Grand Turk!

At the start of this cruise, Hubby and I had an inkling that our last port of call might be some place spectacular.  We were not disappointed. 

An hour before we were supposed to dock we could see a thin strip of island from our port side.  The island looked relatively flat.  As we came closer, we saw palm trees, beautiful beaches and the dock area.  We also heard loud announcements welcoming Princess to Grand Turk and the specials coming from a place called The Local Village.   

Approaching Grand Turk

The Local Village and beach front

Arriving at the dock

Our excursion today was snorkeling at two locations (including horseshoe reef) and then back to the dock.  As we were heading down the mid-ship stairs and reached deck 7, a Princess rep was guiding us to growing line around the Piazza.  I overheard a conversation between two Princess reps that there were two exit lines, one forward and one mid-ship.  We decided it was better to get in the second line (forward) and have a short distance to walk on the dock to meet our excursion group.  After waiting for a few minutes, our line started to move.  Our wise decision paid off. 

We were the first group off the ship and heading to Dufry's terminal

Once on the dock, we had to walk through the Dufry duty-free shop in order to get to the main shopping area.  This reminded me a bit of Puerta Maya in Cozumel where we had to go through a duty-free shop to get where we needed to go.  We wandered around the local shopping area looking for our group and it was somewhat chaotic.  I saw a Princess rep and she was able to guide us to the right location.  Hubby and I signed in and were directed to wait in line for the tour.  I left Hubby in line and wandered around the shopping area and found a space capsule display honoring John Glenn.

Space capsule display

 

We were led down the beach to a smaller dock area where we saw several boats.  I had the opportunity to take some pictures of our ship along with many fellow cruisers who were still getting off the ship. 

Emerald Princess with fellow cruisers leaving the ship

The beach front right next to the pier

Our snorkeling group turned out to be a fairly large group of people.  We boarded one of the boats and headed out towards the north part of the island and anchored in the water for our first snorkel stop.  Hubby couldn’t wait and jumped in the water.  SPLASH!  The captain of our boat looked a bit perturbed and ordered Hubby to get back on the boat to hear “the snorkel safety guidelines”.  The water was quite cold here but invigorating to snorkel in.  We saw so many fish here.  They were swimming by my head.  I felt like I could almost grab their tails.  They were quick!

Our snorkeling site...can you see the coral in the water?  The water was so clear!

Absolutely beautiful!

Blue Tang swimming in droves

We got back on the boat and traveled for a few minutes inland and dropped anchor again.  We were at Horseshoe Reef.  The reef and fish were beautiful.  We got a chance to see a nurse shark.  It was a beauty! 

Our whole snorkeling excursion was only 2-1/2 hours long which was fine with me.  I was a bit unnerved about some of my fellow snorkelers who were a bit rude.  They thought they had the “right of way” and snorkeled right over me.  Hubby said he experienced that as well and knowing him, they would have “snorkeled into him”. 

A nurse shark!

We were dropped back to the docks and Hubby and I ran back to the ship to drop off our bags and change our clothes.  We headed back out as many cruisers were heading back to the ship in anticipation of watching the Super Bowl.  It was close to 4pm when we hit the beach area and a few people were in the water.  Many of the lounges were deserted.  We headed over to The Local Village to see if we could find some local Jerk Chicken.  Hubby didn’t feel comfortable with this café as there were very few people there.  We decided to head over to Margaritaville and found the place hopping as usual.  We sat near the pool area that had a swim up bar and ate some tasty wings and enjoyed the rest of our evening people watching in Grand Turk. 

Fellow cruisers leaving as we were heading back for some more fun!

Emerald Princess starboard side

Another beach shot

The Local Village

It was around 6pm when we decided to start walking back to the ship.  We had to be back onboard by 6:30pm.  I did some last minute window-shopping, checking out the local shops as they were getting ready to wind down and close for the night.  We walked through Dufry’s and flashed our cruise cards through security.  I was dragging my feet to get back to the ship.  Hubby pointed to the sun that was setting in the distance.  I spent the last few minutes on Grand Turk taking pictures. 

Evening shot of the Emerald Princess....

We noticed an ambulance with its lights flashing parked on the dock near the mid-ship entrance which was cordoned off.  As we boarded the ship close to 6:30pm, I asked the Princess security officer if the person was alright.  He said the person has to leave the ship and go to the hospital on the island.    It’s sad to see this happen to one of your fellow cruisers.  I hope they were doing well. 

After we showered, I had to clean our snorkel gear and swim suits.  I dumped everything in our sitting area to dry.  I didn’t want our room steward, Robert, to trip over our stuff in the bathroom.  I figured once he refreshed our room for the night, I could hang all our stuff on the bathroom clothes line to dry. 

We headed up to Deck 15 looking for something to eat for dinner.  The MUTS area was packed with Super Bowl fans.  We headed over to the Pizzeria for slices of margherita pizza.  Then we went over to the Trident Grill so I could enjoy a plate of French fries.  This was dinner at its best…simple and tasty!