Turks & Caicos

[bigwuhead]

I appologize if this has been talked about before, but after reading so many posts lately where ships couldn't dock in Turks & Caicos, and having been on the Zuiderman last New Years and not being able to stop, it makes me wonder, why bother! It's obvious that is an issue if the seas are rough.

 

Which is an issue everywhere I would imagine, but it seems like it happens A LOT! There isn't much there as it is and after Ike there really isn't much there... maybe they should find another destination to replace it for awhile.

 

IMHO. I'm curious what others think.

[6rugrats]

We also did not make Grand Turk when we cruised last December because of a tropical storm. But, I've never been on a cruise yet where we followed the itinerary; on five cruises, there's always been at least one port change.

 

There are just no guarantees on a cruise.

[Flick]

We also did not make Grand Turk when we cruised last December because of a tropical storm. But, I've never been on a cruise yet where we followed the itinerary; on five cruises, there's always been at least one port change.

 

There are just no guarantees on a cruise.

 

Really? On 29 cruises we've only missed one port!

[DFD1]

To a large extent, it depends on the time of year. We've missed Cozumel and Grand Cayman, but never HMC.

 

As for Grand Turk, after being there, I ask myself why are people living on this island as nothing is grown there and there is no fresh water to speak of except from rain. Our taxi driver tells us absolutley everything has to be brought in by ship and container.

 

The inhabitants apparantly are the descendents of slaves who worked the salt ponds there for the British several generations back. We found it a pretty sad place, but we admittedly may not be very qualified to make much of a judgement about such things.

 

The area around the pier, that is the shops, bars and the beach at the end of the pier are nice. Beyond that, hard to figure..............

 

JMO

[unavox]

a top 10 destination for diving!!!!! See beauty is more than skin deep.

[ViolaSwamp]

I have to say that Grand Turk is the port of call I am least excited about visiting next month. San Juan, Saint Thomas, and HMC all have different "specialties" that catch our interest. Grand Turk, not so much.

 

(did I just say NEXT MONTH?? That's right - we fly out exactly one month from today - wooooooo hoo! :D)

 

Ahem. Sorry for the interruption. :p I have no clue what will interest us on Grand Turk. We'll probably just wander around aimlessly, unless there's a parasailing excursion there, in which case I think we'd love that.

[cruisencrazy]

I have been all of the Caribbean. My family was fortunate to be able to spend a week on the Island of Turks and Caicos. I have never experienced more beautiful beaches or water. The sand was like powder. You could snorkel 10 feet from the beach. You could walk into the water to your chin and see your feet. I don't know what the hurricane stirred up, but the water is not to be missed.

[manbehindthecurtain]

Grand Turk was specifically developed to be able to provide another port on Eastern Caribbean cruises. It is placed roughly in the middle between places in the Bahamas such as HMC, Nassau and Freeport, and on the other side San Juan, St. Thomas etc.

 

Without Grand Turk most Eastern Caribbean cruises would have another seaday instead of a port (edit: or at least offer more time in port than eg. 4 hours in Nassau).

 

One of the reasons why Grand Turk is more prone to cancellations is the fact that there is not much space for docking, you may have noticed that only a small distance off the dock the waters already color lightblue again, indicating only shallow waters. This leaves only a small margin for error and strong winds make it almost impossible to safely bring the ship alongside.

[Travalerie]

If there are any history/sailing buffs, the museum on the island was very interesting. I actually just finished a book on the slave history and shipwrecks that I bought from the gift shop. The curator is a nice guy from Ohio and gave a great tour.

[DFD1]

I totally agree about the beauty of the area, especially the sea and sand. I Bone fished there some years ago and it was the best I've every experienced before or since.

 

It just seems like such a terribly hard place to live and to prosper for those who make it their home. We were driven from one end of it to the other and the driver said over and over again how difficult things were for the natives. No big hotels, no farming, no distilling, not much of a high dollar fishing industry.....just hard, and they have been there for many generations.

 

The other large island in the group, Provo, apparantly is thriving with several deluxe hotels as well as much diving and fishing.

[Crusing Bob]

If you want something to do besides go to another Margaritaville, then book a Day Pass at the Grand Turk Inn and let Sandy and Katrina provide you with a very nice homemade lunch. They have a really clean, small beach just across from the Inn which is very private with nice sand. This is also where Jimmy Buffet stays when he goes to GT.

[harborwatcher]

Grand Turk is mostly a Carnival-sponsored tourist trap, but it's still fun and really beauitful. The beaches and water are just wondeful. Just don't expect much local culture.

[leoandhugh]

Because the island is so flat there is nothing to break the trade winds so anything more than a breeze can be a problem berthing a cruise ship with all that exposed broadside. So it is missed often.

It is not easy to just go to another port in the high season of the winter in the Caribbean; many of the larger ports like St Thomas or St Maarten are already handling more ships on some days than makes for comfort ashore:)

[djhsolara]

We've been to Grand Turk on our last two HAL sailings and will be there again in February. IMHO this is a wonderful little island...and it is such a shame that the devastation happened there.

 

As someone had previously stated, the Grand Turk Cruise Center has been a port that has been developed by Carnival. It is their answer to another "private island" but with a bit of commercialism.

 

If you haven't been there, you are in for a little bit of a surprise. It is just a beautiful little island with very little to do other than to relax and have fun. The Margaritaville area has a very large pool and beach area where you are practically swimming right next to the ship (I'm going to try to attach a few pics, but I've never done it so we'll see how that goes). The sand is powder white and the water just beautifully clear. If you go there expecting to find a St Thomas or St Maarten then you will be disappointed, but if you go expecting not to find much but rather to just have a relaxing day, then you will be right in line.

 

Enjoy Grand Turk!! :)

[richnorto]

I'm going to mention this, so they probably won't be there on our next trip!!! When you get off the ship, go right to the wild beach. It's a pretty walk and there are conch shells everywhere!!! We picked up 20 and tossed them out as we kept finding nicer ones as we went. We finally decided on 3 for our kids and checked with both the cruise terminal people and the cruise line checkers before bringing them with us. You must wash them out well and I soaked them in a bleach solution when we got home. They are BIG and very pretty! A lovely reminder of that pretty piece of island!

[seaisme]

I appologize if this has been talked about before, but after reading so many posts lately where ships couldn't dock in Turks & Caicos, and having been on the Zuiderman last New Years and not being able to stop, it makes me wonder, why bother! It's obvious that is an issue if the seas are rough.

 

Which is an issue everywhere I would imagine, but it seems like it happens A LOT! There isn't much there as it is and after Ike there really isn't much there... maybe they should find another destination to replace it for awhile.

 

IMHO. I'm curious what others think.

if it's plastic/fake, wild music and drinking yourself silly that you want to experience (you can do that at the port at Grand Turk); or if you want the luxury of a fine hotel, then Grand Turk is NOT for you. If you want to experience what the Caribbean was BEFORE all the cruise ships started visiting, and the islands decided that building large resorts was the best for their economy, then Grand Turk is your destination. These are the Caribbean Islands. No better snorkeling/scuba or beaches. People are warm and friendly. A wonderful day to enjoy the beauty of the Caribbean. Walk the beaches. Walk/taxi into town and enjoy the history of these islands. Take a cab to the lighthouse. Talk to the locals about their life/history. Imagine what it is like living so isloated on such beauty. Or just stay on the ship and enjoy the hot tub.

[Laserjock]

A day in Grand Turk is better than a day at work anytime in my book.

 

Enjoy how beautiful water can be...

[DFD1]

With respect, the Turks and Caicos are in the Atlantic, not the Caribbean.

[bigwuhead]

I couldn't agree more with everyone on how lovely it is, and i've heard the diving is great. My point really was that it seems that it is a high percentage of times that the ships can't dock there, which is a shame. For the island and for the passenger's. It was the port I was most looking forward to on my cruise last year, and we had to miss it.