Glory Boston to Canada Review 7/7/12 - 7/12/12 with Pictures

[amdmsk]

Once we made it back to the pier, we had a few minutes to spare, so we went across the street to the Garrison Brewing Company, which was right across from the ship terminal. Here my dad tried a local beer...I didn't try it but he said it was good. The place was pretty neat too. From there, we went to meet up with our shore excursion, which was just getting ready to leave, so it was perfect timing! We were booked on the Lobster and Lighthouses excursion, which was supposed to take us on a boat ride, show us what it is like to go lobster fishing, go past some of Nova Scotia's lighthouses, and then return for a lobster lunch at a local restaurant on the waterfront.

 

We walked along the harbor front and stopped at the boat that we were going to get on to take us out into the harbor. We got on the boat and off we went! There were not too many other people with us on the tour, so it was nice because there was room to move about on the boat and everyone had great views of the harbor. The boat first went down the harbor for about a half hour before stopping at one of the lobster traps that had been placed in the harbor. They showed how to pull up the trap and talked all about lobster fishing and how the ships fish for lobster. They then had a live lobster and they let everyone hold it for picture opportunities. There was also a live crab in the trap when they pulled it up and they allowed everyone to hold this as well before putting them back in the trap and back into the water. The boat then turned around and started to go back toward the harbor. As we started this, we spotted a whale out in the harbor and so we got a few minutes to watch the whale. It didn't come out that often and we didn't get that close to it, but it was neat to be able to see a whale in the harbor! It was a nice little addition to the tour, especially because I heard there were whales near the ship on the first sea day, but I didn't get to see any :( I heard they were on the other side of the ship than our room and so we must have been in there or inside somewhere and we missed them.

 

After the whale, we made our way back down the harbor, passing a few lighthouses along the way. They talked about the lighthouses and the harbor and before we knew it, we were back by the ship and proceeding down the harbor to the restaurant where we were going to have the lobster lunch. The restaurant was called Murphy's on the Waterfront and it was a great place! I noticed it was really crowded too and the food was great! Now, I don't eat seafood, so I had arranged with the ship and tour operator to have the alternate lunch. The alternate lunch was some kind of bacon wrapped chicken and it was delicious!! It was served with rice and vegetables too. Everything I had was really good and I would definitely go back next time I am in Halifax!! My family all had the lobster lunch, which was a whole lobster (I felt like it was staring at me!! :eek:), served with potato salad and cole slaw. Everyone also got iced tea and apple crisp for dessert! The meal was really great! After that, we were free to either take a shuttle back to the pier or go off on our own for the rest of the afternoon. We opted to go off on our own, but overall, we really enjoyed this tour and it was great!

 

 

 

 

[amdmsk]

Here's some more pics from the tour:

 

 

 

 

[amdmsk]

So after the tour and lunch, we went off on our own and walked around the harbor front until we saw in the distance the Halifax town clock. This is something I read about online before we came. We also knew that the town clock sat right in front of the entrance to the Citadel Hill fortress and so we decided to leave the harbor area and make our way through town to go up to the fort. It wasn't a really long walk, but it was up some pretty good hills, so it was tiring, but it was worth it once we got up there. We stopped to take some pictures at the town clock, like this one:

 

 

And then we walked up the rest of the hill to the fortress. You pay a fee to enter the fort and once inside, it is pretty big and pretty neat. If you are into history, it is definitely worth a visit and you can probably spend a lot of time inside. If you are like me and are not so much into the history, it is still a great place to walk around, learn a little bit of the history, and enjoy the scenery and amazing views of Halifax. They were doing a lot of reenactments inside the fort and the people were dressed up in period attire, were very friendly, and were very knowledgeable about the Canadian history of the fort. We spent more time here than we thought we would and it really was a nice place to visit. I particularly enjoyed the views:

 

 

[amdmsk]

From the fort, we were going to keep walking to the public gardens, but we decided that we weren't up for walking another 15 minutes up some hills and further into town, so we started our walk back down the hills to the waterfront. My sister and I are both very interested in the Titanic and learning about the Titanic, so we thought that we could go to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, where they were supposed to have a big Titanic exhibit as well as many other artifacts, models, and information about sailing and the shipping industry. The museum is on the the waterfront, just down from the restaurant we had lunch at, and so we made our way back toward that area and went to visit the museum. Overall, while the museum had some neat things, I was not overly impressed with it, especially the Titanic exhibit. It was neat to look at some things, but I didn't think the Titanic exhibit was as large as I thought it would be. I have been to a Titanic exhibit before at a museum in NYC (can't remember the name of it) and this exhibit was amazing, so comparing it to that, it was not overly impressive. Like I said, there were some neat aspects to the overall museum, but I would probably not return here in the future.

 

Here's some pictures: from the walk back, of a lighthouse beacon in the museum, and some model ships in the museum...

 

 

 

From the museum, we slowly walked back toward the ship, having a little over an hour left until we had to be back on board for sailaway. We walked along the harbor front area again, taking in how beautiful it was and the nice day, and doing some shopping along the way.

 

 

 

Once we got back, we slowly made our way back to the ship, not wanting to leave such a great city, and we sailed away right on time (maybe even a few minutes early if I remember correctly)!

 

[amdmsk]

After sailaway, we went down to dinner in the dining room and then after dinner, we watched the sunset from the promenade on deck 3. At the sunset tonight, we saw something I've never seen before on a cruise...there was a mysterious helicopter flying around very close to the ship. It was really strange. All of a sudden, we saw this helicopter coming closer and closer. At a certain point, it turned and instead of heading toward the ship as it had been, it turned and flew alongside of the ship and then disappeared further into the distance again toward the front of the ship. It did this two or three times before it disappeared for good, only to reappear a few hours later when we were up on the balcony before turning in for the night. None of us could figure out what was going on...my only guess is that they were looking for someone or something in the water near where we were sailing. We did not stop or slow down or turn around, just kept going and I did not hear anyone on the ship talking about it either. In fact, I would think it safe to say not many people saw it other than those who were looking outside and watching the sunset that night.

 

Tonight was also the midnight mexican buffet and so we didn't really want any food and weren't even planning on going, but we were up on deck watching a movie on the big screen when it got too cold. I was too cold so I ventured inside to find them getting ready and setting up for the buffet. So I sat around for a while while they put everything out and managed to get some good photos of the food and sculptures before they opened. This was actually pretty nice and the food looked good as well!

 

 

 

 

 

[amdmsk]

Our last day at sea was what would probably be considered much more the norm for cruising up the North Atlantic. The water was very calm all day, but it was cooler, cloudy, and foggy off and on throughout the day. Like on the first sea day, we really didn't do too much. After breakfast, we went down to the shops and photo gallery to look for our pictures from the night before. Since it wasn't sunny all day, we decided not to go out on deck (there were plenty of people out there though, especially in the afternoon when the sun started staying out longer and the fog was clearing), so we spent the day doing some roaming around the ship and spending some time on the balcony. We got a lot of our things packed up early so that we could enjoy our last night on board.

 

There seemed to be pretty many activities going on throughout the day but it seemed like there was more on the first day. We didn't go to any of them, but just kind of hung out around the ship and relaxed all day. It was wonderful! :D At lunch they had the chocolate buffet on Lido. I've never really cared for any of the fancy chocolate desserts they serve, but I do enjoy getting one of the ice cream swans they are always making. So, shortly after the Lido opened for lunch, we went up there to have a little dessert since none of us were really hungry to have anything else for lunch yet. We passed a bit more time doing a whole lot of nothing :p and decided we would go get something for lunch. We figured the Lido would be very crowded and so we opted to try the dining room. Plus, we had some free drink coupons from the Platinum stuff, so we had to use them in there. I had pepper steak for lunch, which I thought was very good! I also had a Twilight Zone, which was so delicious and a drink I haven't tried before!! I usually go for the Kiss on the Lips...now I have another favorite for next time!

 

After lunch, my sister went down to Michael Jackson Thriller dance class and I went back to sit on the balcony and read a while. I didn't get much reading done because shortly after I came out, I caught a glimpse of something swimming through the water! Turns out it was a whole bunch of dolphins!! They kept coming up out of the water and at first, they were a pretty good distance from the side of the ship. As we kept going, the dolphins were were swimming along with the ship and before we knew it, they were swimming right up close to the side of the ship! They got so close that you could see them through the water and I even got to see a baby dolphin swimming right alongside the bunch! It was a really neat sight, which lasted for a good 5-10 minutes until they drifted a little further away from the ship again. Even after they moved away from the ship, they remained out there for a while longer and I kept seeing all of the fins popping up out of the water. They also appeared again a few hours later, but I wasn't in a good spot for watching so I missed it that time. I did get some pretty awesome pictures of them swimming right alongside with the ship though!

 

We also went to tea time in the afternoon. I enjoy tea time and always try to go on sea days, but one thing I don't care for at tea time is the snacks they serve. I pretty much go to enjoy the atmosphere, some tea, and conversation. I don't think that I ate anything at tea time either day, but the tea was good! By then, it was getting late, so we went to finish packing up a few things and get ready for dinner. We had one last dinner in the dining room and afterwards, went to see the sunset. By this time, the fog had dissipated completely and the sun was shining brightly just in time for one last beautiful sunset of the cruise. After sunset, we went up to the top level of the lounge to see the show, which was called "Rock On." I didn't think that I'd seen this one, but after a while, it started to sound familiar. We stayed for about half of it and then ventured back to our rooms to change and put out the suitcases before going out again. Because we were platinum, we had disembark number 1, which we took advantage of the following morning. We went out to watch the movie on the big screen. From there, we thought about going down to the lobby to hear the guitarist (who I saw repeatedly throughout the cruise and who I thought was pretty good) who was playing until late, but around midnight when the movies ended, we called it a night knowing that we would be up early and were planning to spend a full day in Boston before going back home.

 

 

 

Here is one of the dolphins...I have sooo many more, but this one came out pretty well!!

[amdmsk]

These pictures are from the sunset the night before:

 

 

 

 

In the morning, I got up around 7 a.m. and the ship was already docked, so I did not get any pictures of our return to Boston. We had to be out of our rooms by 8:30 and so at about 7:30 we went down to the dining room for breakfast. Shortly after we sat down (7:30), they started making announcements that the ship was cleared and people could start disembarking. They went through the self-assist and a little after 8, just as we were finishing up breakfast, they called zone 1. After we finished, we went up to our rooms to grab our things and a little before 8:30, we left our rooms and went to disembark the ship. By then, they were already calling beyond zone 10, so they were moving very quickly. Disembarkation was super smooth, organized, and easy. We got our luggage and went to the parking lot shuttle to get to our car. The shuttle was there waiting and was pretty efficient with moving people around quickly. We got to the parking lot, packed up the car, and since we were staying the night in Boston, drove to the hotel. We stayed at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, which was a very short drive, just a few turns, away from the cruise pier. We were at the hotel just after 9:00.

 

We left our car and went to see if we could check in, explaining we had just come off a cruise and if not, it was no big deal as we could leave our bags and come back later. Sure enough, the room was already ready so they let us check in and bring everything up to the room. This hotel was very nice and the staff at the hotel were very friendly. The room was a great size and it was super comfortable. Everything was clean and nicely decorated in the hotel as well. I would definitely stay at this hotel again and would recommend it to others, especially if you are staying the night before or after a cruise and want a hotel that is close to the cruise pier but not too far from all the action of Boston.

 

We checked out the room for a few and then went back out since we had planned for a busy day to tour Boston. We left our car at the hotel (for a hefty price, I might add, which seems to be the norm in Boston) and we walked A LOT!!! The hotel is not located in the center of downtown Boston, but is outside on the waterfront area, so it is a pretty good walk into the city or a short cab ride. We opted to walk since the area looked pretty and we knew it would be about a 30 minute walk, which didn't seem too bad. We were walking off to Faneuil Hall, where we were going to pick up the Freedom Trail and walk the second half of the Freedom Trail down to the Boston Common and Public Gardens. It was actually a nice walk and took us 30 minutes exactly to reach Faneuil Hall. We spent a few minutes there, as well as in Quincy Market and then started walking along the Freedom Trail. We spent our morning walking the Freedom Trail and around 1:00, we came to the end and went to the Boston public gardens, where we went on the swan boat ride that they have in the garden.

 

After the swan boats, we went to lunch at the Cheers Bar, which was just across the street and was very good! We then kept walking and went to the Prudential center, where we spent some time in the shops around there and then took a Boston Duck Tour. The duck tour was very enjoyable and a nice tour of the highlights of Boston. After the duck tour, we walked to the Christian Science Park before making our way to the Atlantic Fish Company, where we had a dinner reservation scheduled. This restaurant was very good and even though I don't like fish, I enjoyed my meal. I had the filet mignon, which was very tender and tasty. The rest of my family all enjoyed their fish too! By the time we finished dinner, we were very tired from walking so much all day (I don't know what the actual distance was, but it sure seemed like we walked a lot) so we quick went to the supermarket across the street, picked up some breakfast for the morning, and took a cab back to the hotel.

 

In the morning, we packed up everything and got in our car to drive home just before 10:00 a.m. The hotel stay and Boston was a great end to the trip. I truly thought Boston was a great city and would love to return in the near future. Before heading south to go back home to PA, we decided we would take a little side trip and head to Walden Pond State Reservation Park, just outside of Boston, which is where Thoreau wrote his book Walden. This was a neat little place and a nice little thing to stop and see on our way home. We actually got on the road to go home at 10:45. We hit lots and lots of traffic on the way home, which delayed us, as we were hoping to get back to and through NYC before rush hour knowing what traffic on the George Washington Bridge can be like. We hit some traffic on the Mass. turnpike and this delayed us about an hour, which was just enough time to delay our arrival into New York until 3:45....how perfect! Just in time for rush hour, with it being a Friday nonetheless. This was probably THE WORST traffic I have ever experienced in my life (and I thought Philly traffic was bad at rush hour). It took us about 3 hours to drive about 10 miles down I-95 through NYC. Around 6:30, we were so frustrated and relieved to have finally gotten to the bridge and to only be an hour and a half from home. Luckily, there was no more traffic and we got home just before 8:00 with a note to self that if we cruise from Boston again (which is likely because we really enjoyed this trip) we will drive and home in the middle of the night. Just like we drove up through the night, we will spend the day in Boston and instead of staying in a hotel, leave to come home at night to avoid the traffic. I don't know how people can do that every day!

 

In all, we had a great trip! The cruise was great- the service was great, the staff was friendly, the ports were great, and we all had a very enjoyable time. We're already looking forward to our next cruise!

 

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this...any questions about the cruise or ship, just ask :D

[rotting_hell]

Great Review!!!! :D

[amdmsk]

Great Review!!!! :D

 

Thanks! It's a great way to relive the cruise again :D

[FL Naturelover]

Tonight was the one and only elegant night of the cruise and so after tea time, we went to get ready for dinner. Again, dinner was in the Platinum dining room. After dinner, the show was called "Livin' in America." We had seen this show before on another cruise and so we went in and sat up at the top level, but left a while into the show since it was nothing new and it got to be a bit boring. Instead, we went up to Lido to sit at the seaside theatre and have some popcorn. Stayed out a while before calling it a night, knowing we would have to get up early for our day in St. John tomorrow. When I think back to the first day at sea, I can really say that we didn't do much at all. We didn't do any of the organized activities like trivia, lido activities, etc that are in the Fun Times even though we were planning on doing a few of them. The timing just didn't work out or we completely forgot about it when the time did come around. Oh well, we just spent the day doing whatever and relaxing.

 

We saw a lot of nice sunsets during this cruise and here are some pics of the sunset at the end of the first sea day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous sunset pictures!

[saltmom1]

I will add another "great review" to the growing list. Some of your pictures are absolutely phenomenal! For example, the last picture in post #30 makes it look like we are on the ship!

This is probably not a cruise I would take, but I thoroughly enjoyed your review. It is a possible land trip at some point, though.

Boston really is a walking city but for future reference you can also ride the T, the local subway. If you were going to be staying in the Boston area for a few days, you could take a ride to Cape Cod. Maybe go on a whale watch since you enjoyed seeing the whales on the cruise.

[amdmsk]

I will add another "great review" to the growing list. Some of your pictures are absolutely phenomenal! For example, the last picture in post #30 makes it look like we are on the ship!

This is probably not a cruise I would take, but I thoroughly enjoyed your review. It is a possible land trip at some point, though.

Boston really is a walking city but for future reference you can also ride the T, the local subway. If you were going to be staying in the Boston area for a few days, you could take a ride to Cape Cod. Maybe go on a whale watch since you enjoyed seeing the whales on the cruise.

 

Thanks for your comments! I take so many pictures, it's pathetic, so I'm happy to be able to share some here ;)

 

And thanks for the Boston info...I would like to see Cape Cod someday. It's funny you mention that because we had looked at spending a few days in the Cape Cod area instead of going on the cruise, but opted for the cruise :D

[jbhcw]

Great review..loved the sunset pics...booked for next June 9th:D Hope we have good weather...also thanks for the info on your Boston day...sounds like you walked a lot...How far is Quincy Market from Faneuil Hall?? Also will check out your hotel..

 

Would also like to see the North End...and take the Duck tour..did you book that ahead of time?

 

Thanks again!

[amdmsk]

Great review..loved the sunset pics...booked for next June 9th:D Hope we have good weather...also thanks for the info on your Boston day...sounds like you walked a lot...How far is Quincy Market from Faneuil Hall?? Also will check out your hotel..

 

Would also like to see the North End...and take the Duck tour..did you book that ahead of time?

 

Thanks again!

 

Quincy Market was right next to Faneuil Hall if I remember correctly...I remember walking from one right into the other. It was a really nice historical area! There was also a super delicious bakery we went to inside Quincy Market (I can't remember the name of it, I'll have to find it out and post it here, but I had a cinnamon roll that was sooooo good!!!)

 

The duck tour was very fun...it was a great way to see the city since our time was limited to the one day. We did book ahead of time- I think we booked only about a week ahead of time. :)

[alexkrn46]

Nice review we were on the had an excellent time also. I was surprised how smooth the water was. Thanks again

[jbhcw]

Quincy Market was right next to Faneuil Hall if I remember correctly...I remember walking from one right into the other. It was a really nice historical area! There was also a super delicious bakery we went to inside Quincy Market (I can't remember the name of it, I'll have to find it out and post it here, but I had a cinnamon roll that was sooooo good!!!)

 

The duck tour was very fun...it was a great way to see the city since our time was limited to the one day. We did book ahead of time- I think we booked only about a week ahead of time. :)

 

Thanks so much for all the info...I think it will be great pre cruise..and a different experience for us going to Canada...and Portland ME!!

[saltmom1]

Quincy Market and Fanueil Hall are actually part of the same complex. Faneuil ( pronounce Fan- ul) Hall is one building. The duck tour is so much fun! The idea of walking the Freedom Trail was a great one. It is not too physically taxing unless you try it in the 90+ heat with high humidity we have just had. It starts at Boston Common and you can get there on the Red Line from South Station and get off at the Park St station. There are also guided tours, but for about 5 bucks you can get a book and go at your own pace and get info from the book. Did the tour when DD was taking American History in high school.

[jbhcw]

Quincy Market and Fanueil Hall are actually part of the same complex. Faneuil ( pronounce Fan- ul) Hall is one building. The duck tour is so much fun! The idea of walking the Freedom Trail was a great one. It is not too physically taxing unless you try it in the 90+ heat with high humidity we have just had. It starts at Boston Common and you can get there on the Red Line from South Station and get off at the Park St station. There are also guided tours, but for about 5 bucks you can get a book and go at your own pace and get info from the book. Did the tour when DD was taking American History in high school.

 

Thanks Good info!!

[Dirkgun]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.:) My mother is getting on the Glory tomorrow for her first cruise and I'm sooooo excited for her. I can't wait to here her thoughts on her first sighting of the WHALE TAIL.:D It's one of my favorite moments.:D It has been fun to look at your pictures so I will be able to share a little bit of what she will be seeing. Thanks:)

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review and great photo's

[erewhon]

Thank you for your great review and fantastic photos.

Beautiful shots of the sunsets.

[saltmom1]

This HAS to be my favorite cruise picture of ALL TIME. OP, would you mind if i use it as my wallpaper on my computer?

[Laurab23]

Do you have any pictures of your inside room?

 

Laura

[amdmsk]

This HAS to be my favorite cruise picture of ALL TIME. OP, would you mind if i use it as my wallpaper on my computer?

 

Thanks!!! I think I took it sitting in one of the chairs! And no, I don't mind...go ahead and use it :)

[amdmsk]

Do you have any pictures of your inside room?

 

Laura

 

Hi! This picture is the best I have. It is facing the door, standing in the center of the room. Behind where I was standing to take the picture was just the two beds, separated with the nightstands/lamps.