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Carnival Glory April 18-25- Review including lots of pictures!


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We flew into Miami the day before our cruise on April 17. We had a 10:50 flight from Toronto and arrived in Miami at 1:40 pm. My 13 year old had to go through the body scanner at the airport in Toronto for some reason. They just pick people at random I guess. They asked me how old he was as I guess they can't make a kid younger than 13 go through it.

 

ry%3D400

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We landed in Miami at 1:40 pm. It was beautiful and warm compared to where we came from!

 

It is a long walk from the gate to baggage claim at Miami International. And they don't have moving sidewalks like they do in Toronto. However, I have to say that the Miami airport was not anything like I expected based on what I had read on the internet. It was very easy to navigate and it was not congested at all contrary to what some people had said.

 

We got a cab right away that accommodated all five of us and our luggage. It cost $27 to get to Holiday Inn Port of Miami where we stayed.

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Sorry should have put that in my title. We did Eastern Caribbean with stops in Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, San Juan and St. Thomas

 

 

PERFECT.... that's exactly what we're doing... This review is getting better and better !!! :)

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We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. The room was pricey and you are paying for the location as this is an old hotel and there is nothing fancy about it. However, it was clean and there were no service issues. We had a bayview room on the 7th floor. There was a great view of the Port of Miami and you could see the cruise ships. The outdoor pool wasn't very nice. It is surrounded by a concrete wall and the terrace had lots of cigarette butts and other debris. I just want to note here that I am not a whiner or complainer but I will mention things that I didn't like from time to time. I believe a well balanced review should include positive and negative things.

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

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The Holiday Inn is located right across the road from Bayside Market and the Port of Miami on Biscayne Blvd. I felt safe walking across the street and back and down to the CVS but I wouldn't want to venture any further. There are some shady looking characters roaming around.

 

Right after we checked in we walked down the block to CVS to buy some shampoo, sunscreen and water and pop. Things we couldn't bring on the plane. The CVS was very expensive (and this is coming from a Canadian- most things are cheaper in the USA and I found the prices at this store more than my local drug store). It was an old, cluttered store with carpet! Strange...anyways. There was a young woman in a bikini top sitting on the floor having an argument with her boyfriend.

 

A homeless man outside asked us for some change. We are small town folks from Canada so we are not used to this!

 

The problem with this Holiday Inn and this area is there was no where to eat breakfast unless you wanted to take a cab or eat a very overpriced breakfast in the hotel. Nothing at Bayside Market opens until 10. So we ended up walking back down to CVS the next morning and buying some cereal and milk.

 

ry%3D400

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We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. It is located in Bayside Market right across the street from the Holiday Inn.

 

We don't have Bubba Gump Shrimp in Canada so we enjoyed it very much.

 

The food was great and the service was excellent.

 

If you liked the movie Forrest Gump then this is the place for you. The entire restaurant is themed after the movie and they even have the movie playing on a big screen. The waiter did some Forrest Gump Trivia and we could have won milkshakes but the question was hard and we got it wrong.

 

The question was "When Forrest Gump was running, what state did he finally stop running in?"

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

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Loving your review! Can't wait for more!!!!:D:D

We stayed at the Inter-Continental last year, and HATED it.

Just WAY too big and uppity. Hoping to stay at Holiday Inn at the Port this year. Heard great things about it.

Thanks for taking the time to do this review.:D

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After dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp we wandered around Bayside Market. It is a unique place. Its not really a mall, definitely not a market. Its kind of like an outdoor mall I guess. Lots of souvenir shops. The whole place is very touristy...which is good since we were tourists! We looked in a few shops and then sat down by the water while all the boys had icecream and Mom and I had our first strawberry daiquiris of the trip. From Lets Make a Daiquiri of course! They were delicious. I watched the lady make them from actual strawberries...not a mix. :D

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

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We weren't really sure what time to head to the port. I had so many conflicting suggestions from experienced cruisers. Our boarding passes said 1-3 but I knew we could go a lot earlier than that. Also we had to check out of our hotel at 11. So at about 1045 we headed down to the lobby to get a taxi. I am a researcher and a planner. I had planned to get a cab for $10 to the port. However, my husband occasionally likes to change things, much to my frustration, and we ended up sharing a port shuttle with another family that was going on the Norwegian Getaway. So it ended up costing us $25 because it was $5/person. However, this control freak had to let that go :rolleyes:.

 

So we were at the port just after 11am. A porter took our bags. I don't remember this from our last cruise at Fort Lauderdale, but at Port of Miami all the porters wear white with white plastic hats and have special yellow name tags. They kind of look like painters.

 

We went through check in and security very quickly and got our sail cards. The lady at the counter said 1000 passengers had already checked in! It wasn't even 1130 yet! However, they were all sitting in the waiting area. No one had boarded the ship yet. I figured we were in for a long wait since we were in zone 8. However, shortly after they started calling weddings then gold, platinum, then faster to the fun. After that they called 2 zones at a time and we were on the ship and eating lunch in the lido at 12:20.

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

 

ry%3D400

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Weddings? I've never heard about wedding parties getting priority treatment over everyone else.

 

Yes, they always do if they are getting married in Miami (or any home port). They usually have the reception right after and still have to attend muster drill. The people not going on the cruise also have to get off before departure.

Edited by firemanbobswife
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We are looking to do this itinerary in July. Haven't booked it yet. Waiting on my sister up north to make up her mind. So I'm looking forward to see pics of the ship. I've been to all the islands, she hasn't.

Edited by Kfoot
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