theWayWeWent

AIDAmar anchored in Cayman harbor, from CARNIVAL GLORY.

Tender views after a short stay on Grand Cayman.

George Town, Cayman Islands. With a late excursion and in need of supplies  we head up into the town, which is just waking up, but there are things to see, trees and stairways to climb. We have no idea that this trip runs on ship’s time, not local, and we’re missing our snorkeling excursion.

On our return the light would be better and the tender almost empty.

Our first sea day over, GLORY heads into the night, the full moon risen over the water.

Dining rooms and happy times. Sabine tried to dress up as best she could to match the waiters’ outfits.

When it comes to drinking, I’m an elemental guy (think beer to quench, martini gin of course to mellow, and wine red usually to eat with), so the $10 custom concoctions weren’t going to get my Sign-and-Sail swipin’. But for those who like experimenting with different essences, these were cocktails to savor, in a good spot for watching humanity in its many flavors passing by.

And Bar Blue, one of the prettiest rooms on CARNIVAL GLORY, stood empty every time I came to its seductive cool.

GLORY had several intriguing smaller spaces aft on Deck 5 (Promenade); Cinn-a-Bar had a classic piano bar setup, with the guy in the middle taking requests, no doubt with a gigantic snifter for the tips, and plenty of green going in it. The red via my phone comes across perhaps as too much, but in truth it was a cozy vibe, and by voyage’s end had evolved into the kind of friendly and intimate room that felt rude to snap a picture in.

Sunset views from the Azure Lido. Sabine enjoying a hot tub which before this month had been adults-only, along with the pool, which was livelier by day.

We were in 8336, where the only complaint for the early riser might be the happy sounds of children and an occasional scraping chair on the Torquoise Lido one above when the afternoon nap is nigh. These didn’t keep me or Sabine awake for long. On Verandah Deck, anyone booking staterooms 8280-8021 and forward will sleep the sleep of those who sleep under people eating. Quietest sleeping deck on GLORY overall must be Empress Deck, or 7.

The Casino and Colors Lobby bars are where I came when I wanted to drink from glass, not plastic or aluminum can.

Night into day: I came to this space again and again. As from the balcony, here the simple contemplation of water as one passes through it induces bliss.

Still, by gross tonnage, this modest quartet of modern cruisery, leaving a single major port on late-season 7-days, represented more total cubic space than the entire Cunard-White Star Line at its North Atlantic apogee.

The Amber Theater, GLORY’s main show room, and the only public space on the ship that Sabine actively disliked, saying it was gaudy. When we were made to wait there at the beginning of the ship’s tour (more later on that) I tried to engage her on the historical aspect, but the causes of Bolshevism and the fate of the Tsar and his family was a wrong tack to take. Nonetheless, Sabine endured quietly.

The duty-free pitch, premium Scotch division.  Now that I look at these prices I wished I’d grabbed a couple of those Deveron 16s ... at least.  But I would have had to ship them or lose them at the first TSA checkpoint at the Miami airport.

Begone dull care; it’s on sale.