She sounds very interesting. I am actually looking to cruise on this ship. I do not care for Port Canaveral but the ship is more important to me than where I leave from.
MIAMI 02/24/03
Carnival Cruise Lines' newest "Fun Ship,"
Carnival Glory, takes colors as its central design theme, with each
public
room celebrating a different shade of the rainbow. The 110,000-ton,
2,974-passenger Conquest-class ship is slated to debut July 19, 2003,
from
Port Canaveral, Fla.
"The central idea of colors is fundamentally felt by people,"
explained Carnival's interior architect Joe Farcus. "All of the
public
rooms center around the idea of color, which is reflected in the name
and
the décor, and the overall effect will be spectacular in a quiet,
unassuming
way."
The kaleidoscope of colors begins in The Colors lobby, where
one
finds the Color Bar and the main atrium, named Old Glory, featuring
interpretative paintings of U.S. flags.
Enhancing the ship's Kaleidoscope Boulevard promenade, as well as the
atrium, are one-square-meter polished aluminum light fixtures faced
with
white glass. Each fixture is subdivided into geometric modules that
are
backlit with strips of red, blue and yellow LED lights. The result is thousands of different tones in slow-moving kaleidoscopic effects that
offer
a sense of motion as the lights modulate between colors.
The Colors Atrium alone houses some 70 of the lighting
modules, but
more spectacular is the way the kaleidoscope concept is presented on
the
towering atrium wall. The wall itself is silver with an array of light
projectors mounted on the opposite wall that illuminate abstract
shapes.
With approximately 20 stage lights shining on the surface in constant
motion, Farcus said the effect creates "a giant, constantly evolving
abstract painting that never repeats a pattern."
Carnival Glory's main show lounge is the Amber Palace, named after
Russia's famous Amber Room, a gift by Frederick the First of Prussia
to
Peter the Great in 1715. For Glory's Amber Palace, Farcus chose
mosaics of
amber for the walls along with design touches that include fancy
rococo
moldings, gold leaf columns with female figures, candelabra, cornices
and a
"double eagle" image of Russian lore, and paintings of famous Russian
czars
and czarinas.
The famed Silver Temple and Golden Temple in Kyoto, Japan, are the
inspiration for the Platinum and Golden Dining Rooms. The restaurants
employ
a distinctive decagon-shaped window frame, while LED lights in
V-shaped
concave ceiling fixtures provide color-changing effects similar to
those in
the atrium and promenade. Wall coverings feature a pattern of
traditional
Japanese bonsai peony trees and flowers painted on silver- or
gold-leafed
backgrounds.
The Camel Club Casino features an Egyptian motif - not ancient
Egypt, but the era of exploration when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the
country. Life-sized kneeling camels greet visitors at entrances, and
sandstone-like friezes of camel heads are found on the ceiling and
slot
bases. Statues of the jackal-faced god Anubus, papyrus-like columns,
and
Middle Eastern tent-style ceilings add to the atmosphere.
The design of the White Heat Dance Club is "Liberace-like," according
to
Farcus, in the form of candles - gigantic white candles 12 to 18
inches in
diameter in silver candelabra bases ranging from two to five feet
tall. The
candles' "flames" are clusters of fiber-optic lights, and scattered
around
the room are smaller candles on silver trays. Carnival's trademark
"video
wall" displaying live shots from the dance floor and special effects
is also
featured.
One deck below the disco is the Ivory Club, featuring an
Indian
theme set off with elephant tusk replicas, intricate wall coverings
with
spindles and ivory-like squares, windows inset with mosaics of faux
semi-precious stones, and a wood-paneled ceiling with embossed brass
beams.
The bar front sports elephant faces in bas-relief, and the barstools
and
table bases replicate elephant feet.
Cinn-A-Bar, Carnival Glory's piano bar, offers a contemporary look in
stylish reddish-brown hues. Panel-like columns - flat on the sides and
concave on the face - curve up to a chrome band that extends from the
top of
the column in waves and connects the columns across the room. Walls
are of
curved aluminum with wavy streaks and anodized in cinnabar color.
Bar Blue is, appropriately, the ship's jazz bar. The main
features
of the walls are giant peacock feathers that extend from the floor
almost to
the ceiling. The "eye" of the feather is glazed with colored glass
backlit
with a soft incandescent light. The peacock feather motif is also
found in
the Tiffany-style glass ceiling and on the parquet dance floor.
The Ebony Cabaret has an African atmosphere, with dark ebony walls and
ceilings, and hand-carved and painted authentic wooden African masks
mounted
in copper-like frames. Table bases and barstools are in the shape
of
carved wooden heads, and tabletops feature batik fabric laminated
under a
clear finish. There is also an elaborate mirrored geometric design
over the
dance floor.
The Black & White Library features three-foot checkerboard
wood
squares in alternating black and white patterns and medium-tone wood
bookcases. Framed on the walls are the front pages of famous
newspaper
headlines. Black-and-white ceiling panels and light fixtures continue
the
theme. Wood-louvered shutters cover the windows.
The Red Sail Restaurant, a casual poolside eatery, offers a
sailboat
motif with highly varnished pine masts, sails, chrome hardware and
light
fixtures and a wood-beam ceiling. Teak railing, false portholes,
stainless
steel stanchions and large half-sailboat models carry on the theme,
and
vitrines located throughout the room contain small sailboat models
under
glass.
Carnival Glory's reservations-only supper club, the Emerald Room,
features
shiny, cobalt-blue walls and lighting fixtures resembling giant
emeralds,
which also are found in the ceiling and in a continuous cove molding
around
the room. A huge medallion on the wall is made up of hundreds of these
light
fixtures, creating a single massive emerald.
On the Green, the sports bar, celebrates the centuries-old
game of
golf, with vitrines containing clubs and other memorabilia from the
sport's
legends. Each vitrine is topped by a stained-glass golf hole flag,
which
also adorns the plush leather sofas surrounding the room. Walls
feature
murals of famous golf courses, and barstools and table bases are
half-golf
balls on tees. Fabrics are Tartan green plaid, paying homage to
golf's
Scottish origins.
Beginning July 19, 2003, Carnival Glory will operate
year-round
seven-day sailings from Port Canaveral, with alternating eastern and
western
Caribbean voyages departing every Saturday. Eastern Caribbean cruises
will
call at Nassau, St. Thomas/St. John, and St. Maarten, while western
Caribbean voyages will include Key West, Fla.; Belize City, Belize;
and
Cozumel and Progreso/Merida, Mexico.
For additional information and reservations, contact any
travel agent.
Carnival Cruise Lines is a member of the exclusive World's Leading
Cruise
Lines alliance which also includes Holland America Line, Cunard Line,
Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar Cruises. Together,
these
member lines share a commitment to quality and value, offering cruise
vacations that appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets and
sail to
some of the world's most exciting destinations. Carnival is the
leader in
the contemporary market of the cruise industry.
