The World’s Longest Miracle Review, Part 7featured
We like our port days more than we like our sea days. Granted, there’s no afternoon tea, but if we aren’t booked on an excursion, we can sleep in because there’s no need to run to breakfast and then grab a chair near the pool. We can have a leisurely breakfast and then get off the boat whenever we’re ready. We can come back and have the pool (and most of the ship, for that matter) nearly to ourselves. In many ways, port days are more relaxing than sea days for us.
So after our late night last night, we needed to sleep in. When we woke up, we were already docked in Grand Turk and from the looks of it off our balcony, the beach was already full. But that’s alright- our plans didn’t include the beach. Since we were here four months ago, we had a good grasp of what the island offered and what we wanted to do. We wanted to do a bit of shopping (Mom and Stephanie wanted to buy a light jacket I bought at Ron Jon last January and Mom wanted to re-visit Indigo to buy some pearl jewelry) and then hit Margaritaville. We took our time getting dressed and ready and then went upstairs for breakfast at Horatio’s.
It was kind of ominous looking outside, but we were hoping for the best as we headed off the ship. We were docked next to the Caribbean Princess, which made the dock area VERY congested. When we were here in January, we had the island to ourselves for a few hours before the Crown Princess docked for the afternoon. Here’s the thing: Grand Turk is a TINY island- 6 miles by 1 mile. It’s smaller than many private islands that the cruise ships visit. If you don’t have a view from your balcony (or a balcony, for that matter), you can head up to the Lido deck and see the entire island, all four corners, so to speak. So if there’s more than one ship in port, especially ships of the size of the Miracle and Caribbean Princess, it’s just too crowded and the island really can’t handle it. The beaches looked overcrowded. It was hard to move around the stores because they were congested with people. If we wanted to swim at Margaritaville (we didn’t), we would have had to forget about it because it was too crowded (even with the dark, overcast skies). We would have had to get up early to accomplish anything on this island, and that would have defeated the purpose of coming here for us. Grand Turk really can’t handle two ships at the same time without seeming overcrowded.
Grand Turk has a gorgeous shopping area. Carnival has really done a great job here. I didn’t take as many pics this time because I took so many last time (you can see them in my last review). We started off in the cruise center, where you’ll find everything from alcohol and cigars to purses and shoes to cold medicine. I bought a new pair of Havaianas flip flops (they sell them for nearly $30 on the boat, but $16 in Grand Turk), but decided not to buy any of the alcohol here because the prices weren’t that spectacular.
We then headed to Ron Jon and we were really starting to feel the heat. It was oppressively hot and humid to the point where everyone was pouring sweat. That, coupled with the dark skies and wind, gave an ominous forecast for the day. After Ron Jon, we hit Piranha Joes, Indigo (Mom bought some gifts there and got a necklace for me and a pair of earrings for Stephanie) and a few other stores (including one called Rasta Pasta, just because Stephanie and I liked the name) before it started to rain.
The best part of this small island is that it was just a quick walk to our choice of shelter: Margaritaville.
When we were here in January, Margaritaville was nearly empty in the restaurant, comfortably full at the bar, and had plenty of chairs and room around the pool. Not so this time. Even with the rain, it was packed. So packed, in fact, that we were sat on the second floor- and it was pretty full up there, too. But not nearly as packed as the pool and bar were. They had plenty of games (some a bit raunchy) going on at the pool, but seeing it so crowded made us glad we made the right choice not to go swimming here. We were at a small table on the second floor, right near the bar.
The food at Margaritaville is overpriced and okay in taste, at best. We were mainly here for the drinks, but didn’t want to take up a table without ordering food, so we ordered some vegetarian quesadillas. Stephanie ordered a frozen drink (a Mango Daiquiri, I think, that came with a sidecar of Appleton Rum), but I couldn’t decide what I wanted so I ended up with the Incognito, a mixed drink. We were chatting and all the sudden, Stephanie, who was watching the bartender make drinks, said she hoped he wasn’t making my drink because whatever he was making was 98% liquor and 2% mixer. Yep. My drink. It was STRONG. I don’t know how I was walking after it, and I didn’t even finish it. Our quesadillas came out not long after the drinks, and they were okay. They certainly weren’t good enough to justify how much they cost given the portion we were given, but they tasted alright. But Margaritaville isn’t somewhere you go for good food. You come here for the drinks, and the drinks, albeit strong, were very good and rather reasonably priced.
The rain had cleared up a little after we had our snack and drinks, so we headed out to look around the pool and go shopping at the Margaritaville Outpost. I think we only grabbed t-shirts, but Stephanie keeps talking about a really cute salt and pepper shaker set that she really likes but never buys.
We decided to try to do a bit more shopping after Margaritaville, but not long after, it started lightly raining again and we decided to go back to the ship.
The rain was intermittent and was over by the time we got back to the ship, but we had already accomplished everything we wanted to. There isn’t much to do in Grand Turk. There’s shopping, there’s Margaritaville, there’s the Flow Rider (which is finally back up and running), there’s the beach (and massages they offer near the beach), and you can rent a golf cart and go “driving” around the island. We decided to go grab lunch with grandma and then go take a dip in the pool before it got crowded.
I took some pictures off our balcony while Stephanie was getting ready. It’s kind of cool how you can see the ocean on both sides of the island in one picture.
Lunch today was very good up on the Lido deck. They had a full turkey meal at the Rotisserie with freshly carved turkey to order, yams, stuffing, potatoes…the works! The Taste of Nations was French, and that was very good, too. They have these pull-apart brioche rolls that are SO good. And at chinese, they had more spring rolls, which were as good as always.
The ship was starting to get crowded again because our back onboard time was 2:30. I never understood why we had such an early departure time when our next port was not too far away. We went swimming for a bit because even though it was raining off and on, it was HOT and very humid. We didn’t stay in the pool for too long because we both wanted to shower before the past guest party.
The past guest part was held in the Phantom lounge at 4:45pm. When we entered, they were checking invitations, but we didn’t see anyone get turned away (which meant no one tried to take in a non-past guest or they didn’t say anything). They had different drinks at the past guest party, but also still had the usual fare of wine, champagne, Manhattan’s, etc. They also still had hors d’oerves, so that hasn’t been cut back. None of the ever-popular meatballs, but they had salmon and tuna croquettes, tomato and mozzarella on pumpernickel, prosciutto pate, and some others that I don’t remember. But they were many in variety and the servers came around quite frequently. We enjoyed the little video and seeing what ships everyone had been on. What we didn’t enjoy was CD Brent giving the exact same speech he did at the last one we were at in January. How did we remember it? We commented on how cheesy it was last time, and we commented on how cheesy it was this time.
The party extended for a half-hour or so after all of the videos and speeches ended, but we left early because we wanted to hit the Rio de Sangria in the lobby before dinner. On our way there, we found Funship Freddy’s office!
They offer the Rio de Sangria once per cruise. I’ve never seen it on any ship other than the Miracle, so I can’t verify it exists anywhere else. Sangria is $5.25/glass and is served from 5:00-8:15. They have many varieties and they mix up in front of you. I had Pineapple Sangria and it was just alright. It lacked any punch or real pineapple flavor and actually tasted a bit watery.
We took grandma back to the room for her nap after the past guest party and headed off to dinner. Now, tonight was the recently controversial filet mignon night. If you read my previous review, or any of my posts on Cruise Critic, I’ve been highly disappointed with what they’ve done with the filet. It’s a quarter of the size it used to be, and it’s a much cheaper cut of meat. I’m not even convinced it’s a true filet mignon. I was interested to see if what I would be served tonight would whether last January’s filet was an anomaly.
Mom started with the tomato/mozzarella appetizer and thought it was very good and fresh. She also had the fried shrimps starter, which was good and had larger shrimps than the shrimp cocktail. For dinner, she had the red snapper and did not like it at all. She said it was too fishy tasting and didn’t care for the texture. For dessert, she had the apple pie. Stephanie also started with the tomato/mozzarella appetizer and thought it was good, as well, with fresh mozzarella and ripe tomatoes. She also had the chicken noodle soup, which was also good (she’s a big fan of Carnival’s hot soups). For dinner, she had the turkey meal and thought it was fantastic and one of the best meals the ship serves. She skipped dessert tonight. I started with the chilled asparagus soup, which was excellent, but is more of an acquired taste, as the texture leaves something to be desired. I had the starter-sized portion of the penne with vodka sauce, which was as delicious as ever, but much smaller than usual. They also used to put caviar on top and now do not (I don’t care…caviar falls under the “won’t touch with a 10-foot pole” category). For dinner, I tried the filet mignon again and it was just as bad as it was last time. The “filet” was bigger than last time, but that’s not saying much. It was fatty and tough, despite being ordered medium. The short ribs it’s served atop were stringy, flavorless and, in my opinion, used to leverage the filet to look bigger than it actually is. Thankfully, Stephanie and I had decided to also order a veal parmigiana to taste because we’ve never tried it and always wanted to and that was pretty good. Not nearly as good as the italian I find on Taylor Street in Chicago, but good by cruise ship standards and certainly better than the “filet.” I had the raspberry cake for dessert, and it was a bit too heavy, but certainly delicious.
Asparagus Vichyssoise
Chicken Noodle Soup
Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes and Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
Penne, Tossed in a Tomato Cream with Vodka
Fried Shrimps
Oven Roasted Tom Turkey
Pan Fried Fillet of Red Snapper
Grilled Filet Mignon of the Finest Aged American Beef
Veal Parmigiana
Old Fashioned Apple Pie
Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake
Stephanie was waiting for me up in the room to show me the towel animal the room steward left us, and then we watched the sunset on the balcony before meeting Mom and grandma upstairs.
Stephanie grabbed dessert with grandma, and after she ate, we went back to the rooms to rest and watch some TV. Stephanie and I went to the 10:30 show of the ventriloquist show because we thought it would be the same one we saw in January (who was FANTASTIC), but it was a different one (Phil Hughes). The show was alright. It wasn’t all that funny and we left a little early. We went into the casino for a bit and then hung out in the atrium to wait for the deck party to start.
Now, tonight wasn’t the big Mexican buffet/deck party, but a Mardi Gras deck party. They’ve really been adding a lot of late-night activities. This one was held at the aft adults-only area, which was pretty small. I don’t know why they didn’t use the main pool area. They had limbo, dancing, contests and were throwing out beads. It was packed and we didn’t stay long, but we were glad to see Carnival is adding more late-night activities and deck parties. I wish they’d bring back Blue Margarita’s and Bathrobes!
We went for some hot dogs and pizza after the party and headed down to the room to watch some movies. Stephanie was eagerly anticipating our day at Half Moon Cay tomorrow. As much as I dislike beaches that aren’t at resorts, Stephanie LOVES everything beach and she wanted to go to bed “early” so we could get a good start tomorrow.
Up next: A Half Day at Half Moon Cay.
Today’s Lido Lunch Menus
Today’s Lido Dinner Menu
