Carnival Glory

Colorful Carnival Glory offers a unique cruising experience

Ship Review by Matt Roseboom, July 2009

Cruise News Weekly’s Carnival Glory photoset

The Carnival Glory’s design is an ode to color and that’s very apparent the moment you enter the ship. From the ever changing kaleidoscope ceiling in the lobby, to the Amber Palace showroom and White Heat Dance Club, most every public room is named after colors. Your first may thought be “gaudy”, but it’s not. Every room fits its theme and is tastefully decorated. There’s a lot to see when you explore the ship and study each room’s details.

You get what you expect from the ship’s cabins. But they’ll be getting a bit of a makeover early next year as the tube televisions will be replaced with flat screens. The six-year-old ship has already been refurbished once in 2006, next January it’ll be touched up again. In addition to the new TV screens, they’re adding a Seaside Theatre screen for movies by the pool, a new kids area and other enhancements.

The ship features two main dining rooms (Platinum and Golden), casual buffet dining on the Lido deck in the Red Sail restaurant, and an extra fee supper club. The food is great all-around, but the Emerald Room Supper Club is outstanding. Although the fee per person is a bit high at $30, it’s worth dining at least one night in the upscale restaurant.

Although the Glory still features set-time dining for its main dining rooms, all Carnival ships are moving to “Your Choice Dining” in addition to late or early seatings. This will allow you to dine in the main dining rooms anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. The Glory will offer this option mid-December.

The shows during my recent cruise were certainly up to the Broadway caliber Carnival fans are used to, but the magic show stood out. Justin Illusion may have a corny name, but his show was spectacular. It’s not the typical magic show with bad jokes thrown in. In fact there’s no talking at all, just rockin’ music, hot dancers and magic.

The magic show fits with some of the other activities on board. The Glory’s staff has come up with some out of the ordinary activites. Things such as a Mardi Gras barhopping parade (complete with beads), murder mystery games and Invisible Movie Trivia (the actor’s been erased from the scene) add some variety to the usual ice sculpting demonstration and bingo games.

The Glory is also one of only a few ships trying out a new entertainment option called Fun Force. Fun Force consists of two acrobatic entertainers who appear at various times and locations throughout the week to show off their dance moves, lead dance classes and perform acrobatics using guests, chairs and whatever else they can climb up on. One show I caught in the lobby featured them long-jumping over a line of kid cruisers and doing flips off the lobby bar.

With miniature golf, kids activities, fine dining, a spa, and many unique activities, no one could get bored exploring this colorful fun ship.