Carnival's Cruise Centre in Grand Turk is now open to Cruise Passengers.
The Grand Turk cruise centre on Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, which has been closed since Hurricane Ike slammed the island in September, re-opened on Oct 8 with the arrival of the 2,642 passenger Carnival Destiny.
You can see from the image below, cruise passengersare once again enjoying the centre's huge pool and sunbathing on the 800 foot long private beach and dining at the on site Margaritaville restaurant and lounge.
Shops at the 13 acre site have also re-opened.
Shore excursions are available, including a tour of Gibbs Cay, an offshore snorkeling sot, dune buggy rentals, swimming with horses and fishing and snorkeling expeditions.
The island's former hop on-hop off bus tour is currently operating as a post-hurricane island tour. Guests are charged a nominal fee for the tour and are given a pledge card if they wish to donate to the United Way's Grand Turk huricane relief fund.
The $60 million Grand Turk Cruise Centre. operated by Carnival Corp, opened in 2006 and is the largest private employer on the island. Cruise centre staff, along with shore excursion operators, comprise approximately 80% of non-government jobs on Grand Turk.
The next ship calling at Grand Turk was Princess Cruises Crown Princess on the 10th October.
This is a cruise blog entry by Phil.
