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Grand Turk - CantWaitToCrz's Rating: 5+
This was our last stop. I am a huge Jimmy Buffett fan and love Margaritavilles. We planned to hang out at the Cruise Center beach and Margaritaville pool all day. We started at the beach and never left except to go get drinks and food at M-ville. The water was very warm. The day was very hot and sunny. The beach has nice chairs, we chose a few loungers under a shady palm. We were the only ship in port, so I didn't feel bad that we barely spent any time in the loungers. I sat in the shallow water most of the afternoon. My DH rented snorkel gear and he and DD saw a lot of interesting things right around the beach area. We were very surprised at the unique things he saw. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera with us, so I missed out on all the fish they saw.
Things you need to know - Grand Turk is much like the private islands. It's all the same people from the ship, now dumped onto a beach and pool on land. But if you ignore that part and enjoy your surroundings, it's great.
We were only in this port from 1 - 6:30. It wasn't enough time. I could have stayed at least a few more hours.
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St. Thomas - CantWaitToCrz's Rating: 5+
This was our 2nd visit to St. Thomas. We booked the Castaway Girl sail & snorkel. It was great. We met on the dock area, boarded a catamaran. The crew made it fun. We sailed to Buck Island, where there were 3 other boats also. The crew broke us into groups and took us on guided snorkel tours. We saw more on this than we would have on our own (this was about the 5th time I've snorkeled). The guide went down multiple times to either point out a fish or bring up some coral or something to show us. They had "noodles" available and my DD used one to assist with her floating. It made it easier to find her among the snorkelers and it made it a little easier for her to swim longer without getting as tired. We saw a lot of fish and one small sea turtle, plus the shipwreck. The rum punch on the ride back to the port was great too.
We chose to browse the little booths and shops at the port instead of riding to town. I didn't have any big shopping plans, so this was plenty for the few souvenirs we wanted. We ate lunch at one of the open air places on the pier. Had a good BBQ sandwich.
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San Juan - CantWaitToCrz's Rating: 3.0
We went on the Rain forest bus tour. My DD really wanted to see the rain forest. So it was perfect for us. The guide was knowledgeable and mostly understandable. Unfortunately it was a rainy/cloudy day so the views from the mountain were limited. I didn't care for the city, or Old San Juan. Although we did enjoy a nice dinner at Latin Roots (the pig in the window place). I didn't like the armed Coast Guard escorts we had as we came into port. It really makes you wonder what kind of place you are coming into. I prefer the smaller less city-like islands.
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King's Wharf - CantWaitToCrz's Rating: 5+
This was our 2nd trip to Bermuda. It's a beautiful island. Part of our group went on their own to play golf. Most expensive but beautiful course they'll ever play. The rest of us took the special bus to Horseshoe Bay beach. We waited in the long line by the ship to buy tokens. I wonder if it would have been faster to buy them at one of the shops. It was nice to have a bus take us right to the beach (no other stops). The beach was very busy, but plenty of room for all. We had lunch and snacks at the little snack shop. The restrooms had changing stalls, toilet stalls and shower stalls. It was helpful.
We loved this beach. The water was refreshing. We wandered around the rocks a bit. The kids loved the cave in the rocks. Part of our group took the bus up the hill for $2/each and some of us walked. We shopped around the Dockyard after taking the bus back. It was a Sunday so we had heard that the shops in Hamilton would probably be closed. We shopped then walked back to the ship. Very nice day.
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