Cruise review Glory May 30, 2015

[smurfm69]

Our next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico and the only non beach day we had. This was our 2nd visit having sailed out of P.R. 4 years ago on a Southern Caribbean cruise. The rest of our group had not been there before so we did an interesting tour that I knew they would enjoy. We did the 2 hour segway tour and they are conveniently located very close to where the ship docks. It costs $93 per person and is worth it! Everyone gets a brief one on one lesson on how to operate the machines and they are very easy to learn and handle.

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

The guide leads everyone single file around San Juan and there are stops along the way where he gives some interesting info on the history of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

 

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

 

 

 

 

[FMZ]

Hi, loving your review! Did you book Segway tour independently or through the ship?

[smurfm69]

I booked the segway tour independently. Just do a search for segway tours in Puerto Rico and you will find it. Fill out the info on their website and they will e mail you soon with a confirmation on your reservation. You pay for the tour at the end.

[RobertL88]

I booked the segway tour independently. Just do a search for segway tours in Puerto Rico and you will find it. Fill out the info on their website and they will e mail you soon with a confirmation on your reservation. You pay for the tour at the end.

 

I think we booked the same tour. Can't wait to see Puerto Rico by Segway in August!

[Pooh72]

 

 

Hey....this is me and my son. :) Great excursion and a great cruise.

[smurfm69]

How awesome! Didn't realize that was you. Now you have a pic of y'all on the segways. lol

[JohnIII]

Can't wait for the rest of your review!! We sail glory in 70 days!!!!! We booked a cabana in HMC as well and we are hoping for 9 or 10.

[smurfm69]

After the tour, we asked the guide to recommend a place to eat lunch and he directed us to a small place a few blocks away for some authentic Puerto Rican food. So we began the journey uphill to the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

We found the place which was named Deavedra or something like that. We got the sampler platter for 6 people and it was $60 so not too expensive. We just wanted to get something to hold us over for a while and try some local food. The food wasn't bad but we found it to be a little bland. We are from New Orleans and used to a lot of spices and seasonings cooked into the food. We got someone to take a picture of the young girl who was our waitress and the cook which was her mom. They were really nice people.

 

[smurfm69]

We retraced our steps and made our way downhill back towards the ship, stopping at some stores on the way. I went out on the open deck in the front of the ship to take some pics of the fort as we sailed away.

 

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

On to the last and final port of Grand Turk. We had no excursions planned here. We were going to grab some chairs by the pool at Margaritaville or at the beach. That was the plan but another ship, the Sunshine, had gotten to GT 3 hours before the Glory and there were no chairs available at the pool or beach so we just found a spot on the beach and put down our towels. The water is very rocky at that particular section so best to have water shoes. I was told it was a lot smoother further down the beach. The water was nice and cool and the snorkeling was decent. I swam out and it was pretty wild to see the depth of the water get gradually deeper as you got closer to the ropes and then it just drops off big time and you can't see the bottom.

 

 

[smurfm69]

There are some shops at the port area and a really large Margaritaville with a nice pool. Something new they recently started is the Party Pass. You pay $50 per person and get a choice of entree and free drinks. It's not too bad of a deal but doesn't include every drink on the menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smurfm69]

 

 

[smurfm69]

The Sunshine arrived before us but was also leaving before us, so we were able to find chairs by the pool and it got less crowded. We stayed a good while and enjoyed the beverages from the bar before heading back to the ship. ;)

[smurfm69]

Leaving the last port is always kind of sad because the reality of the end of the cruise starts to set in. One more sea day before pulling back in to Miami.

 

[sjn911]

Great Easy Fun Photo Info AND REVIEW...THANKS....Sarah

[Cruise, J.D.]

Great pictures! Thanks for the review.

[smurfm69]

I have seen and read better reviews but hope to help others out with info and our own experiences on the cruise.

[smurfm69]

Ok, let's see if I can cover some other tidbits of the cruise that I may have forgotten. We flew Southwest airlines to and from Florida. They don't go to Miami so we had to go to Ft. Lauderdale which is not far at all. Our flight leaving Ft. Lauderdale was for 10:45am the morning we got off the ship. I know that is fairly early and perhaps a risk but we wanted a nonstop flight and the other nonstop was much later. Debarkation on the Glory worked out well. They let the FTTF and Platinum people off first and then all the people who had early flights next. This is why they ask for your flight info when you do your online check in before the cruise. We were off the ship at 8am and at the FLL airport by 9am.

We are platinum so once boarding the ship we were able to go straight to our cabin. We put our sodas in there and headed out to the Lido deck to meet our group. Veteran cruisers will remember when the small bowl in the bathroom was filled with sample size products but now it's just a couple small bars of soap. Also, you don't automatically get ice every day, you have to ask for it. The small fridge in the cabin doesn't really get your drinks cold so we bring a small soft sided ice chest that looks almost like a beach bag. We put our sodas and water in there and asked our room steward for ice, and he kept it topped off with ice everyday. He was very nice and always greeted us by name with a smile so we tipped him a little extra as we were leaving our cabin for the last time.

[smurfm69]

When we originally booked this cruise we asked for anytime dining. It looked like we were going to have a good bit of friends and the anytime option isn't really set up for larger groups. We reluctantly switched to late dining,(8:15pm), and it turned out to be perfect for us. We normally eat dinner at home around 5-6pm but on the cruise the later time ws nice because when we would get back on the ship from the ports we could grab a Guy's Burger or take a short nap before dinner instead of rushing to get showers and get dressed for dinner. The Blue Iguana Cantina had yummy burritos and also great breakfast burritos in the morning. Pizza was good as always and of course the soft serve ice cream.

[smurfm69]

Veteran cruisers will also remember when there was live Reggae music on the lido deck played by 2 or 3 guys. Now they have the guy with the acoustic guitar playing a variety of music. Personally I prefer the reggae music. I'm on a cruise in the Caribbean and that music just enhances the whole experience. Can't remember the name of the band playing in the casino area but they were really good.

The production shows in the main lounge were very good. We saw Divas, Motor City, and Epic Rock. I remember in past cruises they had a male and female singer and a bunch of dancers. Now they have only about 8 performers but they all sing and dance. We didn't get to see the other show, Latin Nights, due to technical difficulties.

We hit the Punchliner Comedy Club in the back of the ship to see the R rated comedy shows and they were really funny. The line to get in can get quite long though so get there early if you can.

[sailingsusie]

Cabannas would be great for small children. Plus there is also fans and mist things at the cabana. We will be there again in Sept/15...so looking forward to it. We also like cabana #10...but all cabanas offer the same things, just book early, don't get any # below 7..too crowed and noisy..don't get higher than #12...too far away from the food. Have fun :)

Edited August 16, 2015 by sailingsusie