Britbrie
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There are also a few dogs that live on the beach, they seemed very friendly and just chilled with the beach goers. I can't blame them, if I lived that close to the beach I'd be there everyday too.
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One of the excursions Carnival offers is to horseback ride along the beach, which seemed to be fun but it's located in close proximity to the main beach everyone goes to.
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Sorry about making anyone reading this wait for an update!! I started my last semester of college, and it's been crazy so far!
There's only 2 more days to cover on my review, and that makes me super sad!
We woke up and went up to the lido deck for breakfast... everyone chose to hit up the buffet instead of burritos this morning. The buffet was not very good this morning, but I wasn't concerned.
After breakfast, we went back our stateroom to relax before the ships arrival in Grand Turk. I started watching Taken 2 on the television, and just when it was getting good the ship began to dock in Grand Turk.
We arrived around 11 am, to find that the Carnival Sunshine was already in port and the beach was pretty filled up. Mom and I decided to meet up with dad a little bit later in port, after doing a load of laundry real quick. (I know, who wants to do laundry on vacation!).
The beach is right off of the ship... and like I said, it was pretty packed already.
Once you step off of the ship, you can either go to the beach or they have a shopping center set up complete with a Margaritaville.
Mom and I decided to go look throughout the shops, and check out Margaritaville. Once we arrived, there were no chairs available and people were pretty much drunk everywhere. They had an hour wait, and nothing exciting in their shop, so we moved on to the other shops.
Mom and I shopped for a couple of hours, bought some shirts, and priced up the liquor. After walking around for a while, we decided to go back to the ship to grab a late lunch... which consisted of a Guy's Burger. Seriously, those things are addicting.
While mom and I were doing our thing, dad decided to go explore Grand Turk on his own.
He took the 7D and shot pictures all along the beach.
Apparently, they had someone barbecuing behind the main beach area...
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Great Pics! I will be there in October. We have ziplining scheduled but it is early so I am hoping we are not too wiped out to explore the city some. Thanks for the advice on water.
Thank you for reading!! Ziplining sounds awesome, I hope you have an awesome time!!
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Castillo San Felipe de Morro:
After watching the sail away, we were kind of tired so Mom and I watched 'Hitch' on tv and took short naps.
Once I woke up, it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight was just a cruise casual night, but I decided to look all fancy/dressed up.
As we walked down to the dining room, we collectively decided to hit up the buffet instead. They had some decent choices, but I just chose to eat pizza for dinner. It was a good choice!
After dinner, we had tons of time to actually participate in the evening activities. We floated around and then watched Superstar Live for a while. They had some really talented kids on the ship, and Superstar Live seems to be an awesome opportunity for people to participate in.
We got tired of watching, and went to the Amber Palace to get seats for the show. They had bingo, 60 seconds or Less, and then finally the Love and Marriage Show.
The Love and Marriage show is always an awesome show, and it generates a lot of laughter. The only negative I had about this cruise, was that the CD seemed to be very bland and not nearly as active as the Assistant CD. Oh well, it didn't ruin my cruise... haha.
After the show, we went up to the Blue Iguana Mexican Fiesta where they had dancing and chips/salsa. I have to say it was kind of disappointing to only be offered chips, but I wasn't hungry anyways so no big deal.
I ordered a margarita from the Blue Iguana bar, and we sat for a while. They continuously passed out shots in collectible shot glasses, but no one was interested.
It was around midnight when the party started dying, so we decided to go to bed. Overall, it was a really awesome day in San Juan, and I cannot wait to return!
Up next: Grand Turk -
It was pretty close to 3 pm and the ship was about to do the 'Get your butt back on board now' call.
We decided to go up to the Lido deck and grab a light lunch... until I saw someone walk past me with a Guy's Burger, and that plan went out the window. They are sooooo good, I can't help it!
After lunch, mom and I wanted to go back to the room to watch the sail away from San Juan.
The weather wasn't looking too good, and it started to sprinkle so dad snapped some pics and we were on our way to the room!
This is the Castillo San Cristobal:
Bye Puerto Rico!!!!!!
The Castillo San Felipe de Morro:
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Did you hire a taxi or just walked around? I hear San Juan is pretty much walkable......
We just walked it. They had a large amount of taxis outside of the terminal, but honestly they aren't needed. There is shopping just across the street, and if you want to explore more/see the forts you can totally walk it. The only downside is how incredibly HOT it was, and I'm used to the heat in Louisiana!
I will be going for the first time September 19th. So excited loving the review:)Oh that's super soon!! I'm so jealous!! I hope you have a great time!
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We started working our way back towards the ship, as it was getting close to the 3 pm departure... when I saw the illusive CVS everyone speaks of.
If you have to purchase Puerto Rican rum, this is the best place to do it! They have Ron de Barrilito rum, which is AMAZING!! If you go to PR stop and buy a few bottles of it, send me one, and you won't regret your decision!
Excuse my hair in the next pic, it was hot and windy... but here I am at Señor Frogs with my liquor!
With that, I will leave you until the next update... to be continued! -
This restaurant looked pretty cool, and had a few people in it...
I told you it would be a lot of pictures... -
They have a lot of hand crafted items for sale throughout San Juan, this store for example had a lot of wooden masks for sale. It was pretty neat.
They have quite a few restaurants along the way to and from the cruise ship. None of them were very busy at the times that we passed however.
This is the street with all of the shops along the way. They have linen, t-shirts, trinkets, alcohol, bars, jewelry, clothes, etc. Anything you could want is down this street!
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We walked around the Castillo San Cristobal (which is huge, and bigger than the other fort) for a while, and were ready to explore more of San Juan.
On our way back towards the ship, there was a street with various bars and gift shops that we wanted to explore.
This is the way up to/down from the Castillo San Cristobal
I absolutely LOVE the colors featured throughout San Juan
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See the ship on the left...
More of the ship:
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There's lots more pictures... just wait... haha. -
The fort also features a tunnel system, that holds an area used as a place to retain prisoners. There was only a small window that let in very little light, and the story is that there was a Captain held there prior to his execution.
Regardless of the history behind it, there are art depictions of the Armada. Really, really cool to see and worth the trip down the tunnel.
Once you start walking up the upper levels, you get to see all of the awesome views... like this one from the lookout post added during WWII:
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I'm back ya'll!! Sorry for that brief delay in the Review, real life happened and it was rough. Back to the Caribbean!
When I last left off, we had just left St. Thomas and were on our way to Puerto Rico! Let me premise this update with a warning that there this update is going to be heavily filled with pictures... like tons of them. Puerto Rico is by far the most photogenic place I've visited, and dad/I went crazy with the cameras.
Also, bad news... my food pictures didn't really work out so there aren't any. But, I can describe food... and who really cares about anything but Puerto Rico anyways right?!
Alright, so the ship arrived in Puerto Rico for 7 am and for once in my life, I did not have any issues waking up before 10 am! Don't judge me, you sleep too.
We got ready, and ate a quick breakfast. I skipped the burrito this morning, and ate at the buffet. They didn't have anything I was really interested in eating, so I went with some fruit and potatoes.
The plan was to explore the city, and tour one of the forts. We had previously been to San Juan on a Carnival cruise, and were unable to go do anything due to the weather...so we were elated to be back.
Once off the ship, we walked uphill through the city center to the Castillo San Cristobal. For those of you unfamiliar to Puerto Rico, there are two giant forts that you can see from the ship. The main one that EVERYONE goes to is Castillo San Felipe del Morro... and it's the one you can see as the ship is entering and exiting the port. It's also the older of the two.
Anyways, the Castillo San Cristobal cost $5 to get in and you can definitely walk there yourself (as opposed to paying Carnival $70 to walk you there, and give you a tour)... The admission price you pay also includes the other fort, so you could make a day of fort tours if you chose.
Once you arrive at the fort, you see views such as this:
See the ship off in the background? It really was no more than a 10 minute walk, but it's completely uphill. So bring water!
As a history major at LSU, I am obsessed with anything history related so I was in complete heaven touring the fort. Some people may not find it as exciting as I did, but it's all what you make of it.
The brief history of Castillo San Cristobal as told by Brittney (me) goes like this... the Spanish under King Charles IV were at war with France when this fort was built. The city of San Juan constantly faced attack by the British, and Dutch (who were all over the Caribbean at this time). This fort served the purpose of regulating entrance into the city, and was HUGE (before they demolished part of it). Anyhow, long story short... this fort held off the British, Dutch, was captured by Spanish rebels for a little under a day, used during the Spanish-American War (prior to the US taking PR as a territory), was utilized during WWII by the US, and is an AMAZING place to visit for the day.
Sorry, the history nerd part of me took over! :p
So, once you pay your $5 you have free reign of the property. They have restrooms, amazing views of the city, and a small gift shop that sells souvenirs/water. Enough talking, here's what you're really here for... pics!
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Awesome review and pics!
Thanks so much for reading!
Talk about a cliffhanger... "Had to go to the ER last night" - hope all is well!!Omg, sorry to leave you like that! lol. I had surgery a month ago to repair my tendon in my wrist, and have been recovering for several weeks. The other day I tripped and fell after one of my classes, and fell landing on that wrist. It ended up hurting like crazy, so I went to the ER to make sure I didn't re-break my wrist (which caused the surgery in the 1st place). Luckily it was just sprained, and I over-stretched my tendon... so a few days in the splint and I'm doing better. Thanks for the well wishes, and for waiting on me to keep the Review going!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us! We sail on the Glory on 01/23/16 for the 10 day journey. We sailed on the Conquest in July 2014 and that was the first Carnival cruise for us but we've been on several other lines. Unfortunately the food is the negative point for us. Carnival puts little effort into food presentation and the food also lacks flavour. The best meal I had was the Indian vegetarian platter. Still looking forward to the cruise but Carnival needs to greatly improve the menus and presentation to compare with Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.That should be an awesome cruise!! I haven't tried the Indian platter, but I hear great things about it all the time! Maybe I'll be adventurous this next cruise and try it out. I have only ever cruised Disney and Carnival, and Disney for sure has them beat on food. The Carnival Glory did a great job with the American Table concept, and they seem to be attempting to take a step in the right direction for food. Hopefully they continue to progress, and I hope you have a fantastic cruise!
Your review is amazing! I'm doing this same exact itinerary in March on the Glory as well, and I am super excited because this will be my first ever Caribbean cruise!! I am super excited to try those Guy's Burgers! :D but you have me worried about the MDR food! How was the food overall in the MDR? Did you like the American table concept?? I'm a super picky eater so hopefully I'll like the food, LOL. Also, I am beyond excited for St. Thomas and HMC! Thanks for all your AMAZING pictures of both these beautiful islands! Can't wait for the rest of your review! :)Thanks so much!!! You'll absolutely love it!! It is the best itinerary I have ever experienced. The Guy's Burgers are life-changing, and a must do!
The food in the MDR wasn't bad, there were a few dishes I could def skip for next time but overall they did a good job. The only issue we found was our servers and their lack of concern for our table, we seemed to be an after thought. The American Table concept was a more casual change... like people don't dress up on the Glory as much as they did when the white table cloths were present. I'm not a terribly picky eater, but I have issues trying new things... and every night found something to eat. Worst case, eat a WCMC and get some pizza! Thanks for reading, and you will for sure LOVE this cruise!!! Do a review so I can relive it!
Great review!!!Thanks for the many pictures, love them!!!
HMC is now a must for me, looks like you had lots of fun!!
Thank you for reading! HMC was gorgeous, you should for sure try to go there!!
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that smores parfait looks delish!
It was really good, but a tad bit too sweet for me!
Ok girl, you've got me on the edge of my seat. Come on back and write more on your review! LOL.I'm going to come back and write some soon! Had to go to the ER last night so I'm trying to play catch up on my school work first! haha. After that I will for sure be updating.
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Desserts:
Mom and dad both got the sugar free cake:
I ordered the s'mores parfait, which was very good.
After dinner, we went to the Motor City show in the Amber Palace.
The show was pretty good, everyone really enjoyed the new Playlist Productions!
There wasn't much going on around the ship, as we were arriving in Puerto Rico pretty early. We decided to go to bed after checking out the casino for a few minutes.
Up next: Puerto Rico!! -
By this point, we were back on the ship, and were getting kind of hungry.
Mom and I went up to the Lido deck, and got some lunch. Mom chose to get a Turkey sandwich from the deli, while I went with a... Guy's Burger!! (obviously, they are addicting!).
After we ate, I was on the quest to get one of those cute little blowfish cups from the bar. We walked all over the Lido to find out that they were out of them... on the 4th day of the cruise!! So, I settled for this guy:
Not the blowfish, but it'll work. I ordered a Kiss on the Lips, and it was WAY too sweet! Usually they are really good, but not this time.
After getting my drink, we went to get ready for dinner.
Everyone got their usual appetizers, shrimp cocktail or a salad. So, there aren't any pictures of them at this point.
For an entree, Mom got the BBQ Pork Spare Ribs.
I ordered the chateaubriand, and it was nothing special at all. No seasoning, or anything! The polenta on the side was loaded with black olives, which I hate... so all around I didn't eat much of it.
Dad ordered fish again.
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Ah, now I don't know what to do in St Thomas on our cruise next March! I was thinking Magens Bay, but your excursion looks wonderful!
Sorry about that! lol. My advice would be to go to Magens Bay if you want to spend a LONG time at the beach, and if you want to see a lot more/spend 2 hours at the beach go on this excursion. I feel like Trunk Bay is prettier than Magens Bay, but that is just my opinion! I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time no matter what you pick!
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Thank you for doing this review. I'm not even sailing on the Glory any time soon, but I'm loving your review and your gorgeous pictures! Keep up the hard work!!
Well thank you so so much for reading!!
We did an island tour. It was awesome! It was an open bus and went to different places. We stopped at this huge store where they had the famous banana daquiris. The most delicious banana daquiri ever! I'd take taxi there just to get one again!! LolAw that sounds like a lot of fun!! I loveeee banana daiquiris!
Great review. I board the Glory for the first time in 9 days. Can't wait to read more.Awesome!! I hope you have an awesome time!! Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the response!! You Rock Girl!!Glad I could help! lol
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Did you do the excursion through the ship or on your own?That's my question too! If you booked it on your own, who did you go through?
Sorry y'all, I should've made that clearer! I was trying to rush update in between cleaning the house/doing laundry!
The excursion was booked through Carnival. It was $69.99 a person (adult), and definitely worth it. The excursion was called the St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel Trails.
Although you only get like 2ish hours at the beach, it is an awesome experience. The boat ride on the way to Trunk Bay is also really cool because you get to pass other islands, and see a lot of St. Thomas as well.
This will be my second time to St. Thomas.....love it!!St. Thomas is an awesome place!! Did you do Magen's Bay last time? I love that beach as well!
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holy wow! that's beautiful
That was my reaction!! It was sooooo worth the trip. It was honestly the best excursion I've been on yet!
Carnival Glory 5/30/2015 Review with Pictures!!
in Carnival Cruise Lines
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Unfortunately, there was a lot of trash behind the beach.