3 Carnival ships in Grand Turk

[Organized Chaos]

3 minutes ago, evandbob said:

 

I've seen whales, adults and babies, in the DR near Samanna  in January.  And oddly, I saw a small pod of whales from my balcony as the Glory was docked in St Croix towards the beginning of Feb.!  They were 5 just on the other side of the pier in rather shallow water for about 10 minutes.

 

I think the higher likelihood of spotting whales in the Northern Caribbean (Note that GT is technically in the Atlantic) occurs in Jan & Feb, so GT being further along might extend into early March?  Migrations are more dependent upon sea water temperatures than timing too.  Good Luck!

 

I've searched the GT port of call forum and found a couple threads, but not much to go off of. Someone mentioned a better likelihood of spotting them from the lighthouse area, but I've read on another site that they're especially common around Salt Cay, which is just under 10 miles southwest of the cruise port. I don't think we'll risk paying for a whale watching tour that late in their season and just hope we get lucky from the ship or maybe even from shore. I might pack a pair of binoculars this time just in case. Thanks.

[jimbo5544]

47 minutes ago, schazzy said:

 

I just did that as well, and yeah, it's a match. It's unreal that they would have potentially over 12,000 passengers descending on to GT that day.

 

 

If they are really going to keep that schedule, my guess would be the Mardi Gras and the Magic will dock, and the Elation will have to tender, that seems like the only likely scenario to me.

I doubt they have tender capability there, forget handling that many people, very perplexing.

[Micahs Grandad]

They barely have capacity for 2 let alone 3 ships. Last time we were ship #2 and could not find a decent place to stay at Margaritaville.

 

3 ships would be a good reason to stay on the ship.

[SNJCruisers]

24 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I doubt they have tender capability there, forget handling that many people, very perplexing.

Post #6 mentioned the Crystal Serenity using tenders as a third ship back in 2017.  Don't know the capacity comparison between it and the Elation.

[OCruisers]

8 minutes ago, Micah's Grandad said:

They barely have capacity for 2 let alone 3 ships. Last time we were ship #2 and could not find a decent place to stay at Margaritaville.

 

3 ships would be a good reason to stay on the ship.

 

Some feel they can excape the crowds by going to Jack's Shack. Not true!

We were there with two ships and Jack's Shack was also a zoo ... no seats, very long line for drinks, and basically sold out of food.

 

We are unlikely to get off the ship when there are two ... and certainly will not when there are three!  

 

One ship in Port:  Go and enjoy

Two ships in Port:  Probably stay on the ship

Three ships in Port:  For sure stay on the ship

 

 

 

[Micahs Grandad]

Just now, OCruisers said:

 

Some feel they can excape the crowds by going to Jack's Shack. Not true!

We were there with two ships and Jack's Shack was also a zoo ... no seats, very long line for drinks, and basically sold out of food.

 

We are unlikely to get off the ship when there are two ... and certainly will not when there are three!  

 

One ship in Port:  Go and enjoy

Two ships in Port:  Probably stay on the ship

Three ships in Port:  For sure stay on the ship

 

 

 

I have no clue why they would even think this is a good idea? We would look at schedule for port and if three would probably find a different cruise.

 

Nice stop with only one ship in port easy to get shaded lounge chair. And pool not overcrowded.

[Keys2Heaven]

Looking at the GT port schedule, I see nothing listed for 2020. Most dates for 2019 only show 2 ships in port. There are a 3 or 4 dates in December of this year with 3 ships in port.

[schazzy]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

I doubt they have tender capability there, forget handling that many people, very perplexing.

 

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

Post #6 mentioned the Crystal Serenity using tenders as a third ship back in 2017.  Don't know the capacity comparison between it and the Elation.

 

The Crystal ship was using it's own boats to tender and they used the wooden pier on the right side of the main pier. 

 

The Crystal Serenity has a capacity of 980 passengers, the Elation has a little more than double that. So, while it might be possible to tender with a smaller ship, I'm not sure how well it would go for the Elation. But I also don't see any other way to have 3 ships debark guests there without tendering one of them.

[taylor1293]

Two ships is one too many in Grand Turk, IMO. I can’t imagine being there when three ships are in port. I would just stay on the ship. 

 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

Post #6 mentioned the Crystal Serenity using tenders as a third ship back in 2017.  Don't know the capacity comparison between it and the Elation.

 

14 minutes ago, schazzy said:

 

 

The Crystal ship was using it's own boats to tender and they used the wooden pier on the right side of the main pier. 

 

The Crystal Serenity has a capacity of 980 passengers, the Elation has a little more than double that. So, while it might be possible to tender with a smaller ship, I'm not sure how well it would go for the Elation. But I also don't see any other way to have 3 ships debark guests there without tendering one of them.

Big difference between Serenity tendering(which is common on ships her size and smaller) and Elation (2130) which is NOT used to tendering.  More importantly, the combo listed from the reference from 2017 (Pride, Ecstasy, Serenity) totals about 5,160, the total of Mardi Gras, Elation, and Magic) totals 12,450.  Hence my "I am perplexed" comment.

Edited April 1, 2019 by jimbo5544

[Doggielover68]

18 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

That isn't the way Carnival has the ships scheduled. They have Elation from 8-4, Magic from 11-4:30, and Mardi Gras from 7-4. That is a ton of people there at one time.

If it were me, I would just get off as early as possible and head back to the ship when Magic gets there. That would still give you 4 hours of beach time, even though it is an early day. Then go back to the ship, clean up, have a nice lunch and explore the ship. 

[schazzy]

6 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

 

Big difference between Serenity tendering(which is common on ships her size and smaller) and Elation (2130) which is NOT used to tendering.  More importantly, the combo listed from the reference from 2017 (Pride, Ecstasy, Serenity) totals about 5,160, the total of Mardi Gras, Elation, and Magic) totals 12,450.  Hence my "I am perplexed" comment.

 

I am perplexed too. I'm not trying to argue with you, and I know there's quite a difference in the situation I witnessed in 2017 and the one set to happen next year. I'm just really curious how Carnival plans to handle that situation without one ship having to tender.

 

Not to mention the situation once everyone is on shore, the number of passengers those 3 ships can carry is more than 4 times the population of GT. I don't know how well the 6.9 square mile island can handle that many people at once, as others have pointed out, it can get pretty crowded with just half that many people. 

[momof3cruisers]

53 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

 

Big difference between Serenity tendering(which is common on ships her size and smaller) and Elation (2130) which is NOT used to tendering.  More importantly, the combo listed from the reference from 2017 (Pride, Ecstasy, Serenity) totals about 5,160, the total of Mardi Gras, Elation, and Magic) totals 12,450.  Hence my "I am perplexed" comment.

I cannot even imagine that lovely little island with 12,000 people on it. How miserable. 

[jimbo5544]

29 minutes ago, schazzy said:

 

I am perplexed too. I'm not trying to argue with you, and I know there's quite a difference in the situation I witnessed in 2017 and the one set to happen next year. I'm just really curious how Carnival plans to handle that situation without one ship having to tender.

 

Not to mention the situation once everyone is on shore, the number of passengers those 3 ships can carry is more than 4 times the population of GT. I don't know how well the 6.9 square mile island can handle that many people at once, as others have pointed out, it can get pretty crowded with just half that many people. 

agree on all points, not arguing with anybody.  Just replying to the comment about the reference to the earlier post(s).

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, momof3cruisers said:

I cannot even imagine that lovely little island with 12,000 people on it. How miserable. 

I still think one of the cruises will change.  I will be at the naming ceremony of the Sunshine in New York on May 23 and will access to some mgt and ask them directly.

Edited April 1, 2019 by jimbo5544

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

I still think one of the cruises will change.  I will be at the naming ceremony of the Sunshine in New York on May 23 and will access to some mgt and ask them directly.

 

I assume you mean Sunrise. 

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I assume you mean Sunrise. 

LOL, you assume correct, or I am really going to be late...and  in the wrong city....

Edited April 2, 2019 by jimbo5544

[schazzy]

On another kinda related note, with the Mardi Gras and other ships of the same size coming soon to the Carnival family, I wonder if they will try to accommodate these ships at Half Moon Cay or Princess Cays with a pier or if the project in Freeport will be the "private island" for these ships?

[schazzy]

18 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

LOL, you assume correct, or I am really going to be late...and  in the wrong city....

 

Or you've perfected time travel and are altering the past.

[PortSideCruzan]

Hi ☺️

 

In regards to tendering at Grand Turk, sometimes there doesn't even have to be two ships in port to tender. High winds can cause a ship to tender at Grand Turk. Having said that, high winds can also cause a ship to miss Grand Turk all together. 

Anyway, just this past November 30th, 2018, on the Silversea Silver Spirit (below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🌴

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, schazzy said:

On another kinda related note, with the Mardi Gras and other ships of the same size coming soon to the Carnival family, I wonder if they will try to accommodate these ships at Half Moon Cay or Princess Cays with a pier or if the project in Freeport will be the "private island" for these ships?

The larger Carnival ships cannot go to HMC now (for the tendering reason), I do not seeing that change in the future.  There are supposedly other option new private options coming in the next couple of years.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, schazzy said:

 

Or you've perfected time travel and are altering the past.

Would that not be nice.... at any rate, I will be at the SUNRISE naming ceremony and will ask.

Edited April 2, 2019 by jimbo5544

[jasong38501]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Would that not be nice.... at any rate, I will be at the SUNRISE naming ceremony and will ask.

I will be interested to hear what you find out. Like I said, I will be on the Mardi Gras for the ship not the ports, but I certainly hope this is not a sign of things to come for Grand Turk. When you mentioned earlier that there may be shoe left to drop that Carnival hasn't announced yet that might change a schedule the first thing that came to mind was the private development Carnival announced they were constructing on Grand Bahama Island. However the article I found stated it wasn't going to be ready until 2021 so I don't think that could be it unless they think they can get it done early but don't want to commit to scheduling port calls there yet.

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, jasong38501 said:

I will be interested to hear what you find out. Like I said, I will be on the Mardi Gras for the ship not the ports, but I certainly hope this is not a sign of things to come for Grand Turk. When you mentioned earlier that there may be shoe left to drop that Carnival hasn't announced yet that might change a schedule the first thing that came to mind was the private development Carnival announced they were constructing on Grand Bahama Island. However the article I found stated it wasn't going to be ready until 2021 so I don't think that could be it unless they think they can get it done early but don't want to commit to scheduling port calls there yet.

I understand and have no specific factual basis for my remark, just was throwing out possible (and to my eyes, much more relevant) options.

[schazzy]

9 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

The larger Carnival ships cannot go to HMC now (for the tendering reason), I do not seeing that change in the future.  There are supposedly other option new private options coming in the next couple of years.

 

Yeah, I figured the Freeport/Grand Bahama port development that was recently announced will be the private option for the bigger ships on Bahamas itineraries.