Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Grand Turk Details...

AvMan

By AvMan,
in Grand Turk

Recommended Posts

AvMan

AvMan

Posted
Posted

I am looking for details about Cruising into Grand Turk. Specifically, how much of the Cruise Center is complete? There is supposed to be a Margaritaville restaurant at the Cruise Center. Is it open, yet? What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to get into Cockburn Town? How much is it to get a taxi out to the lighthouse on the North end of the island?

 

Thanks in advance,

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 9 months later...
snorkelman

snorkelman

Posted
Posted

I posted a bunch of pictures from when I did this dune buggy excursion in January 2007. It is worth the $200 per couple, and we had a blast even though we soaked our camera. Word of warning, they only have limited space (room for 3 or 4 couples during each of the two daily outings so make sure to book this excursion on the cruiseline's website as far in advance as possible (it was sold out weeks before our cruise).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=479603

 

As a side note, I consider myself in good physical shape and I pay no attention to the level of exertion that is noted for the excursion, but for some reason I looked at it for this one. I found this strange. Carnival characterizes this as a level one (only one guy walking with a stick) but Holland America characterizes the exact same excursion as a level two.

 

Given the portion of the excursion that is a pit stop and allows you to walk up a small hill (Gun hill) I would think that a level two is more accurate. I think if you are overweight and have problems walking up rocky areas, then this may be challenging for you. With that being said, I don’t know how many unfit people would select this excursion anyway because there is also a weight limitation of 250 pounds per person.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
indiaksue

indiaksue

Posted
Posted

I just returned from Grand Turk last week. The cruise center is beautiful. The shopping is nice, although there are not very many shops. We spent the day lounging at Margaritaville. We had a great time there. Plenty of chairs and umbrellas for shade. We also walked the beach which was nice but the sand wasn't as nice as some. I was suprised how many lounge chairs were free. There was 1 other ship in port that day but it didn't seem crowded. The pier is nice. It is easy to get on and off the ship whenever you want. As far as leaving the area, we didn't so I don't have any info on the lighthouse or Cockburn Town.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
snorkelman

snorkelman

Posted
Posted

I see that I still have some info to offer you regarding Grand Turk.

 

My wife and I were there 2 weeks ago (in Jan 2007).

 

Grand Turk is a very new port and very undeveloped. The Cruise line dumped a TON of money into building the pier and the shops connected thereto. Other than the handful of shops right at the pier, there is NOTHING worth buying in local shops. This is NOT a shopping destination. There is really only one jewelry store there (Goodmans or Goodmarks..my wife would know the name, and it strangely had two separate stores). Most of the other stuff is typical island stuff (Del Sol) and island trinkets.

 

I strongly suggest that you book an excursion while in grand turk or don't even bother getting off the ship unless you just want to visit the beach adjacent to the pier.

 

I always book my own excursions (a lot cheaper than what is offered by the cruiseline) but my research indicated that the only one worth doing on my own would be to book a local dive operator to take me to the 7000 foot drop off. I didn't feel like getting in the water, so I booked the dune buggy excursion through Carnival.com which was good because there was only room for 4 couples and the excursion sold out before we even boarded the ship. Again, in Grand Turk, you need to probably pay for an excursion or just lay on the beach right next to the pier. There is a nice Margaritaville adjacent to the pier that has a big freshwater pool (pool is free, but the optional food and drinks are expensive). The music is loud (they had a dj) and they appear to want to be like Carlos and Charlies or Senor Frogs.

 

Both of our tablemates (a total of 8 people) did the Gibbs Cay snorkel with Stingrays and they loved it (this is an excursion offered when you are in Grand Turk).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PAHORNER

PAHORNER

Posted
Posted

I too was in GT last week, snorkelman is correct, book an excursion. With that said ANYTHING you do water related would be fabulous. We did a power snorkel right off the beach approx 3 to 4 miles down from where ship docked, it was great. We saw tons of fish, went to several different reefs and to the edge of the really deep water (7000 from what I remember) I was surprised at the number of big fish we saw, even saw a shark. I actually enjoyed this excursion the best of everything we did. This is a small island and that’s both the good and bad of it. I personally do not like the shopping areas or Margaritaville, I love the water that’s why we went and was not disappointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
#1parrothead

#1parrothead

Posted
Posted

PAHORNER,

 

Have been looking for info on the power snorkel in grand turk and am glad to finally find someone that has done it.

 

Sounds like you really enjoyed it. Reading the carnival info on it, I was afraid that you didn't venture out far enough to see much, but from your info, it sounds like you did.

 

My ds and dh are really interested in seeing the 7000 ft drop. So you actually went that far out? Had really been interested in booking this excursion, but after not having found anyone with info on it, I was looking into the Ultimate snorkeling and the Reef and Rays, because I have seen good reviews on those. Now I'm again thinking of the power snorkel. Any other info/your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PAHORNER

PAHORNER

Posted
Posted

1parrothead, DO THE POWER SNORKEL, surprisingly the 7000 drop off is not that far off shore. Saw a lot of fish both big & small. When you get to the DEEP all you see is blue, I didn’t see anything in the deep. Some folks complained that their arms got tired holding the power unit, but hey some folks complain about everything. Great fun you should try it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
la_croisiere_s'amuse

la_croisiere_s'amuse

Posted
Posted
I strongly suggest that you book an excursion while in grand turk or don't even bother getting off the ship unless you just want to visit the beach adjacent to the pier.

 

I have a different take on Grand Turk. I've spent several weeks there over the past couple of years, while my husband was working on a contract with their government. While it's certainly not a shopping mecca, there is an unspoiled beauty to Grand Turk that I've never experienced anywhere else in the Caribbean.

 

All you really need to do is take a taxi to Cockburn town. Towards the south there are some lovely examples of typical Turks & Caicos architecture, and to the north there's a rather nice museum with displays on the geology, marine life and history of the Turks & Caicos archipelago. In between there's a whole series of B&B type hotels for the divers, and seaside cafes.

That being said, if you're at all into scuba diving, you really MUST check out the infamous wall -- a few hundred yards from the beach, the sea floor drops from about 40 feet to several thousand feet. It's an amazing sight. So I'm certainly not saying don't book an excursion, especially if you dive, but I think that there is a great deal to experience on your own. It's becoming more and more rare to experience the non-touristy Caribbean.

There are some pictures of Cockburn town in the Grand Turk album at this link, if you're interested:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/la.croisiere/albums/

 

 

Happy sails~

Link to comment
Share on other sites
seaisme

seaisme

Posted
Posted
I am looking for details about Cruising into Grand Turk. Specifically, how much of the Cruise Center is complete? There is supposed to be a Margaritaville restaurant at the Cruise Center. Is it open, yet? What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to get into Cockburn Town? How much is it to get a taxi out to the lighthouse on the North end of the island?

 

Thanks in advance,

Bob

don't want commercialism...shops. want to experience the island! and that is what you get at Grand Turk. for those who want to shop...do it in St. Thomas. For those who want to party...you have it right at the pier in Grand Turk. For those of you who love to explore and enjoy the "locals"...please explore and enjoy. It appears that Grand Turk has it all for most...except those who love to shop. and it's a nice 'balance" to St. Thomas. In other words...giving HAL passengers choices. so shop in St. Thomas and either stay on board and enjoy the spa for the day, or enjoy the island at Grand Turk. Choices. Choices. For everyone.

 

Please don't discount Grand Turk because of it's lack of commercialism. Many passengers like that! (like us!). looking forward to a wonderful, relaxing day on an island that hasn't been taken over by plastic!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...