Hello everyone! I hope all of you are feeling great… despite most people getting sick. I hope everyone is staying safe out there!
Funny story here, because right after out trip to California, my dad decided to hop on a cruise! We had one night to arrive in Orlando, put out clothes in the wash, get a COVID test, and then start packing again to go to Fort Lauderdale. “Turn and burn,” is what my dad always says. The cruise we took was with Holland America Line and it was a vaccinated cruise. We also had to have tests, so that it would be safe for everyone on the cruise. Not only was everyone vaccinated, they were all negative for COVID, so that was really good!
Getting onboard the ship was easy and fast. We arrived early at around eleven in the morning. Holland America was actually very organized so we were impressed. Our room was ready, and it was nice because my dad booked a room with a balcony. It was nice to see the sunset and the sunrise from our room. We had to wear a mask indoors except for when we were eating, or when we were in our staterooms, of course. One thing that was really great was the muster station drill. This is an emergency drill that EVERY passenger has to go to. At the muster station, they tell you what to do if there’s an emergency, and this time all we had to do was scan our keycards! No long safety briefing with all the passengers! Yay!
My parents love to cruise with Holland America because they are very organized and very clean. They have staff to serve you at the buffet so people don’t have to touch any of the serving utensils. Most of the cruise passengers were aged at fifty plus, so there were very few families with young children and very few teens on the cruise. There was a kids club called Club HAL, and a place for teens to hang out called The Loft. Even though there were ten teenagers on board, I was the only one who showed up to the teen club every night, and I really enjoyed my time in there. The Host Youth Specialist had many fun activities for us to do!
The first day was a sea day. Basically just one entire day at sea. I spent that day at the shops, at The Loft, swimming at the pool, and really just exploring the ship. Cruising is so much fun because everything is in one place!
On the second day of the cruise, we went to Grand Turk, one of the islands in Turks and Caicos. It is a British Territory, and the island were a charming slice of paradise. Not very big at all. Two whole miles, you guys. TWO MILES! The islanders were all very welcoming, because we were actually the first cruise to stopped at Grand Turk since the pandemic started! There were some excursions arranged by our cruise line for a fee of course, but my dad chose to rent a Jeep for $100 at a local tour operator. This was actually my second time on the island, but I did not see the wild donkeys! You can watch the donkeys on my YouTube channel below!
One of the places we went to was the museum. It was only $10 per person to go in, and I saw exhibits that displayed diving equipment from back in the day because Turks and Caicos is a great diving spot! One of the shipwrecks near Grand Turk is thought to be Christopher Columbus’ ship, the Pinta. This is not confirmed, but it might be true!
Another exhibit was the little capsule that carried John Glenn! He was the first American to orbit around Earth on February 20th, 1962. He spent a few days in Grand Turk, hang out with the locals, learning how to walk again…
After driving around the island, (which took, like two hours), we returned to the port because the beach was there. There was a restaurant and swimming pools for us to enjoy. We swam in the pool and we swum in the warm ocean water. It was a very nice and beautiful sunny day! I brought my goggles with me so I kinda just tagged along with the other snorkeling people, even though I didn’t have the mouth tube thingy. I saw some little silver fish, little black fish, and little orange and silver fish. It was really fun snorkeling!
Why do my feet look weird 
I’m in love with this picture! 😍
We hung out at this beautiful beach with turquoise waters, soft white sand, and pretty emerald green palm trees up above for a while then we headed back to the ship. That’s the beauty of cruising. You explore the place for a while, then you can go back to ship. No need to worry about booking a hotel! (Plus there’s an all you can eat buffet EVERY DAY!)
I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Turks and Caicos, and stay tuned because I’m going to write about all of the other lovely stops on my cruise! Bye everyone! Don’t forget to watch my video! 👍🏽
totally awesome I am so pleased to se the world with you The beaches look amazing and warm !
Sounds like you just about had the ship all to yourself. lol
kinda! lol
Great pix. I didn’t know that about John Glenn hanging out there to recover from his trip in space. Yes I do remember watching it all on TV back in the day – 1962 – nearly 60 years ago – amazing (I also remember Yuri Gagarin who did it first in 1961). The cruise sounds great but its a shame the other teens on board weren’t more sociable. Enjoy!
Wow, I’m sure that would’ve been cool to watch to watch the news and see John Glenn! I’m glad you enjoyed my post! 😁
Oh, boy. I was on a huge ferry crossing the English Channel back in the early 2000s, and with just six-foot seas (2 meters) I spent the entire time trying not to ‘upchuck’ my breakfast. I was sick for the next two days after landing in Harwich! Last big boat trip for me, ever. 😏
More power to you if you can enjoy a cruise like some of my other friends.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
Oh wow, I’ve never really experienced sea sickness before, it sounds horrible! I like how the the boat steadily rocks back and forth! It’s quite nice at bedtime when the rhythm of the waves rocks you to sleep! ooooh, that was ✨poetic✨
😄 Yes, it is poetic. You are fortunate in that you ride in ships so young. At your age I was growing up in Kansas and the largest body of water was a 400 acre man made lake. Other than Wyandotte County Lake, everything else were just ponds.
Never saw the ocean until I was in college, and never boated until I moved to RI in the mid 1980s.
Congrats on getting your “sea legs” while you are young! 🙂
😊
Great video. Driving on the left is probably strange to you but normal for me. I spent many years living abroad – mainly in the Middle East – so can switch form left to right but I do have to really concentrate for the fist day or so before by brain readjusts. Driving on the left is one thing but driving on the left in a left-hand drive vehicle is a bit of a brain scrambler but it doesn’t look like it would be too much of a problem there as the roads seem almost deserted.
That’s interesting! I guess that’s part of driving, and learning to adapt is part of the challenge!
I’ve never cruised. I’ve always assumed (1) the second the ship left land I’d develop a desperate neeeeed to get off; (2) i’d get tossed overboard by someone.
Glad you had (or are having) fun! I’m laughing that you “snorkled” without the snorkle (the mouthpiece).
How did you fam get their $$? You live VERY well!!!
T&C are loved by everyone who visits! I haven’t had the pleasure.
Oh my gosh, I laughed way too hard-I also get the fear that someone will chuck me overboard… mostly my dad…
Snorkeling was fun! I honestly like it better without the mouthpiece, because then I can go underwater and examine the fish!
My dad saved all his money when he was younger, and now he runs a self-storage company up in northern New Brunswick!
Hope you get to go to Turks and Caicos one day! It really is beautiful!
When you use a snorkel, there’s a learning curve to not trying to breathe underwater then blowing out any water when you surface (air gets trapped in the snorkel so, if you keep it upright, very little water goes into the shaft and you can surface without having to blow out water.
Glad to know I’m not the only person with an overboard fear! I figure it would be an evil employee taking advantage of the fact that I’m alone and my disappearance could go unnoticed for a loooong time!
The cruise ships I see docked in Long Beach (Carnival line) have HUUUGE water slides on the top deck. The ships make the Queen Mary look teeny! The Princess and (??) ships in San Pedro are some of the largest I’ve ever seen. Their top-heavy design is a massive safety risk and another reason I don’t wish to cruise! But the small ships in EU, traversing fjords and such, look nice! But I’m sure they don’t have crazy amenities or 24hrs of buffets!
Hahahahahaha! 😆
That’s great that the cruise required vaccinations. I’m sure after all the bad hype they got from the Diamond Princess Cruise they knew they had to have rules for that. That beach looks incredible too! I would love to go diving there someday. Seems like a treasure trove!
Oh I love Grand Turk! I went there a few years ago with some friends and I’ve been aching to go back! Beautiful pictures of this beautiful island 🙂
Wonderful post, Ariel! What a fun cruise and lovely photos. Thanks for sharing. <3
Thank youuuuu! 😄