Cruising...

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Geo: 21.4272, -71.1467

The first day out of Miami was all at sea heading for Grand Turk Is, the capital of the British colony Turks and Caicos. Wi-fi is a bit scratchy in our room but satisfactory in the public areas. I'm able to download The Australian each day, which I enjoy reading.

The cruise is going exceptionally well. There's a large variety of countries and ages represented among the 750 passengers, and we've managed to strike up plenty of good conversations. There are several excursion options at each port. Robyn went horse riding in the surf and I went on a open bus tour on Grand Turk.

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Photos

Grand Turk
A pretty island whose 16th century origin was based on salt mining. They have two main claims to fame (and not much more). One, that this was where Chris Columbus first made landfall on his 1492 journey to the New Land - disputed by several other islands. Two, that John Glenn's space capsule splashed down in their waters in Feb 62. An event that signalled America's joining the space race at the height of the Cold War.

Horses
Robyn was joined on her ride by a Canadian couple that we are becoming friendly with.

Horse surfing
Robyn had two turns at riding in the ocean. Here they're exiting after riding in quite deep water.

Replica capsule
The island's highest point is only 130ft elevation and they've taken several batterings from hurricanes over the years. Eight of the 40 islands are inhabited - pop 45,000. Grand Turk is the capital with a pop of 5,000. Providenciale Is has the largest pop, along with a Club Med and more tourist infrastructure. The cruise ships come to Grand Turk because it has a suitable port.

Compass Rose dining room
Lovely surroundings and beautiful Versace crockery. You can order whatever you want and we're waiting to see if they can meet our Vegemite challenge. There's also three other specialty dining rooms for which bookings need to be made: French, Asian fusion and a Steak House. Lastly there's also a casual Italian restaurant, so there's plenty of variety on offer.

Lobby
With Caroline and Errol and his mum Beverly, from Toronto. There's apparently seven Aussies on board. We've met two other couples but not yet the single.

Casino
Donations happily accepted. We haven't tried it.

Lounge area
Good place to read. The rooms have a large swing out TV with lots of current and classic movies on demand.

Comments

[Dwayne Oslund]

That is one awesome looking ship, Sel. Way nicer than anything I sailed aboard in the Navy.