Conch graveyard

Directly from carnivals faq: Seashells may be brought onboard from the ports visited if they appear to be clean and sanitized and do not have the odor of a living organism.

 

 

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That's what I thought. Others have said their shells were taken at security. Sounds like security getting back on the ship isn't on the same page as faqs

My suggestion to anyone planning on visiting the conch graveyard and bringing one back would be to bring a printed copy of Carnival's FAQ with you when you exit the ship.

My suggestion to anyone planning on visiting the conch graveyard and bringing one back would be to bring a printed copy of Carnival's FAQ with you when you exit the ship.

Now THAT is a great idea! Thank you. :)

I think this site will clear up the confusion.

https://www.visittci.com/shopping/buying-collecting-exporting-conchs-shells-corals

I think this site will clear up the confusion.

 

https://www.visittci.com/shopping/buying-collecting-exporting-conchs-shells-corals

Yeah, was going to add that one from a previous discussion on another board.

The confusion and determining factor here is probably more on the Turks and Caicos government end and less on the cruise line.

I think most of the area around the cruise port in Grand Turk as well as the conch graveyard is technically within the boundaries of the national park as listed above, making it by default illegal to remove the shells under current Turks and Caicos law. Maybe the "changes" they are working on can alleviate that and allow for cruisers to bring these shells home once again, not sure if it will or will not change.

The cruise lines were probably not aware of the law or the law had changed from what was formerly allowed. It seems they are stringently enforcing this for now.

I was at Grand Turk last week and I was walking to the "graveyard" when two couples were coming back from there. They said they were getting chewed up by mosquito and to not go over there. I did not but I did find a conk were I was and when I was getting back on the ship the scanner picked up the conk in my beach bag and the crew member asked to see it. I took it out and she looked it over and gave it back to me and said "okay". My husband said he saw two on the floor under the scanner table that must have been taken from people. Mine was old and clearly empty.

I was at Grand Turk last week and I was walking to the "graveyard" when two couples were coming back from there. They said they were getting chewed up by mosquito and to not go over there. I did not but I did find a conk were I was and when I was getting back on the ship the scanner picked up the conk in my beach bag and the crew member asked to see it. I took it out and she looked it over and gave it back to me and said "okay". My husband said he saw two on the floor under the scanner table that must have been taken from people. Mine was old and clearly empty.

Sounds like they are applying the "conch cannot contain any organism and cannot smell" rules as listed in Carnival's website FAQ.

Sounds like they are applying the "conch cannot contain any organism and cannot smell" rules as listed in Carnival's website FAQ.

That would be an encouraging sign.