Grand Cayman

This post is completely ridiculous, with almost 40 pictures. But Grand Cayman was ridiculously pretty, so it evens out. Large swathes of this post will be pure picspam.

We had a leisurely start to the morning with breakfast in the Grand Dining Room. Originally we'd look at swimming with stingrays and a few other things around the western side of the island, but when it came to it, we were ready for a simple beach day. Celebrity offered a beach day shore excursion for $50, but I'd done some research and was pretty sure we could do the same for cheaper. Seven Mile Beach runs all along the west edge of the island and is the most popular choice, but there are several spots to chose from, as the name suggests.

This was the first port where we'd be tendering in instead of docking. The system was a little confusing - we went downstairs to look for the station where numbers were being handed out and eventually found it... two Celebrity employees standing in the pub with cardboard boxes. While waiting, a couple decided not to use their numbers and passed them off to us. We passed our originals along to another couple, though it ended up not mattering. After a 20-minute wait, groups 27-29 were called all at once. We passed a Princess, two Carnivals, and a Club Med yacht on our way in.

We headed straight for Tortuga Rum Company and spent about half an hour trying samples and debating what to buy. I ended up with a six-pack of rum cake, a five-pack of fruity rums, and rum fudge. Yum. I walked over to another store and got postcards and a magnet while Mom finished her purchases. Luckily, we were able to leave all we'd bought at the shop and pick it up on the way back.

After shopping, we took a taxi-bus from the port. Our driver's name was Leslie and he filled us in on taxi fares and hotel prices as he drove, which was actually pretty interesting. At the last minute, I decided to nix the place I'd been looking at - the Royal Palms Beach Club - in favor of Public Beach. As we walked onto the beach, a guy immediately popped up and offered us two chairs plus an umbrella for $15. Awesome.

Our ship from a distance.

 

About 15-minutes in, the large family group that was on both sides of us left, so it ended up being a nice, calm spot. The water was great, though the current was stronger than I'd expected from such placid water. There were no waves, you were up to your waist in a few steps, and the sand was pale coral gravel. The water was unbelievably turquoise and clean.

I'd bought waterproof phone cases for Mom and myself before leaving, and was excited to try mine out. For $10, it kept my phone dry and worked pretty well! Too much fun. I also walked to Calico Jack's and got two strong Piña Coladas for $12 each. (US dollars are accepted everywhere on Grand Cayman.) We stayed on the beach for a couple hours, before catching another bus back to the port and picking up our rum cake.

 


 

There was only a short wait for our tender. Cruising back, we had wonderful views of the ship and West Bay. And with that, we'd completed the final shore excursion on our cruise!