Thanksgiving in St. Thomas, Grand Turk, Day at Sea, Home - November 25-28, 2010

Woke up Thanksgiving morning in the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas:

The building at the far end of this shot is Marriott's Frenchman's Reef hotel, situated on Morning Star Beach.  Adjacent to it is Frenchman's Cove, a Marriott Vacation Club property, so you can trade into it if you own a timeshare.

I had already visited St. Thomas on previous cruises.  There wasn't anything I wanted to do except visit nearby paradise of St. John, which wasn't worth the trek, as we were only in port from 7am to 4pm.  You'd need to catch a taxi over to Red Hook (~30 minutes), then catch the ferry (~20 minutes) to St. John which departs at the top of the hour, then catch a taxi to Trunk Bay or wherever you want to go.  It'd cost ~$50 roundtrip per person to sit on St. John for 4 hours, as you don't want to take the last possible ferry back before the ship set sail.  Westin has a hotel on St. John (part of which is timeshare).  I think I'd rather trade a week into St. John (one of the hardest properties to match) and take time to enjoy the pristine surroundings than rush back and forth for a mere 4 hours.

Babe and I got off the ship and walked around the measly mall next to the port.  There was hardly anything worth buying - more jewelry, souvenirs, and booze, so we returned to the ship and relaxed on the balcony.  If you like to stock up on booze, St. Thomas is a good place to buy it, as US visitors are allowed to take home 5 liters (versus 1 liter).  One of the liters must be produced in the USVI.

Caught a sea plane flying by on film (err...memory card).  ("the plane, the plane!")

Tonight was formal night; earlier today, I had made reservations for 2 over the phone.  The menu was more what I expected, ie. lobster.  No escargots on the menu. :(  Then the waiter came by and told us that there was a special appetizer available - escargots!  Yay!

Babe had the fois gras pate...not the same as whole

Why order turkey when you can get lobster???

Turkey was on the menu as it was Thanksgiving, but you can get turkey anytime at the buffet. (though I know some people are very particular with having turkey on Turkey Day)  So both of us ordered the lobster.  They were decently cooked, but I liked the saucy version at Sabatini's better.

To make up for not having turkey, I opted for pumpkin pie with French vanilla ice cream to end my meal.  Babe got the chocolate souffle.  The pie was fancier than I expected.  It wasn't very sweet.

We went up to the buffet and the selections weren't very good compared to the dining room, though the same pumpkin pie was there.

The next morning, the ship docked on the beautiful island of Grand Turk.  It's a long and narrow island.  Carnival built the "Grand Turk Cruise Center" there, which had a mall (surprise surprise) and tons of free beach chairs to relax on.  Since Carnival acquired Princess a few years back, Princess ships also could dock here.  (though I don't know if any Carnival ships dock in Princess Cays)  Babe and I had no problems finding a pair of lounge chairs in the shade.  Seemed everyone wanted to bake in the sun.  We had snorkel gear and I had read on Cruise Critic that excellent snorkeling could be found right off the shore...which was true!   We saw a flat fish that camouflaged itself in the sand.  Best not to step on him.  There was also a puffer-type fish with white dots on it that I had never seen before.  We also saw conch shells; Grand Turk is known for them.  It was a bit strange to snorkel so close to where the ships were docked..I could hear the engines humming.  Watch out for the intake. ;)

Alongside Ruby Princess was a Carnival ship.  We were so close that we could enjoy the Auburn vs Bama football game on their big screen that evening.  It was funny when the Carnival ship set sail, taking the game with it, and everyone watching on Ruby Princess was scurrying up to the front of the boat to catch a last glimpse.

pretty sunset in Grand Turk

Tonight was our reservation at Crown Grill, the steak and seafood alternative restaurant.  The cover charge was $25, but what we got was worth the price.  This was the only place I could get my beloved foie gras.  It came with perfectly cooked scallops.

"Black and blue" onion soup

Shrimp bisque

Filet mignon - the "turf"

Rack of lamb

"surf" - plenty of broiled lobster!  sides of creamed spinach, au gratin potatoes, mushrooms

I ordered the "surf and turf", which was a filet mignon and lobster.  Babe ordered the rack of lamb.  Little did we know that the "surf" part of it was going to be a ton of lobster, at least four tails' worth!  The best side dish was the au gratin potatoes, because it was swimming in a vat of butter. :)

Babe ordered the "dessert sampler" and I just got the whole s'more.

melting cake, caramel cheesecake, s'more, lemon meringue

7-layer s'more - graham cracker, 3-layer chocolate cake, marshmallow, graham cracker cookie, marshmallow tips :)

The two couples sitting at a nearby table were very entertaining.  We couldn't help but overhear their loud conversation about buying jewelry at one of the port shops.  One of the ladies showed off her mystic topaz necklace...she was originally searching for a blue topaz but found the mystic, but didn't have enough money.  She exclaimed, "The guy was sooooo nice!  We gave him the cash we had and he said that we could send him the difference in the mail when we got home!"  Hahaha!  I think the shopkeeper would die laughing if she did send him the balance.  To level-set the reader, I bought three big mystic topaz loose stones from eBay a while back for $10.  I'm sure that necklace was at least a hundred dollars or more.  Another amusing thing was that the couples seemed to be experiencing "fine dining" for the first time.  We overheard them remarking about the items on the menu and how there would be no way they'd eat such-and-such.  Despite this, the guys had ordered the scallop and foie gras appetizer.  "This doesn't taste like any scallop I've ever eaten...try this," said one of the guys as he fed one into his significant other's mouth.  Maybe he was only familiar with the breaded and deep-fried kind.  I observed as the other guy lifted up the entire piece of foie gras with his fingers, inspected the slice, and put the whole thing in his mouth, chewing it cautiously and swishing it around.  I think I saw a scallop left on his plate, what a waste.

That night was the second heat of "Princess Pop Idol".  There were good contenders; one of the male contestants could sing "Mack The Knife" pretty well, and I figured it'd be hard to beat him.  Three people were selected for the finale, making it a total of six contestants performing tomorrow night.

The next day was spent leisurely at sea.  So sad when a cruise comes to a close.  We packed our belongings and had our final dinner at Sabatini's again.  We had a different waiter than before, but he remembered seeing us on Monday night!  I wondered if it was because I was the only Asian to step foot in the restaurant that week.  Normally, Asians are very cheap...why would you pay extra when you get the food for "free" in the dining room and the buffet, and eat as much of it as you want?  But I don't mind paying extra if the food tastes better.  We both ordered the lobsters plus desserts we didn't get last time. (though I had to get the mousse again)

citrus tart (yum), espresso creme brulee, zabaglione, and the mousse

We went to the Princess Pop Idol finale after dinner.  I and the five other contestants met at the far corner of the lounge to go over production information, what to expect, etc.  We were also given glasses of champagne to enjoy.  It was pretty exciting but somewhat nerve-wracking to sing in front of an expectant crowd.  There were also three judges giving "critiques", just like American Idol.  It's a lot different singing on stage with the ship moving around than singing in the comfort of your home.  What sucked was that we had to sing the same song we chose for the qualifying round.  It'd be really boring if I was a spectator and heard the same songs again.  They should let the contestants choose new songs if they desire.  I had wanted to change it from "Angel" to something "oldie" as a lot of the cruisers on board were in their 50's and above.

I was up first, and my performance didn't go so well as my voice didn't carry into the microphone that night. :(  I still got friendly critiques.  After the "judging", I went into the "green room" where I was interviewed by one of the cruise directors, with the feed being shown on TV screens out in the audience.  That was pretty fun as everything was improvised.  Finally it was over, and I got to observe the other five contestants perform.  The poor girl who sang "Over the Rainbow" experienced technical difficulties and had to have the song restart three times.  She was already nervous going up there, so she was completely ashen by the time the song actually worked.  The last contestant of the night was Mr. "Mack the Knife" from before, so obviously he won (turned out he was a bartender for a piano bar, and he sung if a performer was out sick).  There wasn't a 1st place prize...we all were presented with a bottle of champagne as a parting gift.  It was a fun experience and I'd do it again on a future Princess cruise, but at least now I know to select a more appropriate song to match the age of the audience.

Sunday morning, the ship was back in Ft. Lauderdale.  We were one of the first off the ship, doing the express disembarkation and carrying our own bags off the ship.  Our flight was at 11am, and we wanted to make sure we got to the airport on time.  The flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta was short.  We were served lunch on the flight from Atlanta.  There was a choice of a chicken salad or a chicken and goat cheese pizza, but by the time the flight attendant got to our row, all that was left was pizza, but I didn't mind.  It actually tasted pretty good.  It was unfortunate that the plane we were on didn't have the individual entertainment screens. :(

This was the end of Thanksgiving vacation...the cruise was what I needed to unwind from the stress and long hours in the lab.  But wait, there's more travel coming up!  I'm on another plane a week from now...