Arrived in Charleston and was advised by security to drop off our luggage and come back out of the port to park for an hour. Upon re-entry we were told because we had Faster to the fun, we had priority boarding and should proceed to lane 1. We paid $119 for parking for the week. We sat for about an hour in line after paying. The people in charge then released all of lane 1 - priority boarders to park. That was pretty cool! We parked in the garage, walked to the bus, wait for about 10 minutes before boarding and being taken to the port. Once entering the port, we told the person at the door we had priority boarding and they sent us to a check-in with 1 person in line.
We went straight to our cabin M2 and dropped of our backpack and went straight to lunch. [CON] The bathroom floor was squishy with an odd smell. The floor was covered with the same blue covering that was in the shower. It was odd. [PRO] Our cabin was clean. I pulled back the sheets and checked the mattress for bedbugs and clean sheets. All appeared acceptable.
We walked straight to lunch. Of course Italian was the theme, always is on embarkation day. [CON] Disappointing there was nothing new. Old ship, old menu. The pasta was rigatoni noodles and they were not fully cooked and difficult to eat. Salad bar was hum drum. Plain iceburg lettuce. Was hopeful for mixed greens or a spinach option as I cannot eat lettuce. They removed the larger cups and replaced them with a very small cup that required frequent refills throughout the meal. [PRO] The sauce on the rigatoni noodles was really tasty. The grilled chicken was out of the world and a bowl of veggies with no lettuce was just fine for me. I went to the gift shop and bought a giant cup and held 3 of the cups from the lido buffet, no need to continue refilling!
The room is nice. It is all the way at the front of the ship. The hall area is quite. I choose this area because there is no traffic. No hall in front of our room for people to walk by. The porthole windows are nice to have. The 2 twin beds put together to form a king. The mattress is comfortable. The room has a vanity, stool, chair, tv, 3 closets, shelving, hangers, room for suit cases in the closets. The bathroom sometimes smelled odd. The bathroom floor is squishy - very odd. Water from the shower leaks out onto the floor. They have covered the floor with the same blue material that is in the bottom of the shower. All water goes through the drain and seeps under the floor which makes it squishy and sometimes provides an odd smell. We were not in the room enough to care; but if you spend a lot of time in your room, this would not be the room for you.
PRO for me was it is only 4 hours from home. Easy to get to/from.
Excursion - Discover the Taste and Traditions of Puerto Plata. We had bus #1. Orlando was our driver and Juan was our Tour Guide. EXCELLENT AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Please read my review. This was not my first visit to Grand Turk and was previously my favorite port. The beach is out of control with local vultures, hmmm, vendors hassling passengers and arguing over business. Ridiculous. Skip the beach and go to Margaritaville to swim in the pool or go to the opposite side of the pier as it is quite and relaxing.