ndavis7515

Hi all, We are on the Caribbean Princess in May going to grand turk, and would love to know if there are walkable beaches that have good snorkeling. DH lost his job, but since our cruise is already paid for, we thought we would still go, but need to keep it on the cheap. We planned to bring our own snorkel gear.

 

I see there is a Cruise center just off the port, but wasn't sure if there was a charge to use their beach or pool. Appreciate the help.

There is a beach right there at the Cruise Center, in front of Margarittaville. I don't think there is a charge to use the beach. When I was there in 2007, we only went to Margarittaville for burgers & Margarittas, but it appeared that a lot of people were using the beach.

Thank you everyone for the answers. I think that you have cleared things up for us.

I cannot speak for the prinsendam, but suspect the arrangement is the same as for other holland america line ships.

 

 

Each ship has a certain amount of lifeboats (12 on s-class, 14 r-class, 16 on vista).

Of these boats, a few also do service as tender boats to bring passengers to shore in a port where there is no or not enough dockspace. As a tender the boat is usually rated by Lloyds ( a classification society by whose regulations the ships are built) for fewer passengers than as a lifeboat. (90-120 passengers for tender service vs. 150 persons as a lifeboat).

 

Construction of the tenders is different from the lifeboats: most tenders have 2 engines vs.1 for a lifeboat, it will have radar, an echosounder, and other safety equipment required for a tender.

 

 

In normal tender operations we do not even put that amount of persons in, normally between 60-75.

 

Hope this makes it a little less fuzzy?

Prinsendam I referred to is not the ship it is Captain Card. He is an artist that paints the HAL ships. He is also a retired (I think) Captain.

 

Most cruise ships carry along some of their own tenders which can also be used as life boats. See this is where it can get fuzzy.

And, these are the ones I am asking about. The fuzzy part is the question I guess.

If I remember correctly Prinsendam explained it something like the tenders have a double "hull" and the lifeboats have a single "hull". Hull may be the wrong word, but it was something like that.

I seem to remember a thread a couple of years back where Prinsendam was explaining the difference between the ship's tenders and the ship's lifeboats.

I tried searching for it, but couldn't find it.

My husband and I are disagreeing on the subject and I would like to know if Prinsendam could explain it again.

Thanks

Thank you both so very much

What are the designations for the ships? ie CB, etal. I know that these have been posted before but I can't find them.

Thanks