Grand Cayman

[tecdavidt]

Just to let everyone know, our cruise this Jan. 12 has Grand Cayman as one of its ports of call. This is one of the new ports of call for the Magic's new western itinerary. I am looking forword to checking it out. The temps there have to be better that what we have now!!! I need a little sunshine and warmth. Kathy

 

[Michelle]

Kathy, I assume you are you going on a NON-Disney cruise on January 12? We'll be interested to hear your impressions of Grand Cayman!

 

[tecdavidt]

Yes Michelle, it is a Carnival Immagination 5 day. I wrote about it under my post of "Another air security?" It is just Dave and myself, no kids. They didn't care, they prefer Disney over Carnival and they know they are going on the Magic during Spring Break this March. I am looking forword to the itinerary. The first day is at sea, day 2 Grand Cayman, day 3 Ocho Rios, day 3 at sea then wake up back in Miami. We have never been to those ports and then I realized Grand Cayman was one of the new Magic ports! Preview for our March '03 cruise. Kathy

 

[deebs]

Go swimming with the stingrays...you won't regret it!

 

[prymsu]

Do the Atlantis submarine, it is only a block or two walk from where you take the tender to shore. That was really worth it...

 

[Tluvs2talk]

When we went to Grand Cayman we took the tour to see the Turtle Farm and Visited HELL. We even mailed out postcards from there. Hell is a hokie little town that is pretty interesting ,with black rock formations that smell like burning sulfur. The little post office there is were you mail your postcard from "Hell." I sent my Preacher one and he thought it was kinda amusing. The shopping is expensive but we enjoyed it. We also went to one of the Resorts and paid to use the amenities and have beach acess. We also saw were the stars have homes such as Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan. We enjoyed this small island, Grand Cayman is approximately 22 miles long and 8 miles at its widest point, reaching a maximum elevation at East End of 60 ft.

 

[KendraS]

I agree w/ Deebs...we booked a non-cruise excursion w/ Capt Dave (i think that's his name) when we were on RCCL - it was very good...much more time to snorkel/feed stingrays, etc. than anything offered by the ship. Grand Cayman was definitely fun!

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by KendraS

we booked a non-cruise excursion w/ Capt Dave (i think that's his name)

Was it Captain Marvin (<a href="http://www.captainmarvins.com/">link</a>)?

 

[KendraS]

We sailed on the Voyager in May...you would think I could remember the name of the guy! Yikes...I am getting old! Thanks Dave...if anyone wants info on Capt. Marvin go to the cruise critic boards...under ports of call will be phone number/fax. People have great things to say about his trips.

 

[keenercam]

Dave-- You are amazing! I love having the info for Captain Marvin's this early!!
We did an excursion to Stingray City on our Celebrity Cruise in February 2000 and it was the experience of a lifetime!!! Was looking for a way to do it as a non-ship excursion. the dcl itinerary says arrival at grand cayman at 7:00 a.m. Do you think we'd likely make the 8:30 time? or should we book later. I'd hate to chop up our day too much by booking a later trip and having to kill time before hand. what do you think?

also, can you recommend a good beach for when we return from stingray city? Last trip, we just wandered around downtown, but there wasn't much to see or do and the shopping didn't provide any great bargains, though I did get a great steel drum band CD at a quaint little shop near the tender point! Anyway, I imagine a bus brings us back to where the ships tender and we'd like to go to a beach near there, again so that we don't lose too much time.
thanks!

 

[tecdavidt]

Thanks for all the good tips! Kathy

 

[Pugdog007]

We're not going to be in Grand Cayman very long. How long does it take to tender in?

Is it better to book with Capt Marvin or wait on DCL to send out excursion info?

 

[KendraS]

Capt. Marvin will take your ressie over the phone w/ no payment until you get there. That's what I remember. I would call him and book something...you can cancel later if you decide to do something else.

He has a good policy...if for some reason your ship can't get into port than he doesn't charge. I had read of various circumstances where the RCCL Voyager couldn't dock so I was sort of concerned about booking this excursion and then not being able to go...that's why I appreciate his policy!

 

[Samsma]

Grand Cayman is heaven, my favorite place on the one cruise I have ever taken (1997) We just layed on beach at a local resort that allowed Cruise passengers in. I heard the turtle farm excursion and the stingray city was also really good. Shop in Cozumel, not Grand Cayman, very expensive, and they don't barter.

 

[DIScrusnmommie]

Thanks for the info everyone. Just visited the site. Captain Marvins excursion is one that our family of 5 can actually afford!!

Thanks again.

 

[benny2bunny]

We done the imagination cruise last Sept, whilst it's not a touch on Disney it was well intresting.
I loved Grand Cayman, although comapared to other ports found it quite expensive, one of the good buys was the Tortuga cream, alittle like baileys only 5 times nicer, and the tortuga cake, it is delicious!!!! The Black coral is also lovely, but not to everyones taste.
I hope you enjoy your carnival cruise, if you have done Dianey don't go expecting the same quality, it's just not there.
Just have fun and don't expect to much and you will have a great time.

 

[Amzey]

I went to Grand Cayman on a 7-day Carnival Destiny cruise back in '98 - I had a lot of fun there. I think it was there that I did the stingray swim, which was really neat - my sister, then 9, was terrified of them though. "Hell" was also interesting.. of course we had to send the postcards from there. The turtle farm offended me (vegetarian) so I went back in the van - but other than that, I really loved Grand Cayman - I liked that they had my favorite Cadbury's British candy too.

 

[Joe & Joanne]

Hi
Just wondering if Black Coral is still on the endangered species list? If so and it is available for purchase (made by local craftsman) would it be allowed back in the U.S.?

 

[Diana and Toby]

We just took the Capt. Marvin excursion in December and loved it! They are a great company and much cheaper than what RCCL wanted. Capt. Marvin will take no more than 25 on the boat, while the cruise line will take around 75 (maybe more). Capt. Marvin excursion gets to the Stingrays before the cruise ship passangers, so they were hungry and ready for us. Snorkling was great. They have a life vest if you get tired. We had fairly rough seas with about 5 foot seas, so about half of us ended up with the vests. They are very personal and answer any questions you have. It was even educational!!

Any questions let me know.

Diana