Today we’ve arrived at Cockburn Town on Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos Islands. As we docked we could see another ship approaching and when the captain was making the usual announcements that we had been cleared for passengers to disembark and that a secure zone had been established around the ship, he added that we would be joined by a Holland America ship.
Now, we’ve long been curious about exactly what these ships are like and some people we know have said that they think it would suit us for a cruise.
They drew ever closer to us and it was only when they looked
like they might collide with us that I realised there was a very narrow strip
of quayside between us that they were clearly heading for.
As
they drew ever more up close and personal, we realised that this was not the
time to be prancing around half naked on our balcony or even in the main part
of our cabin if we had a light on!
I
think I can say that this is the closest we have ever been moored up alongside
another ocean-going vessel and it reminded me of our river cruise on the Danube
when they would moor boats up one bang against another and access to dry land
would be via the one moored to the land!
It was breakfast with a beautiful view today and then we got ready to get off so that we could see what Grand Turk had to offer. In a way, we were more than happy to get off as the ship was shaking as the wind was funnelled between the Rotterdam and ourselves and then hammered against Azura.
Well, on the one hand, the man next to us at dinner last night was right in that this place has little more than a large shopping area, a lot of bars doing a roaring trade, pools for swimming or for paddling about in and a fantastic beach. But it was also paradise island. Having had a first look round the cruise terminal we browsed around the shops to see which ones we might return to, we walked through different bars and past Margaritaville and on to the beach.
Now, it soon became clear that this would be the highlight of the cruise for Elizabeth as it was a cast-iron opportunity for her to have her ambition on every holiday – a paddle along the shore while the porter carried her stuff.
And so it was. We walked along the shore, being accosted at various intervals with invitations to have 2 x rum punches for $5 US or to have our hair braided. How on earth they thought they were going to braid my hair was another matter!
We
walked as far as we could and then turned back. Lots of people were lying out
on sunbeds, cooking gently in the strong sunlight at 26C.
In the end the temptation became too much and we ventured into a bar for a rum punch and a pina colada, but unfortunately at $8.25 each rather than at 2 for $5, but they were large ones and one was certainly more than enough in the midday sun.
The highlight of this stop was the wifi in the bar. It was very strong and allowed me to do things that even the best that the ship could offer had failed to achieve, such as being able to read my emails!
One
novelty here is that one of the US’s early space adventures had splashed down
here and NASA gave the island some artefacts (albeit copies) to commemorate the
fact.
Determined to return before we sailed at 1730, we went back to the ship for some lunch and a bit of rest after a truly hard morning!
In many ways, the photos tell you the rest of the story today.
Another wonderful update and you are right, Graeme...the braids would not be a good look! It looks like the weather was beautiful at Grand Turk. We are booked on the Rotterdam next Dec 11 for a 10 day cruise. We were supposed to be on the Statendam next week. I was very surprised to see the seaweed on the beach...the 3 times we have been there, the beach near the ships was perfectly clean.
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