Other Things You'll Want to Know - November 2, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• The reopening of Carnival's Grand Turk Cruise Center
• A medevac from Caribbean Princess

Details appeared in the November 2 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Carnival Ecstasy was the first ship to return to Grand Turk

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

The Caribbean Is More Open for Business

Carnival has been working to get the message out that there was little storm damage in most of the Caribbean. But today, Carnival said they now have specific plans when they will return to islands where there was severe damage.

Details appeared in the October 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Recovery Continues

Carnival Cruise Line released more revised itineraries today for their eastern Caribbean sailings that were to call on ports heavily damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Just as Carnival has been broadcasting, there are plenty of alternatives available. These sailing dates run into late December.

CND subscribers also read about Carnival's San Juan sailings, as well as other line's plans to return to San Juan and the condition of the Grand Turk Cruise Center. The complete story appeared in the October 6 edition of Cruise News Daily

Cruise News Daily Headlines for May 28, 2014

* The Kitchen Drawer
Almost everyone has a drawer in their kitchen that is the collecting place for all those things which have no other home - a couple of tools you want to keep handy, the odd kitchen utensils that don’t fit into the compartments in the silverware drawer, glue, batteries, odd screws and that key that for some reason stopped working are among the other important things that are just what you need, when the need arises. If you open the draw and just browse through, you’ll make unexpected and exciting finds. It’s always interesting.
   The same is true at Princess Cruises. Each year when they announce the next year’s itineraries, they come out area by area, and then there are a lot of programs that don’t fit into the categories with everything else. They are to such far-flung destinations, and some only have a few sailings a year, Princess created their own category for them - “Exotics.” Like the kitchen drawer, if you start looking through it you will find something fascinating, and maybe something that you just can’t live without.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about Queen Elizabeth - the first one ... rumors aren't always true ... and celebrating Italy Italian style.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Cruise News Daily Headlines for November 25, 2013

* More Tiers of Joy
Celebrity Cruises will expand the rewards in their Captain’s Club loyalty program with sailings beginning tomorrow.

The line has added two more reward levels to their program, meaning they have 50% more, and they’ve added some ways to achieve them faster.

* GT Government to Deal with Beach Vendors
Apparently there’s trouble in paradise. Beach vendors on Grand Turk have discovered they can just keep walking and selling - or offering to sell - their wares right across an invisible line that takes them from the public beach right into the private resort area owned by Carnival Corp at the Grand Turk Cruise Center - and there’s no one in authority there to shoo them away. Carnival had an interesting way of dealing with it, however.

* Let the Dancing Continue!
Holland America Line said today that they would continue their “Dancing with the Stars: At Sea” program throughout 2014.  More

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

A Whale of a Sculpture

Visitors to Carnival Corps Grand Turk Cruise Center who go to the facility's 800-foot private beach are going to see something new that will give them pause: a giant sculpture of a pair of humpback whales breaching in the sand.

The massive 12-foot-high by 38-foot-long sculpture was created for Carnival by California-based Storyland Studios. Adjacent to the sculpture is signage that gives visitors facts about the whales and photos of them in the wild.

Grand Turk Cruise Center in a Hurricane

Updated - August 24:



Hurricane Irene passed by Grand Turk this afternoon about 2pm. While the eye was still approximately 40 miles to the south, it’s estimated that the island was experiencing winds of about 90 mph. That closed the Grand Turk Cruise Center until further notice, but they left their webcam on. The photo above was snapped at 2:14pm when the storm should have been at its height. Amazingly the communication link remained up until 3:44pm.

Update - August 24 - 9pm



The back edge of the storm passed by early Wednesday afternoon, and the webcam came back up Wednesday evening. As you can see, in the photo above, taken at 7:05pm, there is no visible damage to the facility. Carnival says the Cruise Center should be open in time for the next scheduled operation, Carnival Miracle, which arrives on Monday morning.

Carnival to Open New Facility on Grand Turk

Carnival Corp began construction of a new Welcome Center in Cockburn Town on Grand Turk to complement the Grand Turk Cruise Center which they opened in 2006 and is responsible for bringing nearly 640,000 passengers to the island annually.

The new Welcome Center is designed to draw people into town (from the Cruise Center). The complex, located at the southeast corner of Front and Market streets, will include a tourist information office, restaurant/lounge, and shopping.

Shown in the artist's renderings below, its architectural style is patterned after the area's existing architecture.






The new complex is slated to open by the end of 2011.

Grand Turk Reopens

Carnival Destiny became the first cruise ship to visit Carnival Corp's Grand Turk Cruise Center today (October 8, 2008) after much of the island was damaged by Hurricane Ike on September 6 & 7 (2008).

The cruise center has been fully repaired, but much of the rest of the island is still rebuilding.

The island has recovered beyond just meeting basic human needs and has now moved into a phase where it is working toward economic recovery. Carnival Destiny's arrival plays a big role in that since the cruise center and companies linked directly to it are the largest private employer on the island.

Other ships previously scheduled to call at the island will now begin calling as scheduled. The first will be Crown Princess on October 10.

Details are in the October 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Alternate itineraries for Grand Turk-bound ships

Updated September 22

As previously reported, due to the damage sustained during Hurricane Ike, the Grand Turk Cruise Center will not be operational until October 8. The initial plan was to alter schedules on a week-by-week basis, but Carnival has settled on an ongoing schedule.

Carnival Miracle - sailing from New York on September 22, September 30 and October 8. Carnival will replace Grand Turk with Tortola. Note: Even though Grand Turk will be open on October 8, Carnival chose to replace Grand Turk on the October 8 sailing, but says they do not expect to repeat the substitution on any subsequent sailings.

Carnival Liberty - sailing on September 20. Carnival could not find an available alternate for Grand Turk, so the port call in San Juan will be extended to 6pm and the following day (which was scheduled for Grand Turk) will be spent at sea.

Previous changes:

Carnival Miracle - sailing from New York on September 14 - Replacing Grand Turk with Tortola: The new itinerary calls at San Juan (Wednesday, September 17), St. Thomas (Thursday, September 18) and Tortola (Friday, September 19). Miracle will return to New York on September 22.

Carnival Triumph - sailing from Miami on September 14 - Replacing Grand Turk with Nassau: The new itinerary calls at Half Moon Cay (Monday, September 15), St. Thomas (Wednesday, September 17), San Juan (Thursday, September 18), Nassau (Saturday, September 20). Triumph will return to Miami on September 21.

Updates will be added to this item as they are received from Carnival.

Grand Turk Updates

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.

Carnival's Own FlowRider Starts Flowing

Carnival's own FlowRider surfing simulator entered service today at the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

Catching one of the first waves was Carnival Cruise Lines' president, Gerry Cahill.

The attraction is located adjacent to Margaritaville just at the end of the center's pier. It is available as a shore excursion on all ships stopping at Grand Turk.

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