I can't believe it's been almost a month since I got home from my big birthday cruise and I have yet to share any trip report with you! Bad blogger!
I am going to do things a bit differently this time around and not necessarily do posts in date order. I want to tell you
all about my birthday cruise onboard the Disney Magic and can't wait to share it all with you!
Today I want to bring your our experience in Grand Cayman. This was our second (of four) port of call on our Western Caribbean 7-night cruise. After the great day we had in Cozumel the day before, I had high hopes of Grand Cayman.
Grand Cayman is a port where you tender; this means that instead of pulling up to the dock and being able to walk directly onto land, the boat is out from shore and you take smaller tender boats to the dock. To the right is a picture of what one of those boats looks like, taken from our tender. It was a quick jaunt from the tender boat to shore, and only took about 5 minutes.
We were initially supposed to tender at another part of the island, but it was pretty windy and the waves in that area were too choppy for us to dock. No matter - Disney took care of it as they always do. There was an announcement that morning that we were going to tender at a different location, and to come to the Walt Disney Theatre to wait for the next tender. At the Theatre, they handed out a tender ticket for each person and 2 bus tickets per person so we wouldn't have to pay for transportation between the boat and the downtown area. The normal tender pulls up right to the downtown, so they didn't want us to have to hassle with getting to the shops. It was super easy, handled very well and Disney did a great job. When we pulled up to the dock, Disney cast members were there guiding us, and also helping us get into busses for the trip to downtown.
We didn't have any excursions scheduled for today, and so our plan was to wander down the main shopping area and see if there was anything we wanted. As in many of the Caribbean islands, there were lots of jewelry stores and specialty shops, as well as stores that are familiar to us in the United States. We'd gone to a shopping seminar on the boat and received a map of the stores that Disney recommends shopping from, as they vet them for customer service, quality of merchandise, etc. I thought about purchasing a tanzanite ring but didn't see one that I loved, for the price I wanted to pay. The stores are supposed to bargain with you about price, but quite honestly I'm not super comfortable with that process. I would rather have the item be a certain price, and I pay it. I just never know if I'm actually getting a good deal, or if the person who walks in after me is going to be a better price. Know what I mean?
After a leisurely few hours in Grand Cayman, we decided to make our way back to the boat and grab lunch on the ship. On the drive to and from the downtown area, we were given a mini guided tour of the island by the bus drivers, telling us about the history, famous residents and more. It was pretty interesting and very neat to see some of the more residential parts of Grand Cayman. We passed one house in particular - I wish I would have taken a picture for all of you! It was HUGE and tropical-looking and gorgeous. A sprawling estate. Our bus driver said over Christmas, the owners open up the grounds and they have Santa, and give out treats for the kids on the island.
As you can see in these unedited pictures, the water is gorgeous. Crystal clear and just beautiful. The weather was perfect, too; breezy but warm and a sunshine-filled sky.
We had a great day, and I'm excited to go back to Grand Cayman again and perhaps try their world-famous snorkeling. We didn't book it this time but are glad our hearts weren't set on it, as some of the excursions were cancelled due to the wind. In general I do not love the shopping areas at ports (pushy salespeople and not a lot of variation on product from port to port) but we did have a nice time walking around.
Have a magical day!
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