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

Ports of Call from Carnival Venezia: Princess Cays, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, San Juan, Miami, Nassau, Freeport

January and February 2024

Princess Cays on Carnival Venezia January 2024

Princess Cays, Bahamas: January 8AM - 4PM

Princess Cays is a tender port, and we received a printed paper with tender instructions the night before. The paper actually contained information about priority tender boarding for passengers with excursions. I presume they just used the same notice for platinum and diamond guests, too. After breakfast, we walked to the showroom boarding area, where boarding was already in process. We arrived on the island before 9AM.

Princess Cays January 2024

We walked to the right after getting off the tender boat, as we had heard this area is less crowded than the main side. It was definitely less crowded. In fact, we decided not to have lunch on the island after we saw how crowded and busy the main area was later in the day. The lines for lunch looked like utter chaos. Some in our group stayed; however, my husband and I returned to the ship.

Princess Cays January 2024 from the less visited side of the island

This was our first visit to Princess Cays. The water is beautiful; however, the island and beach area is much smaller than Half Moon Cay. If you just want to enjoy the beach and water, there are plenty of lounge chairs available on both sides of the port dock.

View from our pool chairs at Margaritaville in Grand Turk

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 11AM - 6PM

We have been to Grand Turk several times, and you can find more information about this port by clicking on the label at the bottom of the post. We have previously done beach days at this port, as well as the Junkanoo Party Bus, Rum Mixology & Beach shore excursion. This time, we decided to just have margaritas at Margaritaville. 

Carnival Venezia at Amber Cove January 2024
Below: Amber Cove pricing - visible if you click on it to enlarge

Carnival Elation 7 Day Eastern Caribbean Ports of Call: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau

January 2023

We have been to all of these ports more than once prior to this trip. We did not book any excursions this time, and you can find more information about any of these ports by clicking on labels of interest at the bottom of this post.

 Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023 

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

You are supposed to have had COVID-19 vaccinations to disembark in Grand Turk. We received a letter the day before our arrival, saying that we needed to go to guest services to show our vaccination cards, if we wanted to go ashore. This information was then linked to our sail and sign cards that are scanned when disembarking. When we disembarked, people in the line next to ours were not being allowed off because they had not done this. This caused a brief holdup in that line while they were taken out of line to return to guest services or stay on the ship. Different passengers on shore told us they had not received the letter, and that they had not shown proof of their vaccination to anyone. They said they are vaccinated, so I am not sure if this had been taken care of by their travel agent, or another way, and they just did not recall it.

Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023

Our experience in Grand Turk was peaceful, and we enjoyed it more than prior visits. We walked on the beach on both sides of the port, and not one person tried to rent us overpriced chairs or umbrellas. There is no charge to use lounge chairs at the cruise center or Margaritaville. You can find more information about this in my posts from February 2020 and 2022. The beach area to the right after you get ashore is less crowded; however, the swimming area on this side is also stonier, than the busier area on the left. You can read about the Junkanoo Party Bus, Rum Mixology & Beach shore excursion that we took last year in the February 2022 blog post.

Carnival Elation at Half Moon Cay January 2023

Carnival Sunshine Cruise: 4-day Bahama Cruise from Charleston, South Carolina

November - December 2019 Spa cabin 11001

Next to Alchemy Bar in Ocean Plaza on Carnival Sunshine

Pre-cruise

We previously sailed on Carnival Sunshine from New Orleans shortly after it had been refurbished in 2014. We had a balcony cabin near the back of the ship for that cruise. We had some water problems in our cabin then, as did others. I was not very interested in another cruise after some of the things that happened on that cruise; however, my feelings have changed since then. Our initial travel plans this trip were to visit Charleston, and we decided to extend our trip a few more days on the cruise ship, because the price was good. 

You can find more details about the Carnival Sunshine in my previous blog post. I am providing information here that is new or different since then.

View of bridge between Charleston and Mount Pleasant from Carnival Sunshine

Arrival and VIP check-in ~ Charleston cruise port

This was our first experience cruising from Charleston. I had read that check-in begins sometime around 10:00 or 11:00 AM, so we submitted a request for an Uber ride from our airport hotel shortly after 10:00 AM. The information online says that the drop-off address is 32 Washington Street, which is the address I used. Our Uber driver arrived right away, and we arrived at the port just after 10:30 AM. We were told it would be about five minutes before we could enter. I inquired whether we could walk in so our driver would not have to wait. There was one other vehicle waiting, and our driver said he would wait with us. About five minutes later, our driver drove us into the cruise port area, and dropped us and our luggage off.

Directions to VIP check-in were clear, and security was a breeze. We arrived at the check-in desk right away. We then stood at the desk for over five minutes, because there was some kind of issue with our check-in. I do not know what the problem was, and the agent was apparently unable to correct it. She finally just checked us in again, and then had to take a photo of my husband. My passport photo showed up on the screen, and his did not. We had a similar experience last time we cruised, and I do not understand what the problem is. We renewed our passports together, we always check-in together with the same credit card on the account, and we always have the correct documents when we arrive.

After we checked in, there is a VIP waiting area near the shuttle boarding area. There is only one restroom at this end of the building, and the line was quite long. I walked back to the other end of the building to use the restroom. There was also a line there; however, it was not as long as the VIP line. Soon after, we boarded a shuttle bus for a short ride over to the ship and boarded. We were on board before noon. We were the first ones to arrive at Red Frog Pub; however, the bartender did not know anything about the first beverage being free for the first guests. I do not know if Carnival did away with this, or if the bartender was just uninformed.

Interior spa cabin 11001 on Carnival Sunshine

Spa interior cabin 11001 4S

Our cabin was ready when we boarded. This was our 19th cruise, and our first time in a spa cabin. We chose this cabin because it looked like it was located in a quiet hallway, and because it is located near Serenity deck. The rate when we booked was not much more than a basic interior room.

Interior spa cabin 11001 on Carnival Sunshine

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.