From Grand Turk

02/24/10

Grand Turk….a very, very small island with no product but a startup tourist industry. The beaches are bright white and clean sand. The water is clear and two toned. From the shore out a few hundred yards, the water is turquoise and then immediately changes to a deep royal blue. Our guide told us that the turquoise water is up to 35’ deep and then drops straight down to 1000’ or more! The color change is not gradual! The islands main claim to fame is that John Glenn’s Mercury 7 space ship land a mile offshore after his three orbits in 1962.

The area right at the end of the pier has brand new shops, many of the usual places that we see on all of the islands. The big attraction is Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, and it was hopping. There was a Carnival Cruise ship in port and that is the party boat line. The passengers are much younger and more active.

We took a tour and it was a trip. It had a late start, at 2:50pm. We were scheduled to be back at 5:30; the all-aboard time. Princess sold the excursion as being in an air conditioned bus. It was air conditioned all right. There were three windows on each side, each one 3’x3’. On each side, the middle window had been removed. There were no vents along the bus as is usual in an air conditioned vehicle. Below the dash were a set of jumper cables, a gallon of antifreeze and a fire extinguisher. But, the tour started out well, the driver gave good information and the museum of a ship wreck was interesting. But when we left the museum, there was a thumping noise from the right rear of the bus. It was clear that there was a flat tire, but it took the driver quite a while to catch on. He finally stopped for a look and called for a replacement bus to meet us at our last stop, a lighthouse. Thankfully, the bus had dual rear tires and made it to the lighthouse. At one time, the lighthouse was bright white; we saw postcards showing it that way. Today, it was in disrepair, rust running down its sides in little rivers. Still, the tour continued on in the second bus. The tour originally was going to have 20 passengers, but only 18 showed up. Good thing; the second bus only had 18 seats. The good news is that though the second bus engine kept dying, we were back at the ship early. Whew!!!!

Tomorrow, Thursday, is our last day on board the ship and is an ‘at sea’ day. We’ll spend the day packing, filling out the questionnaires that Princess wants, organizing photos and so on. Friday is a travel day and we get home at 5:30pm, Pacific Time. We will send a ‘got home safely’ blog posting on Saturday. We have had a great time and hope all is well with all of you.

Colleen and John