Carnival Glory: Western Caribbean Sailing

The Carnival Glory is a Conquest-class Carnival Cruise Line ship. It has 14 decks and can hold up to 2,980 guests onboard. The Glory was launched in 2003 and since then has been refurbished. The latest drydock, in 2012, included the addition of restaurants and amenities found on newer ships like Guy's Burgers, BlueIguana Cantina and Tequila Bar and the Punchliner Comedy Club. We embarked in Miami and our itinerary consisted of Grand Cayman, Roatan, Honduras, Belize, Cozumel and two days at sea.

Cabin

Having sailed on a Conquest class ship before that did not have these renovations, it was easy for me to spot the differences in sister ships. The additions are very welcome, especially the two new restaurants. The cabin that we had was located on deck 6 mid-ship. It was an interior cabin directly in the middle of the ship. Due to it's location, the cabin's layout was quite different from a regular interior cabin. The usual 'hallway' that you would have to walk through to get into the room past the closet didn't exist. Instead the closet was complete against the wall, making the space to walk larger. I loved the layout and it really felt like we had a lot more space than we really did. I'm really sorry that I didn't get a good picture of the entire layout. One of the lamps shade was broken and couldn't stay on properly, but it didn't bother me and was easy to ignore throughout our stay.

The midship location was also very convenient as we were close to both elevators and the laundry room.

Ship Layout

For the most part the ship was quite easy to navigate. There were only two instances in which I recall that we got lost. One was attempting to find the Steakhouse and we went over to the Spa by mistake. The second was finding the dining room where they serve brunch. If you have a set dining time, you may have this dining room. It is a pain to find. It is directly to aft and you have to go to one of the upper decks and then go down the stairs where it's directly below to get to it. You cannot access it from the floor that it is on. It's funny how both of these seem to revolve around food.

Entertainment

The Entertainment onboard the ship was very good. From the singers in the Atrium and the casino to the various shows we all had a pretty good time. The singers in Carnival's Production shows were good, especially the ladies! I was not able to see the last show, Latin Night, however my friends informed me that I did not miss out on anything and it was far and away the worst. Unfortunately, on our second day (Motown Show!) they had an accident back stage near the beginning of the show and had to cancel it for the night. Apparently, their lead male singer was injured and he was not in any of the other shows for the rest of the week. It was a shame because his voice and energy was absolutely fantastic. I hope he had a quick and painless recovery.

The best entertainment on board by far was the Punchliner Comedy Club. If you want to see this, I highly recommend coming about 20 minutes to a half an hour early if you want to get a decent seat. Finding a line waiting to enter into the venue (which is too small for the crowd that wants to get in) is not unusual. Also, if you do not want to be picked on by the comedian, you might want to get a seat further in the back.

Sea Days

Oh, Sea Days. I love them because you get to sleep in and there's a wonderful Sea Day brunch to look forward to, but it's also extremely crowded pretty much everywhere. Carnival does attempt to fill up the day with activities. The first sea day tends to have all of the shop talks and most of the raffles throughout the day. The salon has a pamper party on both sea days. It's pretty basic with them giving you tips for skin care and sampling the basic cleanser and toner that they carry at the salon. At the end of the party, though you get an opportunity to book a number of treatments for a reduced price. I received a hand and arm massage, leg massage, back massage, hot stone massage and a facial for 75 minutes for $130 tip included. Fantastic deal.