Carnival Glory cruise ship review: What to expect on board
I embarked on a 14-night transatlantic cruise on Carnival Glory after securing a balcony cabin at an exceptional rate through a Carnival Players Club Fun Match deal. Although your cruise on Carnival Glory is likely to be much shorter, my extended cruise gave me plenty of time to get to know the ship and its amenities.
Carnival Glory had just come out of a 21-day dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, during which public areas were updated, a nonsmoking casino area was added, the sports bar was rebranded as the Heroes Tribute Bar & Lounge, Camp Ocean (the kids club) was redesigned with a new video wall for its Space Cruisers program and the video arcade was refreshed.
Although my cruise was a long Carnival Journeys voyage from Barcelona to Florida, Carnival Glory is now based in Port Canaveral and will be sailing three- and four-night Bahamas cruises through at least April 2026.
Here’s what you need to know about cruising on this older yet recently refreshed ship.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUYOverview of Carnival Glory
Carnival Glory is a 110,000-ton Conquest Class cruise ship that entered service in 2003. It can accommodate 2,980 passengers at double occupancy and 1,150 crew members.
Self-proclaimed as a “fun ship,” Carnival Glory is best suited for travelers who want to have a good time without spending too much cash and who prefer a modestly sized ship. Carnival Glory is best known for its two multistory waterslides, comedy club and large Amber Palace theater for shows.
What I loved about Carnival Glory
Carnival is known as a budget-friendly cruise line, so I came into my cruise on Carnival Glory with modest expectations. Even still, I found a lot to love about the cruise ship.
Modest-size ship with helpful signage
Within 24 hours, I was acquainted with the ship and felt confident navigating its 14 decks. The signage on Carnival Glory is straightforward and helpful. The ship diagrams in the elevator lobbies and the clear signs designating the side of the ship with odd- and even-numbered cabins help a lot.
You’ll find most self-serve and counter-service foods on decks 9 and 10 and most shopping on Deck 5. I loved that I rarely needed to take an elevator, as it was easy to walk up a few floors from my Deck 7 cabin to the Lido Deck (Deck 9) and down a few floors to the casino on Deck 5 and the main dining room on decks 3 and 4.
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Appealing counter-service restaurants
Two restaurants I found myself repeatedly visiting on Carnival Glory were Guy’s Burgers and BlueIguana Cantina. BlueIguana serves decent-quality burritos and tacos for breakfast and lunch, while Guy’s is open for lunch into early dinner with freshly made burgers and delicious fries.
I mostly avoided the buffet during my cruise. Instead, I went to BlueIguana for breakfast, Guy’s for a late lunch and the main dining room for dinner most days. I skipped the main dining room a few nights to save time — as dinner often took longer than an hour in the dining room — and had my last meal of the day just before 6 p.m. at Guy’s Burgers or later in the day at the Carnival Deli.
Related: 7 secret Carnival cruise breakfast spots that let you skip the buffet crowds
Fast Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi could be essential or irrelevant to you, depending on how you plan to spend your time aboard Carnival Glory. As a remote worker who wanted to continue working throughout my cruise, having good Wi-Fi, even at sea, was a huge positive. The speed and quality were much better than expected; all Carnival ships now have faster Wi-Fi through Starlink.
The Lido Deck is a good place to get online on Carnival Glory, especially if you don’t have a good Wi-Fi connection in your cabin. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
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Casual vibe
Some people like dressing up on vacation, especially for dinner. I’m not one of them. I appreciated that I could wear dress shorts and a blouse to dinner most nights. Even on the more formal nights and at the steakhouse, a black dress and ballet flats fit well within the stated dress code.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
Carnival clearly states the minimum dress code requirements for dinner and the steakhouse. Overall, passengers met or exceeded the dress code requirements. I did notice a few passengers at dinner who clearly violated the dining room dress code, including a man in gym shorts one night, but weren’t turned away.
What I didn’t love about Carnival Glory
Carnival Glory is an older ship, so it won’t be the best choice if you expect a modern design and amenities. I did face a few annoyances on board that weren’t related to the ship’s older design.
Morning announcements
Most mornings, I woke up to the cruise director making announcements over the speaker in the hallway outside our cabin. These announcements, which occurred between 7 and 9:30 a.m. each morning, usually didn’t provide any information that wasn’t already in the daily cruise bulletin and sometimes acted as a sales pitch for excursions or onboard shopping.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
I can understand having these announcements on days in port, although I wish they would wait to start them in cabin areas until about 30 minutes before passengers can disembark. But on days at sea, it would be nice to let travelers who had been up late enjoying deck parties and the casino sleep in.
Long waits for sit-down dining
If you want a sit-down breakfast or lunch in the main dining room — or opted for Your Time dinner seating — you’ll quickly learn you’ll need to check in to dine in the Carnival Hub app. You can see estimated wait times before you check in and then your estimated remaining wait time once you check in. Be sure to turn on notifications or keep an eye on the dining screen of your app to ensure you don’t miss your opportunity to be seated once you’re assigned a table.
We learned to watch the estimated wait times — which ranged from less than 10 minutes to 120 minutes during our cruise — and check in well before when we wanted to eat if the wait times were already long. Especially at the cruise’s start, some guests were shocked and frustrated by the long wait times for sit-down dining.
Uncomfortable bed
It might have just been my cabin, but I found the bed uncomfortable and the pillows lumpy.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
I expected the awkwardness of combining two twin beds into one king bed, but the foot of our bed was noticeably higher than the head. Additionally, the head and foot of the topper between the mattress and sheets rose in a banana shape each time I got into bed.
I figured this was just how cruise ship bedding is, especially after several fellow passengers noted they bring their own mattress toppers and pillows on extended cruises. In hindsight, I should have inquired with our room attendant to see if he could make any adjustments to our bedding.
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Carnival Glory cabins and suites
Like most cruise ships, Carnival Glory offers inside rooms, ocean-view rooms, balcony cabins and suites. If you want an inside cabin, know that while most are windowless, some offer small porthole windows or a walkway view. Some smaller inside rooms have one twin bed with an upper Pullman or sofa bed — perfect for a single traveler or a parent and child.
Ocean-view rooms have three primary types: obstructed view rooms, rooms with a picture window and rooms with a floor-to-ceiling window. You’ll also find several types of balcony rooms, including those with standard or aft views, slightly larger rooms with premium balcony views and premium vista balconies for corner rooms where the balcony wraps around two sides of the ship.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
Carnival Glory also offers four types of suites with extra perks like priority check-in and boarding, Main Dining Room time assignment and debarkation. Junior suites have more floor space, a bathtub and a standard-size balcony, while ocean and grand suites are even larger with bigger balconies. Finally, the captain’s suite has a separate living room, multiple bathrooms and a large balcony.
Carnival Glory has 50 accessible cabins for guests with mobility limitations. Most are ambulatory-accessible cabins, designed for passengers who use a cane or similar device when walking long distances but who don’t need a wheelchair or scooter. Carnival Glory only has four fully accessible cabins designed for passengers who use a wheelchair or scooter.
Balcony room on Carnival Glory
For my transatlantic cruise, I booked a 185-square-foot balcony room. I was impressed with how well designed the room was and how spacious it felt once I put all my belongings away.
KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY
On the left side of the cabin’s entryway, you’ll find three doors. Two are closets with 12 hangers each and shelves at the top and bottom. Meanwhile, the third closet offers four large shelves.
Across from the closets is the bathroom. The shower is large enough for one person. The water was contained between the curtain and the high-lipped shower pan even when I took a shower in rough seas. An extendable clothesline could be connected across the shower to provide drying space. Shampoo and body wash are provided, but not conditioner.
Due to the many shelves on both sides of the mirror, I had plenty of space in the bathroom for my belongings. Hand soap is provided, but nothing else (like lotion or a shower cap) is offered. Two hooks on the back of the bathroom door offer a good place to hang towels you plan to reuse.
Next to the closets is the desk area. Four drawers on one side of the desk offered more storage space, while the lap drawer was a good place to put old cruise bulletins and documents that would otherwise clutter the desk. You’ll find a hair dryer in one of the desk drawers.
On the other side of the desk are a minifridge, a safe and a 21-inch TV. The TV offered rotating movies and TV channels, but my favorite channel was a rotating display of live camera views from the front of the ship and a map showing the ship’s location.
Opposite the desk is a large couch. Ours was ripping at the seam on the top, but it was still comfortable to sit on. Next to the couch is a table you could adjust to different heights. This table was a good work desk, but I suspect many other cruisers would use it as a card table or for in-room dining. Under the couch were two large drawers.
The bed is close to the window and balcony, consisting of two 35-inch-wide twin beds pushed together. Nightstands with a light, power outlet, USB-A outlet and USB-C outlet were on both sides of the bed. I was glad I ordered magnetic hooks after reading TPG’s list of must-have cruise items, as these were essential for keeping our curtain flush against the wall in the mornings and preventing the sun from shining in on both sides.
I loved sitting out on the balcony and spent a lot of time relaxing and working there. The two chairs were comfortable, and one even adjusted to different reclining levels. However, we got wet one evening when someone above us rudely decided to empty their ice chest over their railing.
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