FlyingCruiserNJ

Princess lido deck/buffet pizza is the best pizza I have ever had on a cruise ship, anywhere.  Almost land-based neighborhood pizzeria quality.  Pizza on Royal ships with Sorrento's, at least on the Anthem and Freedom, is edible and pretty good for being free, but not as good as Princess.  Now compare Sorrento's with the sit-down pizzerias on the promenade decks on ships like the Grand Princess, they are about equal.  The quality and style of the pizzas there is different from the lido buffet stuff for some reason on Princess.  Both are better than Norwegian's and Carnival's though, and I do have to say that at peak times, they keep the lines moving very well at Sorrento's with always having fresh pizzas out and a decent variety of stuff to choose from. 

The object is not to drink 15 alcoholic drinks per day, just enjoy enough to get your monies worth. If you wish to drink 3 Grey Goose VX martini at the Alchemy Bar @ 20.00 each, you have already made your money. This has been debated on many threads on here and the thought that you don't get your monies worth on a port day does not hold water since you still have a minimum of 8-10 hours on board to get your monies worth, which can be had in 3-8 drinks depending upon your preference. Spreading 8 drinks over 8 hours does not get you drunk, unless you're a 100 lb lightweight who should not even be contemplating Cheers anyway.

Yes, I can enjoy a few drinks in a day, maybe more than a few at the club or outside the casino or in the punchliner lounge in the evening, but I don't want to do that every night of the cruise, especially ones longer than 3 or maybe 4 days. Unless you're a bigtime drinker, run the math before buying and realize based on factors such as port days, evening activities, rest and recovery time, etc, are you going to get that value every day or not? For most people, no they probably will not. Yes, you can get a very expensive drink such as the strawberry martini (or whatever my buddy had at Alchemy on my last cruise) and 2 or 3 of them would add up but again, is that an everyday thing for most? I understand it is not a race to get to 15 just for the sake of doing it, but the real only way to get true value from that and not just break even or lose money on the package is to really drink all day and night for the entire cruise. Yeah, some people just want to prepay their drinks and be out that money ahead of time without worrying about a bill later and enjoy and that's great. But it is ultimately up to each person. I am just trying to give some perspective to someone who is contemplating buying the package on its pros and cons.

On a 4 day cruise why would you purchase the soda package after the first day?:o:o

If you want to avoid paying an additional 25 cents or so until the evening per warm soda on the first night due to taxes and only getting a half a day's use of the package on the first day, saving that $9 or so could be a good option. I've never done it like that but you certainly can and it could be a savings if you don't drink a ton of soda on the first day or don't get onboard until 300P or for whatever reason that would limit your usage of the plan.

Why do you need to 'get to 15 drinks a day"? 4-5 a day along with bottled water, soda, specialty coffees, milk shakes, etc. more than makes it worth my while with Cheers. It doesn't have to be a drinking challenge.

It isn't but if people are paying that $60 a day for it, they are naturally going to try to get their money's worth. If you are drinking 4 beers/wine/drink of the day and a couple sodas each day, it is pointless to get the package and may as well just pay per drink or get the soda only. The few times I have gotten cheers, I have had to due to being in a cabin with other drinkers but even then I found myself trying to drink when I maybe did not want to just to try to get a better value for the package. What they should do, is a tiered program like other lines did and include a package that just gets you beer, maybe low end wine and soft drinks for one price, another mid-grade plan that includes more stuff and then finally a premium package for those who want those $20 martinis that everyone seems to keep talking about for a higher price. Then everyone would be happy. I could buy a bucket of beer each day or one every two days for half of what the cheers package would cost and have more than enough most of the time. The main point is that unless you drink a lot, getting the package may end up costing you more than it is worth and you are locked into it for every cruise day, whether or not you actually use it. That was my only caution. A lot of people don't realize that when considering buying.

Nice summary of the cruise experience. I too was on this cruise and it was a good time. I also flew down the morning of, into FLL, got a ride on SAS (best shuttle company there, they call you to confirm you have arrived, are waiting at baggage claim for you and you are at POM a half hour after getting out of the terminal), met up with my group, who all took different routings to get there, and had a great time. They surely did let everyone on early, I was on lido with my lunch at 1130 and sailaway was on time and a lot of fun. It was hot all week although not particularly sunny and it did rain in Cozumel (part of Invest 95 which almost became a tropical depression right over top of us) for half the day but we made the best of it and spent the evening in Cozumel, and rode up to downtown to check out some drinkeries there. We probably saw each other at some point, lol. The group of 5 crazies running around lido and the promenade at all hours of the day was us, LOL.

I had been on the Victory before, nice little ship, dated and not the most modern of activities offered but still enough to do. Vroom was great, best I can remember it being, and I have seen it multiple times. The live music makes those shows I am convinced of that. The music on Promenade each night was excellent, that band was great. The comedians were good although unless you got a seat a half hour before each show, it was standing room only or no entry at all.

I would have done a review of this myself as I often do but I took almost no pictures on this cruise (very unusual for me) so a review would be fairly boring. The bar service was excellent from what I could gather and the mdr service was outstanding. Granted, we were at a 12-top table at the very back of the boat on deck 3 atlantic for the late seating and our tablemates only showed up one night and the room was not crowded overall but still great, classic Carnival service.

Which do you like more? Guys or Blue Iguana? I like Guy's plain burger with bacon and potato sticks for a topping but lately the fries have been just too spicy for my tastes. Still good for a free venue though. Blue Iguana is great for lunch, and the pizza was good each time we went. Did you check out the seafood shack? We were going to but never made it there, as it is an upcharge venue but I have heard the stuff there is good. The chopsticks on the lido buffet was good, not sure how many people knew it was even there as they have done away with Mongolian wok and replaced it with this place. Not bad but not as good as the wok was. The biggest secret was the upper dining room on deck 10, right above the lido buffet, we always got a seat there, never crowded. The dinner buffet keeps getting worse and worse on Carnival which is a huge negative but as long as you are willing to clean up some and dress fairly nice, the mdr is still very good.

We too were disappointed at the early day in Key West but I have been there so many times I am used to it and now plan accordingly. We just spent the day on Duval St. and since we were the only ones in port that day, walked right back onboard around the scheduled departure time of 1300 and spent the rest of the day up on lido. We also carried all our stuff on with us and most of us did self assist debark. Did you get off the ship before customs shut everything down around 900? They would not let anyone who did not get off very early to debark until after 1000. No biggie for us as we had later flights but some were freaking out because we did not get off until 1130 which I am sure delayed the turnaround for later in the day as there were still many people after us still waiting to get off at close to noon. Never experienced that before.

To solve that problem, all you need to do is get your cold cans of soda from the coffee bar instead of the warm ones that you'll get at a bar which is then poured over a cup of ice. The Coffee bar on the Horizon had a self serve case in the front as well as a glass front refrigerator in the back that had cans of soda, bottles of water, vitamin water, honest tea iced tea, etc.

Whenever I go to a bar to get soda with the bubbles package, I either ask for a full can and a cup of ice on the side or just a little ice in a cup with the soda poured over it if they won't give me the full can. On the Victory at least, last week it was hit or miss about getting a full can vs. getting a cup of warm coke poured over ice. If you don't like how they give it to you, just ask for it the way you like it the next time or go to a different bar. Now, the cheers package is cheaper if you pre-purchase it more than 48 or 72 hours I think before the cruise leaves and it is paid for right away - no worries about it going on your sign and sail account and having to pay for it later. It is a few dollars a day cheaper and includes everything liquor, soda, now even water and maybe Powerade but not sure about the Powerade. I know the people I sailed with this last time were getting bottles of water with the program. If you are going to drink more than a half dozen drinks a day along with soda and coffee and all that, go for it. But you are maxed out at 15 a day and no more after that. I will caution a person who wants to buy cheers of this however. My friends, who are huge social drinkers, even had a hard time getting to the 15 drink limit a few of the days of the 4-day sailing we just went on. You have to figure if you get up early, maybe a few drinks, one or two at lunch, one at dinner and if you are out late at a show or the club, you might get to your limit but it will be tough. If you have a lot of port days I really don't suggest getting it. For me it would not be worth it as I cannot get to 15 in one day, ever and rather I get the soda package and use my free platinum drink coupon and go to the VIFP all you can drink party on the last day of the cruise and that is plenty for me. Also, if you get off the boat, drinking in port will cost money and before you know it, you are buzzed when you get back onboard and you again won't get to your limit if you can even make it to the end of the night without retiring early. Drinking for a day or two is one thing but drinking like that for a whole week while having to justify your drinks by trying to get your money's worth isn't my thing. But it may be for some. Long winded I know, but it is my opinion and this is certainly a topic that has been heavily discussed on this site over the years. Oh, and before I end this - if it is a short sailing and you won't be drinking a half a case of soda a day every day, bring a 12-pack on at embarkation and then if you go to a place like Key West or another port that has a CVS or something similar, get another one there and bring it back on with you. I have heard that is allowed and a lot cheaper than paying 2.50 plus tip a can or the 8.00 a day plus tip that you pay for the soda package.

Could it be a way, as mentioned in other posts, to prohibit those who don't have early access to cabins. Unless you KNOW you can, they aren't telling. The ship may have told the port staff that to prevent extra people in the cabins and corridors before 1:30pm. Is the port staff, Carnival employees or the ports employees? Don't you check people in for what ever cruise line is at your pier on any given day?

In the past, at least on certain vessels and on certain decks, you could flash your silver card to a Carnival employee "guarding" the hall and get to your room before 1330. There were a few representatives in the elevator areas on the Victory last week that I saw but they all said to go to lido as the rooms were not going to be available to anyone until 130P. Now, I find it doubtful that they were running behind schedule as my roommate boarded around 1100 and was already getting lunch on a semi-crowded lido deck by the time I got upstairs to meet her at 1130. So obviously this is the way they want to go. Just be clear with everyone what your plan going forward is. Just another Carnival Cutback. BTW, really loved that the seaday brunch free drink coupon is only valued up to $9.00 (but not clearly marked on said coupon). Had to pay 29 cents or so for a funship special at the brunch. Talk about tacky but that is for another discussion. And to add a thought to your question about what the checkin staff are saying, I do believe the lady who checked me in said the rooms would be available for priority guests upon embarkation if I recall correctly because I do actually think I asked her. But using a paper boarding pass with a barcode to buy all your drinks for half of the first day is surely a great improvement, lol. Also, maybe it is different in Miami, but I think all the checkin staff at the terminals is contracted out, right? Maybe it is different for a place like Miami for Carnival where they have lots of cruises depart and arrive but I know in smaller ports they are not the cruise line staff and may very well rove from cruise line to cruise line on any given day.

I can tell you that at least on the Victory last week from Miami, NO rooms were accessible at embarkation time. I know this because I boarded around 1130 and tried to stop by my cabin on Riviera deck 1 to drop my carryon bags and go back to lido for lunch afterwards. In fact, the double doors leading from the elevators to the halls were solidly locked, whereas in the past they may have been closed but you could still open them, go to your cabin, possibly see your steward as he or she was finishing up the room prep stuff. Cannot recall if the Platinum, Diamond or FTTF messages were on the doors but it said clearly that the rooms were getting their finishing touches and would be available at 130P. This threw a lot of other pax off also, as they were too expecting to at least be able to see their rooms, only to be physically denied. Now, I have read on here that this is coming and I don't have a huge problem with it but let me know that I won't be able to get to my room until after lunch and right before muster. I carried all my stuff on (as did the other 4 people in my party, 2 separate cabins) and having to wait for hours on lido to be able to get to the room kind of defeats the purpose of "Priority." To reiterate, this is the first time I think I have actually been physically denied access to my cabin prior to 130P since I have been platinum (5 years), so obviously things are changing. YMMV from ship to ship currently and JH can say whatever he wants but I know what I experienced just in the past week.

This thread has gotten pretty long and I haven't read the whole thing but based on what I saw, I agree with most of what I have read here. I have sailed NCL three times (Carnival like 15 or so) and it does have its positives and negatives. In terms of cabins, they are smaller but the balconies are nicer as the one I had featured a sliding door that you could leave open as opposed to the doors that you cannot keep open on Carnival. Amenities are similar and room stewards are not that much different.

The check in process is similar, again not much difference even though I get priority boarding due to platinum status on Carnival. I am guessing cruise lines are not that different in this area. In terms of making you feel welcome, lately the boarding process on Carnival has been completely disorganized and it is noticeable and although I had a nightmare embarkation day on the Sky a few years ago in Miami, perhaps it is a little smoother on NCL.

Entertainment is better on Carnival by a mile. I like comedians and NCL only has one or two nights of it on an average sailing and it isn't all that funny. Carnival's comedy clubs are generally good although some of the comedians just plain suck in general but most of the time it is really enjoyable. They do a good job with that (and thankfully they have ditched the marketing agreement they had with GL for the Punchliner) and the stage shows are decent even though they are pretty low-budget and low-tech I guess. I am not a huge critic of theater but if there is nothing else to do, I will drop in on one of the shows. Always activity going on somewhere during the day on the ship as well, NCL has times where there is nothing to do. Clubs are better on Carnival I think and deck parties are better as well. If you just want to hang out and relax, NCL is good but if you want to do more, Carnival is for you. It is totally subjective though, different people are into different things. One is not necessarily worse or better than the other, it depends on what you are interested in.

Food and beverage is even and I only say that because Carnival's main dining room is better. That and free lido things such as pizza, Guy's burgers, Mongolian Wok is better than NCL. I still like assigned dining times, NCL does not offer this at all. However, their pay restaurants are superior to Carnival with maybe the exception of La Cucina and maybe the steakhouse. Nothing beats the teppanyaki grill on a cruise ship for a la carte dining. Their Ginza noodle bar is better too. O'Sheehan's, which is mostly free, beats a lot of mdr stuff on Carnival. They have great wings and on some nights, things such as prime rib that blow the crap that they call prime rib on Carnival away. The buffets on NCL are better by a mile also. But no free pizza 24/7 and most stuff outside of the buffet and mdr are things you have to pay more for. Drink service is better on NCL although they only carry Pepsi which I am not a huge fan of but it is still passable. The unlimited drinks actually means unlimited drinks and with the promotions they have, can be free (or $100 total with autotip added in when you get it lol) whereas Carnival caps you at 15 a day. I miss the Carnival signature service in eating establishments and throughout the ship when cruising NCL but there are some things on there that you cannot get from Carnival and stuff like wcmc and pizza pirate on Carnival that you cannot ever get on Norwegian.

The ships are not that much different honestly. NCL has pools and hot tubs as does Carnival and they really are not that different from each other in quality. Some NCL ships have features such as the bridge viewing room and that is neat on the ships that have it, nothing similar on Carnival. Also, interactive displays throughout the ship on NCL can give you real-time updates on ship activities and things like dining wait times. The decor is what it is, that does not make or break a cruise for me and I surely wouldn't not book a cruise because of the interior decorations. Each line visits ports that do not always overlap so if you want to see a specific island or port that only one line or the other goes to, that could be a factor in booking. Each line offers routes that are attractive to me so that is even.

Prices, Carnival seems to be the most expensive line these days. How did that happen? LOL. Hard to find deals on them anywhere anymore, except maybe in low season in fall and January. I used to be able to sail for $150 a person all included for 4 days with special deals I get, haven't seen anything that good lately. I guess people want to cruise Carnival these days. They seem to be aiming more for the new cruisers nowadays anyway as they probably spend more money than those of us who cruise a lot and I guess they are making that money. NCL still offers really good deals and things like free ultimate dining package, free internet, free excursion credit, free drinks, etc, Carnival only really gives you obc if they screw something up and have to compensate you or you do a future cruise certificate. Really good deals can easily be found on them these days.

So, overall, both lines are good and I enjoy sailing on both. They offer different products, you just have to decide which one you really want to sail on and what you want from a cruise. I will go back and forth between the two (and lately, Royal Caribbean as well), sometimes based on itinerary or port of embarkation or ship, or even who I am sailing with. Family cruises have different expectations than if I am cruising with some friends for a long weekend drinking party, lol. Both offer competitive products and both are generally a pleasure to sail on. I have pretty much split my loyalty among numerous lines in recent years as I just feel staying exclusive to one line shuts me out from new things and experiences that sailing other lines can bring. I still like Carnival but it is not my only go-to option anymore.

Of course this is just my 2 cents but hopefully it helps with the conversation.

I was following along on FlyingCruiserNJ's Glory review and happy to see that it popped up again so I could finish. I also noticed the pictures are gone. :(

 

 

The reason is because Photobucket, which was the main host site for pictures that many of us had used when doing CC reviews, decided to change their terms of use, mainly affecting their 3rd party image hosting. Unless members pay for the premium package, the highest they offer, which is about $400 a year, they will not be eligible for the 3rd party image hosting. I copied and pasted (below) from Photobucket's updated terms of use:

 

"Plus 50 Plan: 52 GB of Storage for $59.99 / Year. The Plus 50 Plan does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting.

Plus 100 Plan: 102 GB of Storage for $99.99 / Year. The Plus 100 Plan allows for unlimited image linking but does not allow 3rd party image hosting.

Plus 500 Plan: 500 GB of Storage and unlimited bandwidth for $399.99 / Year. The Plus 500 Plan allows for unlimited image linking and unlimited 3rd party image hosting."

 

Sadly, many of the pictures in past reviews will eventually disappear, unless the $400 fee (aka ransom) is paid. I've done a few reviews which have not had the pictures removed, yet, and there are others that still have the pictures showing, but Photobucket isn't able to do this all at once, they are "going down the line", so to speak. Those affected have received emails from Photobucket to notify them that they are no longer eligible for 3rd party image hosting. I know that I will not be paying that amount when they get to me. But there are many reviews here that I have enjoyed in the past, and re-read when I'm going through "cruise withdrawal" or have a cruise planned that will be going to some of the ports so I can look back and get ideas of new things to do. It's a shame that Photobucket is doing this...so many have spent a lot of time on their CC reviews. :loudcry:

 

FlyingCruiserNJ...I was really enjoying your review and the beautiful pictures you include. I saw it come up again today with hopes of finishing and saw that Photobucket has disabled your 3rd party image hosting. I have also enjoyed past reviews that you have done as well. Thank you for the time that you've put into your reviews.

I am totally bummed about this and pretty upset. Yes, what you describe is what they did and they did it with absolutely no warning whatsoever. To go from free to that price is just bad. Perhaps even if they would have grandfathered already-posted pictures to stay where they were on the web or offering a reduced price to allow existing photos on forums like this one before just going for the money like they have, would have gotten me and many other people to pay up. But I won't pay that, no way. I feel bad because I know people do love reading these reviews and I love writing them but the photos are going to be gone now, like it or not. I don't know what the opinions of others here who have also used that site to link their photos to here are but I bet a lot of reviews like this are going to be forever broken because of this. I will move my pics over to another site (plenty to choose from I think) in the future but I can't go back into these reviews with the new links anyway, so in the future I will get back to my picture heavy reviews but everything done up to now has been wrecked. Sad.

I said it in my last post that I would write up the last few days based on what I remember (it being 3 months past sail date now, lol) if people still wanted to hear my thoughts on it, if you are interested I will get to that in the next few days and at least finish the review, albeit without any new pics being posted. I hate not finishing reviews and I know people like reading them but I just had that hopeless feeling when I saw what happened to this review with the photo linking and kind of abandoned it. I truly appreciate everyone's kind words that they enjoy my reviews, it makes me feel good to know that other cruisers see value in what I put on here. This site is all about sharing experiences and helping make others' vacations better if we can in any way help, and that isn't going to stop me from doing future reviews once I get the photo hosting issues sorted out in the hopefully near future. So thanks for reading along with me and looking forward to each new addition I put onto these reviews and again, if you want I will at least add my thoughts and a summary of the last few days of the cruise when I get the chance probably this weekend. Happy cruising and have a great summer.

I am loving your review, but the pictures seem to have gone away. Is there any way you can bring them back?

I truly appreciate hearing from people that they have enjoyed my reviews. It makes me feel good that people enjoy reading them and can glean some ideas for their own cruise vacations from them. Sadly, the pictures are going to be gone forever from these reviews as that photo collection site (won't mention it here as I am upset about what they did) indeed changed its terms of service and now make you pay $400 per YEAR to embed your photos on any site on the web. Ridiculous. A small, one-time fee and a very small yearly maintenance fee would have been reasonable to expect but no way am I paying that ridiculous price to put my pics out on the internets, each year.

It hurts me really bad that all my reviews on here are now broken and while the stories remain, the pictures will never be able to be seen again in any of them. Unfortunately, this site doesn't allow you to go back and edit old posts so even when I move all my pictures to some other hosting site in the future and can again add pics to future reviews, the old ones will never be whole again. And yes, a lot, a LOT of people are in that same boat (no pun intended), that hosting site made a huge mistake with what they have decided to do but it is what it is. I will be going on more cruises, and beginning with my one to New England and Canada in September, will hopefully again be able to add pictures to my reviews.

I was going to get to the last sea day and our trip home parts of the review but once I saw that all my pics were gone, and I wouldn't be able to add any more at this time, I figured it would be pointless to write about the last two days without adding pictures to a long review that now has no pictures in it. If you and the other readers want, I can still go back in my notes and funtimes and write about what our experiences were for the last two days (what I can remember 3 months after the cruise, lol), but it just won't have any photos to accompany it. I would still do that as I have never not finished a review but I am really bummed about what happened with my photos on here. But I have learned and hopefully this won't happen again in the future with mine or any other peoples' vacation reviews.

Yup, there is no such thing as a private beach on GT, every beach is public access. Great being able to get in the water anywhere!

 

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That is how it should be too. :) More fun for everyone. Grand Turk beaches are decent, at least the one right near the port and at Jack's. Not the best but adequate enough for a day of relaxation and swimming and possibly some snorkeling if that is what you are into.

The "warning sign" is put there by the port to try to get you to stop wandering down the beach and stay in the port area. You're not trespassing. (Being originally from South Jersey and going down the shore, I know some of the tricks that get used. ;p) We walk down the beach past the sign to get to Jack's Shack; there are several newer bars along the way.

That makes sense, :D. I never remember seeing those signs before when I visited however. Right past the signs appeared to be some sort of club with DJ and did not look to be affiliated with the cruise port so I figured before I got myself in trouble there or they wouldn't let me back onto the port beach because I had left the premises already for whatever reason, I just turned back and spent the rest of my beach time right in that port beach and at Margaritaville. I did notice as we were sailing away that there seemed to be a few other structures between the port and Jack's as well, guess they are bars or are really nice private homes. LOL about the NJ thing, I know a lot of houses are right up against the dunes and the people in those very expensive houses near the beach entrances don't like people walking through all summer long and you are right, they do whatever they can to shoo people away. This beach (along with HMC to a somewhat lesser extent) reminded me more of Ocean City and a much smaller version of Wildwood however, large and clearly public beaches with clear and easy public access from everywhere. But I definitely do recommend Jack's just for the uniqueness of it and for Topher and his entertaining act as well. :cool:

Our family loves oysters! Can you only get them as appetizer? Thanks same everything in August! Love reading![emoji568]

 

 

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I didn't purchase anything at that seafood shack but I believe everything is a la carte and maybe some things come as platters but I think the oysters are for a certain price, not sure how many you get or if you get anything else with them. I suppose you could order them as an appetizer for a group or whatever and get your own platters but it could start to get expensive quick. A lot of the seafood prices are advertised as market price so that can fluctuate from sailing to sailing I guess. I forget what the market price was showing on this cruise but compared to my favorite fresh seafood places back home, the prices were not bad at all. Thank you for reading along with me and being patient as I work my way slowly to a conclusion of this review and hopefully it helped you prepare for your August cruise. You will have a great time and it will be here before you know it.

I always get excited when u post another chapter to your story. This is one port I am looking forward to just relaxing by the beach and unwinding. Do you think it's walkable to jacks shack with two kids? Aged 6 and 8? I think you said half a mile so I did the conversions to meters and feel it may be ok but obviously not sure. Do cabs take you if kids are being rowdy wanting to walk?

I am glad that you have had a good time following my adventures here. I haven't been able to update it as often as I would have liked and it has taken me way too long to finish but I am almost there. Probably going to get to our final sea day on Tuesday sometime - too tired now lol. Grand Turk is a very good place to just relax and unwind and do nothing or hang out at Margaritaville or venture away from the cruise port. It has been a few years since I did Jack's but I remember we took a cab there and back. The road that goes that way has no sidewalk and it is uneven surfaces but I think if you are in good shape you could probably make it there on foot. I have heard people talk about walking on the beach to get there but I never tried it. For kids I probably would not walk - forget what the cabs cost but it isn't a whole ton and it is probably a fixed rate if you get it at the cruise port. They will work with you to get a return to the port at a certain time as well if you ask or at least that was my experience. I don't know if the cabs would take kids if they are overexcited however but I am guessing that no cab driver will turn down money from people who want to ride, haha. But Jack's is worth the trip. It is a lot smaller venue than Margaritaville and it is a lot of fun, unique for sure. Whatever you decide to do, have fun.

DAY 6 - GRAND TURK CONTINUED:

We were seated normal time in the MDR, and were greeted by the tablecloths that people long for and that they only have on elegant nights. K did her nightly trip to camp ocean and would meet us later as usual, and I got some shrimp and pasta fazul for my appetizers. Can't go wrong with a shrimp cocktail on Carnival. What is my shrimp recipe count up to now? Best part of the meal probably too, lol. Not a great menu tonight. I did get a filet cooked medium for my entree and it was OK. I believe I was back to the wcmc for dessert tonight as well.

K met us near the end of the dinner, around 2200 and we got some to-go stuff for her and were out by 2230. I will mention again how great the wait staff was with us each night, coordinating K's nightly arrival with getting her an entree for there or/and stuff to take back to the cabin with her for later. And of course, since I went through so much trouble with getting just the right sport jacket and pants before the cruise and taking the trouble to bring it with us, I did have to wear them one night and get a picture of me outside the dining room all dressed up. So here it is, lol. I was full after dinner tonight as I was every night despite the lack of great choices on the entree menu.

I was tired and went back to the cabin to take a short nap around 2230 before heading back out to see some comedy at 2330, which was not crowded by the way. Also, in the funtimes, the late comedian was listed as Alan Bursky, but in my notes the guy was named something Miller. He was funny but the lounge was half empty and it was noted during the show and he did the best he could to make light of that fact in his routine. Tommy Drake performed at 2230 and we missed him due to the conflict with dinner. I did stop by the theater to see the end of the production show, called Amor Cubano though. Miller also performed at 2130 in the comedy lounge, and Tommy Drake had a show at 2030, kid friendly material. The dive-in movies tonight were Arrival and Hidden Figures, again lousy movies that showed at 1900 and 2130 on the lido if you are interested to know about that.

They offered a midnight dive in movie tonight, called Bad Moms and the other three in my party chose to go there and I walked around the ship to kill time before bedtime. I walked around some but honestly not much to do tonight. The club actually was not that happening tonight when I passed and out of curiosity I passed the cinnabar to see how much noise I could expect to hear when I arrived back at the cabin at nearly 0200. LOL. It was still pretty loud right up to the 0200 hour also. T and K were back to sleeping in our room tonight because they said that K was creeped out by the fact they could hear creaking or some other crazy noise in the other cabin that they were given to sleep in so they just waited until Mark's crew was done in the bar to come back to the cabin and go to sleep in our original cabin and that was that for the night. Sometime after 0200.

Again, a fairly full day today but different from the day before. It was fun and guess what, only one more day of this cruise left. Yes, we were headed back to Miami now, as with all good things, this would be coming to an end as well shortly. But we still had a lot of fun on the last day and I will get to that shortly, hopefully sometime this weekend. I hope you all have enjoyed this latest addition to the cruise review and happy cruising.

DAY 6 - GRAND TURK CONTINUED:

Just a few quick notes that came to mind. I think I saw that the casino was open here? Maybe I was mistaken but perhaps there is some sort of agreement they have that allows it to stay open while parked in Grand Turk as casinos and shops usually close whenever the ship is stopped anywhere. Anyone know about this? Also, the fun shops on Carnival keep getting worse. Used to be you could get a nice magnet, keychain, shot glass, ship mug, in addition to the duty free liquor, cigarettes and non-Carnival branded clothing that takes up half the store but nowadays they only want to sell the last three things and it is hard to even find a mug that is acceptable to bring home. They do have nice t-shirt sales on the last sea days once in a while though, I almost bought one from here on the last day at sea but will talk about that more later on. I guess they make more money selling the stuff that I am not interested in but I am almost always disappointed and underwhelmed by the Carnival fun shops these days.

Also, the only thing I did not like about the Hub app is that you cannot see real-time activity schedule changes and dining room or buffet menus. It would be totally awesome if they posted those for you to see while browsing whatever else on the app, but you have to go to the mdr entrance early in the day or be surprised once getting to dinner to see what is on the menus. I know on the Magic and Breeze, you can look at menus on your room TV along with your room folio in real time. Figured they would have worked that in to this ship during overhaul but nope. Also, the TV programming continues to suck on Carnival, easily the worst channel lineup of any major cruise line. No, I do not want my only news choice to be CNN International. I actually like to see a variety of sources of news, local and national while I am at sea and you barely get any US news on that channel and much of the reporting is not even in English so you can't even understand what you are watching. They do have a lot of internal channels, movie channels run through the ship, bridge cam, etc, but very little in the way of network or even cable programming from back on the mainland. It is possible to get this thru the satellites, as other lines do it but they just do not seem to be interested in that. Having the unlimited internet helped me with keeping connected to what was going on back home during the week however, but good TV would have been nice.

Anyway, with that rant over, back to the review. I am interested in watching as many sailaways as I can and seeing this would be the last one on this cruise, I went upstairs to watch us leave land for the last time. I got a Guy's burger and some potato sticks as well, as a between lunch and dinner meal and watched us make the easy back away and turn out to sea from Cockburn Town. It was probably close to 1800 once we were finally on our way.

I watched the sail away from the top decks, and got to see the now-deserted beach and Margaritaville that we spent the day at as we headed back out to sea. Also off in the distance was Jack's Shack, where we did not get to today. Maybe another time. Also saw a small B190 turboprop take off from the small airstrip that they have on this island, maybe a few miles up from the cruise port. Who knows where he was going?

And of course once that fun was over, I went back to the room, got my towel and headed up to the hot tub to relax and watch sunset, scheduled for 1906. It was actually nice tonight. I actually took this from the midship and then eventually, the serenity deck as the views there were nice. It was too windy to go into the serenity hot tub tonight though.

I spent the next hour before dinner in the hot tub and met a nice lady from New York and her husband, and got to talking about all kinds of stuff. Good conversation. Since we were in the aft whirlpool and could see the seafood shack from where we were, the topic of that came up. I had mentioned that I had heard the oysters were really good and saw a guy with a lobster at the bar to go with his beer and she had said she had heard they ran out of oysters midway through the cruise. I guess they were good if they were selling out of stuff. Anyway, I did not get anything from there but apparently it was a popular place and I would not be against going there on a future cruise that has one. By 2000 it was time to get out and get ready for dinner as this was the second "cruise elegant" night of the cruise.

Just a quick preview of our dinner tonight....more to come...

DAY 6 - GRAND TURK CONTINUED:

The crowd at Margaritaville was beginning to thin out around 1630 and most people were making their way back towards the ship, so I had a lot of space to myself as I was in no hurry to go anywhere as the line to get back on the ship was at least a few hundred people long. What is it with this ship and boarding and debarking? Just a slow process each time, slower than usual and it wasn't because of anything to do with the security screening as that was the same as always. Maybe just everyone trying to get back on at the same time, I don't know. Either way I knew I didn't want to stand in that line if I did not have to.

By 1645 the line was still long but I figured I would head out of the Margaritaville compound and explore some. They have some craft markets, a few shops, jewelry stores, etc, a police station, lol. I stopped by the exhibit they have set up to honor the NASA splashdown of the Friendship space capsule back in 1962, which is located on the other side of the port area. Hard to find if you are not looking for it. Anyway, it seems to have been updated since the last time I had visited, a lot nicer now.

You can see that crazy line to reboard the ship in this picture. Come on mon, why do that when you can hang out in paradise for a little longer?

I figured it was finally time to go back around 1700 on the nose, as there was still a long line to board but not quite as long and I had done my exploring and there were still a few stragglers behind me who had the same idea I had. I went through the usual ID and ship card check by security at the port door and passed through the huge duty free shop they have there as I killed some more time before getting back in the line. Yes, the 1700 seems to be just a suggested time here, you know, island time. NO way we were leaving anytime soon here. Still no hurry to get back as the dufry shop was still fairly crowded as well.

While I was here, I compared prices of liquor to what it costs back home. WHOA. Like half as expensive for some stuff here as back home. Taxes man. I was thinking of getting some Jameson and Crown Royal Apple (a good friend of mine LOVES the stuff and she has gotten me to love it with some cranberry juice on the rocks now too, LOL) as the prices were ridiculously low but I would not have had room for it in our suitcases to fly home so I passed and did not get anything. But they have all kinds of stuff here, medicine, jewelry I think, snacks, candy, clothing, cigarettes, liquor, cigars maybe. I know people save tons of money by purchasing bulk cigarettes abroad but I don't pay attention as I do not smoke.

Anyway, I finally made my way back to the ship and still had to wait in a line for a good 20 minutes and it was 1715 by this time. Whatever. At least it was a semi comfortable wait, not too hot, breezy, crowd in fairly good spirits. This was the last time I would be on land before we got back to Miami as well. Always kind of a downer thought, knowing the cruise would be over in just a day and a half. Anyway, I was back on by 1730 or so and stopped by the cabin to let everyone know I was back onboard.

Up next....sailaway and the evening activities....

DAY 6 - GRAND TURK CONTINUED:

We sat at the table that we were seated at in the restaurant forever it seemed while we waited for K and T to get done with the flowrider and I ordered a drink called incommunicado, which has a lot of alcohol in it. I cannot remember at this point in time what it all was but it was pretty good. Just drink it slowly. Of course Margaritaville prices are ridiculous but it is a really nice place so once in a while the novelty is worth it. I will say this is the nicest Margaritaville I have ever been to. I have been to a few others and they are nowhere near as nice or expansive as this one (I am talking about the one in Grand Cayman specifically, lol). This is worth a visit to the island and you really don't have to do anything else for the day as it is fun enough by itself.

Finally, around 1400 K and T arrived to the table and we ordered our stuff. I got some jambalaya which was really good and delivered in some sort of clay pot, which was neat. I think we got some tortilla chips and I cannot remember what anyone else got. That restaurant is busy man.

I really wanted to go to Jack's Shack, which is located a half mile or so down the beach but we never made it. It is walkable but the family was so preoccupied with the activities at Margaritaville that it was out of the question. Jack's has a good atmosphere, drinks, food and of course, Topher the dog. I have been there and it is a little quieter alternative to Margaritaville. You can also take a cab to and from there if you do not want to walk.

Looking back, we also got some quesadillas and K got a Cheeseburger in Paradise, as someone almost has to do at a Margaritaville. After donating a small fortune to the restaurant, we headed back out to the pool for a while after lunch before 1500, and hung out there for a while before heading back to the ship. I went out to the beach for a little while. Along the way, pictures.

The ocean was warm and calm, you can swim out to the ropes and there are tons of little minnow fish swimming around, right up to the beach. Nice and relaxing time out there. I walked down the beach a little to see what was going on, and apparently a private beach resort is located past the exit to the cruise port beach. There is a warning sign there that you are exiting the port and going onto private property and I didn't want to trespass so I stopped and turned back. Nice time out here today though.

We met up at the pool again a little before 1600, and the group began to head back to the ship shortly after that, as all aboard was scheduled for 1700. I stayed back to swim and relax on the pool chairs for a little while as I figured it would be a long wait to get back to the ship if everyone decides to head back at the same time. I could monitor the boarding process from my deck chair at Margaritaville and told myself I would rather chill there for a while than stand in line for an hour to get back to the ship.

This was a neat swim-up bar they had at the pool, limited drink menu but unique. I did not get anything here.

Extensive gift shop and clothing store in here. Live band and lots of dancing and lively DJ playing and keeping the crowd rowdy. Lot of people here on Easter break, remember? I believe K purchased some merchandise from here to take home and show her friends or so I heard. More to come shortly....

DAY 6 - GRAND TURK CONTINUED:

More pics of the beach I would be spending some time on in just a little while, from the dock. They have yellow lines painted a few feet from the edge everywhere now, and they will yell at you if you cross them. Wonder if someone had an accident lately as they really never bothered people who got too close to the edge in the past. I mean it is common sense to not lean over the edge but you know, some people need to be told to be safe and punished for not looking out for their own personal safety.

As soon as you arrive through the gates you enter into a town square-type thing. You can get your pre-arranged tours here, or can book one right on the spot to do what you want to do. You can also get cabs here as well. They have the usual shops and of course, the Margaritaville that this place is famous for. Yes, the flowrider is there as well and I met the family there around 1215. K had just gotten onto the ride a few minutes before and since the thing is located right next to the large pool at the Margaritaville compound, I got a deck chair and headed into the water to watch K ride the waves and my mom and T got up close to get some pictures of her surf and offer encouragement. She really did have a lot of fun, and so did the others she was riding with. Most of the participants were teens or younger by the way, very few adults tried. The ride attendants had a good time riding along the waves though and some felt the need to put on a show a few times.

Anyway, my sister couldn't be happy with just getting a half hour on the flowrider for K, so she dug into the operators of the venue about the fact she was screwed out of half the tour time and was given the runaround by the staff that it wasn't their problem and she had to talk to the ship excursions staff. Of course, she did just that. From what I heard, she really got into them like she got into the staff over the cinnabar, and I understand they did come to a compromise. They gave K an extra half hour on the flowrider without extra charge due to the inconvenience and everything was good. I swam for a little while longer as the water is pretty chilly there and goes no deeper than 3 feet, but eventually got tired of that and got out to get some sunscreen and figure out our next steps. From what I saw of this however, you have to be a pretty decent surfer or have at least an idea of what you are doing or you could easily get hurt. It looked expensive to build and to maintain, which is probably why it costs so much to ride. Anyway, no way I would have been able to hang here for long without wiping out. LOL

The pool area. Along the back fence were some cabanas, I think they can be booked and are private. I do not know how much they cost but as I see it, not worth the price as there is plenty of room and stuff to do in the regular public area at that Margaritaville.

Having not had breakfast, my mom and I went inside to the restaurant part of the place to get a table so we could all get lunch. After all, it was time to go get a burger or something else in paradise. On the way to the restaurant, I could not help but take a picture of this. Yes, this is true.

I would be going out on this beach a little later, here is a preview of it.....

Our food experience coming up....

Thank you everyone for the good comments and we do have a good conversation going with this review. I have a few more days to cover here and I am back to get to that this evening. We had a really exciting and full day on day 5, with our visit to San Juan and still had one day in Grand Turk and a sea day before returning back to Miami. So, we will pick up with our visit to Cockburn Town, Grand Turk. Enjoy.

DAY 6: GRAND TURK:

Tired from a long day and night in San Juan and at sea, I did sleep in late this morning as we had a scheduled arrival in Grand Turk at 1100 and that is about the time I chose to wake up. This being one of the ports I have visited a number of times, we just planned a lazy day in the port area on this day. It was sunny and pretty warm, a nice calm day and I did my normal trip out to the balcony to check out the surroundings and the weather in the area after waking up.

This is actually a Chukka Tours sailboat, not sure of what tour this was but Chukka is a good company to deal with. We took a tour with them in Belize last year that went through the island and spent a few hours on an airboat ride through the natural wetlands of the country. I assume they operate some tours in Grand Turk also.

Weather

Well, although my mom and I did not have any specific plans today, T and K had booked a flowrider excursion through the cruise line onshore at the Margaritaville at the pier. Well, that was sort of a mistake. Yes, they booked it through the cruise line and they were assigned a time of 1130 and for a fee of $40 for like an hour or so on the ride. Keep in mind the ship did not park until after 1100, and once it did, it was once again a mad stampede for the gangway or so that is what they said. It took them a half hour minimum to get off the gangway and another 10 to 15 minutes to walk that long pier and get to the flowrider. Which of course means they did not actually get to the ride until 1200 or thereabouts (they told us this after the fact, I was not there with them but can believe it as they were not the only ones complaining) even though they were on the gangway right when the ship arrived and still had to wait in a long line to get off. Moral of the story, it was found later that you can book once on the pier and probably for less money although space is not guaranteed if it sells out ahead of time, maybe don't put your trust in the cruise line when booking excursions like that as you might miss part of your excursion that you paid for even if you do everything you are supposed to.

Anyway, my mom made her way downstairs close to noon to meet them at the flowrider, which is located at the Margaritaville at the cruise center, and I stayed on the ship a little while longer and surfed the web on my phone while I waited for the lines to die down some and would then make my way off the ship as well. I walk faster so it only takes me a couple minutes to walk that pier, lol. On my way downstairs, I made my way through the promenade and took a few more pictures of some venues I had not yet gotten pictures of.

Of course, this is that infamous Cinnabar, located right beneath our cabin. Very quiet at this noon hour but a complete nightmare for us in the evenings. It is not that big but it would look like a fun time as long as you are not trying to sleep at 0200 directly above.

This is the Pixels photo gallery. They still offer hard copies of your candid and formal pictures, most lines do not do this anymore and maybe some of the newer Carnival ships don't even do it anymore. I did not buy any of the few pictures we had taken and the gallery was closed now due to us being in port but here it was. Deck 4 mid I think, right in the center of the ship where there was lots to do.

Around 1200, I finally made my way off the ship and began to make my way back towards the Grand Turk Cruise Center, which is basically a port area built for Carnival Corporation and is in pretty much the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking. Grand Turk is not large, only 7 square miles with about 3700 residents and the main town is a bit of a ways away, on the other side of the island. I did do a conch farm and island tour here years ago, right after a bad hurricane thrashed the island and they were in the process of rebuilding, but there just is not that much to see here. Anyway, the port area is nice however and we spent all our time here today.

Walking away from the ship, halfway to the port entrance.

Approaching the gateway to paradise, LOL.

Up next - our fun day in Grand Turk

I'm so glad you did your review with pictures as well on the Glory and the itinerary. I "tried" to do it, but some way or another, it would not go through. :( This just makes me WANT to go back there NOW. :)I have been cruising for over 25 years (not every year), and wanted to take my 3 sons and their wifes on a cruise. I believe only one of my sons did this many years ago. I have always gone with a friend (my husband will not fly), so I booked the Glory for the 8 (one of my friends went as well) of us, and even though they had not completely finished the work they were doing, everything turned out just fine.:)

 

I have heard of the American Table menu, but how do you go about getting it? Is this done at the "specialty restaurants?" It didn't look (from the picture) like there was a charge, but then I may have overlooked it?

One day I will do a cruise with my entire extended family, it is hard enough to get 4 people together to go on a cruise at the same time though, ha. Thanks for the good words about the review. I am glad you are enjoying it. What is a cruise vacation review without pictures to back up the story I am telling of the experience?

The American Table is the main dining room theme nowadays. A couple years ago they changed themes, from the old traditional main dining room menus and table layouts to this new program. I hated the idea of it at first but it grew on me as they did tweak it and improve the program as people gave their feedback of the early days of it after the rollout. I like that it seems the items offered are more diverse now and the menus are not as predictable as they used to be, some things offered night to night are based on where the ship is going or has been on that sailing. I really like it as the old menus were so predictable I could know exactly what to expect each night based on the length of sailing, and it was the same no matter where the ship went. I understand some people hate it but I really do like it. It is all included but the steakhouse selections are extra along with the alcoholic drinks on the menu. I figure that if I am going to get the "steakhouse selections" that I will just go to the steakhouse (if there is one on that ship) and spend a little more to get the whole dining experience. I have never had an evening in the mdr where there was not something that I wanted off the regular or ports of call food menu however. The only pay restaurants here on the Glory are the sushi place, room service, the seafood shack, the steakhouse and the select specialty selections on the mdr menu. Everything else is included and one could easily go the entire cruise without paying a penny extra for food although one visit to the steakhouse or seafood place is surely worth it and won't break the budget.

 

Nope I meant San Cristobal

Plaza San Cristóbal, Old San Juan”This photo of Pandora Tour Puerto Rico is courtesy of TripAdvisor</p>

 

 

That is the same monument. Now I remember the steps and the fountain. An internet search says that it is Christopher Columbus there but I am still not sure. It is a tall monument however and it was photo-worthy, lol. The San Cristobal fort was right across the street from here.

DAY 5: SAN JUAN CONTINUED-

I forget what this picture below is of, but it is right in the area where the straw market was. K had a budget to spend on what she wanted to get, and some of the stuff was pretty unique as it was families and individuals selling in many cases, handmade goods in little tents in the town square. I did not get anything but I think K did. I did not take any pictures of this area but there were a few dozen vendors there and it was fairly crowded. It was after 1400 when we were done and it was time to head back to the ship. There was also a police presence in the area, just local foot patrols I guess due to it being a tourist area and a high-traffic spot but it was cool to see.

 

 

 

 

This is a monument to San Cristobal

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, it does make sense that it is what it would be, seeing that it was in the park right across the street from the fort, lol. I remember seeing what it was when I took the picture but couldn't remember exactly what it was. The straw market tents were located here as well, you can actually see a few of them in the background. K had fun shopping here. The foot patrol cops were also on the street corner right near here patrolling the area.

Great review! Following. Will be on this cruise this coming Saturday the 10th.

Nice, and thanks for reading. You will have a great time on the cruise. I will try to get at least our day in Grand Turk finished before you leave, I will try to get to our last seaday and maybe debarkation day as well if time allows. I hope the review helped you get ready for your trip, you will have a great time.