Carnival Port Facility Review

[stampinrobin]

Posting the Grand Turk portion of my review for those of you needing information about the port facility. DH and I (late late 40’s) cruised the Carnival Miracle on Jan 22. (This review might be a bit skewed because we were the only ship in port and it was not crowded at all.)

 

 

Grand Turk: What can I say besides, LOVED IT ! If you are pool or beach people, no need to go anywhere else.

 

The port facility has something for everyone. If you don't drink, you could get away with a really cheap day. We went to the Lido Deck for breakfast around 7:30 a.m. and it was very busy, everyone had the same idea.

 

Upon leaving the ship, to the right is beach that has rocks on it and is very wavy and also has an old brown pier on it, while it did not really look all that inviting, it did have plenty of loungers (we were fooled by that first impression).

 

To the left was a quiet beach without waves, the ship is blocking the waves, so it's a great place if you want to get in the water or have kids who want to swim in the ocean. You can get a lounger in the sun or there are plenty of palm trees that offer shade. We did not want to stare at the ship all day so we wandered over the Margaritaville.

 

Mville has an awesome pool. Music was a little louder and rowdier up by the bar/table and chairs. They played great music. We opted to go to the far side of the pool and snagged two chairs under an umbrella. Again getting there early pays off coz you get first choice of where you want to sit.

 

Drinks were $10 each including tip and gratuity, which is what they were in Grand Cayman, I think it's a pretty standard price. Wait staff was great, swim up bar was fun. Overall very pleased, it was not near as rowdy or loud as I thought it was going to be (granted we were the only ship in port that day).

 

After a couple of hours of lounging I opted to go shopping in the port facility, standard stores, all the jewelry stores, Mville store, Ron Jons, Piranha Joes.

 

While wandering around I found a hut that offered massages, it ended

up being on the right side of the pier that did not look all that inviting. The sign said $20 for 15 minutes. I sat and waited for availability and quickly realized this side of the pier was a slice of paradise! It was quiet and with the big waves hitting the beach, it had that magical sound.

 

I quickly went and got DH and told him we were changing venues and he would not be disappointed. We packed up and quickly hoofed back to the other side as I didn't want to lose my spot in the massage line. We turned our chairs to the left and had a most incredible view of the ocean past the brown pier.

 

There was a bar close by, but no wait staff on the beach. In hind sight, if we go to Grand Turk again, we will head to that side of the pier first, it was wonderful! We took a walk and sat on the beach and the waves came tumbling in on us, which was fun, but wow the sand got into our swim suits and would not come out without a scrubbing in the shower on the ship! We got most of it off in the shower on the beach, but there was plenty left to take back to the room, Daniel will earn his money tonight!

 

Joanne from Canada did my massage. I told her I had neck issues and

wanted a deep tissue massage, oh my she did not disappoint. I asked

about getting one longer than 15 minutes and she suggested we start with 15 and see how I felt at the end of that. She immediately found all the knots in my upper shoulders and neck and started working them out. I think we both realized I would need longer than 20 minutes. I have a very good massage therapist at home, but seriously Joanne rocked! If you want a massage get it here, I would just ask for Joanne.

 

I will say it was not very quiet, she is a talker and unfortunately the lady before me hung around and kept talking to Joanne about all her homes through my massage which I thought was rude and wanted to say SHHHH, but I've learned in life you win some and lose some, even with all the chit chatting going on around me it was still the best massage ever and worth the $40 she charged plus the tip I left!

 

The ship also kept the lido deck lunch buffet open until 3:30 that day, you had to be back on board at 2:30, I thought that was nice of them. So we did not eat at Mville, ate a big breakfast and then got lunch on the Lido Deck and brought it back to our room to enjoy it in quiet, the Ldeck was pretty hectic at that time.

 

Like I said, Grand Turk has something to offer everyone and we

absolutely loved it! We enjoyed Mville pool, but would probably hang out at the secluded beach on the right if we were to ever go back. The ocean on that side was just so beautiful and we love the sound of the waves.

[canadarocks]

Thank you for the excellent review! :cool:

[RumpunchGirl]

thanks for the awsome review!

[funkygirl2]

Thanks for the great review!!! Can't wait for our turn!!!

[tippytail1]

How early does the pool @ Margaritaville open? Can you go straight there when you get off the ship? We have two little ones (4 1/2 & 2) so we would want to go early, get a spot, swim for a bit, do some shopping and head back to the ship.

[pacarolinagirl]

Thanks for your review. I can't wait to get there. We rented golf carts to tour the island...I wanna see it all. LOL! :D

[stampinrobin]

How early does the pool @ Margaritaville open? Can you go straight there when you get off the ship? We have two little ones (4 1/2 & 2) so we would want to go early, get a spot, swim for a bit, do some shopping and head back to the ship.

 

 

I'm sorry I don't remember what time we got off the ship, but it was early and we were one of the first ones at the pool, which was nice, had first choice of chairs. So I would say the pool is open when the ship docks.

 

If you go to the far side of the pool, towards the left (looking at the pool from the ship) it will be the area of the pool that slopes into the water, great place for small kids to play.

 

Have fun!