George Town, Grand Cayman was our port of call today arriving around 10am. The population of the three islands that make up this area is about 60,400 people. It is said that over two million tourists visit these islands every year, and most of them are from cruise ships. In the past before Covid, there could be as many as seven ships anchored in the bay in one day. Due to high winds and rough seas, many times this stop is cancelled. As in most Caribbean islands, this one has it all with stunning beaches, snorkeling, scuba diving, and an array of interesting and fun tours…..most of which we have done over the years. And as you might expect, there is never-ending shopping for high-end items as well as island treasures.
Most of the ship tours took in the town, the beach and snorkeling excursions. They ranged in price from $50 to $190, which was reasonable we thought. One we have done many years ago was a visit to Sting Ray City where you swim with the huge rays and sometimes dolphins. There's nothing like a slippery ray slithering up your front or back searching for a handful of fish food. Thrilling, but for one of us, once was enough. We visited the Turtle Sanctuary before the big hurricane destroyed it, and stopped in "Hell", a town along the way where you can send postcards from Hell.
Today we used the island tenders instead of the ship's tender boats. That worked out well because they were double-decker and held up to 250 guests in an open-air water taxi. The swell was high enough that we may have had problems with our tenders. We left the room around 11am and headed right for the stairs leading down to A deck. Usually our rep Michelle is there collecting tender tickets, but in her place was one of the sweetest Mariner reps, Jennifer. We met her on the Volendam while doing back-to-back Alaska trips in 2023. She remembered us and gladly invited us to go down to the tender platform. No tickets, no problem, unlike our recent experience on the Zaandam. The ride to shore took perhaps 15 minutes, although off-loading 250 people took longer. One of the first passengers off was a man on a stretcher and several of the crew from the medical center. An ambulance was waiting, and he was off to a hospital. This happens all too often these days, and we all silently wished him well.
Taking a left turn out of the terminal area, we came across their small fish market, which was done for the day. However, right on the rocky volcanic beach was a school of large 5- foot- long tarpon searching for scraps from the fish market. The best photos were taken from an outcropping of volcanic rocks, which only one of us attempted.
The shopping area was concentrated right across from the cruise terminal. We were given two maps on the ship, one of which had the port info and the money conversion which was 1 Cayman dollar to 1.20 USD. Thinking about the last time we were here, we came to the conclusion it was on the 2018 world cruise. Not a whole lot of the town looked familiar, because since then, the Hard Rock Café and Margaritaville have closed their doors for good. We were told by a local vendor in the craft market that both restaurants could not survive after the Covid years. It was hard times for locals who depended on the ships to bring customers. Business has picked up a lot since then and they are grateful for that. One of us contributed to that economy with the purchase of a pair of beaded earrings…a nice memento from here.
We covered most all of the highlights in town including getting a free keyring charm from the local Piranha Joe's. It was a tiny starfish. All of the usual high-end stores were there that you find in every island. Most of them we avoid, but do like checking out the souvenir stores. One of them was selling the last of the Hard Rock Cafe and Margaritaville t-shirts. Our main objective was lunch with beer. There was nothing up the far end of town, so we headed back to the only place that had pizza, and that was the Casanova Italian Restaurant. Their menu posted outside showed they had a brick wood-fired oven, no less.
However, when we were seated inside cool restaurant, we were told the oven was being cleaned today, and pizza was not available. Come on….really? Oh well, we substituted chicken and cheese quesadillas and a platter of crispy calamari, which one of us really likes. The local beer was Cayman Brew and was delightfully ice cold in bottles. Relaxing for over an hour was great. We ended the excellent meal with one serving of a sticky date pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It appeared to be a family-run business and the staff could not have been friendlier. We would highly recommend this establishment, although a bit on the pricey side.
Back at the terminal, we hopped on the waiting tender and were back to our room by 3:30pm. The heat of the day had left us tired enough to take a break on our veranda, watching the tenders transferring folks from both ships. Did we mention that the Oceana's Vista was also here? They pulled their anchor and left around 5pm, and we were gone by 6pm. We will have a day at sea tomorrow, then be in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica the following day.
At 6:30pm, we were invited to a President's Club Welcome Reception in the Gallery Bar with Captain Friso and hotel manager Henk Mensink. Many of the top officers were present as well as Christel, Henk's wife, and Chantall, the future cruise consultant and partner of the Captain. It was announced that there was a total of 30 President's Club members onboard and four more will be inducted along the way. This is about half of the normal numbers, because the rest are on the Pole-To-Pole, also a Grand World Voyage. Cocktails of our choice were served along with an array of fancy treats. We were finally joined by Christel and Chantall where we talked until 8pm. Dinner would have to be after that, but it was not a problem arriving later. Our waiters served us in a timely manner and we were on our way by 9pm. Perfect evening.
Looking forward to one day at sea tomorrow, then we will transit the Panama Canal the following day.
Bill & Mary Ann
