Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Port and Shore Excursion Review

Pete Peterson
There’s good news and bad news about Georgetown; it is a beautiful town with a beautiful harbor with crystal clear water. Unfortunately, there’s no pier and everyone has to be tendered to and from the ship. This can lead to some long waiting times both getting off and getting back on the ship.

This is probably one of the only ports I would recommend a shore excursion and that is the one to see Stingray City. Some advice about this; first, make sure you go in the morning. When the stingrays hear the boats coming in the morning, it’s like someone ringing a dinner bell. However, because they feast in the morning, they are not as interactive in the afternoon and you miss out on all the fun. The stingrays are extremely docile and playful.

Occasionally, they will actually adhere to your body with their mouths and suck on your skin, leaving big ‘hickies’. So if you handle pieces of squid to feed the stingrays, don’t touch other parts of your body. But it’s worth it just to see and pet them. There are usually several shore excursions that include a stop at Stingray City. I highly recommend that you take one that includes a stop there and Coral Gardens. Otherwise, after about 20-30 minutes, you’ll get bored with the stingrays and there’s nothing else to see since it’s a white sanding bottom. If you take the excursion that includes Coral Gardens, you also get to snorkel and see some fantastic coral and beautiful fish. There are several companies offering these trips, so you do not need to purchase one through the cruise line along with everyone else.

Since we had done the Stingray City tour last time with this group, everyone decided to do their own thing, so the kids went shopping and then to the beach. Nancy and I decided to go the Hell! Yes, there’s a small place in Grand Cayman called Hell, so we decided to go see this tourist spot. We found that getting a taxi was out of the question as they are very expensive. So, we inquired about local transportation and found they have vans that leave every 15 minutes or so near the library. We walked over there and were told it was $2.50 per person to go anywhere on the island. Off we went on another adventure. The town of Hell is not much of a town and not real high on my places you have to visit, but what the hell, it was a hell of a good time and unusual.

After spending time in Hell, one likes to cool off. So back we went on public transportation to the beach. We found a great little place on 7-Mile Beach called Calico Jacks. They had great hamburgers, French fries, onion rings, and especially cold beer! The beach was wonderful, the water was clear and warm, and the rest of the day was spent having a wonderfully relaxing day. We met another couple who, it turned out, were also from the ship. The four of us came together and enjoyed each other’s company then shared a ride on public transportation back to town just in time to make the last tender to the ship. The kids keep reminding me that I bragged too much about being the last one on the ship that day. Hey, I take great pride in that feat, which has happened on many, many occasions.

While in Grand Cayman, instead of taking a shore excursion, you can walk either north or south of the pier and find scuba shops. They offer snorkeling right there in the harbor in the crystal clear water.

Following your morning adventures, you can walk around and do what most cruise ship passengers love to do: shop! Grand Cayman is not a cheap place. In fact, it’s one of the more expensive places in the Caribbean, so don’t expect to find any real bargains there. But the people are friendly, there’s plenty of air-conditioned shops, and great food.

One of the more popular items you’ll see offered everywhere is their famous rum cake. They all offer free samples, so try before you buy as they all different. The Tortuga Rum Cake you see everywhere is not, in my opinion, all that good. There are some local brands that are much better.

Another thing you’ll see offered a lot is Tortuga Rum. It’s okay, but I recommend you wait until your stop in Jamaica to buy your rum – better prices and better rum.

One important note; you will see a lot of Cuban products for sale, such as the famous Cuban cigars and coffee. Be advised that contrary to what they tell you, you cannot bring Cuban cigars back into the United States! I know one guy who unfortunately listened to the untruths provided by the salesperson and bought a whole box of cigars only to find out after he got on the ship that Customs would confiscate them. He ended up passing them out to everyone on the last night of the cruise to smoke after dinner. Cost him a lot of money to learn that lesson. So, if you have to buy one, only buy one or two to smoke before your cruise ends. And if you like cigars, then you definitely have to try one of these – they are very mild and very nice.

After the day is done and it’s time to board the ship, you’ll usually find a long line. Well, the good news is that cattycorner from the dock there is a very nice English pub upstairs. They not only offer excellent libations, but they have a great view of the dock so you can watch the line. Our group drank in air-conditioned comfort while watching this long line of hot sweating passengers wait their turn to board the tenders back to the ship. Gee, now there’s a tough choice: wait in line and sweat or sit in a cool bar and drink beer.

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