Exclusive Grand Turk Experience

Crystal Clear Blue Waters 

Are Calling You

If blue is your favorite color, then Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, is the place for you.  As your ship pulls into the harbor this picture unfolds in front of your eyes.   A short walk from your ship, and you can immerse yourself in these beautiful waters or relax on the beach and just enjoy the scenery.

But first, it was time for us to explore the island on an exclusive shore excursion offered by Shore Excursions Group.  Working with a Professional Travel Planner, you rely on their recommendations. In order for me to provide those recommendations, I need to experience the ships and tours myself. Since I hadn't done that before on Grand Turk, we decided to book the "Exclusive Grand Turk Experience" during one of our recent cruises in the Caribbean.

Guided Island Tour

Click images to enlarge - view Grand Turk Album

Grand Turk Island is the administrative, historic, cultural and financial center of the island nation of Turks and Caicos. Grand Turk is largest of all the islands that comprise the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. With crystal clear waters, gorgeous climate, and a unique culture, Grand Turk has become a popular cruise destination for travelers visiting from all around the world.

This guided island drive tour showed us the highlights of Grand Turk Island. We visited the island's top attractions, including the former United States Air Force Tracking Base and a replica of Astronaut John Glenn's Friendship 7 space capsule, which splashed down off the island's coast in 1962 following the United States' first successful manned orbit of the earth.

We also saw several 18th-century churches, beautiful Bermudan-style buildings, and salt ponds. In this peaceful town you may also see wild horses and donkeys freely roaming the streets. There was a brief photo stop to see a working lighthouse that has been in service for more than 150 years. Built in London in 1852 and shipped to Grand Turk, it was assembled in hopes of saving the salt trade. Standing sixty feet, it was designed by Alexander Gordon, who designed lighthouses throughout the British Empire.

Next we had an opportunity to visit "The Salt House", a recreated 17th-century saltpan that chronicles the history of the salt and slave industry.  View Grand Turk Album for more images from our excursion.

Margaritaville Grand Turk (photo album)

Margaritaville Grand Turk

Following our shore excursion tour, we had plenty of time to enjoy Margaritaville which is within walking distance of the ship.   Find your place in the sun or shade by the beach or around the pool for a relaxing day in the Caribbean.

Enjoy some food or your favorite beverage while lounging on your beach chair by the pool.  Salt water or fresh water - the choice is yours and there is no charge (other than for food and beverages) to enjoy this oasis in the sun.

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Our Recommendations for Grand Turk

If this is your first visit to Grand Turk, or if you have never explored the island on past trips, we'd encourage you to explore via a private shore excursion, such as the one we took from Shore Excursion Group.  The reason we suggest a private tour is that you'll have less people in your group and it will cost less than ship organized tours.  We even had wi-fi on our mini-van!

Grand Turk is a great place to enjoy the beautiful crystal blue waters of the Caribbean.  Book a snorkeling or scuba tour if you are adventurous or simply relax on the beach by Margaritaville.   Your ship is your floating base, so you can go back and forth for meals if you don't want to purchase food at Margaritaville.   Should you decide to stay on board the ship, odds are you'll have the ship to yourself as most people will be hanging out at the beach.

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Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour San Juan

Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour  (photo album)

San Juan

Shore Excurions

Whether this is your first trip to San Juan, or like us, have been there many times before, you might be looking for something different to do this time around.

We had never been to the Bacardi Rum Distillery before, so we decided to book a shore excursion through the cruise line.   It is possible to do this tour on your own, but we opted for convenience over price.

Tour Coop

Carnival contracts with Tour Coop to provide the tour to Bacardi Distillery and Old San Juan.  Upon arriving at Bacardi, you are given two drink tickets and a tour number.  Tours depart every 20 minutes or so from the welcome tent.

The ticket can be exchanged for a rum drink of your choosing.  Be sure that you have enough time to finish the drink before your tour is called because no drinks are allowed on the tour.

Tram Ride

When your tour is called you'll board a tour tram for a short (1 minute) ride to one of the Bacardi buildings.   In the lobby you'll see various artifacts that tell about the Bacardi family history.   The tour includes a video about the family and then you proceed into another room where you'll be able to smell some of the different Bacardi rum "flavors" and watch a video that explains the rum making process from sugar to rum.

Shop Bacardi Rum (36 images)

There's a "bar" where they'll describe how two of the most popular rum drinks, Mojitos and a Cuba Libre, are made.   Browse amongst the various Bacardi displays, including magazine ads from the 40s.   You can purchase rum or Bacardi logo items in the gift store before returning to the welcome tent to finish your drink coupons if you haven't already done so.  You'll have ample time to explore before boarding your van for the ride to Old San Juan.

This is an enjoyable tour which we'd recommend that you try at least once in your lifetime.

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Tip: You can book a tour with the ship or travel to Bacardi on your own: From Old San Juan – Take the ferry from Pier 2 to Catano, for $0.50 pp, each way. When you arrive in Catano, go to the right for a taxi to the factory for about $3.00 pp each way.

We'll continue with more to see and do in San Juan and describe the rest of our cruise in future articles.   If you are just joining us, we have several articles in this mini-series already.   See our main article (click image).

Explore Under the Sea in St. Thomas

St. Thomas U.S.V.I.

Exquisite Above 

or Under the Sea

This image captured by us on one of our past trips to St. Thomas was taken from the world famous Mountain Top.   From there you can see all of the surrounding area and really get the true sense of how blue the waters really are.

St. Thomas is truly a Caribbean paradise which is featured on many Eastern Caribbean cruise itineraries.  On our most recent visit, during our Carnival Conquest cruise, we decided to explore under the sea, without even getting wet.

Coral World

Coral World (click for more pictures)

After a short cab ride from the pier, we arrived at Coral World St. Thomas.  It is the second marine park developed by Coral World International and incorporates the following attractions: Marine Museum, Shark, Stingray and Turtle Pools, Touch Pools, and naturally - The Underwater Observatory.   Now you know how we could explore under the sea without getting wet.

The park has been damaged by several hurricanes in the past.  The Underwater Observatory was undergoing some renovation when we were there this February.  

The cruise lines offer this as one of their excursions or you can take a cab there on your own.  The prices are pretty comparable but the difference is with a group you are set to a schedule while when on your own you can set your own pace and possibly include one of the optional activities, such as the SNUBA® adventure pictured here.

SNUBA® gives you complete freedom of movement and ease of breathing under water as the air tanks are located at the surface being carried on a raft.

After a short orientation a certified SNUBA guide will lead you and a group of no more than 4 people on your adventure to the shores of Coki Point where a beautiful coral reef thrives with a wide variety of sea life.

Planning on Visiting USVI?

If you are flying directly to St. Thomas you won't need a passport if you are a U.S. Citizen. Of course, if you plan to also visit other islands that aren't U.S. Territories, or if you are on a cruise, you will still need your passport.

There are plenty of things to do from dining, shopping, relaxing on a beach, to exploring the wonderful world under the sea as we have discussed here. Visit the U.S. Virgin Islands tourism page to learn more about the islands and what they have to offer.

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Tip: There are several attractions near the ship's pier in St. Thomas.  You can venture off on your own if you prefer.

We'll continue with San Juan  and more about the ship in our next installments.   If you are just joining us, we have several articles in this mini-series already.   You can either page backwards or check our main article (click image).

Relaxing on Carnival Conquest

Looking for a Place to Relax

On Carnival Conquest?

One of the best things about cruising in the Caribbean is the time to enjoy the sun and warm temperatures on one of the open decks.  Carnival Conquest has two pools - the main pool has a water slide and is open for all ages.

The aft pool on Lido Deck is only open to adults.   There are four hot tubs in addition to the pool which were quite popular throughout the cruise.   There's a bar right there as well, so need to go far to get your favorite beverage (or you can order from the wait staff that comes around to check on guests).

If the weather doesn't cooperate, there is a sliding roof which can shield guests from the weather.   We had some light showers a couple times during the cruise and the top was closed. 

There are lounge chairs along both sides of the pool as well as tables for those that want to sit poolside and have some pizza or other refreshments.  You can relax in a lounge chair by the main pool as well, but expect a lot more activity with families enjoying the pool area.  We were blessed with beautiful weather during our cruise so the pools were always busy.

Carnival has a policy of not saving lounge chairs.  You can leave your belongings if you like, but they can remove them if no one occupies the chair for 45 minutes.   We didn't see that being enforced during our cruise and there were unfortunately some people not following the rules.

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Tip: For prime lounge chair spot, eat your breakfast early and then go camp out at your favorite location.

We'll continue with St. Thomas and more about the ship in our next installment.   If you are just joining us, we have several articles in this mini-series already.   You can either page backwards or check our main article (click image).

Good-bye Nassau Hello Evening

Early Dining

Monet - Carnival Conquest

As we continued sailing away from Nassau, Bahamas, it was time for our first dress up night.  The dress code for the evening was "Cruise Elegant".   You didn't have to dress up if you didn't want to but there are some guidelines:

Not Allowed: Shorts, T-Shirts, jeans, flip flops, bathing suit attire, sleeveless shirts for men, sportswear and baseball hats.

Table With a View

Our assigned table was on deck 4 of Monet Dining Room with a very nice view.  We requested a large table when we made our reservation, so we did get one set for 8 people however there were only 4 of us on most nights.  Two nights one couple went to "The Point" Steakhouse.

Menu

We had a lovely dinner with our new friends.  For starters we had the Strawberry Bisque chilled soup topped with fresh mint leave, spring rolls, and shrimp cocktail.  The last two items you can have every day.  Each day there's a chilled soup and hot soup amongst the starters.

Our two selections for the main entree were Broiled Maine Lobster Tail with Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp and Tender Roasted Prime Rib of American Beef Au Jus.  The lobster dish came with yukon gold mashed potatoes and broccoli florets and the prime rib came with baked potato with all the trimmings.  For dessert we had Cherries Jubilee.

The food was cooked the way we liked it and the wait staff were very attentive checking to see if we wanted anything more.

Lemoncello

We capped our dinner off with an after dinner drink of Lemoncello. If you have ever been to Italy, you'll instantly know about Limoncello. Lemons seem to be one of the important staples in the food of Sorrento. The most famous product is Limoncello. Every store or restaurant has it’s unique or favorite brand of Limoncello for sale or to taste. It is wonderful as a palate cleanser or as an after dinner drink. Limoncello is the generic name for an Italian citrus-based lemon liqueur that is served well chilled in the summer months. Limoncello is now considered the national drink of Italy and can be found in stores and restaurants all over Italy.  On Carnival Conquest, the price of the drink includes the souvenir glass which is yours to keep.

Entertainment

Playlist Productions show Divas featured songs from the great pop Divas like Gaga, Beyonce, Christina, Madonna, Whitney, and Celine. There were two shows in the Toulouse Lautrec Theater. Prior to dinner you could meet the Captain and Senior Officers, have your picture taken with them, dance to music and enjoy a cocktail. In days gone by, Carnival would provide the drinks free of charge, but now they simply offer a $1 discount. We now skip the Captain's party the majority of the time since it just means hurrying up getting changed. We had our drink at dinner instead.

Our after dinner entertainment of choice throughout the cruise was the comedy club.  Carnival brought 2 comedians onboard for the beginning part of the cruise:  Kim Harrison and Smiley Joe Wiley.  Each night, there would be two family oriented shows and two adult only shows in the lounge.  They were very enjoyable.

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Tip: Be sure to check your Fun Times before dinner to plan your evening.

Tuesday was a sea day so we opted to sleep in and have a late breakfast.  We'll tell you more about our Sea Day in our next installment.   If you have any questions that you'll like us to address, be sure to post here, on our Facebook page, or email us.

Greetings from Nassau ET Phone Home

Staying Connected

During Your Cruise

 

You've waited for this trip to get away from your daily routine.   You aren't quite ready to be cut off from the outside world completely however.  There are several possible "solutions" to this situation.

In this day and age, most people are walking around with one or more smart devices (phones, tablets, PCs, or some combination of these).  Prior to sailing, you are usually still connected to the outside world via your normal telephone / internet provider.  Once you sail, you can still be on their network in many cases, but the price of communication can go up dramatically since you are roaming.  

Tip:  The price for data and phone calls increase substantially, so you'll want to check with your provider before you travel to understand your options and costs.

Carnival Conquest Network

Carnival Cruise Lines, as well as the majority of the other lines, have enhanced their onboard internet capabilities to meet the demand of the always connected public.  Of course, this comes at a price and reduced speed compared to your back home experiences.

There are several plans available that provide internet access during your cruise.   You can use the ship's PCs or your wireless device throughout the ship to connect to their internet.   Prices range from 75 cents per minute for pay as you go to around 30 cents or less if you purchase a package.

For those that need to be in contact with home or office, this keeps you in contact at any time, provided there is adequate satellite coverage.  As mentioned already, expect communication to be much slower than your normal experience, which translates into increased cost per activity.

In Port Alternatives

If you don't need to be in contact constantly, finding connectivity on shore is perhaps a more attractive solution.   Options range from free WiFi to purchased plans that are usually much cheaper than those onboard the ship.

As you might expect, when you own your own business, you need to be in contact with your office and clients even when on "vacation".   We find ourselves in that situation.

For this particular cruise, we had one of our associates covering for us, but we did promise to keep in periodic contact.  In order to do so, we went with the in port approach.

A short walk from the pier in Nassau puts you outside the Festival Marketplace where you'll find many of the ship's crew and passengers camped out on their cell phones and other devices.  WiFi is free in this area, but the signal isn't always the best.   It did suffice for our needs in checking emails and posting a few pictures for our followers.   You might want to wait until the crowd thins out to increase the odds of getting your emails sent.

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Often coffee shops and restaurants provide internet passwords to their patrons.   We suggest checking out sites in every port prior to your cruise so that you have an idea where to look during your trip.

More about Day 2 of our cruise in our next post.  Be sure to check all the articles in this series to get the complete story about our cruise.   If you have tips you'd like to share, feel free to contact us here or on our Facebook page.

Carnival Conquest Day 2 Breakfast

Do What You Want

When You Want

When you've been on as many Caribbean cruises as we have, you are bound to repeat a port or so.  The great thing about that is you don't feel obligated to get up early, rush your breakfast, and be the first person to the gangway.

Our second day on Carnival Conquest was an early call at Nassau, Bahamas.  You guessed it - we've been there many times before.   So for us, this was for all practical purposes, a bonus sea day.

Leisurely Breakfast

Despite the 7 AM arrival in port, we slept in until around 9 AM. We then went up to Lido Deck for a buffet breakfast.  Buffet Breakfast is served from 6:30 AM - 10:30 AM in Cezanne, so we still had plenty of time. 

Do you usually eat a big or small breakfast?

Typically we aren't big breakfast eaters, but on a cruise we tend to have more than normal since it might be awhile before our next meal, especially on a port day.

The buffet had a wide selection of items ranging from continental breakfast, consisting of cereal, fruit, yogurt, and pastries, to made-to-order omelets, waffles, french toast, pancakes, and breakfast meats.  The image above shows some of the selections available.

Tip:  Omelets are very popular, so give yourself extra time to wait in line.  Bacon and ham are available in the center section of the Grill near the omelet station.  We mention this because it's hard to find if you don't know where to look.

Buffet not your cup of tea?

The buffet is only one option.   One day you might consider breakfast in bed.   Room service can be delivered to your cabin at no extra cost.   You can go to the main dining room for a sit down meal if you want to have a nice relaxing breakfast.   BlueIguana Cantina serves breakfast burritos if you have a taste for Mexican cuisine.  It's all about choices - you are on vacation and you can decide.

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After breakfast it was time to go ashore for a bit. Keep in mind that our main objective was to have a nice relaxing voyage and experience the changes on the ship.   We were off to  a good start on embarkation day by trying the burgers and tacos, so now on to part two of our mission - relaxing.

Come back next time to see what we did the rest of day 2.

Calling All Youth to Assemble for Fun

We Call Upon the Youth

Of the World

To Assemble at 

Camp Carnival

For a Fun Cruise

At the conclusion of the Olympics, the IOC President calls upon the youth of the world to assemble in four years time at the next venue city for the Olympic Games.  In the meantime, youth of all ages are called to bring their families on a Carnival Cruise and assemble at their age-appropriate Club onboard to experience their Fun Ship.

Click to enlarge image

Camp Carnival 

It’s everything they love about summer camp and their favorite babysitter, all in one! Camp Carnival offers tons of activities designed for children in three different age groups: 2 to 5 years, 6 to 8 years, and 9 to 11 years.  On embarkation day children can be registered into their specific program and participate in the Welcome Aboard Party.

Club O2

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During the day, trained camp counselors work with small groups of children to be sure they are having fun.   The children get to meet others in their age bracket, play together, and have special meals together. When the sun goes down,  Camp Carnival Night Owls (fees apply) is open so kids get to stay up late having fun, while their parents also enjoy themselves well into the night.

Most people speak highly of Camp Carnival, but in the following post by John Heald, Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, one parent didn't like the choices of activities.   Several people responded with positive things to say about the program.  Also, John mentions about changes which will be introduced due to a new partnership.

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Camp Carnival Comments from John Heald Blog

Tip: Sign up for Camp Carnival when boarding so that your children will be able to attend the evening's Welcome Aboard Party.

This concludes our Embarkation Day coverage of our Carnival Conquest cruise.  We'll now look at the rest of the cruise and more about the ship in future posts.

After the Game Embarkation Day

The Night is Young

Evening On Board

Carnival Conquest 

After our dinner at the steakhouse and the conclusion of the Superbowl, it was time to determine what to do for the rest of the evening.  There's something for everyone to enjoy.

 

Toulouse Lautrec 3,4 & 5 Forward

Checking our Fun Times, we found that there was only one Welcome Aboard Show scheduled that evening at 10:15 PM.  It was hosted by our Cruise Director, Gary.   It featured a preview of the Playlist Productions and Punchliner Comedy Club entertainment.   The entertainment portion of the show wasn't very long which gave our CD plenty of time to explain what we should expect for the remainder of the cruise.   

Tahiti Casino (click for more images)

 Tahiti Casino

Following the show the casino was bopping as passengers weren't ready to retire for the evening just yet.

The casino has state-of-the-art BlackjackPro and PokerPro tables where you can try your luck against the house (which is actually a computer).  Of course, if you prefer live action or slot machines, there are plenty of options there as well. 

Earlier in the day, the casino had complimentary play on the state-of-the-art tables prior to sailing and in honor of the Superbowl, they had a Big Game Score Pursuit where you could win up to $500 on a $10 bet.   Throughout the week you could use your Sail & Sign card to advance funds and also as a players card which could earn you free drinks.

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Tip: Be sure to check your Fun Times when you board the ship and plan your evening.

In our next installment we'll look at the welcome aboard activities for youth and also take a look at some of the bars and lounges that offer nightly entertainment.

Super Sunday on Carnival Conquest

Embarkation Day

Superbowl Sunday

Get Ready for the "Big Game"

We embarked the Carnival Conquest on February 2nd shortly after noon.  The cabins weren't ready as expected and we headed up to Lido Deck (deck 9) for some lunch.  The first thing we saw was the big screen in the pool area.   It was displaying the Superbowl logo because later this evening this would be the site of the biggest viewing onboard the ship of the "Big Game".

Lido Deck is the perfect spot to watch the game since you are close to food and of course, beverages.

RedFrog Rum Bar   

Join the party at this poolside bar featuring a great selection of “frog approved” Caribbean rum-based concoctions available by the glass or pitcher and plenty of Carnival’s signature private-label draft beer, ThirstyFrog Red.  View RedFrog Rum Bar Menu
 

"Big Game" at Sea (click for more images)

BlueIguana Tequila Bar

The menu offers up Mexican favorites, including several brands of tequila and a slew of Mexican brews. There’s a line up of frozen concoctions, cocktails and margaritas served by the glass or pitcher and even a special Mexican beer cocktail.   View BlueIguana Tequila Bar Menu  As we mentioned in earlier posts, we had made a dinner reservation at "The Point" Steakhouse for 6:00 PM, so we only watched the start of the game and then headed off to dinner.   When we returned, the game was in the third period, so we watched the final minutes from the Lido deck chairs.   Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a game, but it still was a lot of fun watching with so many people on the open deck of Carnival Conquest.
 

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Following the game, there was lot's to do onboard the ship.  In our next posts, we'll continue our tour of the ship and the activities onboard and then we'll be headed to our first port of call, Nassau, Bahamas.

Be sure to come back to visit us for more of our experiences and tips to make your next Carnival cruise enjoyable.