Glory, May 12-19th...Trip Report with photos and videos!

[Saint Greg]

I am an artist myself, so I get very excited at the artwork on the ship....yeah, I know, what a nerd.

 

You’re the one!

[ABQrobin]

The Cinnabar Piano Lounge...a bit too much red for me

 

 

 

 

more to come later today...

[ABQrobin]

Trip Report.....continued....

 

touring the ship

 

Blue Bar

 

 

This is the small bar next to the Comedy Club on Promenade. It was used mostly for private parties and events.

 

 

Our FAVORITE....the Ebony Cabaret Aft Lounge (Comedy Club)

 

Just a beautifully done, African theme, from carpet to tabletops to wall art... LOVE LOVE LOVE

 

 

We were on the Glory 3 years ago, and don't remember this decor at all. Was this a part of the remodel last year?

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

Someone had a real attention to detail when they put this room together.... just flawless

 

 

The White Heat dance club outside....sorry but it was nothing but white, glass, and chrome inside so it didn't photography.

 

The Camel Club Casino

 

Kaleidiscope walkway on Promenade

this is definitely NEW fabric on the furniture

it used to be multicolored

 

 

...more....

[ABQrobin]

Deck 4 has the Ivory Club Lounge.... this is where the Latin band played, more about that later

 

 

 

Deck 3....Amber Palace Theatre

 

 

[ABQrobin]

...the Main LOBBY....called COLORS Lobby

 

I really didn't find the Lobby appealing, like all the other rooms. It just seemed awkward, no furniture matched, the old fabric on couches matched the floors so not sure why they picked this new orange stuff. It is pretty, just seems out of place in that lobby.

 

 

The Sports bar....all look the same every ship, so

 

 

So that is a tour of the main areas of the ship....on with the Trip Report

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

At Noon we went for lunch --- Blue Iguana --- Tacos and Burritos! never get tired of that place.

We grabbed our food and sat by the window. It was still gloomy outside, but seemed like the sun might start to peak through the clouds.

 

Since it was MOTHER'S Day....they had special desserts out, and one was quite tasty. It was a light sponge cake with cream cheese frosting, even though it looks heavy, it wasn't.

 

After lunch, we headed out to the Aft pool area to sit and watch the ocean. Aaahhhh, love being at sea!!!

 

 

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

Because of the rain, the cover over the pool had been partially closed all morning.

 

 

After lunch though is was clear enough to open, and people were very happy!

 

 

 

Hey, the SUN IS OUT !!!!!

 

finally the cruise started to feel like a cruise for everyone.... the sun was shining, the music was pumping. And the booze was flowing.

 

 

....more to come...

[cruisin'4fun]

What type of scuba gear were you allowed to bring aboard?

[ABQrobin]

What type of scuba gear were you allowed to bring aboard?

 

All of it.... BC, regs, computers, masks, fins. We have a rolling mesh bag that we carry it all in off the ship to the dive boat. Works like a charm. That way all we need from the dive op is the tanks and weights. Most of the people diving bring only masks and fins though, and use rental gear for the rest. Since we own all our gear, seems silly not to bring it.

[cruisin'4fun]

ABQrobin,Your photo site pictures are amazing! I love scuba diving especially in Cozumel

[ABQrobin]

ABQrobin' date='Your photo site pictures are amazing! I love scuba diving especially in Cozumel[/quote']

 

Thank you.

DH does majority of the underwater photos, I do the videos posted on Vimeo.

Cozumel is like our second home, we have been there so much. Best diving on this side of the planet!

[cruisin'4fun]

Looking forward to more!

[grandmarnnurse]

Following. Love all your photos so far!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ABQrobin]

So.... after a total chill afternoon, we mosey on down to deck 1 room to pack up our scuba gear for the first port --- Grand Turk!

Yeah, woot woot, we are going diving at Grand Turk! Our cruise last year all we did was snorkel there, and honestly we felt cheated. DH had been talking about diving that wall for months and I finally gave in and booked this cruise so he could dive it. We have done hundreds of dives in the Caribbean, but nothing at Grand Turk. His bucket list, for sure, so we were set to go.

Our dive gear was put into a rolling mesh bag and sitting ready for the next morning.

 

It was the first Elegant Night, so we both showered and dressed, then headed to the dining room at 6pm.

 

The menu seems the same to me, for every cruise, for the first elegant night.

 

Some people dressed nice, some didn't seem to realize they were supposed to dress up. Oh well, it is what it is. I like seeing everyone dressed up like it is a special occasion but I know some people don't, so.... it wasn't going to ruin my evening.

 

I wanted a salad, but I hate blue cheese, so I asked for spinach with basalmic on the side. Score! They even put walnuts on it for me.

 

 

DH got the fried oysters....he said they were okay.

 

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

For Entree....DH went for the lobster with shrimp and orzo.

 

 

And I ordered the Salmon with a potato and broccoli.... my favorite.

 

 

For dessert he got the hazelnut cake and I got the fruit plate. I had that cake at lunch and didn't want to do too much damage to my diet.

 

 

He said he liked it almost as much as the chocolate melting cake! Wow.

 

 

....After dinner we stopped in the Ivory Lounge to listen to the Latin band. Ugggghhh, we really didn't like them and neither did anyone else who stopped in for a few minutes. They just seemed to be banging on drums and cow bells and a guy doing runs up and down the keyboard. I am no expert on latin music, but we really like the Cuban-Caribbean latin salsa bands we have seen on the ships before. THIS was not that.

We left and ran back to our room to change to jeans, then up to the Lido deck for the MOVIE.... The Greatest Showman.

We missed the first about 15 minutes, and the deck was packed, so we got stool seats by the Red Frog bar and watched the movie. It was so good we both loved it. Wish we had just skipped the Latin band and gone straight up for the movie!

The movie ran 2+ hours, so when it was over, we grabbed our water bottles, filled them at the Lido water station, then headed back to room to crash. We had a big day coming!

 

....tomorrow = Grand Turk

 

//

[ABQrobin]

MONDAY, May 14 --- GRAND TURK

 

We were due to arrive at 8am.... and we DID. The captain made up all the lost time from the first day's medical evac at Miami. Yeah... it was still somewhat dark as the port came into view. The sun was rising and it was.....windy. Uh oh.

 

 

 

 

 

We had scuba diving scheduled for today.... and the wind was a bit worrisome. Would the boat still go out?

Our dive gear was packed and ready, we went back to the room and waited for the docking announcement to come. Surely the wind would not stop us from docking.....

 

Bing, bong.... yeah, we are docked!

 

[ABQrobin]

 

The WIND was crazy....hopefully as the sun came up, it would die down.

 

 

taking the dive gear off the ship....the rolling bag worked great, on the pavement anyhow.

 

 

 

We found out checkin booth.. and started filling out paperwork and waiver form.

There were a lot of anxious cruisers waiting for excursions...

 

[ABQrobin]

 

 

We saw only 4 other divers signing up....I hope this was it. Diving with 6 total divers on a boat would be sweet.

And that is what it turned out to be. Two guys finally showed up, and said we would start the walk down the beach to the boat.....

Whaaaat? Oh crap, the rolling bag with all the gear wasn't going to roll on sand. DH had to pick it up, and luckily it has shoulder straps to make it a backpack, but it was heavy. The dive guide asked if he could help, but of course not, DH was determined to carry to the boat!

 

 

so off we went...down the beach

[ABQrobin]

Views of the ship along the way....

 

 

 

We arrived at the boat, it really wasn't that far...easy for me to say, I wasn't carrying 30 lbs of gear.

 

 

Boat captain Craig, Divemaster Roger would be with us for the dives.

The boat left the beach and went down just a ways to their dive shop to pick up gear for those who didn't bring it, which was everybody but us. LOL We were there about 15 minutes, then off to dive. BTW...their dive shop is at Jack's Shack.

 

 

 

The WIND was dying down, so off we go to dive!

[ABQrobin]

 

We all set up gear, were given weights, and told when we reached our first dive site everyone would do a weight check off the back of boat holding the tag line.

The first two dive spots we came to already had dive boats hooked up to the buoy, so we went on to another one. Finally we were hooked up and did the weight checks. We had one brand new diver, but the rest were all experienced, so it was pretty quick, then we all started down to the sand.

 

DM Roger led us over the sand....the the Famous and Magnificent Grand Turk wall. Wow. When they say it is a 7000' wall, they mean it. Looking down the wall, nothing but dark blue, and beautiful coral as far as you could see.

 

 

The newbie diver stuck right with her boyfriend/hubby (not sure) and was no problem. He kept her close and she did fine on her air consumption.

 

 

DM Roger banged on his tank and pointed down..... 2 reef sharks were about 30' below us swimming along the wall. Then bang bang again, a turtle went swimming by above us. Bang bang again... 2 eagle rays swimming off of the wall in the blue. Wow, nice! No pictures of the sharks, they were just too far down.

 

[ABQrobin]

 

We saw two turtles, not sure if this was the first or second one.

 

Very lush coral.... and no current.

 

 

Lots of coral - black coral, star coral, coral whips, sea fans...red rope sponge, orange encrusting sponge...

 

 

DH just got a new camera..... Olympus TG-5, underwater housing, and using his old strobes. I will post a photo of his setup later on if he can get it to me.

 

I was shooting video, I have a GoPro5, underwater case, with a Polar Pro red filter, no lights.

 

My video of Dive #1:

 

If you want to watch the video on your laptop or desktop computer, click on the VIMEO to take you directly to Vimeo, then hit the little arrows at bottom to expand to FULL screen.

 

After 40+ minutes, we returned to the bottom of the boat, and all did our 3 minute safety stop before climbing the ladder back up.

 

 

more.... Dive #2 coming up

[grandmarnnurse]

Fabulous dive pics! And I loved the video!

[BigCruze]

Awesome

[ABQrobin]

Fabulous dive pics! And I loved the video!

 

Thanks....more to come!