Grand Turk Cruise Center Carnival Cruise Lines "Copyright of Carnival Cruise Lines"
Review of Grand Turk Cruise Center
Grand Turk is the capital island of the Turks and Caicos archipelago, part of the British West Indies, and located about 30 miles south of the Bahamas. Grand Turk is one of the true gems of the Caribbean, a world-class scuba diving & snorkeling destination, and home of the 3rd largest natural coral reef in the world. Christopher Columbus and his crew first made landfall on Grand Turk on his first voyage of discovery to the New World in 1492.
Grand Turk Island is seven miles long and just over a mile and a half wide. The island is known for its brightly painted British colonial architectural style, inspired by the elegance of Bermuda, yet exudes its own quaint Caribbean charm. Grand Turk enjoys a very mild and temperate climate year round, due to the moderating effect of the prevailing trade winds, and averages 350 days of sunshine per year.
In February, 2006, Carnival Cruise Lines launched a new state-of-the art Caribbean port of call with the grand opening of the $50 million Grand Turk Cruise Center. The spectacular Grand Turk cruise ship terminal is located on 14 acres of landscaped grounds and features its own semi-private brilliant white sand beach, and a huge swimming pool (one of the largest freshwater pools in the entire Caribbean).
Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas and Silversea Cruises all make stops at the fabulous Grand Turk Cruise Center port-of-call.
The 14-acre cruise-ship terminal, which can accommodate up to 7,000 passengers a day, is only a short walk from the heart of the capital, Cockburn Town. The design selected by Carnival’s architects was influenced and inspired by the colorful villages of early 19th century Bermuda. The center is located on Governor’s Beach, with a 565-ft. main pier, a main building featuring four vintage-style chimneys. The shops were designed to resemble the old wooden “salt houses” of the tall ships era, many of which are local family-owned, offering a full line of Caribbean arts, crafts and tropical linens and natural dye fabrics.
Those guests who prefer a quieter area will enjoy South Beach. The 1.25 acre beach is located on the south side of the terminal, and underwent a major upgrade in 2010, making it even more inviting and user-friendly to visitors. The area now features a refreshing “Cool Zone” with various misting machines, new mini-cabanas, deck chairs and beach loungers.
Grand Turk Cruise Center "Copyright of Carnival Cruise Lines"
The Grand Turk FlowRider opened at the Grand Turk Cruise Center in June 2008. It’s offered as an affordable shore excursion for the cruise passengers, and the kids just love frolicking in the constant flow of artificial waves that are created by a pair of high-pressure water jets that produce a thin, two- to three-inch layer of rushing water flowing over a pre-formed and cushioned surface at high speed.
The magnificent Turkuoise Beach Bar, which opened in summer of 2010 at South Beach, serves up a wide assortment of tropical drinks and light refreshments. Travelers can enjoy a frothy pint of the local brew, Turks Head Lager, or have the friendly barkeep concoct one of many exotic regional libations, featuring top-shelf Jamaican rums and Caribbean liqueurs.
In January, 2011, the Grand Turk Cruise Center celebrated the grand opening of a unique historical exhibit, “Splashdown”, to commemorate the NASA Mercury space exploration program, and the historic 1962 splashdown of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 capsule off the coast of Grand Turk. The NASA Mercury space program was the initial “small step” in President Kennedy’s 1961 challenge of “mankind’s giant leap” of the Apollo landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
The Mercury program was made famous by Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff”, and Philip Kaufman’s screenplay about the select seven original NASA astronauts who launched the Space Age, featuring a star-studded cast led by Ed Harris who played John Glenn.
The Grand Turk Cruise Center recently expanded and upgraded its 45,000-square-foot retail shopping district by bringing in several new upscale retailers and jewelers. New shops include Diamond International, Effy Jewelers, Colombian Emeralds, and Silver Sun. These new jewelers joined Milano Diamond Gallery, Royal Jewels, Indigo Pearls, and Goldsmith, making Grand Turk a must see stop for cruisers shopping for that special piece of fine jewelry or loose precious and semi-precious gem stones.
Grand Turk Margaritaville "Copyright of Carnival Cruise Lines"
The GTCC is also home to the Caribbean’s largest Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville bar, restaurant, and retail shop.
“In just five years in operation, Grand Turk Cruise Center has become one of the most popular cruise facilities in the Caribbean, more than doubling its passenger counts and adding a host of new amenities and attractions, while serving as a gateway to one of the world’s most breathtaking and beautiful destinations,” said Gloria Israel, senior vice president of port and destination development for Carnival Corporation & plc, which operates the facility.
The 2010 cruise season saw a record for the Grand Turk Cruise Center facility with 248 calls from 40 cruise ships representing 14 different cruise lines. The Grand Turk Cruise Center hosted a record 622,720 passengers, which as nearly a 20 percent increase over 2009, and more than double the count over 2006, the center’s first full year of operation.
Scuba divers and snorkelers can explore several sunken Reef Balls that tend to attract an array or spectacular tropical fish, and a few cannons and anchors that went to the bottom during the early 18th century colonial days can be found submerged in front of the Beach Rental Hut at the GTCC.
The Grand Turk Cruise Center gateway to Grand Turk Island represents the future in user-friendly cruising. Whether cruising on a budget or money is no object, GTCC offers the discerning cruise vacationer an unsurpassed selection of beachcomber fun and relaxing shore-land and exciting undersea excursions and family activities, sightseeing, shopping, bar hopping and dining options, the very first moment you step ashore, literally within steps of disembarkation at the GTCC dockside. Your day spent ashore on Grand Turk Island is sure to be one of the highlights of your next Caribbean cruise experience.
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Having never really considered a cruise, this particular writeup intrigues me. As the nights get longer and the days colder, this locale REALLY calls me.