Vacation day 5 - Grand Cayman

Well, here we are again. Actually, I’m still here from my last post (I’m posting two days in a row, so go back and ready day 4 if you haven’t already). It’s now 10:45 p.m., the wind has picked up, and a few clouds are rolling in. In think I’ll go down a deck where it’s still open to the air, but it’s more sheltered from the wind. It’s a tough life, here at sea. It’s been at least 10 minutes since my last piña colada.

Let’s see how day 5 went.

We had to get up at the early hour of 7 a.m. this morning in order to be ready on time. Well, 7 a.m. IS early for a vacation. We had arrived at our next port of call, George Town, Grand Cayman. Capital city of the Cayman Islands. Population: 12,000. And what an interesting 12,000 they are. But well get to that in a bit. 

There’s a huge reef around Grand Cayman, so we had to do what is called tendering in order to get from the Magic to the shore. Tendering is just a nautical term for taking people off a big boat and putting them on a little boat to take them ashore. Roman was very excited to “ride the little boat” which was miniscule compared to the Magic, but still held something like 50 people.

George Town was really something. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Let me try to paint the picture for you. I think the Cayman Islands are still part of the Commonwealth, and maintain a British governor. Wether that’s true or not, they drive on the “wrong” side of the street, which was very hard to get used to. I kept looking the wrong way when trying to cross the street. They also have roundabouts, or traffic circles, just like in England (or so I’ve seen on the TV).

From what I saw, there’s was no real planning put in to the housing layout. There were 3 million dollar homes within sight of old tin-roof shack dwellings. It was very strange. The animals were interesting too. We saw chickens walking around outside a Dairy Queen. Little lizards were easy to spot anywhere you looked, and I saw at least 10 iguanas over 3 feel long. Right in the city. Oh, and one Very large rat.

The rat was funny. And it (sort of) brings us to the next thing about George Town; the shopping. Specifically, the jewelry. There are dozens of high-end jewelry shops, all selling very nice merchandise and fantastic prices. Well, ‘fantastic prices’ is sort of a relative term. Christine was looking at a huge diamond ring that would easily sell in Canada for $6000 and we could have brought it home for the low price of $2300. Absolutely sir, we’ll take it. Would you take a cheque?

Which brings us to the rat. Christine was looking at a $15,000 necklace when a woman screamed outside the jewelry shop. We looked towards the open doors to see what was going on just in time to see man with a broom chase a rat the size of a small dog into the store. He trapped it with the broom, and jumped on it a few times before sweeping it outside. Christine looked at me in horror, I looked at the store owner, and he looked at me like that sort of thing happens every day. Utterly unfazed, he went on about the necklace. Crazy.

We had an excursion booked on Grand Cayman, Captain Marvin’s Stingray City Tour and Snorkeling Adventures. It was awesome. We took a bus to the company’s boat, and  headed out to sea. There were probably 20 of us on the boat, and I think everyone had a great time. Our first stop was an area called the coral gardens, which was pretty far out, but still well within sight of shore. Still, the depth was only around 10 feet or so; 10 feet of the cleanest, crystal clear water you’ve ever seen. It was like a pool, only cleaner. Christine got her flippers and snorkel gear on and ventured out while I stayed back and got Roman ready with his life jacket and goggles. He was very brave as he went into the water with Christine, and I stood by and took a few photos. After a while, Roman wanted back in the boat and it was my turn to snorkel. 

It didn’t go as well as I imagined my first snorkel trip would go. I made the mistake of jumping right in off the boat (rather than going down the ladder) and I took in a but mouthful (lungful) of seawater. Coughing and sputtering, I wasn’t deterred. I got my composure together and continued on my way. The coral gardens are amazing. Imagine a white sandy floor dotted with coral formations all between 3 and 8 feet in diameter. Oh, and billions of tropical fish, everywhere you look. It was beautiful. I would have enjoyed it more if my lungs and throat weren’t burning with sea water.

Our next stop was the barrier reef that surrounds Grand Cayman. Roman didn’t want to go in to the water this time (he was getting sleepy) but I did much better there. I went first, followed by Christine. The water was still around 10’ deep, and the barrier reef actually pokes out of the water in spots, so it’s massive. The fish were much bigger there. Not “eat you” big, but still pretty big. There were fish from the size of your little finger all the way up to the size of pie plates. We saw brilliant coral formations, blazing with colour. Plants of every size, shade, and shape. All through crystal clear water. It was breathtaking. I could have spent hours there, but after too short a time it was time to go.

Our last stop was the area they call stingray city, which is a sand bar just inside the reef.  The water was only around 4’ or so there, so we didn’t need snorkel equipment. By this time Roman was asleep, which was so disappointing; he would have loved this part. The water was warm and as we entered into it, dozens of stingrays swam all around us, gliding by our legs, and brushing by our fingers. It was so cool. Christine had enough after a few encounters (she got a little freaked out) but I loved every minute of it. The stingrays were docile and graceful. One of the guides got a hold of one and taught us how to hold it. She was probably 3’ across, and seemed perfectly content to lay there in my arms. They feel very slippery, with a sort of bristly feeling. It’s hard to explain, but it was definitely worth the trip. I loved it. The overall experience was terrific, and the crew were friendly, funny, personable, and informative.  I’d certainly go again.

We would have liked to do some more shopping in Grand Cayman, but time was short and we had to get back to the ship. hopefully we’ll have some more shopping time in Cozumel tomorrow.

Once we were back on the Magic, Roman headed back to the Oceaneer’s club and Christine and I got dressed up to for dinner at Palo’s, which is the exclusive restaurant on the Magic, and (by some accounts) the finest restaurant on the sea. I can certainly see why. As a bit of an explanation, most of the food is included in the price of the cruise, but with Palo’s, there’s a $15 fee per person, and you have to book it. We were lucky to get a time that was convenient for us.

The entire experience was amazing. Our waiter was great, and he made our experience so much better. We had so much food it was shameful; course after course came, and it all was fantastic. I had what was probably the best steak I’ve ever had, and I thought Christine was going to explode from her reaction to the desserts. We normally share a dessert when we eat out; at Palo’s, we shared three. We can’t think of a better meal we’ve had at a restaurant. It was moments like this that make us feel like this is really the honeymoon we never had.

When we headed back to get Roman, he very much wanted to stay at the Oceaneer’s club, so we decided to take in another live show. Twice Charmed is the story of what happens just after the ending of Cinderella. It turns out that Cinderella’s wicked step mother has a wicked fairy god-father and he turns back time so they can stop Cinderella from putting on the glass slipper. It was really well done, and the special effects, costumes and sets were excellent.

Well, it’s getting late, and we have a big day in Cozumel tomorrow. Good night from the Disney Magic!