Grand Turk post Ike

[seaisme]

Have asked some friends on Grand Turk who own an Inn there how we cruisers might be able to help the island recover post hurricane Ike and they have suggested helping out with school supplies. I have already started a drive for our January cruise that stops at Grand Turk. The schools are in need of all supplies; paper, pencils, crayons, books, inexpensive calculators, etc. For those with school-age children cruising, it's a nice way to get your children (and even their classmates) invloved.

 

So future cruisers, if you are looking for something to help out our neighbors while you are enjoying a relaxing, wonderful cruise...why not load some school supplies into a suitcase? You can use the space for your return for all those trinkets, T-shirts, booze, etc. you purchase!

[casavaha]

What about customs at Grand Turk? Who do we contact when we arrive?

[Snorkel2Much]

What about customs at Grand Turk? Who do we contact when we arrive?

There is a not so pleasant tale here on CC of a recent attempt by a cruiser to do a similar act of kindness in Merida, Mexico. Customs officials got involved late in the game (apparently looking for a bite) and the story ended rather badly.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There is a not so pleasant tale here on CC of a recent attempt by a cruiser to do a similar act of kindness in Merida, Mexico. Customs officials got involved late in the game (apparently looking for a bite) and the story ended rather badly.

 

I missed that -- do you have a link to that thread?

[Snorkel2Much]

I missed that -- do you have a link to that thread?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=16180477&postcount=9

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link.

I know of others that have taken supplies to various ports -- Roatan, Belize -- but I wonder why Progresso was so stubborn??

[Hugh0906]

I would not let the experience of one cruiser dissuade me from taking goods into a country. It was bizarre that is for sure.

 

We travel in Mexico for years. On almost any travel board you will see threads about providing supplies to schools, orphanages, and even animal clinics for spay and neuter.

 

I might not advertise it at the dock but I'd do it at will.

 

Hugh in Dallas

[Snook]

I think most every country in the world has some regulation or procedure that allows the entry of goods for educational, religious, or emergency aid purposes. In Grand Turk I would imagine that goods are arriving everyday to aid in the recovery. People or organizations who would like to enter such goods would probably need some kind of list or general description of the items on a pro forma invoice or packing list, present that to the Customs Officers and there should be no problem. Perhaps Seaisme's friends who run the inn could pave the way for them so Customs would not hold up the goods (I can't imagine that they would hold up these items). I have no answer for Mexican Customs in this case. Maybe they were just having a bad day or just wanted to hassle someone because, well, because they could.:mad:

[seaisme]

thanks for your comments. I will make certain we have no issues with Customs on Grand Turk.

[Snook]

As an afterthought, you may want to contact the agent below and asked him or her to help clear the items through Customs.

 

agent@grandturkcc.com

[Boytjie]

Westerdam at Grand Turk today:

 

[cruz chic]

Westerdam at Grand Turk today:

 

[ATTACH]93827[/ATTACH]

Thanks for the picture

[pilotdane]

You might want to just walk off the ship like any other tourist with the supplies in your bag. I have never been questioned or searched in any port so you will have to activley search out customs to claim them (which is just looking for trouble). And who in customs is going to question your kinky note paper and pencil fetish. :D

[DizzyDallasDi]

You might want to just walk off the ship like any other tourist with the supplies in your bag. I have never been questioned or searched in any port so you will have to activley search out customs to claim them (which is just looking for trouble). And who in customs is going to question your kinky note paper and pencil fetish. :D

 

:D LOL:D

 

Good suggestion!

[Boytjie]

On the Grand Turk Cruise Center website:

 

To provide further help to the people of Grand Turk Island, the United Way of Miami-Dade has agreed to set up a fund that will be earmarked specifically to Grand Turk. This will assist the residents of Grand Turk in rebuilding after this devastating storm.

 

A special website has been established by United Way to collect monetary donations for Grand Turk Island. Any dollar amount you may wish to donate will be of tremendous assistance and greatly appreciated by those in dire need at this time.

The link to make a donation is:

https://www.unitedwaymiami.org/grandturk.asp

[cusyl]

*Important: Generosity of Cruise Critic Members

Hi Folks:

 

We've been so proud of our Cruise Critic members who unselfishly pack goodies, supplies and yes...even send money...to organizations located in various ports of call around the world.

 

Judging by the number of e-mails I have received over the past few months, many of you are concerned regarding the validity of some of these organizations -- and also with the fact that many are now posting on the forums in order to obtain donations. Additionally, there is an undercurrent of competitiveness with regard to these agencies, which many of you are displeased with.

 

Therefore, since Cruise Critic has no control over the validity of the information we will no longer allow organizations to "ask" our members for donations through the forums. Additionally, the discussion of donations or members collecting donations to bring along on their cruises is not allowed.

 

All posts regarding donations will be removed from the boards, thus allowing our members to continuing discussing visiting these ports, and finding interesting and fun shore excursion information.

__________________

Laura

[cusyl]

:D "20 October 2008, Manaus.

Posted: 21 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

We had the pilot exchange shortly after midnight and then we sped up again for a timely arrival in Manaus. Sailing this part of the Amazon was a little bit easier. The river has less shallow patches and as long as the pilot stayed with the ship there were most of the current flows; we knew that we were in deep water. Again we had the peculiar situation that for about an hour we sailed over land, as in one particular turn the river is churning way the land on the south bank and adding land on the north shore. Thus the river is slowly moving to the south and the hydrographical services of Brazil have not been able to keep up with it. However we made good speed and I could keep my promise to the guests, we were docked one hour ahead of schedule.

The town of Manaus is not located on the Amazon but on the Rio Negro or Black River. About 8 miles south of Manaus the two rivers meet and the boundary is very clearly defined between the two rivers. The brown muddy waters of the Amazon clearly contrast with the black water of the Rio Negro. The latter river gets its water from a different hinterland than the Amazon and that results in a different sort of soil being carried and the acidity of the water. Especially the Rio Negro is on the negative side of being “fresh” which has as an advantage that mosquitoes really do not like that water and that makes a stay in Manaus a lot easier.

Manaus is blessed with some sort of Cruise terminal. Mainly in use by the hundreds of little ferry boats that provide a vital communication network between the many hamlets along the river. As a matter of fact these boats are virtually the only way of communication between the various communities. There are very few roads in the jungle and even fewer airports. These boats come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but for an outsider it is quite funny to see that the regular commuters on these boats hook up their own hammocks on the deck and spend the night that way, while the ferry moves on to its destination. I suppose with the wind flow created by the moving boat it is a cheap way of having air-conditioning. Some of the larger boats do have cabins but never that many.

The Manaus Cruise terminal. The ramp that leads to the pontoon dock can be clearly seen.

When a cruise ship arrives in Manaus, the authorities clear one side of the dock and that is were we come alongside. This dock is a floating pontoon that goes up and down with the water height of the river and has the advantage that the docking height for the ships is always the same. When docking I was requested by the pilot to go gently, very gently, alongside with the ship as the dock really was not meant to be used by ships the size of the Veendam. The passenger terminal part of the dock consists out of two shops (Stern and Sauer, well-known jewelers) with a canopy covering both which also acts as a gate. Thus I lined up the gangway right in between and there we were, right in the middle of Manaus.

From the ship you can see a few of the old buildings from the Rubber boom days. Near the bow is a yellow building that looks like and Austrian City Hall but it is the Kaiser Beer brewery. Just outside the dock gate is a very ornamental building and that is the old Custom and Excise building and Harbormasters office. During the years of the Rubber Boom, a lot of money must have come through to have made it possible for the Customs and Excise to build such an elaborate building. Piece de Resistance is of course the Opera house. I visited the Opera for a performance during my 2006 Veendam cruise to the Amazon and I still find it a time warp to see, what is basically a 19th century European style Opera House, here in Manaus, right in the middle of Brazil and the jungle.

We have tours going all day of course and also during the night. From Manaus little ferries take the guests into the smaller side rivers and there they transfer to even smaller boats to go into the jungle. Also an evening at the Opera House is always very popular with guests. Needless to say that the crew is having a ball as well. Shopping is very good over here, especially if you venture a little bit away from the main streets. A most peculiar thing that I just heard, while writing this blog, was the fact that the locals have starting to refuse dollars. It seems that the dollar is not that strong anymore and local currency or Euros’ is preferred. As you can see, the turbulence of the money markets has also reached Manaus.

We have an overnight stay here and most of my officers and crew are going either out for the evening or tomorrow during the day. The weather is supposed to be overcast, which is great as it keeps the temperature down a bit.

19 October 2008, Boca de Valeria.

Posted: 20 Oct 2008 03:59 PM CDT

From Santarem to Boca de Valeria it is 140 miles on the river but with 3 knots against us that is closer to 170 miles for the distance that the ships engines have to produce power for. Thus after leaving Santarem we cranked the Veendam up to warp speed as I wanted to arrive a little bit ahead of schedule. Boca is an Indian village with a tidal plane in front of it and that can result in some interesting logistical problems when you arrive.

The main problem is the tender dock, especially whether it is there or not and if it is there, whether it is fit to receive our size tenders. During my last visit in 2006 they had built something for us, but we needed to jerry rig mooring lines and shore anchors in order to get the tenders alongside. The contraption they had then was mainly fit for small local boats and rather rickety. During the rainy season, the Amazon reaches all the way into the village and during the dry season, you have to walk up to 10 minutes to get to the village. Thus any jetty or pier is simply flushed away with the rising water. Thus nothing very permanent is ever constructed.

Because of that I wanted to be early to make sure that we had time to build, or spruce up, the tender place before I let our eager Amazon Explorers loose ashore. The chief officer had sailors on standby with ropes and anchors and the Facility Manager was lined up with carpenters and upholsterers. So we were ready for everything. So great was our relief to see a nice floating pontoon. A pontoon that was strong enough to handle a cruise ship tender. Thus we only needed to bring a bit of carpet ashore to reduce the slipperiness and all was well.

The most advanced Tender Pier yet seen in Boca de Valeria

We were treated to a great show all day from dolphins playing around the ship. These are small dolphins and look a bit like Beluga’s but they are not white but pink. The skin color is caused by the sediment in the water. The soil around Boca de Valeria is bauxite based and that is pinkish in color. As these dolphins live in this area all year around, their bodies get saturated with the color and they end up being pinkish. Occasionally they get excited when a tender comes by and then they jump out of the water and then they just look like flying pigs. Hence my remark in yesterday’s blog.

Pink Dolphins in the bay of Boca de Valeria

Apart from our guests going ashore to enjoy the interaction with the local Indians of the town, the ship was also involved in some benevolent activities. Guests and crew alike had been collecting clothing, children’s’ materials and all sorts of other stuff for the local school and that now all went ashore. A gentleman went ashore with a bag full of soccer balls and the Cruise Critic group on board had accumulated sufficient stuff to have a whole tender full to take over. Also the veendam crew, spearheaded by my Security Officer John Cabalde were good for several boxes of goodies for the locals. You can see that the now regular visits of the cruise ships are doing well for the local economy. Currently a new church of stone is being constructed and also the local school had been much improved. They only thing I did not like was the fact that the local chief welcomed my guests while wearing a Seven Seas T shirt and a Princess name tag, so I told the chief officer to rectify that at once"

[RuthC]

I just read this on Capt Albert's blog on the Veendam

"20 October 2008, Manaus.

What does this have to do with Grand Turk, post hurricane Ike? :confused:

[Boytjie]

:D

What does this have to do with Grand Turk, post hurricane Ike? :confused:

 

Ike blew Grand Turk all the way to Panama.

[RuthC]

:D

 

Ike blew Grand Turk all the way to Panama.

But when did Panama move to Brazil? And did it have to get a visa?

Did it get the 5-year visa, or just the single-entry one?

And could Ike piggy-back on Panama's visa, or did it have to get one of it's own?

All these questions and no answers! ;)

[cusyl]

Have asked some friends on Grand Turk who own an Inn there how we cruisers might be able to help the island recover post hurricane Ike and they have suggested helping out with school supplies. I have already started a drive for our January cruise that stops at Grand Turk. The schools are in need of all supplies; paper, pencils, crayons, books, inexpensive calculators, etc. For those with school-age children cruising, it's a nice way to get your children (and even their classmates) invloved.

 

So future cruisers, if you are looking for something to help out our neighbors while you are enjoying a relaxing, wonderful cruise...why not load some school supplies into a suitcase? You can use the space for your return for all those trinkets, T-shirts, booze, etc. you purchase!

This is the post that I was responding to from the original poster.

 

Also, just this portion of his blog should have posted: " Guests and crew alike had been collecting clothing, children’s’ materials and all sorts of other stuff for the local school and that now all went ashore. A gentleman went ashore with a bag full of soccer balls and the Cruise Critic group on board had accumulated sufficient stuff to have a whole tender full to take over. Also the veendam crew, spearheaded by my Security Officer John Cabalde were good for several boxes of goodies for the locals"

[Travalerie]

I got this email from HAL a hour ago:

 

October 21, 2008

 

Dear Guest,

 

Due to operational reasons, the A Taste of Grand Turk from Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos will no longer be available for your upcoming call. Therefore, we have cancelled you pre-bookings and refunded the credit card used for the purchase in full. To view other tour options please log into your booking page at http://www.hollandamerica.com.

 

If you need assistance with your excursions, please contact Customer Support at 1-888-425-9376 Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00am and 6:00pm Pacific Time.

 

We apologize for any disappointment this may cause and look forward to welcoming you onboard.

 

Best regards,

 

Shore Excursion Department

Holland America Line

 

[tomorrowtamer]

I recently received this email from HAL cancelling my SNUBA shore excursion for the January 4, 2009 Westerdam cruise. I was able to book the Reef Snorkel and Stingray Safari.

 

Dear Guest,

 

Due to operational reasons, the Grand Turk Snuba Adventure excursion will no longer be available for your upcoming call to Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos. We have refunded your prepaid booking to the credit card used for purchase. As an alternative excursion, we recommend Discover Scuba. Please visit www.hollandamerica.com for tour description and pricing.

 

If you need assistance with rebooking, please contact our Customer Support staff at 1-888-425-9376 between 6:00am and 6:00pm Monday-Friday Pacific Time.

 

Best regards,

 

Shore Excursion Department

Holland America Line