?'s for Revneal please

[pcboston]

Hi........I wanted to thank you for the report on the Noordam Voyage..it was great and I read the whole thing. My questions are concerning the port of Grand Turk. I booked a cruise this year that is going there because it was a new port for me and I'm starting to be afraid that its not a very good stop. People have been asking questions and there hasn't been much said about it. I did look at the cruise center web site but I'd rather hear from someone who has actually been there. Trying to decide whether to go to Gibbs Cay to see the stingrays or to Governor's beach and wondered if any people that were on the cruise with you had done either of these? I have read that there is a beach right at the port also but that has been compared to Costa Maya and, to date, that was one of my least favorite stops, so now I'm afraid I booked the wrong itinerary this year. I would really appreciate anything that you or anyone else that was on the Noordam and stopped at Grand Turk could tell me about it. Thanks so much and happy sails..........................

[hootmon]

I would like to toss in a question for Rev Neal. Does Holland still end each cruise with the beautiful "Love in any language" ? This is the best closing song of any cruiseline ! :)

[Himself]

Re: Love in any Language.

 

They sang it on the Statendam last November

[bepsf]

I would like to toss in a question for Rev Neal. Does Holland still end each cruise with the beautiful "Love in any language" ? This is the best closing song of any cruiseline ! :)

 

They still do it - as of the Noordam inaugural.

Grand Turk wasn't so bad - the area near the pier is very much like Costa Maya, but the big difference is that there is a nice little town nearby with it's own sights, etc. which Costa Maya doesn't have

[RevNeal]

Grand Turk was nice. There's not much to do on the island ... it's not been much touched by the cruising industry and there are not a lot of things to do or see there. The Pier and cruise center is, in some ways, similar to the center at Costa Maya, except that the beach is more sheltered from the ocean by the ship and pier iteself. There would appear to be much more shopping at the Costa Maya center than at Grand Turk, though that could change as more ship traffic comes to Grand Turk.

 

From Costa Maya there are a number of cultural and archeological tours available. I enjoyed stopping there. Grand Turk doesn't have anything like that, though as Brian says there is a nice small town with a downtown street to visit. Since the place isn't built up (yet), it's quite an interesting walk.

 

Next time I stop at Grand Turk I intend to make use of the beach. Given it's close proximity to the ship, and the other facilities immediately available there, it seems to be the best place to go "beaching" on a Caribbean cruise that doesn't stop at HMC (like the Noordam cruises out of NYC).

 

Photos from Grand Turk: http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/noordaminaugral/PhotoAlbum96.html

 

Photos from Costa Maya: http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/westerdam05/PhotoAlbum71.html