Temperature: 86 degrees
Princess Patter-Today's Activities: Bible Study/Card & Board Games/Sharing Photos Technology Workshop/Zumba Fitness Dance Class/Mahjong Players/Knitters & Natters/Morning Golf Putting/Caribbean Treasures-Grand Turk Highlights Talk/Morning Trivia/Best 10 Basketball Challenge/Steel Drums rehearsal/Quiet Room (Skywalker's)/Champagne Hoopla/Service Club Get-together/Pop Choir rehearsal/Jackpot Bingo/Paddle Tennis/Portrait Raffle Drawing/Acoustic Guitar of Danny Rodriguez/Ballroom Blitz-ChaCha beginners class/Singles & Solos Get-together/Ping Pong Challenge/Party Bridge Play/Taboo game/Carpet Bowl/BOGO Happy Hour/Afternoon Tea/Golf Chipping challenge/Afternoon Brainbuster Trivia/Sailaway Mix with DJ Jokers Wild/Crab Shack (Cafe Caribe)/Yes_No Game/Texas Hold'em/Princess Pop Star
Cruise Life: Hubby and I have been waking up around 6am. We've been sleeping soundly because of the subtle rocking and rolling at the front (forward) of the ship. We have breakfast at Horizon Court buffet: hot bowl of oatmeal, smoked salmon with capers, a runny egg, and some fruit. Every now and then a french toast or a flaky fruit pastry might jump onto my plate. Hubby who has to watch his sugar intake will sample some of the sweets that land on my plate. I don't mind sharing as long as he leaves me the other half.
Today, we're expected to arrive into Grand Turk around 1pm. We are cruising along the calm waters and can see Grand Turk off in the horizon.
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| Enjoying our balcony time |
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| Can see Grand Turk in the distance |
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| Arriving into Grand Turk |
This morning, I'm trying to download the pictures from all the cameras and then archive them onto my thumb drive and then onto my external portable hard drive that I've brought along. I'm also trying to prep hubby's GoPro camera and giving him pointers on how to take pictures. Right now, the GoPro is mounted on a short plastic floaty stick. Something he can hold in hands, but strapped to his wrist. This will be his first time using this incredible tiny camera. This afternoon he will practice taking pictures on our snorkeling excursion. This will free up the Canon camera that he has used on previous cruises. I'm bringing it along so I can take pictures underwater.
We arrive into Grand Turk before a bit before 1pm. We slather on suntan lotion and gather our things and head down to the gangway to leave the ship. We head over to the excursion booth and sign a waiver and get a blue bracelet strapped to our wrists. We are doing the Ultimate Snorkeling excursion. We wait and wait and wait for our tour guide. Thirty minutes later we walk over to a smaller pier/dock and board a taxi type boat. We're crammed in like sardines...not good. We head out to our first of two snorkeling site. The first one is called Horseshoe and the water is quite clear and deep. We get to snorkel for 30 minutes or so. Oh my goodness. I forgot how beautiful the marine life is at this site. With camera in hand, I start snapping away.
Taking underwater pictures is a lot different than taking pictures on land. Under the water, I have to take in consideration the current that's constantly moving my around. Next is the fish. They are quick. Lastly, is the lighting. On cloudy days, the pictures can be harder to take. On sunny days, no issues. Today was definitely a sunny day with no issues.
We all got back on the boat. No problem, mon. We headed to the next site in shallow water. The water is so clear that I can see the coral and fish while on the boat. I jump off the boat with camera in hand and had a wonderful experience at this site. The fish were coming up and swimming all around me. I tried to take close up pictures of them, but they were fast moving. I followed a few of them hoping they would stop for that Kodak moment.
I followed one of the boat crew members and sure enough he found a nurse shark. Snap! Snap! Snap! My camera was working overtime. The crew member then grabbed my arm and next thing I know, the nurse shark is sitting on my lap. Wow! His skin was a bit rough. I let go of my camera and one of my fellow cruisers kindly took some pictures of me with the shark. Another wow!
The thirty minutes at this second site went by too quickly. We headed back to the pier. My fellow snorkelers were happy and sharing their stories of the fish they encountered. One fellow cruiser asked if I got some good pictures. I told them they were great! I couldn't help myself. All I had to do was point my camera and wait for a second for a fish to come into view. What can I say?
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| Nurse shark on my lap |
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| A fish getting into my Kodak moment with the shark |
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| Nurse shark skin is a bit rough |
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| The fish were everywhere! |
We gathered back onto the boat and sailed back to the pier. We still had a few hours before we needed to be back onboard. We headed over to the beach area and walked along the water's edge. We kept walking and enjoying the beach and the beautiful warm weather.
We walked as far as we could and ended up at Jack's Shack. Our mission was to try their Jerk Chicken. It was divine. Hubby and I sat at the Shack and watched as the sun set in the distance. It was beautiful.
We had less than 30 minutes to get back to the ship and at the same moment thought about the mosquitos that would be lurking around and waiting to make a quick meal of us. We jogged along the waterline for a quarter of a mile and made our way back to the pathway where the shops and cruise terminal are located. There were still folks shopping and wandering around. They too, did not want to leave. We boarded the ship with 10 minutes to spare. Yes, we had an awesome time on Grand Turk!
Tonight's movie at MUTS: The Hundred-Foot Journey. This is another favorite movie of mine. Unfortunately, we were the last few to board the ship and by the time we showered, rinsed all our snorkeling gear and ate dinner...we missed the first showing. No worries. I'll be able to watch the movie in our cabin or catch it during next week's cruise. Love B2B (back to back) cruising.
Ciao!
Ciao!
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