Thursday (01/08): Grand Turk

Grand Turk (Grand Turk Cruise Center):  1pm-7pm
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.

Enjoying our balcony time

Can see Grand Turk in the distance

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?

Nurse shark on my lap

A fish getting into my Kodak moment with the shark

Nurse shark skin is a bit rough

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!

Monday (01/05): Another @Sea Post and Next Few Days

Note:  I wanted to post what will be happening the next few days. Starting tomorrow (Tuesday), we'll be in St Maarten followed by St Thomas, and then Grand Turk on Thursday. We also have snorkeling/beach excursions planned. Full days with a lot of activities. So pardon me if I go silent for a day or two.

After this 1st sea day, I'm kind of anxious to be back in the water with the beautiful fish. I'm feeling a bit lazy today along with wanting to take several naps.

Back to today's events....

Cruise Life:  After lunch, I dropped Hubby off at the cabin. I made my rounds on decks #7, #6, and #5 and where the main Piazza (center venue) is located. There's a lot going on...especially people watching. Deck 5, you will find me looking for peanut butter cookies at the International Cafe (IC). On this same deck is where I get my specialty coffee also at the IC. Across the way, is the Future Cruise Sales desk where I patiently wait for Angela, the Princess Rep to appear. If I wanted to, I could head over to the Internet Cafe next door and burn more Internet minutes.

Deck 6 is where is the Purser's desk and Princess kiosk is located and where I pause for station identification. There are also shops/boutiques located on this level. Deck 7 has the sales tables where I pause for the second station identification. More shops and boutiques are here. Nearby, is the library where I find my daily dose of Sudoku and other brain teasers available for us to take with us.

I was able to sit and chat with Angela about future cruises. Looks like Hubby and I will be on the brand new ship Regal Princess next year. Well, by then it will be less than two years old.
It's 4pm and time to get ready for formal night. More later....

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!