"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #7 Georgetown, Grand Cayman January 6, 2018 Saturday Chance of rain & 77 degrees 80 Pictures Part #1 Of 3

Thinking positive last night worked……we did end up dropping anchor off of George Town, Grand Cayman. Yes, the weather was not the best, but the wind and the sea swells were tolerable, and we were able to tender ashore.

But first, we went to the dining room for a proper breakfast. The fresh mixed berries have been delicious, and we would not miss a morning without them. At least until they run out. They are perfect on top of Greek yogurt with a sprinkling of granola. Did we mention that our favorite little jars of jams are back? Not sure for how long, but we were happy to see the upgrade. No flowerette butter, however. That has been replaced with tiny balls of butter. Perhaps they have changed products again.

Anyway, here is a little info on the Cayman Islands. There are three islands here, Grand, Little, and Cayman Brac. George Town, the capital, is located on Grand Cayman, which is about 22 miles long. Back in 2012, the population was reported as 49,000. However, the current info has it at 37,800 now.

Trademarks are shipwrecks (for diving), pirates, condos, snorkeling, and tax shelters. Banking is big business here, with over 600 of them. Many are secretive institutions where few questions are asked.

Other big businesses here are the high-end name brand luxury items such as loose gemstones, watches, and jewelry. Ever heard of Tortuga Rum Cake? We will never forget tasting the samples of the buttery pound cake, literally soaked with 151 local rum. We inquired about the existence of that rum, and were told it is no longer allowed to be sold, since it is explosive.

A really fun tour, which we have taken at least three times, is a swim with the sting rays and sharks at Sting Ray City. Then you can stop on the way at Hell, home to unique volcanic rock formations, where you can send a postcard from Hell to your relatives and friends.

Seven Mile Beach is located fairly close to George Town, where the nice hotels have access to coral sand and crystal-clear water. And sunburn, if you are not careful. Not too many takers on that tour today, due to the rainy overcast day.

We have also visited the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Park, across the island, where you can see rare blue iguanas, if we remember correctly. And the turtle farm was also a learning experience. Just have to remember that it is illegal for many to purchase anything made from their shells.

Today we headed off at 10am on the first boat over to town. We were not all that happy that we had to present our keycards at the door down to Deck A. In the past, we had been escorted down an inner set of stairs to the tender platform. That avoided any ill feelings from the other passengers. We may have mentioned already that it was announced that due to so many 4 and 5 star Mariners on this cruise, 800 in fact, that priority boarding had been suspended for them. Somewhere around 9am, there was an announcement that no one would be allowed to line up on Deck One, which does block people from leaving their rooms. You had to get a tender ticket, and wait elsewhere on the ship until your number was called. So the bottom line now is that priority tendering is reserved for the Pinnacle and Neptune suites and President’s Club members only. This was not a problem on last year’s world cruise, because we had no ports where the ship had to anchor.

Three other ships were anchored too. Costa Deliziosa, an Aida ship, and a smaller vessel with the name of Berlin were already bringing their passengers ashore. For sure, everything will be crowded.

There is no doubt about it…..this town is “touristy”. Our port guide listed over 20 stores, boutiques, and galleries where you could have the opportunity to part with some big bucks. And worse, the Cayman dollar is .80 to the USD$1. Nothing was cheap here, from what we saw, and that includes the restaurants, as we would find out later.

It was a good day for walking…..not too warm, and not raining yet. One stop we did make first was at the Hard Rock Café to purchase a couple of t-shirts. With the size of the crowd today, they might run out of the city tees. We did buy two, then continued our walk. Once out of downtown, the two lane road took us past some very nice residences, massive estates, and condos. One property even had a “Disneyland” like garden, decorated with Christmas scenes and lights.

A public area called Dart Park was hidden behind huge rod iron gates. Complete with picnic tables, benches, a small kiddie park and decent restrooms, it was a good place to rest for a few minutes. There was a sliver of sandy beach with mostly exposed dead coral beds. A low concrete wall provided a spot to sit for a few minutes, with curious chickens investigating us. For those who want to know, this area did not have any easy access to swimming or snorkeling. So we continued onward.

The island is full of pastel-colored homes, all with chickens running around wild. Must be springtime all the time, because many of the hens had chicks. They were all of the games variety, small, but feisty. Busy taking photos of them and the surrounding tropical flowers, it took us by surprise when an unfortunate accident occurred. A young woman, riding on a motorcycle, must have lost control of it, rolled it, and ended up underneath it. Lucky she was not flung into the opposite traffic. Things sure turned on a dime for her today.

A group of us walkers helped the best we could, but it was apparent from what she said, that her leg might be broken. She asked to be moved off of the road, which probably was not the best thing to do. But people did it anyway. A passerby called for an ambulance, and it finally arrived within 20 minutes. A most very long 20 minutes for the injured gal.

As we were certain that she was taken care of, all of us continued on our exploration. This area was mostly residential, but we did come across a public beach Smith Cove or as the locals call it, Smith Barcadere. It had a small patch of sand, but easy access to the water, where some people were snorkeling. Too bad the sun never peeked out today, or it would have been beautiful. There were some nice picnic tables, benches, and even clean restrooms.

We had not paid attention to the all onboard time, so by 1pm, we decided to head back to town. The hike back was uneventful, no more accidents, thank goodness. For us, it is hard to get accustomed to the opposite traffic pattern. We had to be careful, since there were few sidewalks and narrow shoulders. Surely, we did not want to end up in the hospital like the young motorcyclist.

The Hard Rock Café was just about 100% full upstairs. But we waited for 10 minutes, and got seated at the window facing the main street. Perfect. Sure was great to relax with draft beers, a shared salad, and a tray of tasty chicken tenders. Topping off the meal, we had an apple cobbler with one scoop of ice cream.

Afterwards, we wandered through town, visiting a few shops, and sampling the Tortuga cake, of course. Then it began to rain, so it was a sign that it was time to go back. Better yet, there was no line at the waiting tender boat, and we got seats right away. Within a few minutes, we were back in our room with some time to work on photos and continue unpacking.

The last tender was at 5:30pm, and we were on our way shortly after 6pm. Because of the rain, the sail away party was held in the Crow’s Nest. Hot appetizers and the drink of the day, Mai Tai’s, were available for sale. Down-sizing the sail-away festivities has been the norm since last year, we think. Of course, the early dinner service was in progress, and many people would have chosen to go there instead of watch the ship leave port. No doubt about it, this group of passengers, for the most part, are easy-going and laid back. In no rush to line up or get off early, it is a sharp contrast to the previous shorter cruses we took on the Eurodam last fall.

We need to mention that two Happy Hour times were offered. One at 4pm, and the second at 6:30pm. Great for ALL of us. So someone at HAL has been listening to our requests.

Dinner time arrived quickly, and everyone showed up at the table. Only four or five of us had gone off of the ship today. But then, most all of us have been to these Caribbean ports several times. Seeing three other ships in the bay also deterred many. For dinner we had Rudy’s roasted chicken with stuffing and cranberry sauce. Delicious. By the time dessert arrived, it was 10:15pm. That is one negative with having a large table….it takes a much longer time to serve everyone.

We did peek into the Queen’s Lounge to see the show, the unique musical madman, David Meyer. He had a one-of-a-kind instrument that we could not see, but could hear. It was putting us to sleep, so we left for our room.

There was a reminder in the folder that the clocks needed to go back one hour, an indication we were heading southwest. Funny that Slam, our waiter, had not mentioned it. Confirming it with the front desk, it was indeed true. Which was a good thing….we will take all the extra sleep time we can get.

We also had two more gifts…..Moleskine travel journals. Nice to get them early on in the cruise. And lastly, new smaller “good night” cards have appeared with nice messages for a good night’s sleep. The first message was “A Grand adventure is about to begin. Winnie the Pooh.

Bill & Mary Ann

The bay of George Town