stations, the rain had stopped.

Having been on RCCL so recently, I was kind of surprised by the muster drill on the Glory. With RCCL, we’ve actually shown our room keys for the ship staff to mark off that we were actually present at the drill. With this drill, there was no check-in. People really could have gone anywhere they wanted on deck and the staff would not have known the difference. People were still wandering around looking for their spots toward the end of the drill, and some didn’t find them at all. Of course, being the type-A person I am, we did everything as instructed. I know some people may think it’s not that big a deal, but I was just a little surprised by how disorganized the drill was.

When that was done, we watched sailaway for a couple minutes. We were pretty tired, so we rested a bit in our cabin and got ready for dinner. We had late dining at 8:15 PM, in the Platinum Restaurant, aft. Our table was #527, all the way in the back. We were right by the windows; here was our view each night:

We normally do open-seating dinners, however since we booked so late that option was sold out. I was curious about who our table mates would be and how we would get along. I have to say that we met the most hilarious and lively women on the ship, right at our dinner table. Conversation was never dull, LOL.

The dinner and wait staff was great. Most of us started with the shrimp cocktail and either fruit or Caesar salads. Because of the comments on the Cruise Critic Boards, I was determined to try the ribs and the warm chocolate melting cake. Ribs were pretty good:

They could have been a little more moist though. I’m a little spoiled because my uncle is known across the state for his BBQ and I grew up enjoying his food. My Mom is a fabulous cook too. So I give the ribs a ‘B.’

The warm chocolate melting cake was delicious:

A little more dark than I expected, but I enjoy dark chocolate. The ice cream is a nice complement to the cake and its warm, gooey chocolate center.

This was a looong day. We walked around the ship a little bit more and then went to bed! We were greeted by this fella:

Another shot of the twin bed and the Pullman bed above:

I'm really enjoying reading your review. I was on your cruise and it's nice to hear about it from someone else's perspective.

I agree the muster drill was so disorganized. I also noticed people trying to find their stations when then were finishing. Not at all what I expected. I'm glad it went fast though because we were stuck in the back of our group -- I'm claustrophobic! ;)

I'm really enjoying reading your review. I was on your cruise and it's nice to hear about it from someone else's perspective.

 

I agree the muster drill was so disorganized. I also noticed people trying to find their stations when then were finishing. Not at all what I expected. I'm glad it went fast though because we were stuck in the back of our group -- I'm claustrophobic! ;)

Hi kmflutist! :) Thank you, I was hoping it wasn't just me seeing the madness at the muster drill. Bring all the way in the back sounded like no fun at all. I think I was in the third row and that was bad enough!

Muster drill tip: wait as long as you can before you leave your cabin and you will be in the front line of the group instead of against the wall. Because we are always late to leave our cabin we noticed that the stewards go cabin to cabin checking for guests, then leave a red insert in their key lock to identify that the cabin is empty. I am rather shocked that they did not have staff directing everyone to their proper stations!

Day 2: At Sea

Whoa! My goodness, I don’t remember ever sleeping so late on a cruise! I’m generally a very early riser (between 4:30 and 5:00 AM), so when I woke up to look at my cell phone to check the time, I was shocked to see that it was 9 AM! With an inside stateroom, you really have no idea what time of day it is unless you have a clock. Like most staterooms, no clock is provided, so you want to be sure to bring one of your own or use your cell phone. I left my phone in airplane mode all week so I wasn’t charged roaming. It felt good to sleep in, though.

After such a busy day yesterday, I needed some time to myself for a bit, so I decided to walk the ship and take some more photos:

Basketball Court and Jogging Track:

Gorgeous views this morning:

I went looking for the secret pool and whirlpool in the spa area. You can see it from the main pool area, near the waterslides, from the outside, but many people don't know how to get there. Thanks to the people at Cruisecritic.com, I found it :)

You have to walk through the spa locker room, and near the bathroom stalls you will see a door labeled, “Whirlpool.” Through that door you will find another door that leads to this pool and whirlpool:

It’s nice to enjoy on your own. The only thing is the music from the gym area is blaring into the pool area. It’s quiet sometimes. If you don’t notice it by now, I love, love, love my family and friends but also love being on my own sometimes. Must be that ‘only child’ thing ;)

After a while, Mom and Rae met me in the Red Sail Buffet for breakfast. This would turn out to be our tradition every morning. We never had breakfast in the dining room. Breakfast there was pretty nice. Hot and cold cereals, lots of fruit like melon, cantaloupe, and grapes, eggs, sausage, pancakes, French toast, baked beans, tomatoes, bagels, and other pastries. Pretty much anything you could want for breakfast.

We had a beautiful view from the window. I love how the clouds change the reflection on the water: