Grand Turk

Thursday, March 12

No alarm needed today, just the sun coming up to slowly wake us via the front webcam channel on the TV. Due to the Glory missing Half Moon Cay on Sunday, Grand Turk would be the only new port for us during our two weeks of cruising.

Prior to our arrival time of 11 am, we sat in the loungers on deck 3 (outside the lobby) and read…and watched the ocean.

We ate an early lunch and then were up on Deck 10 to watch as the Glory slowly approached Grand Turk. There are no words to adequately describe the color of the water surrounding Grand Turk. Out of all of the many Caribbean ports we have visited, the waters were the clearest and most incredible color of turquoise that we have seen.

Bob left to meet up with his scuba tour that he had booked through Carnival so I was on my own for the day. I gathered up my backpack full of snorkel equipment, towel, water bottle, sunscreen, etc…and of course my noodle…and headed to the beach. Getting to the beach at Grand Turk involved walking to the end of the dock. Period. The Glory was the first to arrive in port and the ship literally docks at the beach!

I walked by Bob's scuba group as they were getting organized in the cruise center and had no trouble finding a lounge chair under the shade of some palm trees.

I alternated my time between lounging on the beach and floating on my noodle in the water. I was literally swimming in the shade of the ship…it was THAT close!

About an hour later, the Caribbean Princess arrived. Getting there second meant the Princess passengers had a little harder time finding loungers on the beach.

The cruise center at Grand Turk was built by Carnival and is similar to what Cozumel and Roatan are like…except Grand Turk has a very large Margaritaville. During the afternoon I walked around a bit and checked things out.

Inside Margaritaville was a huge swimming pool with plenty of free lounge chairs and a Flowrider. This seemed to be the hang out for the spring breakers all afternoon. Ever so often I could hear loud cheers erupt so they must have been having a good time...and plenty to drink!

 

I stood and watched as people attempted to surf on the Flowrider…mostly unsuccessfully. One younger guy (on the left side) was doing some flips and other cool moves so I videotaped for a short time. I didn’t watch the video until after we got home and nearly died laughing when I realized the older guy on the right had a major swimsuit malfunction! I hadn’t even noticed when I was there!

Besides the usual gift shops and food stands in the cruise center, there was a memorial to the space capsule that splashed down in Grand Turk in 1962.

Last summer we took a cruise all the way to Alaska to see the whales. Who knew they were right here on the beach at Grand Turk!

Walking the opposite direction from the ship, the beach becomes more rugged. I didn’t go too far because the beach was literally covered with rocks and conch shells making it very hard to walk…especially in wet, slippery flip flops.

I stayed on the beach until late in the afternoon, wishing I didn't have to leave. It was hard to face the fact that once I got back on the ship we would be heading home. :( But what a perfect…and FREE day I had in Grand Turk!

I dropped off my beach gear in the cabin and realized that Bob still hadn’t returned from his dive. I swapped my underwater camera for my “good” camera and headed up to the Lido deck for some pizza…and then up another deck to take some photos. The Caribbean Princess was docked so close I think I could have jumped over there from the Glory. (Which of course is a total lie! But it really was close!)

Looking left down the beach, I used my zoom lens and photographed a couple of the beach bars…one of which was Jack’s Shack that I have seen mentioned online.

From reading cruise reviews online, I knew there was a dog called, Topher, who hung out in front of Jack’s and liked to dig in the sand. Imagine my surprise when I was able to get these photos of Topher from such a distance! (I often use the zoom on my camera as my binoculars!) I have no idea who these people are because I could barely see them with my naked eye…but they were having fun with the dog!

I walked up to the viewing area at the front of deck 7 and continued taking photos of the cruise center and looking down the beach.

Walking back to our cabin at the other end of deck 7, the hallway seemed to go on and on forever!

By the time I got back, Bob had returned. Roatan has always been his pick for the best diving in the Caribbean, but he claimed that Grand Turk was a close second. Definitely one port that we would both like to visit again.

With a late sail away at 5:30 pm, many people must have opted for dinner at the buffet. That was nice for us…we had no problem getting a table for two with no waiting in the main dining room. Filet Mignon with braised short ribs and Grand Marnier soufflé for desert…yum!

We had seen Ram, the magician, in the dining room a couple of times during the week, but managed to avoid having him come to our table. (Remember…I do NOT like magicians!!) Well…tonight he saw us and waved from across the room and said “I’ve been looking for you!!

Being a math teacher, I tend to have a logical mind and I think that is why I don’t enjoy magicians. Their tricks defy logic. Ram did several card tricks at our table and with me watching him like a hawk I could NOT catch how he did them. For one trick, he took a deck of cards out of the box. He had me write my name on one of the cards and slip it back into the deck. He shuffled the cards and pulled one out and I was a little smug when it was NOT my card. Ha…he goofed!! But…he then reached for the empty box on the table and inside was an envelope that contained MY CARD, folded up into a tiny square!! Arghhhhhh!

After dinner, the evening entertainment was a music production…Latin Nights, followed by another name that tune in the casino with cruise director, Dr. E.

A bottle of champagne (the THIRD one!) and more chocolate covered strawberries with chocolate truffles were waiting when we returned to the cabin that night. There was no card and I have no idea why we received the gift!

 Our last day at sea...coming up next.