Summer Cruise: Grand Turk & Curacao

Hi loves! Last year, I went on a spontaneous 7-day summer cruise to the Caribbean. Since my 3 part Italy Tour series was such a hit, I’ve decided to showcase my summer cruise into 3 blog posts as well. Enjoy!

It was my first time ever being on cruise and I didn’t honestly know what to expect. Carnival set up an itinerary literally made for me. I’m not the type of traveler to just want to sit on the beach and relax. I’m more of a explore the city and see the sights kind of girl. The stops on my summer cruise were: Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba. Four new countries, I’ve never been too and with so many things to do. The first two destinations I’ll be writing about are Grand Turk and Curacao.

Grand Turk

So for starters, Grand Turk is the main island of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is also said to have been potentially one of the islands that was first landed on by Christopher Columbus, when he sailed the ocean in 1492. In his journals he seems to describe the island of modern-day Grand Turk more than San Salvador or Samana Cay in the Bahamas, which is the original idea of where he might have landed. So for me it was cool to think Christopher Columbus stepped on the same beach I was standing on. Just a fun little history note there for you guys!

There isn’t a whole lot of places to explore on the island unless you go more inland and honestly beside the main hall not much to see. The beach is where we mostly stayed by. This was actually a perfect day to spend on the beach and the Margaritaville right on it as well because there was not a cloud in the sky. We were docked for approximately 6 hours so traveling into the mainland was a risk not many tourists took.

The Water

The water was absolutely breath-taking! So CLEAN, clear and blue! They had plenty of water activities as well. You could go for ride on the banana boat, take a boat out to sea and go snorkeling, play on inflatable obstacle floats, jet-ski, etc. I, of course, and the rest of the girls in my group wanted to take photos first and then enjoy the sun and water. The water was perfect literally warm and so inviting. After taking a bunch of photos, we decided to get in the water and tan for a bit.

Margaritaville

After that, we decided to head on into Margaritaville. Boy this did not disappoint. They had a huge pool, a DJ, a surf ride (where watching drunk people attempt to surf was a highlight) and even a dance battle. We jumped in the pool to take some of the salt off and then tanned for a bit more before heading to the bar and grabbing a signature margarita. Then the rest of our party met up with us and we grabbed lunch.

The food was good, very typical food, nothing bad but nothing great. While this was all happening there was a dance battle going on in the pool/patio area. Another great people watching event, but I was a couple of drinks in and very tempted to jump in.  Needless to say, I didn’t jump in and it was also time to head back to board the ship. The atmosphere was fun, lively, and full of party, but the pool is huge so there was an adult side and a more family side.

On to the next island

Grand Turk was definitely a good start to this summer cruise. It gave you that beach day that was family orientated but also was a party for the adults inside Margaritaville. You have cute little shops throughout the walk from the port to the beach and all the cute trinkets made from by the islanders. There’s literally something for everyone. Whether you want to spend the day shopping, hang by the beach and do the various water activities, or get a little crazy with live music, food and drinks at Margaritaville.

Curacao

Literally beautiful! Even on a little cloudy day you can still see the beauty of the island. We docked around 2pm and had until 10pm to be back. This was the longest time we had on any of the islands. The only bad thing was the time, we felt staying past 7pm was a bit risky considering we weren’t in a super touristy area and it was a bit of a walk to the mainland from the port.

Town

We passed Rif Fort and then on the other side was the big Dutch influence on the island with all the colors and designs. You could EASILY FEEL the culture walking down the streets with the music, food, shops, and art surrounding the town. Walking around the town, you saw cute art displays throughout. Some on the walls, some in the form of displays, etc.

Crossing over to the town was the best photo-op moment you could have to try to capture the beauty of all the colorful homes. The town was full of shops, food, and tours to take you to the beach. You could see below just how creative, colorful, and beautiful Curacao truly is. After walking around a couple of hours, we took a taxi and drove about a good 40 minutes to the beach.

Mambo Beach

We arrived to Mambo Beach, which has its own little shopping plaza and hotel right on it. I found a Starbucks and was finally able to connect to the rest of the world while others went into the water. Hours passed we grabbed food right on the water and then it started to get dark, so we jumped into a taxi and headed straight for the port. We weren’t sure how safe the part of town we were in so none of us wanted to drink and hang around at night.

Goodbye Curacao

Curacao was full of culture and sights to see. Even on the drive to the beach, you could see the houses, the land, and the people of the beautiful country. My summer cruise was living up to all the hype. The food was okay according to the some in the group. I stuck with Starbucks considering no one seemed to grasp the concept of being a vegetarian nor did I trust the people handling the food to not mix it with any meat. Back to the ship for dinner we went and said goodbye to Curacao until next time.

I still have two more stops of my summer cruise to show you, so stay tuned for it. The next destination is all about their food, music, culture, and mostly their baseball. A-Rod? Can you guess? Let me know in the comments below your guess is. Also if you have been to Grand Turk and Curacao, what your favorite part was?

XOXO

Karen Giuliana

Karen Bardales

Hello loves, welcome to my blog! My name is Karen Giuliana Bardales and I am currently 31 years old. I was born New Jersey and raised in Florida, graduated from Florida Atlantic University and still residing in sunny South Florida.

The reason for my blog is to write about my experiences from traveling, the beauty industry, fitness and other things I love. I want to help inspire others through my personal experiences and be seen as a role model to young woman everywhere.

Thank you for reading and following along through my journey of life. Your support means everything to me, so thank you!

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