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.

La Romana, DR 9:30 AM - 4:30 AM

We did the Seavis Tour at this port in 2013 and loved it. We had good success booking the tour outside Carnival. The cost was less, and I was not familiar with Carnival's price match guarantee at that time. I used the price match guarantee in January 2018 for a different excursion, and I suggest using that, rather than booking through an outside company, just for the peace of mind. You can find information about the Seavis Tour, and Carnival's price guarantee in previous blog posts.

La Romana from Carnival Horizon.

This time, we decided to just relax, since our itinerary had so many port stops. There are not many shops at this port, nor is there anything within walking distance, so it did not take us long to walk around and then return to the ship. Margarita pitchers were on special at Blue Iguana Tequila Bar this day, so we got a pitcher after lunch, and then sat outside Guy's Pig and Anchor to watch the activity. We had a better view than what you can see in the photo above; I was trying to capture the port name (bottom right) with that shot.

Curacao 1:30 PM - 10:30 PM

We docked on the pier northwest of Mega terminal, which is not where we had docked on the Breeze in 2013. This is about ¼ mile farther away from town than Mega terminal. There is a small market area between the two terminals offering tastes, and we purchased some port wine on our way back to the ship. We rented a car from Avis last time we were in this port (see my previous post for details). The car rental building is located in the same area as the market between the two piers.

Renaissance Park.
Right before hotel and casino just past both piers.

People were handing out casino vouchers after we exited the market near the Renaissance, which we almost did not take. We are not big gamblers; however, we decided to insert each one into a slot machine to see what would happen. We were able to cash out any amount of winnings, and receive American dollars. We did that, and left with a little more than $15.

View from water taxi in Curacao.
Traffic bridge over St. Anna Bay above,
floating bridge open in the photo below.

We opted to explore on our own the trip, walking across the floating bridge. The floating bridge was open for a boat to pass through when we arrived, so we took the water taxi over (no charge), and then walked back across the floating bridge. 

View of floating bridge from RIF Fort.

There are plenty of shops and restaurants near the port in Curacao, as well as across the floating bridge. We thought the beverage prices on the other side of the bay were high. Some places had Happy Hour prices posted; however, most did not start until 3:00 or 4:00 PM. There is no charge to walk around RIF Fort located in Renaissance Village next to the cruise port. In hindsight, I wished we had walked around at the port first, and then across the floating bridge for Happy Hour. Next time!

Carnival Horizon from our sail and snorkel excursion.

Oranjestad, Aruba 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Aruba is a fabulous island, and there are plenty of shops and more within walking distance of the cruise port, if you do not want to book an excursion. Before this trip, we had been to Aruba by cruise ship, as well as by plane to a couple of resorts. Aruba is my husband's favorite island.

Some of the beverages on the Catamaran Sail & Snorkel in Aruba.

We booked the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel through Carnival for this port. The price was good, and we enjoyed this excursion when we had gone on it from our resort in 2010. The water was calmer when we went in 2010, so we enjoyed more swimming and snorkeling then than we did this trip. There was a slight breeze, and the current was pretty strong at our second stop (the shipwreck). A few people in the water who had planned to swim over to the shipwreck, ended up just swimming around the boat, and then getting back on. The boat was clean, staff was knowledgeable and helpful, and the beverages after snorkeling were good.

Let me know if you have any questions, and as always, feel free to share this post for others!