Carnival Glory Cruise: 4-day Bahamas cruise from Port Canaveral

 January 2025

We were on the Glory from Port of Miami in 2011. You can find more information about the ship in my previous Glory blog post.

View from Carnival Glory in Port Canaveral

Arrival and platinum check-in ~ Port Canaveral

The last time we cruised from Port Canaveral, our ship was docked at terminal 5, so we had to get a ride out to the pier, as there is no way to walk to that location. This time, Glory was docked at terminal 3, which is located across the street from two Holiday Inn hotels, so we were able to walk to the port. Arrival and check-in was the smoothest we have ever experienced with Carnival. This port has a waiting room for diamond and suite guests. We were platinum, and our waiting area was outside this room. After guests in the private room boarded, we were next. We are on board at 10:40 AM. 

Cabin 6233 on Carnival Glory

Interior cabin 6233 category 4D

I had not noticed that this cabin is above the showroom until shortly before departure. We have stayed on deck 6 before; just not in a forward inside room. After I saw this, I tried to contact our PVP to see about changing rooms or upgrading. The first time I contacted her, she told me there was nothing available. She told me to check with her again after we had completed check-in. I called her and sent her an email after we had checked in, and she never got back with me. After we boarded, I stopped at guest services to ask about a different room. The person I spoke with said there was nothing available; however, she did not look at our cabin number or check anything on the computer. In hindsight, I should have approached guest services again after the first night, and given them our room number. During our 4-day cruise, the late night comedy shows were in the front showroom, rather than the comedy lounge, so the music and noise vibrated inside our cabin until midnight. There was only one night this cruise when there was not a late night show in the front showroom. I do not suggest this cabin, unless you do not plan to sleep until after midnight.

This video was from one of the quietest evenings in our cabin. Noise was not the only thing we disliked about the cabin. The bed was hard, and the two twin beds they make into a king bed would not stay together. The lumpy pillows had a stale odor, as if they needed to be cleaned, and I had to request laundry bags from our room steward. After the poor sleep quality on this ship, I was not interested in another Carnival cruise when we disembarked.

Platinum Aft dining room on Carnival Glory

Food and beverages

Food was pretty much the same as I wrote in my previous Glory blog post. The only food item I recall being disappointed with was the turkey wrap from the deli. It was dry and did not taste fresh. Lobster is not served on elegant night on 4-day cruises. The Carnival drink package has gotten outrageously expensive. We have purchased this in the past, when it was around $50 a day; however, for $80+ a day, we did not even consider it for this cruise. We each brought a bottle of wine on board at the beginning of the cruise instead. We also purchased a bucket of six beers for the week, as they are each $1 off when purchasing the bucket. You can get this at any bar.

VIFP gifts on Carnival Glory

Carnival Valor Cruise: 4 and 5 day Western Caribbean from Port of New Orleans

November - December 2021

You can find additional photos for these cruises in the Carnival Valor Facebook album. I am sharing only a few of them here.

Carnival Valor docked at Port of New Orleans

Pre-cruise

This was our first experience cruising since the pandemic, and the weeks leading up to the cruise were a tad stressful. Even though we are fully vaccinated, we had to have negative COVID tests less than 48 hours before the cruise. This is more difficult if you are flying. Many locations that offer no-charge tests, do not schedule appointments until a couple of days ahead of time, so it is difficult to pre-plan. If we had not booked this cruise a couple of years ago, before the pandemic, I doubt we would be going  on any cruises. If we could have had our tests done even one day earlier (3 days ahead, instead of 2), it would have lessoned the anxiety. Two days is not much time when you do not live near the cruise port, and you cannot make an advance appointment. Many people are paying for in-home tests ($69 for 2), or having the test done at the cruise port for $150 each; however, that is not an expense we had planned on when booking our cruise. The online health assessment that needs to be completed, was available to complete the day before we were allowed to have our COVID test. 😳  

This was also our first back-to-back (B2B) cruise; a 4-day and then a 5-day. Before the pandemic, we had been nearing our 25th cruise, which we wanted to take as a Panama Canal cruise. I am not sure where we are headed with those plans now. 

Arrival and check-in at Port of New Orleans

We checked in online, as usual. I had read many complaints about pre-boarding not being offered for elite guests; however, when we checked in, the process led me to believe that this would be happening. Check-in was available for platinum and diamond guests a couple of days before everyone else. The appointment times on the boarding passes also included zone numbers; ours was A01. Our son had the same check-in time as us, and as a gold member, his boarding pass said zone A04.

Carnival information says not to arrive at the port until your appointment time, because you will be turned away. That was not happening the day we departed. We arrived at 10:00 AM, which is the earliest appointment time scheduled, and the area was already packed! The check-in process was very quick, and then we found seats to wait for boarding. There was a VIP waiting area for guests with suites; however, there was not an area for platinum or diamond guests. Our A01 zone was the second to board, right after guests in suites. We were on the ship before 11:00 AM.

Sunrise from cabin 7220 on Carnival Valor at New Orleans port

Balcony cabin 7220, category 8B

Our cabin keys were in the mailbox in an envelope when the cabin was ready. This was around noon for us (platinum), and 1:30 PM for other passengers. Our luggage was delivered very quickly--right after our room was ready.

Sunset from cabin 7220 on Carnival Valor departing Progresso

This cabin is back just far enough from the front of the ship so that the bridge did not obstruct our view. The cabin is on a great side of the ship for the routes we were on. We were on the dock side at every port except when we were docked in New Orleans. And, in New Orleans we thought the river view was better. You can see more port photos showing the views from this cabin in the Facebook album (link above). 

Sunset from cabin 7220 on Carnival Valor 

This is a basic balcony cabin on Empress deck. It contained a sofa, chair, small table, vanity stool, small flatscreen TV, small fridge, safe, and hairdryer. The safe locked with a strip card, rather than by entering a code. The fridge worked very well. There were two chairs and a small table on the balcony.

Cabin 7220 on Carnival Valor

We had sufficient storage space in the four drawers and three closets for two people for nine days. One of the three closets contained shelves; the other two had hangers. 

Bathroom in cabin 7220 on Carnival Valor.

Amenities in the bathroom included bar soap, shampoo, and shower gel. Our shower drain was sluggish. We did not turn the water on all the way, because the shower would get close to overflowing when on full blast. Our son used our shower once, because there was one day when the water in his cabin was cold (interior cabin 6214).

It was quiet and comfortable in both our cabins. The only problem we encountered (other than the sluggish drain) was from people smoking on their balconies. Most times, it was difficult to tell where this was coming from, which makes it impossible to resolve.

Food & beverages

Guests were expected to check-in on the app for a table when going for breakfast or brunch (I assume this is the same for anytime dining, as well). You have the option to choose as many companions from your group as desired for check-in. There is also an option to check whether you want to be seated alone or with others; however, this did not always work. Sometimes, we were seated with others when we had not chosen that option, and sometimes we were seated alone.

Huevos Rancheros and cheese grits at Sea day brunch

Carnival Conquest ports of call: Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove

February 2019, ports from 6-day cruise on Carnival Conquest

Docked in Nassau; view from front of ship overlooking serenity deck.

This is a brief post about our ports of call from Carnival Conquest. We have previously visited most of these ports, and we did not book any shore excursions this trip. Click on the labels at the bottom of this post for more information about places of interest. You can also find additional photos with information in the Carnival Conquest Facebook album, and information about the cruise in the cruise blog post.

View from our balcony, cabin 7405, while docked in Nassau.

Nassau, Bahamas: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Nassau was our first port of call after one day at sea. Since this was a busy cruise with a port of call almost every day, and we will be returning to Nassau before the end of the year, we decided to enjoy the view and silence from serenity deck for most of the day. Later in the day, we got off the ship for a short time to look around. There were three ships docked during our visit, and it was easy to disembark and return to the ship. We observed an outdoor market with items for sale inside the port area, and the area outside the port was similar to other ports we have visited: shopping, dining, and vendors trying to sell excursions, and such. Returning to the ship, we noticed a sign for guests boarding Disney about bringing wine and alcohol on board. It said guests are allowed to bring one bottle of alcohol and wine on. Carnival guests are not allowed to do that at any of the ports of call. Carnival guests can bring one bottle of wine on only from the home port at the start of the cruise.

Carnival Conquest Cruise: 6-day Eastern Caribbean from Port Everglades

February - March 2019, balcony cabin 7405 

Carnival Conquest from Half Moon Cay beach.
Click on photo to enlarge and see tender boat on left

More photos from this cruise and ports of call can be found in the Carnival Conquest Facebook album.

Pre-cruise

We booked this cruise last minute, because we initially thought we would stay in Florida on the beach for a week. After I discovered that all of the lodging choices we liked were well over $200 a night, we decided it made more sense to book this cruise instead. The cruise cost was about the same per night, and food and entertainment is included on the cruise. We initially booked interior cabin 1011, and received a call from Carnival offering an upgrade to the balcony cabin for $350 more. The online pricing between these two cabins was about $500 difference, so this was a bit of a savings. We try to book balcony cabins on 7-day or longer cruises, and decided to take this offer!

This was our first time on Carnival Conquest; however, we have previously sailed on the following same class ships: Glory aft extended balcony cabin 7442, Liberty large balcony cabin 7439, and Freedom inside cabin 1021. I imagine cabin 1011 would have been similar to cabin 1021 on Carnival Freedom. You can find reviews for Carnival Glory and Carnival Freedom in previous posts in this blog from 2010 and 2011.

Arrival and check-in ~ Port Everglades

We had not departed from Port Everglades since 2012, and our VIP check-in experience that time did not flow as it should have, so I paid closer attention when we arrived this time. I am glad I did, because our experience this time was similar. We arrived around 11 AM, and were though security very quickly. We were then directed to the waiting area for Faster to the Fun guests (ahead on the left, across from the check-in counters). Since I did not see a VIP sign, I looked around for another representative, and asked again. The VIP waiting area is around to the right, beyond the check-in counter and Faster to the Fun, and then upstairs. The VIP sign is visible after walking past the Faster to the Fun seating area. Other than a wedding party, not many guests were in the VIP waiting area. There had been many more guests waiting in the Faster to the Fun area. There is a bathroom in the VIP room, and water and cookies were provided while we waited.

The wedding party boarded first, then less than five diamond guests, and then platinum guests. We were on board before noon.

Carnival Conquest balcony cabin 7405.

Balcony cabin 7405, category 8C

This is a basic balcony stateroom near the center of the ship. If we had initially booked a balcony cabin, we would have chosen one of the larger balcony cabins, like 7434 or 7439. For the reduced cost, however, we felt the upgrade/upsell was worth it.

Carnival Conquest balcony cabin 7405.

Carnival Glory cruise -- 7-night Exotic Western Caribbean from Miami

Carnival Glory;
photo taken from our excursion boat in Belize

Check-in at port of Miami

This was our first experience with kiosk check-in. I had not noticed that our boarding document said "kiosk ready" on it before we arrived. Two Carnival representatives were greeting and directing guests to two different lines. They were also providing zone number cards. We arrived around 11:30 a.m., and received a Zone 7 card. One check-in line was for guests with kiosk ready boarding passes, and the line on the left was for other guests. After checking in and scanning our passports at the kiosk, we received a receipt from the machine with a window number for our cabin key pick up. Our receipt was for window number one. There was no line, and we were immediately greeted and given room keys. We sat down to wait, and our zone was called about 30 - 40 minutes later. We were on board the ship around 12:30 p.m.

When we had first arrived at the port, we noticed guests who rushed right past the Carnival representatives instead of waiting to speak with them. They were in such a hurry to get in line, they paid for it later. While we were waiting for our zone number to be called after check-in, we observed guests being redirected to the other line (they had chosen the incorrect kiosk or non-kiosk line in their haste). And, some guests did not have zone number cards because they had not waited to speak with a representative when arriving (we had to wait briefly behind four or five guests when we arrived). When these guests noticed the zone numbers, they asked what they were for, and what time certain guests had arrived (yes, some of them asked us what time we had arrived). Then, the guests without numbers expected Carnival to give them a low number (or, they expected guests like us who had a low number to include them in our group). They claimed that a representative was not greeting guests when they arrived, which was untrue. I always observed at least one representative greeting guests from the time we arrived until we boarded. There was only one representative when we first arrived, and the second representative returned to a his post a few seconds after we stood in line to wait. We were glad to see that the Carnival representatives were not providing already called zone numbers to the complaining guests.

Cabin 7442, balcony, category 8M

We had an aft cabin extended balcony room. The balcony is much deeper than the aft cabin balcony we had on the Legend; however, the room is smaller. There was no couch, and there was only one chair with the table. There was room for two chairs, so I did not understand why only one was provided.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

There were two chairs and a lounger on the balcony, which was great! Unfortunately, I do not have any good balcony photos to share.

Carnival Glory cabin 7442

Food & Beverage

The food on this ship included the same offerings that I wrote about in my Freedom post from December 15, 2010.

There were a couple differences, which I will list here. There is a burrito bar on the opposite side of the ship from the deli counter. It was similar to the deli: You waited in line to special order any type of dry burrito desired. My husband had a shrimp burrito, which he said was great. If there was a burrito bar on the Freedom, we missed it. The sushi bar on this ship was open every evening from 5:00 - 8:15 p.m., instead of just a few nights. This was not listed in the Fun Times each day; however, I observed a sign stating the hours.

Carnival Freedom -- 6-night Western Caribbean Cruise

Carnival Freedom from shore excursion

Check-in

This was one of the smoothest check-in processes we have experienced. We took a cab from a cruise port hotel around noon. Our driver was able to pull right up to the luggage drop off spot at Port Everglades, and we walked inside after leaving our bags with the porters. We wove through a couple of line mazes, went through security, and were on board in about an hour. I noticed that the line had become quite long shortly after we boarded, although it still moved along quickly.

Carnival Freedom interior cabin 1021

Interior cabin 1021, category 4H

We usually book a balcony room; however, this was an extra cruise for us, so we went for the lowest category inside cabin--at a rock bottom rate. We booked the Early Saver rate, and saw two price drops before our cruise. One price drop was showing all inside cabins for the same price, so we were able to move up to the 10th/Panorama deck. This was still an inside cabin, but better than the bottom of the ship! There is a front balcony on this floor, which can only be accessed through the cabin hallway, so many guests do not know about it. It's not a place to hang out, since there were not any chairs or anything, although it was a great place to view the port as the ship was arriving and leaving.

Carnival Freedom interior cabin 1021

The room was quite small. In fact, our son's room, #2212, was much larger than our room. Our cabin had the basic storage space and bathroom; there just wasn't any sitting room. The foot of the bed almost hit the vanity, and there was barely room to sit on a chair in front of the vanity. We could not walk by the foot of the bed, if someone was sitting in the chair.

Food & Beverage

The food and beverages were very good, as always. I think the free champagne Carnival serves at events is lower quality than what we received on prior cruises. They used to serve Korbel, which I like. I did not like the complimentary champagne served on this cruise. For dinner, the three of us were seated at a table by ourselves in the dining room, which we found disappointing. This happened to us last time we cruised together after Thanksgiving, too. The Maitre'd says this is because there are so many families cruising this time of year. We like each other; however, we also like to meet new people. We think the dining experience is part of the fun. We ate breakfast in the dining room almost every morning, so we did get to meet and socialize with some guests this way. I prefer the dining room menu for breakfast, although my husband likes being able to get special order omelets at the buffet. The dining room breakfast menu only offers a ham and cheese omelet. The dining room is open for lunch on sea days with open seating. We ate lunch in the dining room one day, and it was very good. Lobster was served in the dining room for dinner on the first formal night.

One of the days that we were in port, we arrived back at the ship around noon, and ate at the Mongolian Wok, which is similar to BD's Mongolian Barbeque. The flavors were great, and the line wasn't too long. We ate at the Deli when we returned to the ship ahead of most of the guests on another port day. We are early risers, and are often done on shore before the crowds. There is a menu to order from at the Deli, and you can also make special requests to add or remove an item--such as cheese, or ask for a cold sandwich to be grilled. I requested Swiss cheese for the turkey wrap I ordered. The wrap was jalapeno flavored and wasn't very spicy, which was fine with me. I thought the sandwich was very good.

Many guests are not aware of Fish & Chips on the 10th deck at the back of the ship, so we dined there for lunch on a sea day because there was never a line. Other seafood is available, along with the fish and chips.