Glory Review, December 26, 2015

[campdaan]

Great pics !

 

Thanks for the review.

[Crazyrbbt]

Those ships look so close. That must have been interesting to watch.

[declansdad]

Great pics !

 

Thanks for the review.

 

No problem, looking to add information for people who want to cruise on the Glory.

 

Those ships look so close. That must have been interesting to watch.

 

It was pretty cool. Amazing how they are able to manoeuver something so large with so much precision.

[Out of Iowa]

the beige groundcover sand, cement or what? I'm guessing/hoping it is sand.

 

Loving your photos - hope to see more scenes of inside the ship, too!

[declansdad]

the beige groundcover sand, cement or what? I'm guessing/hoping it is sand.

 

Loving your photos - hope to see more scenes of inside the ship, too!

 

 

Everything around the pool is paver brick.

 

Glad you like the photos. I didn't take too many inside the ship but I will see what I can find.

[shaharis1701]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the Limo ride to Miami. We are doing the same thing in October, better Air Canada flights into Fort Lauderdale. Thanks Loving the review so far.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Nice review - love the pics of the ship leaving. It is amazing how precise they are.

 

Looking forward to more - we leave next Monday for an 11 day journey on her. :D

[declansdad]

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the Limo ride to Miami. We are doing the same thing in October, better Air Canada flights into Fort Lauderdale. Thanks Loving the review so far.

 

The fare for a private car for the 3 of us was $75 plus an added-in gratuity of $11.25, all paid at the time of booking. They were waiting when we got there and were pretty easy to find. If you want them to meet you at the luggage carousel I think there is an extra charge.

 

Nice review - love the pics of the ship leaving. It is amazing how precise they are.

 

Looking forward to more - we leave next Monday for an 11 day journey on her. :D

 

 

Hope to have some more up today.

[multi007]

Ive got a question - apparently my account has been reduced to permission to reply to existing posts, but i cant start a new post.

 

How was the Serenity area? Quiet? No kids? I am an older traveler and want a quiet zone that is actually quiet. (Unlike the Norwegian Getaway that had quiet zones that were not enforced) Thanks

[declansdad]

Ive got a question - apparently my account has been reduced to permission to reply to existing posts, but i cant start a new post.

 

How was the Serenity area? Quiet? No kids? I am an older traveler and want a quiet zone that is actually quiet. (Unlike the Norwegian Getaway that had quiet zones that were not enforced) Thanks

 

 

Sorry I can't really help you. The only time I was in the Serenity area was early in the morning and it was quiet and kid-free at that time. I was sitting just below the entrance one afternoon and it seemed to be rather quiet up there.

[multi007]

Sorry I can't really help you. The only time I was in the Serenity area was early in the morning and it was quiet and kid-free at that time. I was sitting just below the entrance one afternoon and it seemed to be rather quiet up there.

 

thanks :)

[declansdad]

Stop number 3 – San Juan.

 

 

This is the stop I was looking forward to the most. I love exploring history and Old San Juan was certainly full of that.

 

We were arriving on time today but we weren’t in a huge rush because we planned to tour on our own. I spent some time on the balcony as we were heading into port and there was no other ships there at this time. It was a pretty quiet sail in.

 

 

 

Except for the small airport that was across from our berth.

 

 

It was fairly busy early in the morning. Just as we pulled alongside the dock, a plane flew directly over us and banked for a quick landing.

 

 

Followed shortly by this ship and plane.

 

[declansdad]

Breakfast was once again on the Lido deck and shortly after we were cleared so we headed to Deck 0 to check out San Juan. We had decided that we wanted to walk to the forts and tour those on our own so off we went. Just before finding the hill up to the entrance of San Cristobel, we came across a square decorated for Christmas. In the center of the square was a statue of Christopher Columbus and in each corner they had these scenes:

 

 

 

 

 

Just past the square you find the edge of the fort and the street up to the entrance. I believe if you stay along the bottom you will find the visitors center and you can access the fort there as well. Either way you will need to climb.

 

 

Looking back down you can see the Whale Tail in the picture so you can see you are not that far from where the ships dock at all.

 

Edited January 25, 2016 by declansdad

[declansdad]

Both forts are very cool and very big. The main square of both forts have many static displays explaining the history as well as how things worked in the forts. For instance, San Cristobal kept all its water stored under the fort itself and there were large well heads in the fort. For this reason they didn’t allow livestock in the fort in order to protect their water supply. This is what that well heads looked like.

 

 

Also, like most forts there are dungeons. The one we were able to access was down a very long tunnel and had drawings on the wall. Supposedly they were done by a captain that was kept there while awaiting execution.

 

 

There are also a few more modern touches at this for; things like observation posts and a command center added by the USA in WW2.

 

You can see the outside of the observation post in this photo.

 

 

This is the entrance to the command center. It leads down to a tunnel and what is now the visitor center and gift shop.

 

 

There are many spectacular views from many spots in these forts.

 

 

[declansdad]

Back with more later today.

[declansdad]

Some more shots from San Cristobal

 

 

 

 

 

[declansdad]

After spending a couple of hours checking out San Cristobal we decided to head for Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It’s not a far walk but it is still slightly up hill. You stay along the wall and there are houses and small shops between the street and the water.

 

 

The Carmelo Anthony Basketball court.

 

 

 

The Cemetery Maria Magdalena de Pazzis, just outside the fort.

 

 

Del Morro looks small and it is the smaller of the two but looks are deceiving. This is what you see as you approach the gate.

 

 

This is actually the top of the fort and there are 6 levels in total.

 

There was a long line waiting to get in but we were able to by-pass the line by showing the receipt from the other fort.

[declansdad]

This fort had a similar setup with the main square holding most of the historical information and the gift shop.

 

 

This was also where you found the main way down to the next level.

 

 

We probably spent about an hour or so looking around and like the other fort, they have done a fantastic job restoring it.

 

This was the kitchen area and the ovens.

 

 

 

This gives you an idea as to the size, this was one of the mid levels.

 

 

Declan in a sentry box

 

[declansdad]

The view looking back towards town.

 

 

As we were about to leave, we were milling about in the square and there was a huge, and I mean huge, bang that came from the entrance area. Everyone stopped and I think look to see what had just blown up. After a few seconds a man pushing a 3-wheel stroller emerged from the tunnel holding the blown tire over his head showing everyone that we weren’t under attack. It was kind of funny after seeing him but I’m certain everyone first thought was OMG!

 

We decided to head back towards the port and walked through Old San Juan. I hope to get back here sometime to check this area out so more. There seemed to be some museums, some nice little restaurants, and of course shopping. We did check out Marshalls and paid a visit to Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store.

 

Here is some of the artwork we came saw on our walk back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the time I have right now, more coming soon.

[Crazyrbbt]

Looks like you had great weather for your visit. Loving all of the pictures and info on the ports. Thanks for the great review.

[geoatl]

Awesome! So these pics were from Amber Cove?

[declansdad]

Looks like you had great weather for your visit. Loving all of the pictures and info on the ports. Thanks for the great review.

 

Happy to help.

 

Awesome! So these pics were from Amber Cove?

 

 

Yes there are some back on page 1 and some more in the can be found in the link in my signature.

[declansdad]

After we arrived there were two more cruise ships that made port. I do like that in San Juan you see the ships right along the main street. It makes for some nice pictures that are more difficult to get in other ports.

 

This was the smaller of the two and I think they need to clean her up a bit. I would think that with the prices of their cruises they could get rid of some of these rust stains. Wink wink.

 

 

This one was parked next to us.

 

 

 

With both ships using this same dock there was a bit of a line to get back through the customs area which was right at the street. After a few minutes we were back inside the building and we decided to check out the duty free store. They had some really good deals and I was close to getting a nice bottle of Highland Park Scotch but I couldn’t convince myself it would fit in our checked suitcase or that it would make it home without being broken, given the treatment the bag received on the way down.

 

Once back on board we spent the rest of the afternoon resting up and sitting on the balcony. Always able to find a quiet place with a balcony, especially an aft-balcony.

 

Saw a couple if interesting sites while sitting out.

 

Not sure what this guy was doing, he pulled up to the side of the ship and then left a few minutes later.

 

 

And then there was still sleek looking craft.

 

[declansdad]

Shortly after that we were underway again. There was a little carnival area close to our berth, even had some penguins skating.

 

 

 

Diner was once again in the Platinum dining room. Another night of great food and great service. We were able to learn a little more about our servers and their time with Carnival. Our head waiter had been working with Carnival for over 15 years and his wife was also working on the ship as a bartender. We never met his wife but he was certainly a nice guy.

 

After diner we decided to check out the Hasbro Game Night. It was fun to watch and what made it better was our son was chosen to participate. Unfortunately the game they were playing was a memory game and a couple of his team members weren’t in the best shape to remember. Their parting gift was a travel size version of Simon.

 

I’ll finish off this section with some of the shots of old San Juan as we were on our way out.

 

 

 

 

[Crazyrbbt]

What are you taking the pictures with? They have all turned out good, just curious. Thanks