Carnival Miracle 1/24/2009 Part 8featured
We docked in Grand Turk early, so we were already docked when Stephanie and I woke up around 8:30. We were all really interested in the island and how much we liked it. Since we were booked on the Miracle in May and Grand Turk was going to be the only “new” island we visited. Since Grand Turk replaced St. Lucia, Mom was unsure if she’d want to go on the May cruise. She wanted to go somewhere new (which is kind of difficult with how many cruises we’ve been on. I think the only Caribbean ports we haven’t been to are very far south and require flying into Puerto Rico, we haven’t been to Jamaica by choice, the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, and a few ports in Mexico) and we weren’t sure if we’d like Grand Turk enough to keep our cruise. I really wanted Stephanie and Mom to like it because in May, we have the two largest non-aft balconies on the ship booked and I like my balconies.
Before breakfast, Stephanie and I headed down to the promenade to take a look at the island. Grand Turk is a small island- six miles by one mile- so you can see the far end from where we were docked. The water was clear and gorgeous turquoise (not that I’d swim in it, but it’s pretty to look at). I liked it already!
We had a quick breakfast on the Lido deck before heading out to explore Grand Turk. As far as I knew, there wasn’t much to do in Grand Turk. There was shopping, there was a beach, and there was Margaritaville. There was a pool at Margaritaville that was free of cost to use, a large beach area (that I didn’t plan on using because I’m not a big beach fan unless they’re at luxury resorts and we had a perfectly nice Lido deck for sunning and swimming), and a few excursions that didn’t interest us. So we just kind of planned to look around, get some drinks at Margaritaville, shop a bit, and then head back to the ship early because we were set to depart at 4:00.
My first impression of Grand Turk was that it reminded me a lot of the pier area in Costa Maya (pre-hurricane…we haven’t been back since 2005) and we *loved* Costa Maya. I don’t know what Grand Turk looked like before the hurricane hit last fall, but Carnival apparently dumped a lot of money into fixing it up quick and they did a great job- I didn’t see anything that even hinted the island was decimated by a hurricane. The port area isn’t too large. There’s a dozen or so stores, a Froots smoothie and sandwich place (we have one near our house- it’s very yum and very healthy), and Margaritaville. The beach is right there and as far as we knew it was free (or so our dinner friends said). There are vendors renting golf carts and offering massages on or near the beach. It’s a very contained area and it seemed very nice. All of this was outside a large store with souvenirs, alcohol, cigars and other travel fare that you had to pass through to enter or exit the pier area.
We walked around for quite a bit and explored a few shops before heading to Margaritaville for drinks and a light lunch. Margaritaville is where the pool is located. The pool is very large and there’s a swim up bar. I had my swim suit on, but we opted for a table instead.
We all split a platter of nachos (which weren’t very big for the price they were charging, but were very tasty) and Stephanie and I got some insanely strong drinks, but I don’t remember what they were. Both were served with an equally insanely strong sidecar of straight rum (or tequila…I really couldn’t tell because I shot it down).
I’m glad I had some of those greasy nachos in my stomach before imbibing that drink or else I might not have been able to walk back to the ship. We sat for awhile before we saw our drink friends at the bar and waved them over. We sat chatting with them for awhile before Stephanie decided she wanted to go take shots at the bar. So they stayed and chatted with Mom and Stephanie and I went over to the bar. We told the bartender to make us something fruity and so he made us (I think) Sex on the Beach shots. But they were medicine cup shots! We got six of them (I think) for around $8, but I would have preferred a single shot or two.
Our dinner friends left to do some shopping so we went back to Mom and grandma, paid our cheque and went off to the Margaritaville shop. The shop was packed and had the same kind of stuff that Senor Frogs sells. Stephanie and I got T-shirts. We did a bit more shopping on the island and checked out the beach before heading back to the boat.
The Crown Princess was docking next to us and they closed the exit of the store we had to go through to get to the ship until the ship was docked. We saw our other dinner friends, and they told us that no one except authorized personnel can be on the pier when a ship is docking because years ago, somehow a boy was either decapitated or thrust into the water by one of the ties that holds the ship anchored to the pier and he died (they were on the ship at the time). It took a good 20 minutes before they’d let us go back to the ship.
We went back to the rooms to drop off our bags. Mom and Grandma decided to cool off a bit and rest, and Stephanie and I went up to deck 10 to take some pictures of the island and walk around.
We headed back to the room around 3:30, which was supposed to be the “back on board” time for our 4:00 pm departure. The past-guest party was at 4:00 for early-seating guests and 5:15 for late-seating dinner guests, and we had a 6:30 reservation at Nick and Nora’s, so Stephanie and I needed to get showered, get changed, and get ready. We decided to go to the later party because our dinner was later and we didn’t want to rush to get ready. I’m glad they split it up into two parties because it wasn’t overly crowded when we got into the Phantom lounge. It was pretty full, but it wasn’t crazy crowded. When we got there, we noticed we were still docked, an hour and a half later than we were supposed to be.
The party was very nice. There was a great drink server who I made sure we never had empty drinks, and we were glad to see Sara, our dinner server, handing out light appetizers since we wouldn’t be at dinner tonight to see her. There seemed to be the same selection of drinks and appetizers as the Captain’s party (they even had a fruit punch mocktail for grandma!), and we all enjoyed them as we watched a short film about the history of Carnival and all of the ships. It was a really nice party.
After the party, grandma started getting really sleepy. We really wanted her to come with us to enjoy the supper club, but she hadn’t napped all day and she was used to napping every day at this time, so we took her back to her room before heading up to Nick and Nora’s. We were a bit early, so we enjoyed the sunset outside (we were still docked…as we understood it, there were medical emergencies on both our ship and the Princess ship, so they took the most critical person by ambulance, took them to the hospital, came back and took the other. We didn’t actually leave until well after 7:00).
We checked into Nick and Nora’s about 20 minutes early, but were seated right away. We had been on Nick and Nora’s our first time on the Miracle and loved it, but when we went to David’s on the Pride, the service was subpar and we hadn’t gone to any other supper clubs since (except the ones on our Princess cruise). Since we had OBC from missing St. Lucia, we figured we’d go for a nice dinner.
Our servers were very pleasant and quite attentive. They explained everything to us and made suggestions when we asked. We were started off with an Amuse Bouche, or a little taste courtesy of the chef. Mom and Stephanie both got vegetarian ones, and I got stuck with some duck thing with fois gras. I don’t eat duck and I can’t stand to even look at geese, let alone contemplate eating one.
Our servers offered us a choice of different breads and put a tray of butter and spreads (they were kind of like tapenades) on the table. I wish they still had the three different butters instead.
I started with Beef Carpaccio and it was absolutely delicious. I’ve never had it before, but I’d definitely order it again. It was soft and flavorful, but a bit heavy. I had the spinach salad for my salad course and it was much better than the spinach salad I had in the MDR. After the atrocity that was the “filet” served the other night, I was looking forward to a good filet mignon and I was not disappointed. I asked for some bearnaise sauce on the side, but I barely touched it. The filet was SO soft and tender and flavorful. It was on par with the steaks I’ve eaten at Wildfire, maybe even better. I had the wasabi mashed potatoes as my side and if I could eat one thing every day for the rest of my life, it would be this. Creamy and smooth with a hint of the wasabi tanginess. Stephanie had the Baked Onion soup, a garden salad and the filet. She’s not much of a meat eater, but she really liked the filet as well. Mom had the shrimp cocktail and a caesar salad (and they were MUCH better than the ones she was eating in the MDR every night) and the Surf and Turf, which she thought was very good. My only gripe with the meal was that they kind of plop the sides on the side of the plate. I’d have preferred a smaller plate of mashed potatoes. It just doesn’t seem right with a restaurant of that quality that they just come around with a bowl of a side item and plop it down towards the side. It ruins the aesthetic quality of the dishes.
Beef Carpaccio
Spinach Salad
Filet Mignon (as it SHOULD be)
The same filet with the Yukon Gold Mash with Wasabi Horseradish.
For dessert, Stephanie had the cheesecake, which she thought was very good. Mom and I both had the chocolate dessert platter. It was SO much bigger than it used to be. I don’t know what everything was, but it was SO good and so much better than I remembered it. I couldn’t even finish it. I was so full and it was so rich and decadent.
Citrus Cheesecake with Hazelnut Biscut
Chocolate Tarte with Bitter Chocolate Pate
At the end of the meal, they used to bring out a plate of gourmandises and truffles, but we didn’t get anything but the checque, so I don’t know if our server forgot or if it was cut. We wouldn’t have had room for it anyways.
I was exhausted and the Mexican buffet and deck party was later tonight, so I wanted to take a nap. Grandma was still very tired so Stephanie and I went upstairs to make her a plate to bring back to the room for her to eat before watching some TV and resting. There was a juggling and comedy show in the Phantom, but we just wanted to rest so we skipped it. I hear it was very good. Our room steward left us another towel dude tonight with our capers.
The deck party started at 9:00, and the buffet started around 11:15, but I think we headed up at midnight. I think the entire ship showed up…it was packed! This was our first cruise without the Grand Gala buffet, but we thought the food here was much better anyways (they started the Mexican buffet a few years ago, but this one was the best yet). There was a grand dessert display with all kinds of carvings and a hot food line with all kinds of good stuff (nachos, tacos, empanadas, etc). My favorite was the fresh churros.
After we ate and listened to the music a bit, we walked around the ship a bit, trying to take in everything. We only had one day at sea left and then we’d be leaving the boat, and I was feeling like I couldn’t get enough of everything. Stephanie really wasn’t feeling well. The dry cough turned into a wet cough and that turned into a head and chest cold, so we headed back to the room and went to bed. At least she had tomorrow to sleep in.
Up next: Our last day at sea 🙁
