Today was our first new port of call, Grand Cayman. We wanted to get an early start so we grabbed a quick breakfast in the Lido Restaurant before heading down to get a tender. We were lucky that we were able to just walk onto the tender for the short ride to Georgetown which is the capital of Grand Cayman. Once we landed, we walked across the street to Island Plaza where they happened to have free WiFi.
We did not have any firm plans for Grand Cayman except for we knew we wanted to see Seven Mile Beach. There were many bus drivers looking to take tourists around the island for a reasonable price. The going rate seemed to be $20 USD / person. We hooked up with Gerry who was offering a special today for only $15. Once Gerry got the bus filled up, we headed on our adventure.
We left Georgetown and our first stop was Dolphin Discovery and Cayman Turtle Farm. We decided to see the dolphins since there was no fee. There were lots of people in the pools doing different activities with the dolphin. You could either get pushed on a boogie board, hold the dolphins fins and get dragged back or give the dolphin a big kiss. Tortuga Rum was our next stop where we tried rum cake. Karen and I both always thought that rum cake was like fruit cake which it is not. We got to sample pineapple, chocolate and original rum cake. It was so good that we decided to buy a six pack of it.
And then we went to Hell. Hell is not that big. A couple of gift shops, a post office and a cool rock formation. We also saw a huge iguana right beside the post office.
On our way back to Georgetown, Gerry gave us some information about the Cayman Islands. There is no income tax and that is why there are over 574 registered banks in the Caymans. We noticed that all of the cemeteries that we passed, were along the beach. Gerry explained that before there was machinery to assist in the digging of graves, it was much easier to dig in the sand. Gas was also $5.74 an imperial gallon in Cayman dollars. This converts to about $8.00 USD / gallon.
We wanted to check out Seven Mile Beach, so Gerry dropped us off at Surfside Beach. Seven Mile Beach is comprised of many beautiful beaches over a span of five and a half miles. What was nice about this beach was that there was a restaurant, change rooms and you could rent loungers and umbrellas. We found ourselves a spot on the beach and proceeded to enjoy the beach and blue green waters of Grand Cayman. The beach was quite a bit busy since there were two other cruise ships in port today. I think next time we come, we will explore other beaches since there are so many of them. After a couple of hours of working on our tans, we picked up a taxi and headed back to Georgetown to do some more shopping.
We got back on the ship and enjoyed the rest of the late afternoon relaxing on the balcony. We were tired and did not feel like dressing up for dinner, so we decided to eat at the buffet. They were serving the same meals as they were in the main dining room … Roast Turkey with Apple Pecan Stuffing, Flank Steak and Wiener Schnitzel.
Tonight’s show in the Showroom At Sea was Recycled Percussion. When we first entered the showroom, each person was given a drumstick and something to bang … stock pot, dog bowl, frying pan, etc. it is hard to explain the show but basically there are four guys that are using recycled materials to entertain. There was a guitarist, two drummers and a DJ. They were on America’s Got Talent and because of that now have a show in Las Vegas. If you ever get a chance to see them, make sure you do. It is a high energy interactive show.
We thought we should try our hand at Name That Tune tonight. We got there early and a family sat down with us at our table. We decided to team up since there were two young kids. The show was hosted by the former DJ Styles who now goes by Show Host Styles. The category tonight was top 40. Styles said it would be half current and half from the past. Guess what … we won with a score of 32 points. The prize was a bottle of champagne and we gave it to the family since we just wanted the accolades.
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