Carnival Glory Cruise Journal

Hello again everyone! Here's my official review of 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!

I love cruising, having sailed the NCL Crown to Bermuda from New York (oceanview mini-suite), and 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, and this was Rae’s first cruise.

We all 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! 

We felt that there was no need for a balcony or window stateroom, we just wanted to get on the ship, lol! After searching through several websites, I found out that the Glory was sailing from Norfolk a couple weeks in May.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. The sailing stopped in Nassau and Freeport, in the Bahamas. 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 Boarding

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 they 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 the tunnel

Can you believe this used to be the whole bridge for both directions?! 
Still, it's beautiful.

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. An opportunity for some nice photos:

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:

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 Cruise 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! 

Walking the attached ramp to get on the ship

Someone's excited to board, lol!

Our first view of the Centrum through the elevators. I instantly noticed the difference between a Royal Caribbean ship and a Carnival Ship. The decor is a little more bold and bright on a Carnival ship:

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, and we were comfortable. Some sample-size toiletries were provided in the bathroom:

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

 

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.

 

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 Seating Area

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

I think we ended up having it about 4 out of the 5 days on the cruise. Here are the condiments available at each table (hey some people want to know, lol):

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

View of the Battleship Wisconsin from our window

Mom is so cute- in the Red Sail Buffet

The food was great! Seasoned well, especially the roast beef, which was rare and flavorful:

Roast beef, Mediterranean tilapia, roasted potatoes and veggies

Most of the time we stuck with water, iced tea, and lemonade (all complimentary). 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:

The Famous Carnival Whale Tail

Pool Deck Area

Seating in the pool area. Those light blue chairs rock- pretty cool

Starboard side deck- looking aft

A view of Norfolk from the ship

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:

Hung out and enjoyed the sun and reggae music played live, and sighed….officially, our vacation had begun!

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 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:

Would have been perfect if the booster chairs were out of the way. Not a big deal though, as long as I can see the ocean I'm a happy camper!

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. 

That 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:

 

Day 2: At Sea

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. 

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

Basketball Court and Jogging Track:

 Gorgeous views this morning:

I found 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 how the light hits the water:

Having finished breakfast, we walked through the main pool area, and took the outdoor steps up to the Serenity Area on the Sky Deck, forward. I fell in love with this area.The hammocks were almost always taken, but we really enjoyed the cushioned lounge chairs and the jacuzzi. 

Here's our view from the jacuzzi:

Add caption

 

So after we enjoyed the Serenity area (and enjoyed another round of Kiss on the Lips- yum!), we explored the ship and looked for the internet café. It was actually a little tough for us to find. It’s on the port side of the ship, on the side of the Ivory Lounge. Pretty out of the way, which may explain why I never saw many people in it at one time. Here’s a pic of the internet prices:

Blogged a bit and emailed my husband. The internet ran a little faster than I expected. No complaints about the internet service. 

After that, we ran back to the fish and chips area for lunch. We saw that man again, eating 3 bowls of the bouillabaisse. I tried the actual fritters for the first time. Sooo gooooood. I had a salad too:

For the rest of the day, we read our books on the pool deck and took in the sun. Watched the hairy chest contest which (as usual) was pretty funny. Here are a couple shots I tried to get of the contest, on the screen:

We stayed on deck until around 6:00, to prepare for dinner. It was formal night! 

We really enjoyed dressing up for formal night. 

With three ladies in the room, we never really had a problem with sharing the bathroom, etc. We kind of timed ourselves so that we weren’t in one another’s way. Three ladies to a room is totally doable, as long as you’re pretty upbeat, optimistic people!

We took some formal night photos with the Carnival photographers. I wish we bought one, there was a pic of the three of us that was so nice! Some of my pics of us on formal night:

Dinner was lovely. Some of us asked for two lobster tails on our plate, and the server let us know he had to bring us two whole plates. No biggie, I just slid the other tail from the second plate onto mine and had him take the other plate away. The lobster was delicious! The shrimp served on the side were quite large and very good. Of course, I enjoyed the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert.

After dinner, we walked around a bit and headed back to the room to change. There was a comedy show we tried to get into at 10:45, however it was way too crowded so we figured we would come back another night. Not that big a deal since we wanted to go to the dance party at midnight at the White Heat club. 

In the meantime, Mom wanted to go to the casino on her own, and Rae and I went onto the pool deck to enjoy the live music being played. It’s so nice to sit outside under the stars. There was a man in a Carnival Robe, shorts, flip flops, and a bare chest (beer in hand), dancing all over the pool deck. He would dance with ladies as they walked by. If they ran off, he went right onto the next woman, lol. He was amusing to watch for a while. 

After about a half hour, we went back to the room to take a nap. We had plans for some serious dancing, and I’m not a night-owl like Rae is! Woke back up around 11:45, got dressed and went to the club. Some views of it in the daytime:

 

People of all ages (over 18) were there, and it turned out to be pretty fun. While it was really smokey, we had a good time until about 2:30, which I think is when they started closing. 

Day 3: Nassau, the Bahamas

It was a beautiful morning!

Had breakfast in the buffet and used the internet a bit before we went outside to catch our first glimpse of Nassau:

 Spied another Carnival Ship on the way to port:

We got off the ship at 11:30 AM to head to the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort. I chose the Sheraton because it seemed to have more water sports, etc, available than the Hilton. We were looking for a nice beach with a lively atmosphere.

Leaving the ship was very simple, we just needed to show our Fun Passes to be scanned, and were on our way. No long lines or waiting. We were docked on the far side of the port, here are a couple shots as we walked through the pier area and cruise terminal:

Whoa- the cab drivers in the terminal area were a bit more assertive than I’m used to. We had to say no to their offers several times. I mean, we would say no to one driver and the one standing right next to him would offer the very same thing, lol. You can’t say they don’t work hard! I meant to find the #10 jitney, but for some reason we weren’t able to find it. We ended up catching a taxi, which cost us $18 ($15 for the first two, $3 for the third passenger). The whole situation was ironic because as soon as we negotiated the price and were pulling off in the taxi.....I saw a #10 up the road. Hilarious! No big deal either way. The ride was about 15 minutes. 

We went to the front desk and got our wristbands. The day pass was $25 pp, and included access to the pools and beach, all the outdoor facilities, and non-motorized water sports. There are a couple pools, one with a nice waterfall. The Sheraton and its grounds were beautiful. Mom and Rae were very happy with the choice:

By now, Rae discovered that her skin didn’t take too kindly to all the Caribbean heat and sun. She wore a high SPF sunscreen the entire time, and still got what looked like sunburn. Obviously, she wanted to sit in the shade as much as possible. We noticed that there weren’t that many umbrellas on the beach. We were happy that we were able to get one with no problem. It really is a beautiful beach:

We ran to the waterline to dip our toes in the water….shocked to find out it was FREEZING. I enjoy swimming in the ocean and had this in mind when choosing the cruise…but sadly it was too cold for our comfort level. The fact that it was getting pretty cloudy (making it cooler outside) didn’t help. Oh well, we laid out a bit and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings for a while. 

After about an hour, we got hungry, so we decided to go to the Dolphin Grill for lunch. It was right behind the beach area, outdoors. 

Rae and I got the jerk chicken sandwich with Mango daiquiris, and my Mom got a burger. The chicken in the sandwich was a little dry, and seasoned lightly with the jerk sauce (I was expecting a little more kick, but it was still good). The mango daiquiri was delish, you could really taste the fresh mangoes. We had a little visitor too:

 

Upon getting back to our chairs on the beach, Rae and I decided to try one of the huge water bikes, the kind that float and two people have to pedal in the ocean. We got to the booth and discovered that the water was too choppy for us to go out. So disappointed.

While walking back toward my Mom, we were approached by one of the tour operators there who “took a liking” to me (Rae caught another one’s eye lol). Please note that I don’t think he was associated with the hotel. After coming back and forth to speak with us over the course of about 30 mins, this particular tour operator offered to take us on his boat for a snorkeling trip. I asked him how much it would cost and he said, “Whatever you would like to give me as a tip, that’s what I’ll take.” CREEPY….. After some quick thinking I said, “Well, let me check and see if my Mom would like to come with us (knowing she would say no). If she says yes, all three of us will go together.” We walked back toward Mom, and I told her about the operator. I said, “If he asks you, tell him you said, ‘no’” She said, “Don’t even worry about it, I was going to say no anyway!” LOL

As soon as he turned his back from our general direction, we made a dash for the pool area! 

The pools were nice; it was just so quiet in the beach and pool area. I was really surprised. We were planning to go to the swim up bar, but the water was too cool for our comfort, given the cloudy, cooler weather.  It had to have been around 2:00 or so and there were still not that many people out. Don't get me wrong, we still had a great time; I guess I was expecting something different given the reviews I saw online.                                                                   

We spent a little while more at the resort, and then decided to return to the ship. $18 and a 15 minute taxi ride later, we were back in the port area. I noticed that there are security people at the door of the port terminal. They have to check your Fun Pass as well as your photo ID before they let you into the actual pier where the ships are docked. We left our Passports in the safe in our room, and took our drivers’ licenses with us.

We had thought about maybe changing on the ship and heading to Atlantis for the evening, but the heat just zapped our strength. We decided to stay on the ship and go to dinner in the main dining room.

I enjoyed some more time on the pool deck with my book (The Heaven Trilogy by Ted Dekker- really great read from an awesome author), while Mom and Rae went to shower and change for dinner. I wanted to give them some time and space to get ready. 

While waiting for the dining room doors to open, we enjoyed the live music played in the Ivory Lounge. We were a little silly, dancing out there. I think it was contagious because we could see people tapping their feet, and then joining in with us dancing in the hallway. Caught my Mom doing a little ‘shimmy’:

 

Love you Mom!

Dinner was great, and like every night, we had wonderful conversation with our table mates. They took taxi tours around Nassau and they enjoyed them very much. We had a beautiful view of the lights of Atlantis sparkling in the distance as we ate dinner. 

I started with the smoked chicken quesadilla. Sorry, I took a bite before I remembered to take a photo:

The salmon was delicious. There was a small side dish of potatoes au gratin, and I think that was eggplant underneath the green beans:

Had to pass on the melting cake tonight! I was stuffed.

The plan after dinner was the same as last night- rest a bit and head to White Heat. Mom went to the casino and then went to bed. We noticed in the Fun Times that Tron was showing on the pool deck as part of the Movies Under the Stars program. We love that movie! We stayed and watched it about halfway through. 

We went to White Heat and I think we stayed till about 3 AM. Had a blast!

Day 4: Freeport, the Bahamas
 

Ok, so this is about all we saw in Freeport:

After staying up till 3, I was EXHAUSTED! We slept in and grabbed something quick for breakfast, and I went to the aft pool deck to enjoy the sun. Rae spent time inside- her sunburn was pretty bad. My day was spent with these:

 While hanging out here:

Had a great time in the aft pool area. It was a little more quiet than the main pool. There was a saltwater pool and two Jacuzzis. Mom joined me there after a little while. 

Had fish and chips for lunch- hey, it’s pretty much a tradition for us by now! 

Around 1 PM, clouds started to roll in. It looked like a storm was approaching. Got to watch them roll out the retractable roof for this area:

It got pretty stuffy in there after a while, and it barely rained, so they rolled the roof back again. We watched sailaway from Freeport. I grabbed an ice cream cone from the machines in the corner, and after a while I fell asleep in the sun. My idea of a nice day on vacation!

We met in the room around 5 or so to get ready for dinner. We had a treat tonight- we had a reservation for the Emerald Steakhouse!

What a lovely experience. We were seated right away. The sun was setting, it was just a gorgeous atmosphere and the service was incredible. Beautiful china. A server brought a sample of each cut of meat on a large plank of wood. We pretty much knew we all wanted filets, but I was tempted to get the ribeye upon seeing it. A man eating alone next to us was enjoying the filet, and he encouraged us to stick with our original choices. I’m so glad we did! 

Mom ordered the petite filet and lobster tail, and Rae and I had the 9 oz filets. While waiting for our food, we took some photos:

We were served mini-appetizers, compliments of the chef. Mom and I received a tomato soup (yummy), and Rae had salmon with dill sauce:

We enjoyed the bread- oh, the bread! It was a warm, soft, rosemary focaccia. Just wonderful, and served with butter, an eggplant spread, and a tomato-based spread. I loved the tomato, and Rae liked the eggplant. 

We each had the crab cake as an appetizer. Beautiful lumps of crab, not much filler at all. 

We also shared the beefsteak tomatoes with crumbled gorgonzola. Very good; I just wished they used fresh basil instead of arugula, and had a couple slices of red onion. That would have set it over the top!

Our filets came out and they cut like butter. Mom and I asked for medium, Rae asked for medium-rare. They were perfect! One of the best steaks I’ve had. My husband and I enjoy places like Ruth’s Chris, Sullivan’s, and the Capital Grille. This filet, in my opinion, was close in quality to those. Simply prepared and delicious. Steak sauce would ruin this steak!

We enjoyed buttery sautéed mushrooms and fresh, tender steamed asparagus on the side. Perfect.

We ordered the dessert sampler to share, but I took two bites and couldn’t eat any more. 

Dinner was just awesome. We missed our husbands, it would have been such a romantic dinner. If I was doing a 7-night cruise, I think we would book the steakhouse twice. 

We waddled back to our room and took a quick nap. We went dancing for a little while and got in around 1 AM.

Day 5: At Sea

We just had another lazy day! :)

I spent some more time in the Serenity Area this morning on my own. 

Around noon, the three of us met up and enjoyed fish and chips one last time (sigh), and watched the Love and Marriage Show, which was hilarious, like always. I always love watching the oldest couples. They always have the best, most witty responses! I love seeing happy couples who stay together for life!

We all went out to the main pool deck after lunch. The cruise director, Gary, was holding the debarkation talk today, and we didn’t feel like going inside. I was so happy to learn they were playing it live on the big screen:

We all decided that we would take all our bags off the ship ourselves. We each brought carryon-size suitcases anyway. 

After the talk, we got some spots on the upper level of the pool deck (deck 10) and stayed in the shade to read. Rae was actually borrowing a Ted Dekker book from me- the Circle Trilogy. I’m a huge fan and now she’s hooked, lol. Really- check out his books!  Took some more photos together.

Suddenly we heard the Electric Slide being played- they were dancing just below us on deck 9. Rae ran right onto the dance floor immediately:

I hurried into my coverup and joined her…

Mom came along a few seconds later:

We had to have done about 3 different line dances. We were excited because we learned a new one in the club the nights before and were able to look like experts the whole time, lol.

Back to our chairs to read! 

I pulled my chair into the sun to enjoy my last moments in the sunshine and fresh sea air. It really was a beautiful day:

Before dinner, I went to the internet cafe. I noticed out the window that the most incredible sunset was on display. I ran up to deck 10 to take photos. There were lots of other people taking pictures too. The sunset was spectacular.

I don’t remember what we had for dinner. After we said goodbye to our tablemates, we saw a comedy show with Just June. She was hilarious! Mom and I decided to go to bed after that since we had a long day of driving the next day.  Rae wandered the ship with the rest of the night owls. She said there were a bunch of people just like her, surprised that the ship was so quiet that night. I think she got in around 12:30 or so. 

Day 6: Traveling Home

The following morning, we had breakfast at 8:00, and proceeded to the self-disembark. There was a lot of confusion about this. 

The night before, we were given instructions to self-disembark by floor number. We were supposed to listen for our number and then proceed to leave the ship. I think this was skipped over, and they told all self-disembarking passengers to leave at the same time. This caused MAJOR congestion. It was so bad, that we had to take an elevator that was going up, and ride it all the way back down to deck 3. It was the only way you could catch an elevator. Then, when we got down there, it was so packed that it took us a few minutes to actually get off the elevator. We had to have stood there packed like sardines for about 30 minutes. 

Getting off the ship was a breeze after all that. Busses were waiting to take us back to the parking facility. We were in our car and off to NJ in no time. 

Only one problem- we’re from NJ and we needed gas! We don’t pump our own gas! Here’s a pic of Sherrae pumping gas for the first time, LOL!!

Took 13 all the way home and crossed our favorite bridge again. Since it was Sunday, there were lots of families sailing and fishing in the Chesapeake Bay. Just a beautiful sight:

Trying to extend our vacay, we stopped at the Olive Garden in Delaware for a quick lunch. We left VA at 9:30 and got back to NJ at 4:45 (about 7 hours instead of 6 because of our stop for lunch). Yay Jersey!

Thank you for following me in my review! Feel free to ask any questions, and happy sailing!