Ports of Call from Carnival Venezia: Princess Cays, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, San Juan, Miami, Nassau, Freeport

January and February 2024

Princess Cays on Carnival Venezia January 2024

Princess Cays, Bahamas: January 8AM - 4PM

Princess Cays is a tender port, and we received a printed paper with tender instructions the night before. The paper actually contained information about priority tender boarding for passengers with excursions. I presume they just used the same notice for platinum and diamond guests, too. After breakfast, we walked to the showroom boarding area, where boarding was already in process. We arrived on the island before 9AM.

Princess Cays January 2024

We walked to the right after getting off the tender boat, as we had heard this area is less crowded than the main side. It was definitely less crowded. In fact, we decided not to have lunch on the island after we saw how crowded and busy the main area was later in the day. The lines for lunch looked like utter chaos. Some in our group stayed; however, my husband and I returned to the ship.

Princess Cays January 2024 from the less visited side of the island

This was our first visit to Princess Cays. The water is beautiful; however, the island and beach area is much smaller than Half Moon Cay. If you just want to enjoy the beach and water, there are plenty of lounge chairs available on both sides of the port dock.

View from our pool chairs at Margaritaville in Grand Turk

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 11AM - 6PM

We have been to Grand Turk several times, and you can find more information about this port by clicking on the label at the bottom of the post. We have previously done beach days at this port, as well as the Junkanoo Party Bus, Rum Mixology & Beach shore excursion. This time, we decided to just have margaritas at Margaritaville. 

Carnival Venezia at Amber Cove January 2024
Below: Amber Cove pricing - visible if you click on it to enlarge

Carnival Elation 7 Day Eastern Caribbean Ports of Call: Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Nassau

January 2023

We have been to all of these ports more than once prior to this trip. We did not book any excursions this time, and you can find more information about any of these ports by clicking on labels of interest at the bottom of this post.

 Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023 

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

You are supposed to have had COVID-19 vaccinations to disembark in Grand Turk. We received a letter the day before our arrival, saying that we needed to go to guest services to show our vaccination cards, if we wanted to go ashore. This information was then linked to our sail and sign cards that are scanned when disembarking. When we disembarked, people in the line next to ours were not being allowed off because they had not done this. This caused a brief holdup in that line while they were taken out of line to return to guest services or stay on the ship. Different passengers on shore told us they had not received the letter, and that they had not shown proof of their vaccination to anyone. They said they are vaccinated, so I am not sure if this had been taken care of by their travel agent, or another way, and they just did not recall it.

Carnival Elation in Grand Turk January 2023

Our experience in Grand Turk was peaceful, and we enjoyed it more than prior visits. We walked on the beach on both sides of the port, and not one person tried to rent us overpriced chairs or umbrellas. There is no charge to use lounge chairs at the cruise center or Margaritaville. You can find more information about this in my posts from February 2020 and 2022. The beach area to the right after you get ashore is less crowded; however, the swimming area on this side is also stonier, than the busier area on the left. You can read about the Junkanoo Party Bus, Rum Mixology & Beach shore excursion that we took last year in the February 2022 blog post.

Carnival Elation at Half Moon Cay January 2023

Southern Caribbean Ports of Call from Carnival Horizon: Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, Aruba

February 2020

We have been to all of these ports before, and only booked one excursion this trip. You can find previous posts with more information by using the search bar at the top of this page, or by clicking on any of the labels at the end of this post.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the afternoon, 
after we had gotten back on board.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

This was our first experience arriving in Grand Turk on the first cruise ship, and arriving so early. One time, our ship could not dock at all, another time, we docked a few hours late, and only had a short time on the island, and the last time, we arrived around 11AM after another ship. After our first bad experiences on the island, we have learned a few things: all the beach chairs with a green Cruise Center umbrella are complimentary at the Cruise Center, even the ones by the water. The Cruise Center is located left of the pier. Additionally, the chairs at Margaritaville are complimentary, unless you rent a cabana. Be aware that locals will come up to you and try to charge you for chairs. We went ashore about an hour after we had arrived, around 8:00 AM, and all of the complimentary beach chairs had already been taken. If you click on the photo above to enlarge it, you can see that there is only one green umbrellas near the water, and it also looks like there are fewer chairs in the Cruise Center area than there had been the last time we were at this port.

Grand Turk from Carnival Horizon in the morning when we arrived.

Last time, we had been able to purchase a liter of local rum and then some mix to take it back to our seat for the day. This time, we were told we had to go to the ship, if we purchased a large bottle (smaller, non-local, more expensive bottles could be taken ashore). I am not sure if things have changed, or, if we took it back to our seats in error last time we were here.

Looking toward the [rocky] beach to the right of the pier in Grand Turk.

The beach area to the right of the pier and Duty Free shops is less crowded; however, the beach in this area is rocky. Although the water is beautiful in Grand Turk, the atmosphere on this island has been the same every time we visited--crowded, touristy, and locals who want nothing more than to take your money. I am already rethinking how we will spend our time the next time we visit this island; provided our ship docks there. I am writing this post during the Coronavirus pandemic, and our next cruise with a stop in Grand Turk is almost a year away. If things return back to normal, and we do visit Grand Turk again, I imagine we will take our time in the morning to enjoy breakfast and be relaxed, and then walk ashore with only our towels and no expectations. At the very least, we will walk the beach in both directions, swim, and maybe do a little shopping or browsing before returning to the ship.

Carnival Horizon in La Romana.

Cape Canaveral/Titusville, Florida ~ Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex

February 2018

Inside Apollo/Saturn V Center

Kennedy Space Center ticket cost and discounts

Following are the daily admission costs listed on the Kennedy Space Center site before tax.

• Child age 3 - 11: $40
• Military child: $37
• Adult age 12+: $50
• Military adult: $46
• Senior 55+: $46. Senior tickets need to be purchased at the ticket window upon arrival; they are not available online.

Discounts found elsewhere, pre-tax.

Best deal for Kennedy Space Center found in
Florida's Space Coast vacation planner

Mexico - Riviera Maya Excursions

January 2017, Monica Rendon private tour - Sac Actun Cenote, Tulum Ruins, private beach, local taco stand

We initially thought we would take the bus (colectivo) to the ruins, and then I happened across information about an amazing private tour guide operator. I contacted Monica via email to make arrangements. You can find more reviews for her on TripAdvisor, and she has a Facebook page titled SOY La Pesera. Our excursion was a bit unusual, as we had friends who happened to be staying at a resort in Cozumel at the same time we were staying at Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an. Monica picked up our friends at the ferry dock in Playa Del Carmen, and then she picked us up at the resort for our day.

Meeting, transportation, etc.

Our friends had no trouble finding Monica at the appointed time and location when they disembarked at the ferry dock. I had provided Monica with our stay information, and she was able to enter our resort to pick us up in front of the lobby. The vehicle/van had two seat rows behind the driver's seat, which easily seated 2 to 3 people in each row. The vehicle was clean and comfortable. Monica had a cooler in the back for us filled with cold Corona and bottled water. She spoke good English, and she assisted us perfectly with our day's activities. She exchanged our cash for pesos, negotiated and made our purchases for us at each stop, provided information about the best restrooms, beaches, food, and more.

View from Tulum Ruins

Tulum Ruins

Our first stop was at the ruins, which was just a short drive from our resort. It was not too busy when we arrived before 9:00 a.m., although it was quite busy with a few tour groups by the time we left. 

Carnival Splendor Ports of Call - Eastern Caribbean

February 2016

Following is information about our ports of call while aboard the Carnival Splendor. This was a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami. We stopped at four ports: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

In addition to this blog post, you can find more photos and information in the Facebook ports of call album for the Carnival Splendor.

approaching Amber Cove - photo taken from the 
secret balcony (as my husband calls it) at the front of the ship

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic 

Amber Cove -
view from our balcony cabin 7434

Amber Cove is a new port that just opened October 2015. This was our first port of call scheduled for 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. My husband and I went on a safari type tour when we were in Puerto Plata a few years ago, which was fabulous. I have not been on the Carnival Outback excursion, although I imagine it is similar. I highly recommend this type of excursion, if this is your first visit to the area. The vehicle we rode in on our tour was similar to the one in the Carnival photos, and the description of the day sounds similar, as well. Most of the reviews posted on the Carnival website for this excursion have five stars.

view of Amber Cove from deck 12

We arrived before 8:00 a.m., and I do not know exactly what time guests started disembarking. We were walking on the jogging track on deck 12, and did not hear any announcements about disembarking. One of the first photos I took with guests walking up the pier was at 8:02 a.m. Some of the guests were already to the building at the start of the pier, so we must have been cleared before 8:00 a.m. It is a bit of a walk along the pier, and locals on bicycles pulled a rickshaw for passengers who did not want to walk.