Day 128: Grand Turk

We were awake early today, watching from the front of the ship on Deck 8 as the Emerald Princess slid into its berth across the pier from the Celebrity Constellation, already in place. By 8am, the ship was docked and cleared and we were sitting down to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room, peering out the windows at the Constellation. On Tuesday, the Constellation will finish up a 10-night Bare Necessities nudist cruise. We had been next to the ship in Fort Lauderdale on February 6th when that cruise began, and saw nothing out of the ordinary on the open decks. Nor did we today. Sure, there were a lot of people on their balconies wearing robes, but that was the only unusual thing.

Another local time-ship time discrepancy

We had a surprising appetite this morning for the day after a Crown Grill dinner, and I had fruit and a egg white veggie omelet. By 9am we were walking off the ship packed for a beach day, but our intended destination today was not Margaritaville, nor Jack's Shack. Instead, we walked out of the Grand Turk Cruise Center and turned left down the island's main north-south road. After an easy 30 minute walk, we arrived at Governour's Beach, part of the Columbus Landfall National Park. It's just north of, and on the same stretch of beach as where the ship docks, but because of a fence on the other side of the freight dock, it can only be reached by walking out to the main road and back. 

We had two main goals for the day:  escape the noise and music and crowds of Margaritaville, and snorkel around the shipwreck that we could see from the Emerald Princess. We set our things on a large wooden picnic table, buried in sand so deeply that the seat was about 4" off the ground, inflated our floats and spent hours enjoying that crystal blue water and snorkeling around the shipwreck and the rocks in the water off the center part of the beach. 

The wreck of the Mega One Triton due to Hurricane Sandy at Governours Beach, Grand Turk 

https://www.visittci.com/grand-turk/governors-beach

The snorkeling was not impressive. Despite the fact that G later found a gorgeous purple sea fan washed up on the beach, there were no corals at all by the beach, and only a few types of fish (though I did see a few of my favorite wrasse). Mostly we just enjoyed the peace- there were fewer than ten cruisers and locals on the beach- and the sound of the waves...and seeing the sun. We didn't get a lot of that in our ports last cruise. But it was a good thing we'd gotten an early start to the day...by 1:30pm the clouds started to move in again and, by the time we packed up and began walking back to the ship, it started to rain. 

Leaving the beach, we returned to the main road until we arrived at the sign for Jack's Shack, and then cut back to the beach, walking back to the pier along the water. I think it was a shorter, but harder way to go, walking in the sand instead of on the road. 

Once back on the ship, we showered and rinsed out all of our snorkel gear and beach wear. And that was the first time I wished we were on the Royal Princess, washing things out in those much larger bathroom sinks. Actually, it's the second time. The first time was when I was trying to deal with our statement kerfuffle a few days ago at the Passenger Services Desk while Strings and Steel were playing in the Piazza just one deck below. Who ever thought that loud music near the front desk was a good system?  At least on the Royal Princess, the PSD is more removed from the main Piazza. 

It was 3:30pm by the time we had finished washing and rinsing and were at the Horizon Court Buffet. That's a tough time to be hungry. Eat too much and we'd spoil dinner; still, we were too hungry to wait until 5:30pm. I had just a small salad and a Bosc pear, and that was enough to take the edge off. We were up in Skywalkers when the Constellation sailed about 4pm, and then for our own sailaway at 5pm. Of course, we started to see some blue sky again just as we sailed (so typical).

Governours Beach is where the shipwreck is past the freight pier

An empty Margaritaville, just before the Emerald Princess sailed 

For dinner, I chose the ceviche starter and orange roughy entree. That is one of my favorite dishes, and not too dissimilar from how I prepare fish at home (though I often settle for tilapia for budget reasons). After pine-orange sorbet for dessert, we have returned to our cabin for G to take a power nap, but are shortly heading back out for the 8pm production show; Disco:  Blame It on the Boogie. It appears we won't be seeing Magic To Do this cruise; which is a surprise. The embarkation day Patter had it listed as one of this cruise's shows. Come to think of it, I wonder if something has happened to the magician, Erik Bryan. We were supposed to see him in his own show, too, and haven't yet. 

Whatever the reason, we always enjoy Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie. Other things this short cruise has not included:  the champagne waterfall, the Love Boat Disco Deck party, and lobster in the dining room. We also did not have an MTP or Captains Circle party. In their place, the top 10 couples (cutoff this cruise was 470 days) received a voucher for dinner at Crown Grill or the Crab Shack. We were the #2 MTP and received a commemorative crystal and a bottle of wine in lieu of Korbel champagne in our cabin last night. We also received one drink voucher each, though I'm not certain if that was for all Captains Circle members or just Platinum level and above. I won't bother Captains Circle host Melissa by asking her...she has been working 24/7 putting together the new member packets for all the first time Princess cruisers (over 1000 passengers!). 

One other noteworthy item...we have received four new bed pillows in our cabin since yesterday. They are wonderful, and must be part of the new bed rollout that Princess has undertaken.  Ambrish said new linens will be on board soon (I don't know if they'll be in place before we disembark). Once they are, the Emerald Princess will be among the first ships to have everything related to the new beds in place. They really are spectacular, and we are two happy cruisers. :-)

Day 119: Grand Turk

I actually woke up naturally at 6:15 this morning, and then quickly fell back sleep until 8:30am. Drinking too much and finishing dinner at 10pm is not a great recipe for making it to a 7am stretch class. Luckily, there is always another day...or at least a few more another days for us on the Emerald Princess.

It was actually quite nice to wake up, slowly and quietly get cleaned up for the day (G was still sleeping) and then lay back down and read until he started stirring. If I had been hungrier, I would have taken my iPad and read in the Horizon Court Buffet or the International Cafe, but I was not even the least bit hungry.  Ugh. I do not like feeling that sluggish when I wake up!  By 10am I was feeling the need for a cup of coffee, not the caffeine part, of course, as I have been caffeine-free since 1987, but the smell and taste of even decaf coffee goes a long way toward launching me into the day, whether it's at 6am or 10am.

The International Cafe was packed, but they do have a really good system of ordering specialty coffees on the Emerald Princess and, even with a wait today, it worked perfectly. There is a roped off queue where one waits to place an order, and then once it is ready, the passenger's name is called. 

Of course, you can still do what G does, which is take a seat and look fairly helpless until some lovely young lady comes, takes his order and delivers it to him with a smile. That won't work for him at home!  Oh sure, he has the helpless thing down pat, but I am not particularly lovely and definitely not young and sometimes not even all that inclined to smile at a helpless-appearing husband first thing in the morning. 

Once my coffee was ready (a salted caramel strata cappuccino, which, along with the vanilla bean cappuccino has become a favorite), I sat in the Vines area where it was a bit less busy and drank my coffee and read and listened to Strings and Steel play some great Motown hits in the Piazza. The plan was that I would return to the cabin to collect G at 11:50am, so we could go to lunch together in the DaVinci Dining Room. 

Meanwhile, Captain Forteeze made another announcement. Ruh-roh. I am starting to cringe when I hear his voice at unexpected times. Today's bit of unfortunate news was the propulsion system was still not working correctly, and, as a result, the Emerald Princess had to travel more slowly from St. Thomas yesterday to Grand Turk today. Instead of arriving at 1pm, we were now going to arrive at 2:30pm. 

Well...shoot. Again. 

But G and I had even more time now for a leisurely lunch. I was feeling the need to be very good today, and had just gazpacho and a chef's salad, less the ham and half the cheese. After the congestion in the international Cafe, it was nice to dine in relative peace in the dining room. I don't think most passengers realized it was open today. On port days, scheduled late arrivals and early departures usually mean it is. 

Our only firm plan for today was to, along with Andy, meet Phyllis in the Piazza and walk off the ship with her to give her some encouragement to purchase a piece of artwork she had seen in a gallery in the shopping area at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. We all walked off together about 3pm, at the tail end of the long line of passengers waiting to go ashore. The artwork was gorgeous, and it took no effort at all to urge Phyllis to make the purchase. Besides, helping others spend money is one of my favorite things to do!

By then it was nearly 4pm; an already short port day had gotten considerably shorter because of our late arrival. On board time was 6:30pm, but it was also formal night, and our assigned dining time is 5:30pm. We hadn't dressed for the beach, and instead hired a taxi to give us an island tour for $20pp. In all the times we'd been to Grand Turk, we had never ventured much further than the area surrounding the cruise ship pier. 

Driver Tony took us first to the only tiny town on this tiny island, Cockburn Town. On the way, he told us a little about the Turks and Caicos Islands. Part of the British Commonwealth, they drive on the left side of the road...not that it really matters. Most of the roads are single lane anyway. There are 40 islands in the Turks and Caicos, and only ten are inhabited. Grand Turk has 5000 inhabitants and Cockburn Town is the capital of the island nation. We saw the old jail, and the Prime Minster's house (The Yellow House). Aside from a few governmental buildings, Cockburn Town was mostly a collection of tiny souvenir shops. 

Grand Turk seems like quite an enigma. First, Tony said there are two cruise ships docked at the island every day in the winter, and at least two a week all summer. Every passenger pays $30 in port charges to visit the island. Conservatively, that's $150000 in revenue every winter day. There are no taxes in Turks and Caicos (income, sales or property) and land is free for citizens. Healthcare costs $10pp per month, and a college degree from any college in the world is free...with the stipulation that, upon graduation, each student returns to the island to work for six years. Most residents have bachelor and masters degrees. There were many beautiful homes with incredible views of either the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea, since the island is only 6 sq. miles. It sounds like utopia, right?

But there are still issues. Most crime (requiring the building of a larger jail) is drug related or a result of illegal immigration from Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Hispaniola is only 20 miles away, and illegal immigrants arrive easily by boat. And just last weekend, three teenagers sent fire to the island's only high school, causing considerable damage and leaving it unusable for the near future. The roads are in deplorable shape for an island with so much tourist revenue. But it certainly is a pretty place with gorgeous beaches. 

An island tour of Grand Turk doesn't take long. We stopped at Pillory Beach and the lighthouse on the northern end of the island and then Governours Beach just north of the cruise ship pier. We saw the international airport and the monument to John Glenn, who landed in the ocean near Grand Turk after his first orbit of the earth and was debriefed at the (then) US military base on the island. The military base is now the local community college. 

Pillory Beach

G's pet du jour

The free home sites (for citizens) on the beautiful Atlantic coast 

Gorgeous- and nearly deserted, even with two cruise ships in port- Governours Beach

We returned to the pier about 5:20pm...and made it to dinner at our table in the Michelangelo Dining Room at 5:45pm. We flew onto the ship and dressed not at all formally (which means we fit in with most of the few passengers who chose to eat in the dining room). I ordered my last bottle of wine from the 12-bottle wine package I had purchased exactly one month ago today, when we first boarded the Emerald Princess. Of course, I have three open bottles and one more in our cabin, so you can tell that, while I really enjoy wine with dinner, I usually have just one or two glasses. 

We finished dinner just as the Emerald Princess pushed away from the pier about 7pm, and went up to Skywalkers to watch sailaway, although it was pretty dark by then. The Carnival Valor was still docked, but I think they were sailing right after we did. I am a bit sniffly tonight, and am tucked into bed early, well medicated with Sudafed and guafinisan.  Magic to Do is the major entertainment tonight, and I know I'll be seeing that again soon!

Speaking of entertainment, a passenger contest called The Voice of the Ocean has arrived on the Emerald Princess this cruise. Now, do I even have to mention that this kind of entertainment is not our favorite?  We must be the only people in the US who don't watch those sort of competition shows on TV; we certainly aren't going to watch them on a cruise. It was harious; in the Welcome Aboard show on the first day of this cruise, a promotional video for The Voice of the Ocean was shown, lots of loud music and something about chairs and voting and...well, when it was done, G turned to me and asked "What did I just see?"  He had no clue, and I was only slightly better informed. I really don't think we are the intended audience, just as we aren't for most entertainment performed by our fellow passengers.  That's okay...as long as we have Ryszard Sulek playing piano and Strings and Steel and a few good production shows and guest entertainers, we'll get by. 

And, finally, I keep forgetting to mention that my shorts were returned two mornings ago, with a brand new zipper perfectly inserted. I am beyond thrilled with this repair by the ship's tailor. Coincidentally, on the Wake Show that day, Cruise Director Neil interviewed the laundry master in the ship's laundry and there was even a quick appearance by the tailor, and I captured it on my iPhone. 

Did you ever know that you're my hero??

Day 105: Grand Turk

Here's where I am right now...

It is 11:30pm.

I spent hours playing in the gorgeous crystal blue water off Grand Turk today. 

I consumed two 24K margaritas a couple of hours ago at the Captains Circle party (I need a keyboard shortcut for that).

I just had a blast dancing at the Love Boat Disco Deck Party (and for that!).

I am really tired. 

I have typed four different first sentences, trying to start this post. It is going nowhere. I am just going to jump in once again and, whatever I type, I'm going with it.  Entertaining, this will not be. But it will get done, and that is the best I can hope for at this point. 

We arrived in Grand Turk early today, around 7am. I think. All I know is that we were still asleep when we heard (and felt) the ship's thrusters pushing us against the long pier at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. Then we fell back asleep a little longer. The plan for this morning was to meet Suzan and Greg on the beach at Jack's Shack around 8:30 or 9am. I texted Suzan early and told her it would be closer to 9:30am by the time we got there. (It was about 9:45am. We were moving slowly this morning!). 

G and I went to breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room where waiter Jorge from Mexico (he is darling, and looks just like Clark Kent with black glasses) served me my usual fruit and egg white veggie omelet. I have no idea what I'm going to do when I return home. Somehow, Greek yogurt and oatmeal will never hold the same appeal after omelets with three different colors of bell peppers, spinach, asparagus, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. I just can't match that variety at home, nor will I have a cute Clark Kent look alike serving it to me with a smile. 

Luckily, I don't have to worry about that quite yet. 

We gathered up some beach gear and walked off the ship and through the shop area of the Grand Turk Cruise Center. This is such an easy port. It's a bit like Princess Cays but better, because cruise ships can dock and the beach is right at the end of the pier. Just a couple hundred yards off this beautiful beach is a wall that drops to over a mile deep(!), allowing the ships to come in close. It's a perfect situation, not unlike Costa Maya in Mexico. 

G and I walked down the nearly empty beach towards the beach bar/restaurant called Jack's Shack, where Suzan and Greg were already settled in two loungers. We sat in the two loungers next to them (chair rental was free, which is exactly what these chairs were worth; umbrellas were $10 for the day) and examined the sky. The weather forecast had been for partly sunny skies, but that's not what we were seeing around 10am. In fact, we occasionally felt some misty rain and wondered what the day had in store. 

Still, we wasted no time in getting in that clear, azure blue water. It is so beautiful that it rivaled Matira Beach on Bora Bora...except with waves. As far out as we swam, we could see the bottom as if we were looking through glass. The water wasn't warm, about 78-79F, but we quickly got used to it and spent a long time in the water. 

Jack's Shack from the water

The crystal clear underwater view 

G went up to the bar to check out the menu and reported back that they had fresh conch fritters. I just had to try these ($9), and G bought us one plate of them. They were hot and very flavorful and we both loved them (yes, G ate seafood, something he does only when it's battered and deep fried). Blog reader Kelly spotted G with his yellow shirt and came over to say hi and drop off some liquid refreshment (thank you, Kelly!). Maybe I should rename this blog 'The Adventures of Yellow Fish and Yellow Shirt'. ;-)

The island beer

Back and forth we went, between the water and our beach chairs. By late morning we were seeing some definite patches of blue sky with more clearing on the way, and it turned out to be a really beautiful day. We had not rented umbrellas, and continued to apply layer upon layer of sunscreen. Still, one of us (not me) is slightly red tonight; it's a good thing that we won't be on a beach again for a few days. 

We watched as another cruise ship, the Carnival Valor, made its slow approach toward the island just after noon, docking on the opposite side of the long pier by 1pm. Then watched some more as its passengers began to pour off the ship and walk down the pier toward the beach like a line of ants. Then watched, a little disconcerted, as they walked down the beach toward Jack's Shack. Then watched, more disconcerted, as they settled into loungers set up in two rows in front of the ones we had happily been occupying for hours. 

At first, it was a little entertaining, watching all the body art and piercings and bikinis on bodies best left unbikini-ed. It was like a train wreck...we didn't want to see what we were seeing, but couldn't bring ourselves to look away, either. Suzan and Greg have been on Carnival, and advised that the real entertainment would come later. Forewarned, we gathered up our things about 2:30pm and walked back to the ship.

It was like a wind tunnel between the ships

I had my third Horizon Court Buffet meal so far:  a wonderful salad from the salad bar and mussels in limoncello sauce. G and I dined sitting in loungers in the shade on the Terrace Deck with that gorgeous blue water as our view. I then put in my webbed gloves and did a workout in the 6 foot deep water of the Terrace Pool (reason #3 that we aren't on the Royal or Regal Princess right now).

The view of Grand Turk from the Terrace Deck. You can clearly see where the wall is where the ocean floor drops to more than a mile deep. 

About 4pm we returned to our cabin and lay down for just a few minutes. G snoozed, but I decided to just relax by reading a magazine on my iPad. For this magazine, the iPad had to be held in Portrait Mode, so I had it propped up on my chest and was reading and...it happened again. I fell asleep for just a second and it fell over and hit me in the face (this time on my chin). This is getting dangerous!

A very hot shower (still no shortage of hot water in our cabin) went a long way to giving me a second wind, which was a good thing. We were having dinner with Suzan and Greg at our table for four for two at 5:30pm. It was Italian night, and I had a seafood starter followed by a delicious spinach and pecorino and pine nut salad and then spaghetti and meatballs (there was no penne arribiata tonight. :-(). Limoncello sorbet was the perfect dessert, and we finished in time to go to tonight's second Captains Circle Party. 

#3 MTP Phyllis asked us all to join her and so we were able to go into Club Fusion 15 minutes early by the side door. It didn't take long for my first margarita to be set in front of me, and then the second, and the party was, as it usually is, a lot of fun getting caught up with cruise friends. I posted the top three MTP numbers two days ago. The top three MTPs are all staying on for next cruise, so our #4 position this cruise can only go down, and that's fine by us. It's an honor, of course, to be in the top 3, but one that means more when it happens less frequently. 

We left Club Fusion when the party ended at 8pm and went directly to the Princess Theater for the 8:30pm performance of production show I Got the Music. It seems so simple and pedestrian after Magic To Do, but we still love it. 

We were starting to fade a little by then, but swung by the International Cafe. G had a mini cheesecake and I had a brewed decaf coffee (oh...I forgot to mention that I had successfully traded in our minibar from this cruise for two coffee cards this morning. They were marked with the ship name and voyage, but we'll be able to use them for free brewed coffee while we're on the Emerald Princess this season. Yay!!!). That pepped us up enough to make it to Deck 16 for a great view of the Love Boat Disco Deck party. 

For the record, this party was not offered on our recent 4-night cruise (but Magic To Do was), but was offered on our 10-night cruise (we didn't stay up for it then). We've seen it now on the Grand Princess, the Caribbean Princess, the Pacific Princess and the Emerald Princess and I think my favorite remains the Caribbean Princess. That ship had some great parties!!  It also had a bit of a stage under the MUTS screen where the band could set up; and two of the production show vocalists sang. Tonight, band Soul Rocker was set up on the port side of Deck 16. That was not quite as good, and, at the risk of being cruel, the male singer in Soul Rocker is definitely not as good. I've decided I like that band best when he only plays guitar. 

Still, the dancing and the music and the video on the MUTS screen and the silly Isaac dance (done to 'That's the Way (uh huh uh huh) I Like it') and the great choreography  performed by the production show dancers and the Love Boat theme song singalong...all these make this deck party very entertaining and miles better than the old Island Night Deck Party. 

It is 12:30am and I simply can't write another word. That's the hallmark of a really great day:  too much to say and too tired to say it. Good night!

Day 128: Wasting away again in Margaritaville

Darn, it was fun. Really, really fun. Here in the Opposite-land that is these Caribbean Princess cruises, we slept late, ate breakfast all alone on the beautiful Terrace Deck overlooking the turquoise water of Grand Turk and then, around 1pm-ish, finally walked off the Caribbean Princess. We HAD to sleep late...we had had another late night on the ship, getting sucked up in the frenzy that is happening in Skywalkers every night until after 3am. 

It's madness I say. Madness!

We walked as far as Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, which is to say, not far at all (it's right at the end of the pier at which the Caribbean Princess was docked). Much like when we cruised for 7-nights on the Allure of the Seas, we are letting ourselves just go with the flow this cruise. Of course, what flowed today were margaritas (for me) and music (Salt! Salt! Salt!). Our fellow cruisers provided the best entertainment, but by the time the DJ played MJ, even I had to get up and dance. On the spectrum of cruise experiences, this cruise is as far from our 16-night cruise from Papeete to Los Angeles on the Pacific Princess as one can get, but we are lucky to have enjoyed ourselves immensely on both. 

Caribbean Princess docked at Grand Turk 

Beach by Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (G calls it Milliondollarville, because that's how much Mr. Buffet is making here every day).

The pool at Margaritaville is a nice alternative to the beach.

G's drink of the day...

...and mine. And I won't say just how many of each were consumed (but our bill added up to a good percentage of our cruise cost).

In our single good deed of the day, I bundled up several things we've accumulated (shot glasses, Coke tumblers and Elite amenities) and delivered them, as well as a small gift, to Samantha at Effy jewelers in the cruise port. The day after I had fallen in St. Thomas, G stood in Effy writing out postcards, and Samantha, seeing how very bad I looked, offered me a seat, brought me a water bottle and kept me company. She was very sweet when I most needed it. 

Funny how that, around 3:30pm, the DJ at Margaritaville stopped broadcasting and the party started to wind down. I guess it takes that long (all on board was 4:30pm) to get people in shape to walk back to the ship. Luckily, in Grand Turk, it's not a long trek.  The security staff at Margaritaville was pressed into service helping inebriated passengers back to the ship, using a wheelchair when necessary. We didn't drink that much, and had no trouble getting back under our own steam, and subsequently showered and went up to Skywalkers for sailaway. I stopped by Vines on the way to dinner to get a different glass of wine to have with dinner, and what a dinner it was. We. Were. Starved. I enjoyed five courses, and G had six (he thought my pasta fagioli soup looked good and so ordered it for himself). A leisurely two hours later, we returned to our cabin for a brief lie-down. The show tonight was magician Alex Ramon, who is wonderful but...well, it's a repeat for us. 

My choice of dessert, when it's offered, is always pavlova!!

We were still in the cabin when there was a knock at the door. It was steward Antonio with the laundry we had turned in just last evening hanging in one hand. After I thanked him, he pulled out from his other hand, hidden behind his back...washcloths!  I gave him a silent happy dance and he doubled over, silently laughing himself. Clean clothes are nice; clean washcloths are something to get excited about. 

The big event of the evening was the 50th anniversary Love Boat Disco Deck party.  It's a repeat; too, but we did not want to miss it, with these cruise passengers. The weather was picture perfect, and the deck around the Calypso Pool was packed with dancers. The funnest part is always the Love Boat theme song singalong. Imagine 500+ people singing the Love Boat song at the top of their lungs. When I used to watch that show, who would have imagined that all these years later I'd be on a Princess ship singing the theme song at a deck party?

The production company dancers dressed in YMCA-type costumes for the party.

And, finally, Captain John Foster gave us an update today on the ship's norovirus situation. Apparently, the number of cases has not dropped and we will continue under Code Red for the remainder of this cruise (no surprise there...it only lasts one more day). Frankly, it also wouldn't surprise me if we are under Code Red for the entire length of next cruise (5-nights), too.  Caught between a certain snow shovel and a possible stomach flu, we're choosing the latter and staying on for one last cruise of the winter. 

Day 112: Grand Turk

Wow. What a day. We didn't get back on the Caribbean Princess until the mosquitos literally chased us off the beach in Grand Turk after sunset, and, were it not for them, we would have been walking up the gangway as it was pulled up right after us. Formal night be damned; we were too busy playing to dress up!

I slept well last night despite my injuries, helped along by 800mg of Ibuprofen and an Ambien. I snugged my second pillow up against my ribs and just snoozed away. There was no need to wake up early today...we didn't arrive in Grand Turk until 1pm. However, as soon as we opened our eyes this morning we became aware of how much the back of this ship was shaking in the wind. It was difficult to walk across our tiny cabin to the bathroom (and, God knows, I was not anxious for another mishap!!). I held on to bed, vanity, wall, whatever it took to stay upright. 

We did get to eat breakfast today, only because the Cafe Caribe, directly behind the Horizon Court Buffet, kept breakfast items out when the regular buffet set out lunch items. That was very nice!  As we sat in the back of the buffet, we could see Grand Turk appear on the horizon. It's flat as a pancake and only 6.9 square miles; it didn't appear on the horizon until we were nearly on top of it! 

We returned to our cabin to get our things for a day on the beach, and caught this gorgeous view of the Grand Turk Cruise Center from the ship's webcam. Check out that water color!!!

The MSC Divina has been our shadow (or us its) this entire cruise. As we had waited in line to board the Caribbean Princess last Saturday, we talked with a couple who had just gotten off that ship. They loved the entertainment (a production show every night!), hated the food and got tired of the number of smokers.  Unfortunately, the MSC Divina arrived an hour before us today, and the seating at Margaritaville was pretty well claimed by the time we got there. No matter; we had planned to first send post cards and then walk down to Jack's Shack.  

I call this a Grey Poupon moment. ;-)

The beach was already busy as we walked off the ship. 

Despite the waves and wind, the water was crystal clear.

We love Grand Turk. It's a lot like Princess Cays without the food but also without the tender ride. Due to the deep water entrance (there is a mile deep wall just off the beach), cruise ships can dock and it is just a five minute walk to the beach.  We don't often get to Grand Turk (it's a rarity on a 10-night Caribbean cruise), so it's always a thrill when we do get to visit. However, today's strong winds caused the cancellation of all water based excursions, a disappointment, I'm sure, for those who had booked them. 

Two interesting nuggets of knowledge that I just learned today:  Grand Turk is the largest of 30 islands in the Turks and Caicos (at only 6.9 square miles!), and the Turks and Caicos are not in the Caribbean Sea. They are surrounded totally by the Atlantic Ocean. That clear, blue water is the Atlantic Ocean!

G took a few minutes to shop for postcards and write them out, then took them to the Grand Turk post office right in the cruise center. It's only 50 cents to mail one to the US, and they are quite reliable about it. 

We walked down the beach to Jack's Shack, a popular beach bar. The nice thing about Jack's Shack is that the view of that gorgeous blue water is not blocked by a cruise ship or two, as it is at the bars closer to the pier. 

The drinks are not cheap, but they're pretty good. I had an $11 piña colada and G had a local beer, which also bought us the use of two chairs and and umbrella, and unlimited reasonably fast wifi. From that point on, as you'll see below, I worried less about editorial review and just posted any photo that I liked on my blog, since it was easy and fast and free.

I loved this photo. These are the daughters of Jack's Shack's owners and one of their workers, playing in the sand, closely watched by the family dog. 

This little one had just come from preschool and was playing in the sand in her uniform as the waves got it wet. Too sweet!

I knew from my iPhone that sunset would be at 5:40pm. We didn't have to be on board until 6:30pm, so we decided to skip dinner in the dining room and the whole formal night and just enjoy the view. 

The MSC Divina sailed just after 5pm, and by sunset had turned and was making its way out to sea.

As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon- I mean the very second it did- the mosquitos came out in droves. We had not seen a single one until sunset; then, we were waving our towels in the air in defense. We had to walk back the length of that beach (slow going for me) while getting eaten alive. I was never so happy to get up off the sand and on to the pier, where they seemed to abate. I'm not itchy, so perhaps my towel did the trick and kept me from actually getting bitten. But, a word to the wise:  wear DEET if you plan to be on the beach after sunset!!

The Caribbean Princess looked so darn pretty in the glow of the sunset.

We took quick showers and went up to the Horizon Court Buffet for our first dinner there of the cruise. I was wo pleased with all quality of the food choices that I had to tell the chef when I saw him behind the line. They served cioppino tonight (Italian seafood stew), my very favorite, and pavlova for dessert that was equally good. I added some braised bok choy and turnips and called it dinner. 

I wanted to watch a movie on MUTS tonight that I'd missed on the Grand Princess- The 100 foot Journey- but I missed the start of it and don't know if I'll make it to the 10:15pm showing. I've decided to return to the cabin to type my blog post, then consider my options. G is out listening to live music right now but said he'd join me for the movie later if I decide to go. There are also two shows tonight:  a ventriloquist and a magician. I should probably go to see the magician (McGee is always asking me if I saw a magic show and what tricks the magician did), but I think I'll pass tonight and hope like heck I have the chance to see him again before I go home so I have some good answers for my guy. 

We decided today that these 7-night and shorter itineraries that the Caribbean Princess is doing provide a perfect beach vacation for those wanting to escape the cold winter. These ports offer little besides beaches and watersports, but what they offer of both is very good. They are simple ports requiring little analysis and planning, and we are enjoying them immensely. The pace on this 7-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary was fast for us:  formal night, MTP, CCP, another formal night tonight (that we're skipping), theme parties night after night...we are cruising very differently than we used to on a 10-night cruise on the Emerald Princess, and certainly differently than we did on the Pacific Princess, where the islands were the focus, not the ship. This cruise has been a welcome change from what we would have experienced on the 10-night Royal Princess cruises. I'm glad we've mixed things up this winter!

Tomorrow is the last day of this cruise. Contrary to what we might have once expected, it did not seem to fly by. We've squeezed a lot of fun into just six days and can't wait to see what next cruise brings. 

The Royal Princess' maiden call to Grand Turk

Day 4: Grand Turk

Even from our cabin high up at the very front, the Royal Princess provides the most gentle cruise I've ever experienced. The only awareness that we are even on a ship is that low "hum" that is ever-present. Granted, this is the Caribbean, not the Tasman Sea, but I blame the Royal Princess for the fact that I am sleeping until nearly 8am (sometimes later) every day. Well, the smooth ride, the mattress I want to take home with me and the pillows (G thinks they're too firm, but he's wrong). ;-)

We made it to breakfast in the dining room by 8:30am, and service was better today. I had my usual (fruit, scrambled egg beaters and a lot of salsa), served by waiter Leslie from India who we hadn't seen in three years.

Instead of rushing off the ship immediately afterwards, we chose instead to continue exploring, particularly the back of the ship on Decks 17, 18 and 19 (the fitness center, jogging track and golf green). There is an incredible number of deck loungers on this ship. Most of them aren't around the pools, and they may or may not be in the shade, but I have never seen so many deck chairs on a ship. Love it!

We realized we're running out of time on this ship, and spent over an hour walking up and down the passenger deck corridors viewing the gorgeous travel photography submitted by Princess passengers. I think this is one of the best decorative features on this ship; it certainly turns a normally boring area (the long hallways on either side of the ship) into something to enjoy. The problem is that, unless you set aside the time to walk the halls, most of us will miss the majority of them. I really wish Princess would publish a book of them...THAT would be a money-maker!

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch and so we went to the Horizon Court Buffet for our first meal there. The salad bar was wonderful, and I had a huge salad topped with carved-to-order roast beef. And today the Pasry Shop featured the "once or twice a cruise" chocolate fountain. It wasn't nearly as good as last night's chocolate fondue, but that didn't stop us from enjoying chocolate dipped pineapple chunks. Yum!  While we still find the buffet a bit overwhelming, I can't wait until next winter when we'll get it all figured out. It's a far cry from the slice of pizza and salad that I generally have for lunch in the buffet on the Emerald Princess.

Finally we headed off the ship. The beauty of Grand Turk is that the ship docks at a long pier constructed by Carnival Cruise Lines in 2006, and passengers walk just a few hundred feet to the cruise center, home to lots of shops, a long stretch of beach with free loungers and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville with a large pool and flow rider. For the first time, we went right instead of left off the pier, and discovered that's where all the crew likes to go with their limited time off. Lots of free loungers, crystal blue water and palm trees for shade. Lovely. We bypassed all this, though, to walk along the shore down to and around the southern tip of Grand Turk. It's not at all far, and much of it is within sight of the cruise ship.

After awhile we climbed up the dunes along the beach, thinking we'd cut across the island to the ship, but the small airport runway is right there and is fenced off. We backtracked to the area where the crew had been, but most of them had returned to the ship by then, and we grabbed two loungers in the shade and enjoyed the waves and view (it was Princess Cays all over again).

We returned to the ship just after 4pm; all on board was 4:30pm. As I passed through security, I heard "Mrs. X, Mrs. X!" The security officer was Jamon, who we knew well from last year on the Emerald Princess. It was so good to see him again; he is the most smiley security officer ever.

We were at the Platinum and Elite Captains Circle party in the Vista Lounge at 5:15pm (Crissey Reid does such a nice job with it!), then went to dinner in the Concerto Dining Room immediately afterwards. We've been very lucky this cruise with the friendliest waitstaff ever, April and Michael, both from the Philippines. April has 2- and 5-year old daughters staying with her mom while she's in contract; every time I wonder how the crew does it, I remember the moms in the military doing the same thing. Incredible people!

We had just two courses (the famous and always delicious twice-baked goat cheese soufflé followed by diver's sea scallops for me) and made it to the Princess Theater in time for vocalist Mark Preston's performance. We had seen Mark several times last winter on the Emerald Princess, and I believe he'll be on the Emerald again this winter, but we never tire of listening to him. Once again, he received a standing ovation. A nice bonus: he's quite easy to look at.

We stopped by the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to pianist Valerey "Something with lots of Ys". Really, that's what we call him, because we can't begin to pronounce his last name. Entertainment was a bit light tonight due to the Latin Night party up on the pool deck. I don't know if this is a holdover from Europe or if it's going to take the place of the Tropical Deck party held on most Princess ships. But there was a movie in the Vista Lounge, and Ray Cousins was not playing tonight in the Wheelhouse. So, of course, we ate again. ;-) (In the buffet...watermelon and some Stilton for me).

The Horizon Court Buffet at dinner is nothing short of incredible. I can see us eating there several evenings during a winter on the Royal Princess. Compared to the Cafe Caribe on the Emerald Princess...well, there's no comparison.

Finally, it was time for the deck party and we made our way outside to the main pool area. It turned out to be similar to the Tropical Night party on other ships, but different too, and we actually enjoyed it more, simply because it was something new. While we were out there, G tried the "Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ" from the Trident Grill. He had really been looking forward to that (along with sweet tea, he could happily live on Carolina BBQ). Well, it was good, and it was pulled pork...but it wasn't even vaguely Carolina BBQ. It was pulled pork cooked in McCormick's taco seasoning. No, definitely not Carolinian in origin.

It was at some point this evening that I stopped resenting the fact that the Royal Princess was taking over the 10-night Caribbean itineraries next winter and started to realize how much I'm going to miss the Royal Princess when we disembark on Sunday. Really. We like the ship that much. Is it perfect? Of course not. But a key thing is how uncrowded it feels compared to the Emerald Princess. Not to mention all the food choices, the entertainment options, the improvements in our inside cabin, that outdoor exercise equipment, all the outdoor conversation areas, the cookies at the Princess Live Cafe...but I'm getting into ship review territory, which I wanted to save for the next two days. So I'll end it there for now.

It was another wonderful day on the Royal Princess!

Photo 1: the Royal Princess docked at Grand Turk. This is how close the ships docks to shore!

Photo 2: Now we know how sea grapes get there name

Photo 3: G with a "conch tree" on our walk

Photo 4: my view for part of the day

Photo 5: Mark Preston performs in the Princess Theater.

Day 89: Grand Turk

What a game!

What a day.!

I could not have imagined a more perfect day for Super Bowl Sunday than this one turned out to be. All day, we stuck to our original plan to stay on the ship, hang out at the Calypso (MUTS, big screen) pool and relax awaiting the start of the game. As I told G, some people do this every day of a cruise, never leaving the ship in port. Every. Single. Day. While that might be a bit of overkill, spending the entire day poolside, for only the second time in 89 days (the other being the day of the AFC Championship game) felt just right.

When I awoke around 7:00am, G had already left the cabin, claiming and possessing two chairs of his choice next to the Calypso Pool for Super Bowl viewing on MUTS. Thankfully, the day looked like it would be just partly cloudy with hot sun. My fear had been that we would have to deal with intermittent showers which would have forced us into watching the game in one of the inside venues, most likely Club Fusion as the casino would be too smoky. That turned out not to be the case at all.

I dressed in swimsuit and coverup (the cruise equivalent of jammies) and joined G poolside. We took turns getting breakfast from the buffet and bringing it out to where we were sitting. While it was initially pretty deserted around the pool, that soon changed, and we could see entire rows of chairs on the upper levels reserved, no doubt for Super Bowl watching. Not quite our style; we had decided that one or the other- usually both- of us would be in our chairs until game time.

The movie How to Marry a Millionaire came on MUTS at 10:00am, and the audio was alternately too loud and not loud enough. The sun was shining in such a way that the screen wasn't even visible. I gave up on the movie, and plugged in my ear buds and sat on the wide, tiled overspill skirt of the pool, staying cool in an inch of water and enjoying the sun.

When the ship docked at 1:00pm, the MUTS pool area instantly emptied out as most people rushed to the beach located right next to the cruise ship pier. Nature videos accompanied by music were shown on MUTS until the movie The Devil Wears Prada came on at 3:00. By this time, the sun was right, as was the sound, and I enjoyed watching the movie for the eleventy hundredth time. By the end of it, things had picked up again around the pool, with more and more people showing up to claim loungers for the game.

G napped throughout the afternoon, and every so often, one of us would get veggies and dip from the buffet, or cookies or a slice of pizza. It's true that we were missing all the lead up to the game that we would have seen at home...but we were also poolside in the Caribbean sun with a long expanse of beach next to the ship.

Finally, one at a time, we showered and changed into shorts and tshirts. While it's possible to use the two hot tubs in the Calypso Pool area in the evening, the swimming pool is netted off about 6:00pm. Once the ship sailed at 7:00pm, and the breeze across the deck picked up, we were much happier in dry clothes and having washed off the day's accumulation of sunscreen.

I was in tears from the second the announcers said Newtown, Connecticut until the final note of the national anthem. But never mind: that's just me.

While y'all were watching clever and expensive commercials, on the international satellite feed the ship was receiving we were treated to commercials for the Roland Garros tennis tournament in Paris; West Indies Cricket; Scotland v. Italy rugby; ICC Womens World Cup cricket in India (G turned to me and said he was rooting for Sri Lanka); and, my personal favorite, Tottenham v. Newcastle soccer.

Call me crazy, but I just can't figure out the value of the water features on the new Royal Princess. There are going to be water shows at night on the pool deck, with fountains of water spraying up out of the pool. Tonight was a relatively warm night after a very hot day, with just a gentle breeze. Still, as soon as the Emerald Princess left port, the pool water started sloshing back and forth, every so often sending up a low spray that was immediately chilly. They're going to have to issue rain gear for Royal Princess passengers who want to linger on the upper decks during the water shows.

Let's hope it proves me wrong.

Of course, we had cancelled our table in the dining room for dinner tonight. The Cafe Caribe buffet featured Indian food tonight (not G 's favorite), and there were no food tables by the pool serving hot wings, mini hot dogs, etc. as there were last year, so our dinner was just more pizza. And ice cream. Not our healthiest eating day, and we'll have to make up for that tomorrow. Salmon and broccoli. No, scratch that. We're out of broccoli. Salmon and spinach. And strawberries. And Zumba. And line dancing. It's payback time!

Photo 1: Grand Turk with Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville to the left of the pier

Photo 2: Margaritaville and the Grand Turk Cruise Center

Photo 3: more beach to the north

Photo 4: tonight's sunset

Photo 5: Super Bowl XLVII on MUTS

Photo 6: staying warm on deck