Updated September 11, 245pm EDT
Carnival announced this afternoon that the Grand Turk Cruise Center will reopen on October 8, 2008 with the call of Carnival Destiny. All subsequent calls (Carnival and other brands) will operate as scheduled. Carnival reports they still have not completed alternate plans for their ships for the four weeks until Grand Turk reopens.
Details were included in the September 11 edition of Cruise News Daily.
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Additional information was included in the September 8 & 9 editions of Cruise News Daily.
Carnival's September 9 statement on damage to the Grant Turk Cruise Center:
Our assessment personnel who have returned from Grand Turk advise that there is no apparent damage to the cruise ship pier. The Grand Turk Cruise Center facility does have some roof damage as well as loss of landscaping. An accurate dollar figure for repairs cannot be determined at this time, pending a closer evaluation of the roof damage.
Damage to the island in general is substantial and it appears it is going to take some time for Grand Turk to recover. Based on the relatively limited damage to the cruise center, repairs could be completed fairly quickly. However, the pace of repair work and re-opening of the cruise center is largely dependent on overall recovery efforts on Grand Turk. More information should be available in the coming weeks.
For Carnival itineraries that included Grand Turk, the line is working on alternate ports and will advise impacted guests as those modifications are finalized.
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Carnival Cruise Lines' September 8 Statement on Grand Turk:
September 8 - 4:46pm
Initial reports from our assessment team that arrived in Grand Turk this morning indicate that damage to the island is substantial. It appears it is going to take some time for Grand Turk to recover. As a result, we are not able to provide an estimate for re-opening of the Grand Turk cruise facility at this time. Once overall reconstruction on the island gets underway, we can better evaluate the situation. We will pass along any additional details that may become available in the coming days specifically regarding the status of the Grand Turk Cruise Center.
For Carnival itineraries that included Grand Turk, the line is working on alternate ports and will advise impacted guests as those modifications are finalized.
