 Expert Review |
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| | | | | Overview
The 2,974-passenger, 110,000-ton Carnival Glory, the second in Carnival's Conquest class, is a colorful ship in more ways than one. With each public room celebrating a different shade of color, this ship takes the "rainbow connection" to a whole new level. Onboard Carnival Glory, passengers will find a lively "let's do it all" atmosphere. The constant announcements remind passengers of most of the daily activities. Occasional congestion occurs at the buffet during peak hours, particularly on sea days; on formal nights, lines form for photos along the Kaleidoscope Boulevard. Colors Bar in the atrium tends to fill up for pre-dinner cocktails. And yet there are offbeat, out-of-the-way spots -- like the On the Green sports bar, the Ivory Club and the Ebony Caberet Lounge -- that offer chances to escape from crowds. Overall, Carnival Glory's biggest strength is its appeal to a wide variety of travelers, from families and groups to couples. | | |  top | | | | Dining
Dining options include elegant two-level formal dining rooms, an upscale reservations-only supper club, and an expansive two-level poolside restaurant offering casual alternatives for breakfast, lunch and dinner including a 24-hour pizzeria, a New York-style deli, a specialty seafood station, a grill and more. The Japanese-temple-inspired Platinum and Golden dining rooms, both spanning two levels, are Glory's traditional restaurants. Dinner is assigned seating at two times: 6 and 8:15 p.m. As on other Conquest-class ships, the quality and variety of food in the main dining room onboard Carnival Glory is impressive. We also love that the dining rooms offer more than just a handful of tables for two for honeymooners and couples. Spa selections are available, and the menu lists calorie and fat content for each; there is also a vegetarian selection noted. Breakfast and lunch are open seating. The Red Sail Restaurant, the casual Lido Deck eatery, offers a daily buffet for all meals with varying themes, as well as self-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt machines. There's also a grill station with hamburgers, etc. and an Asian station (offerings change daily). Fish and chips lovers should not miss the seafood station, open for lunch only, found up on the second floor of Red Sail. Red Sail also has a 24-hour pizza station, which offers calzones, and a deli. The highlight of the cruise was the reservations-only Emerald Room Supper Club. The special menu combined with attentive service is more than worth the $25 per person fee and some cruisers attempt to dine here more than once a cruise. Here's a tip; the first day of the cruise is the best time to get in so call to book as soon as you get onboard. Specialties include South African lobster, huge porterhouse steaks and prime-aged beef. Carnival is one of the few cruise lines that still indulge in midnight buffets; the buffet opens early to photo takers only so bring your cameras. The Deck 5 promenade is home to Creams, the extra-charge dessert and coffee bar, and a complimentary sushi counter that only opens in the evenings. Room service is available 24 hours a day. Hot and cold breakfasts are available in the morning; the usual sandwiches and salads are available around the clock. | | | | top | | | | Public Rooms
The Colors Lobby is highlighted by a giant digital kaleidoscope which projects slow-moving images on huge screens over the bar; it is best viewed from the glass elevators. Carnival Glory's multi-level main show lounge, Amber Palace, boasts design elements that include rococo moldings, gold leaf columns, candelabras, cornices, and paintings of famous Russian czars and czarinas. The Camel Club Casino features an Egyptian motif; the highlight here is life-sized kneeling camels that greet visitors at all entrances, a great photo spot. The White Heat Dance Club is kitschy with gigantic white candles lining the walls. The Ivory Club features elephant tusk replicas, intricate wall coverings, windows inset with mosaics of faux semi-precious stones and a wood-paneled ceiling. Bar Blue is the ship's jazz bar with giant peacock feathers that extend from the floor almost to the ceiling. The Ebony Cabaret has an African atmosphere, with dark ebony walls and ceilings, and hand-carved and painted wooden African masks mounted in copper-like frames. The Black & White Library features checkerboard wood squares in black and white patterns, wood bookcases and framed images of famous newspaper headlines. The library is very small for this size of ship so remember to bring your own reading material. The ship is easy to navigate, as many public rooms -- Camel Club Casino, the Burgundy Bar (wine bar), the White Heat Dance Club and Ultraviolets (teen disco) -- are centrally located. At one end is a cluster of hot spots like Cinn-A-Bar, a sing-along piano bar; the Ebony Cabaret, for late-night comics and dancing; and the Bar Blue for jazz. The Ivory Club, the ship's cigar bar, is just below. At the opposite end of the Promenade Deck are the Boulevard Shops, all selling the usual cruise fare, from Carnival insignia-wear to a pretty huge selection of duty-free booze, perfume and jewelry. | | | | top | | | | Cabins
Of the ship's 1,487 staterooms, 60 percent offer an ocean view; 60 percent of those feature private balconies. Carnival Glory has a range of range of staterooms from penthouse suites to inside cabins. One of our favorite categories is the new "family stateroom" with floor-to-ceiling glass windows but no balcony; there are only 18 of these but the location on Deck 11 right below Children's World is incredibly convenient. Balcony staterooms are equipped with faux-wood patio furniture and a glassed-in balcony. Bathrooms in all cabins have an amenity basket that is filled only once and typically includes a pack of disposable razors, shampoo samples (in packets not bottles), breath mints, toothpaste and tiny bars of soap. In the shower (tubs are found only in suites) shampoo and shower gel dispensers are kept full; however we suggest you bring your own if you take hair care seriously. Interactive television is also in all cabins offering up pay-per-view movies ($8.99 each) and a different complimentary movie each day along with port and shore excursion information, re-runs of onboard shows, and satellite broadcasts of BBC, ABC and NBC. There's also access to your Sail & Sign account, an easy way to keep track of spending. All cabins have mini-bars filled with soda, drinks and snacks. Beware of the prices; we had a $3.50 Snickers bar. Bathrobes and hairdryers are also available in all cabins. Self-service launderettes are available on most stateroom decks. Costs are $2 for a wash, $1.50 for a dry. Detergent and dryer sheets are also available for sale. Each laundry room is equipped with an iron and ironing board for complimentary use. | | | | top | | | | Entertainment
Carnival Glory is a ship that was built for entertainment -- 22 lounges and bars all play on the "colors" theme with dramatic interiors. It is worth seeing all of them in action and this ship gets hopping around 10 p.m. each evening. The White Heat Dance Club is the ship's disco featuring a disc jockey. It stays open into the wee hours. The Amber Palace, a 1,400-seat multi-level theater inspired by Russia's legendary Amber Room, is the jumping-off point most evenings with Vegas-style revues. Each show consists of elaborate sets and costumes, and some of the most dazzling special effects at sea including a revolving stage, rising orchestra pit, and a multi-million-dollar sound and lighting system. We found the best seats to be on Deck 4 where you can really see the special effects and the "flying objects." An Internet cafe is open 24 hours; it is located in an out-of-the-way room behind the Ivory Club. Charges are 75 cents per minute. Certain hot spots are equipped with Wi-Fi; passengers need to bring their own laptops and wireless cards. Packages are available onboard; $55 gets you 100 minutes of either standard or wireles access. Start-up fees, and charges for renting wireless cards, also apply. | | | | top | | | | Fitness and Recreation
The 13,300-square-ft. Spa Carnival features an exotic Polynesian design theme that incorporates lush foliage and a waterfall cascading down a stone-like wall between decks with two indoor whirlpools. Panoramic views of the sea, along with the latest in weight and exercise technology, make for a state-of-the-art workout. The workout area is through the locker rooms only; inside the locker rooms are complimentary steam rooms and saunas, and Steiner-operated spa treatment rooms. Among the relatively unusual spa services available is a heated seaweed dry float. A full-service beauty salon offers hair services, manicures and pedicures, but tends to book up for formal nights so reserve early. Fitness classes such as low- and high-impact aerobics and yoga are offered in the aerobics studio. Some classes -- yoga, kickboxing and spinning -- carry a fee of $10 per person. The pool deck is multi-tiered and large enough to accommodate everyone. We noticed little in the way of chair saving since passengers must sign out their towels, and there is a $22 per-towel fee if they are lost. The ship has three large whirlpools, four swimming pools (one with a 214-ft.-long water slide and another covered by a retractable dome), a jogging track, a half-court for basketball, a volleyball net and an assortment of Ping-Pong tables. A comprehensive golf program offers professional instruction both onboard and in ports of call. In 2009, Glory will be getting the Seaside Theatre, an outdoor big-screen movie setup located poolside. Similar to sister line Princess' Movies Under the Stars (M.U.T.S.) concept, passengers can enjoy concerts, news and sporting events during the day, and movies at night. | | | | top | | | | Family
Camp Carnival, the cruise line's kids' program, targets the 2- to 15-year-old set. The supervised activity program features a 4,200-square-ft. play area for kids including computer labs, arts and crafts centers, video game rooms, and an EduCruise science/geography program. Activities also utilize other parts of the ship. Camp Carnival targets activities to specific age groups; 2- to 5-year-olds have free play and structured activities, while 6- to 8-year-olds are grouped together for fun structured play. Children 9 to 11 have their own club, group dinners and talent shows, and can often be seen around the ship on treasure hunts. Kids aged 8 and under must be signed in to participate in Camp Carnival programs; parents are given beepers so that if the need should arise, they can be contacted immediately. Special supervised children's dinners are available in the Seaview Bistro from 6 until 7 p.m. nightly, except for the first and last night of the cruise. Children's menus are available in all main dining rooms. After dinner children are able to participate in regularly scheduled Camp Carnival activities until 10 p.m. After 10 p.m., there is group babysitting and parents must make reservations in advance. Group babysitting is available until 3 a.m at a cost of $6 per hour for the first child in a family and $4 per hour for each additional sibling. Other features include a special children's turn-down service offering freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the first and last night of the cruise. Fountain Fun Cards, which are good for unlimited soft drinks, are available. Ultraviolets is the center for teens (16 and over) with a dance floor, video wall, lounge, soft drink bar and state-of-the-art video gaming. | | | | top | | | | Fellow Passengers
Expect to find most passengers ranging in ages from 25 to 55. You will find more families with kids in the summer and during school breaks. Carnival reports that 30 percent of its passengers are under the age of 35, 40 percent are between 35 and 55, and 30 percent are over 55. | | | | top | | | | Dress Code
On a seven-day cruise there are two formal evenings; cocktail dresses for women, and a dark suit or tuxedo for men, are suggested. Most men opt for jackets and ties; however, tuxedo rental is available onboard. All other evenings, dress is resort casual; for men, that means sports shirts and slacks, and for women, that translates to sundresses and pants outfits. | | | | top | | | | Gratuity
Carnival recommends $10 per person, per day, broken down to $5.50 to the headwaiter/waiter, $1 to the assistant waiter/cooks and $3.50 to the cabin steward; the amount is automatically added to your shipboard account but can be adjusted in either direction at the purser's desk. A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to bar bills. An envelope is provided on the last night for those who want to extend thanks to the maitre d'. | | | | top | | | | | Expert reviews are provided by CruiseCritic.com, an award-winning cruise community. This objective information can help you choose just the right ship for your next cruise vacation. | |  | |
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