bookbabe

This link was posted in another thread about the Prima having the same MDR menu all the time https://profcruise.com/norwegian-prima-dining-menus/

Happens everywhere, that’s why it’s important to check regularly. Good reminder for people, OP. At least it wasn’t the $98,000 specialty dining bill that one couple on RCL got… https://youtu.be/ZkwqNCZWqfE

Why not just rent a car and DIY? Might give you more flexibility and likely cheaper.

You are better off trying to arrange something in advance. There may or may not be cars available at the port, depending on your arrival time and how many ships are in port. There are lots of recommendations in other threads in this forum. FYI, the caves are nowhere near the rum distillery. The caves are about a 40 min drive each way from the port.

Ugh. The T3 US departures Plaza Premium lounge is the worst. If it wasn’t for the fact that there’s very little else in that terminal, we wouldn’t bother, even if it is free. Small, crowded, mediocre food, indifferent service. The lounges in the domestic and international sections are much better. BTW, if you are Gold or above on WJ, you can use the Delta SkyClub lounges in the US.

Check out Viking. Smaller ships, over 18 only.

A quick google suggests they’ll be open, since they don’t start closing for stat holidays until mid October. https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/visit/heures-hours

They don’t say reservations are needed on their website, but I’d email (or message them via FB) and ask to be sure. https://coralbeach.ky

The shipwreck one likely goes here: https://www.thingstodocayman.net/kittiwake/

Does Viking not at least refund the port fees related to that missed port?

@Hobson1754 If no one posts definitive info before you go, would you be willing to check out the memory foam pillow selection while onboard and report back? I’m in the same boat, so to speak, but as we don’t cruise until February I’ve got lots of time to figure out if/what pillow to pack.

You need to keep reading the website where you got the quote you posted. They clarify the “may need a second ArriveCan” part a couple of paragraphs later, which is where the PP got the info to summarize the scenarios they posted. The website ends up being pretty clear, but only if you read the whole thing in its entirety. They haven’t made it easy to get the correct info.

No idea about ones downtown, sorry. We aren’t downtown much. Our usual jerk spot is in a parking lot in Red Bay, near the Prospect Playhouse, on the original road rather than the new bypass. lol. I realize those aren’t very helpful directions, but I have no idea what the name of the place is, I just know how to get there. Google Maps seems to think the name is Red Bay Jerk Chicken? Not sure, it’s a dude with some grills in a parking lot. But it’s really good jerk.

We cruised on the Encore Haven in December and May, and both times we were fortunate enough to have Rao as our butler. He’s awesome, and we actually found him way more useful than the concierge most of the time. Yes, he’s the one who delivered snacks and such on an almost nonstop basis, but he did all sorts of other things that made our trip smooth and carefree. He’s the one that would somehow see us in a line (on ship or on shore to reboard the ship) and pull us out of it to bypass the wait. Anything we needed, he was our go-to guy. The second trip, he recognized us as we were following the concierge into the haven lounge at embarkation, and he swooped over and insisted on taking our carryons to the room so we wouldn’t have to deal with it. He’s also the one that had already called the plumbers and had them on their way up before we had even had a chance to mention the odd smell in the bathroom. Concierges have been hit or miss, and often ours have passed all the actual work onto their assistants. One was even so useless and foot-dragging at getting a billing issue sorted out that we gave up and went to wait at guest services to fix it ourselves. But we’ve been really lucky with our butlers, and have found them much more useful than we’d ever expected. We would absolutely opt into butler service if it was optional, now that we’ve experienced what a really good one can do to improve your cruise.

https://www.museum.ky/visit

As per the other threads in this forum, all of the pre-lockdown beach clubs other than Coral Beach have closed permanently. Unless something has opened in the last couple months and not been advertised or mentioned in the newspapers, which is unlikely, Coral Beach is your only beach club option on SMB. I believe White House in Bodden Town is even closed, there were for sale signs on it the last time we drove by. You could always contact them and see - https://www.thewhitehousecayman.com Others haven’t seemed to have had any luck with hotel day passes, other than Holiday Inn (not on SMB and their beach is crappy) via resortforaday, but if you have status with one of the hotel chains you could try calling and pleading your case, or just book a room and try for really early checkin.

Found it on an archived thread, thanks to the power of Google…. 😉 Dangerous Stingrays? (Bookbabe's standard answer to questions about stingray safety 😄 ) Stingrays are generally non-aggressive. When threatened, their first reaction is to swim away. This is easy for them to do at Stingray City, since it's just a section of open ocean and the stingrays aren't penned up in any way. They don't just attack you and sting you (although they can be fairly enthusiastic and/or boisterous in their quest for squid chunks). They may sting you by reflex/accident if you step on one. That's why you are not permitted to wear water shoes at Stingray City, and why you are told to shuffle your feet rather than lift them, so that you will not accidententally step on one. There are many, many types of rays. Steve Irwin was stung by a bull ray, a totally different type than the southern rays at Stingray City. It is also suggested that what killed him wasn't the sting itself, but the fact that he was stung in the chest and then pulled out the barb. There is also the issue that the bull ray was a wild ray and unused to people, while the Stingray City southern rays have spent years and years learning that people are not the enemy, they're a ready source of squid snacks. For most stings, which are extremely rare, Wikipedia says that the remedy is usually hot water to dilute the venom plus antibiotics. I don't personally know anyone who has ever been stung, so I just have to trust my research on that part of the issue. From my experience at Stingray City, which is fairly extensive, the usual "injuries" from stingrays involve "hickeys" from the suction of their mouths during a search for squid (say when your DH has stuffed a chunk of squid down your bathing suit for fun) or accidental scrapes from their tails when they swim by you too fast looking for squid and the tail kind of whips against you. These injuries are very minor, though, and are far from life-threatening. You'll notice the common element here is squid. Stingrays at Stingray City are only interested in one thing...the snacks that they know you've brought with you. No squid = no stingray attention at all. They're worse than cats that way. If you aren't giving them treats, they've got very little interest in you. They may swim by, just to double-check for squid, but as soon as they realize you haven't got any, they'll swim away again fairly quickly. If you are at all nervous about them, stay away from the squid and the stingrays will stay away from you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingrays http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death I've been to Stingray City dozens of times, and never had a problem with the stingrays. (With my DH, sure, but never the rays. 😄 ) It's very safe as long as you behave with respect and common sense.

A lot depends on how fast you can get onto the tender, either with priority access of some kind or by lining up, maybe ask in your cruise line forum to see what their tenders process is like, whether you need tickets or line up or what. A rental car won’t be that much quicker to get at any location, you’ll need a taxi if the rental company doesn’t offer a shuttle. Then there’s all the paperwork and such. You won’t save much time by having only one person go, since they’d then have to fight downtown traffic to pick the rest of you up. Stingray City is very safe. Totally different breed of rays, and very used to human interaction. We’ve taken toddlers out to swim with them without any issues. But if he can’t be convinced, it is what it is. If you search for Stingray City posts by me in this forum, I did post a good “is Stingray City safe” explanation a few years back which could give you some more detailed info to share with him. ***edit…posts that old don’t seem to show up, I’ll try to dig up the blurb in my files and repost it Beaches are easy, there’s lots of spots you could just grab a cab to, but the crowd levels will be higher with lots of ships in port, especially for the beaches that are easiest to get to. There’s lots of info in the other beach-related threads here. You wouldn’t need a rental car for that. There’s also the option of booking a private excursion to see the sights, which could even include stuff like the caves. Try Cayman Safari - https://www.caymansafari.com - they have lots of options and I believe they will do custom tours for private groups too. I’ve never tried them, we have a car there, but I’ve seen their vehicles out and about on cruise ship days.

It’s doable, but you won’t have a ton of time at any stops. Assuming you get onto one of the first tenders, allow an hour to get off the ship and get to the airport and get the car. Another hour will get you out to the caves. Say an hour at the caves, that brings you to 1pm. If you take the long route back around East End (turn left in Old Man Bay instead of following the road as it curves right to take you back the way you came) that will take you past a few beaches and the blowholes on your way back to town. If your ship leaves at 6pm, you’d want to be dropping off the car at 4-4:30pm depending on your comfort level with the timings and assuming the last tender is 5:30pm. The actual driving part of going around East End from the caves back to town would take a conservative 1.5 hours, allowing for slower driving based on unfamiliar territory and lower comfort level driving on the opposite side of the road. So that plan would give you a couple of hours of visit time at a beach. The blowholes take 10 min tops, just for some photo ops, and they’re on the way so it’s an easy stop. So it’s doable, as long as you get off the ship right away and you watch the time to allow lots of time to drop the car back off and get back to the port. Any delays would shorten the beach time, but personally I find that drive around the East End loop really interesting as a tour of its own, so I’m always happy to drive it just to sightsee without stopping anywhere other than that few minutes at the blowholes. (We have a house at Rum Point, so I always try to convince DH to “take the long way” at least once a trip when we are headed to town for groceries and such.) However, if you haven’t done Stingray City that’s an easy excursion either through the ship or a private company, and it’s on my list as the number one thing to do in Cayman.

The culprit seems to be HAL, and reports seem to suggest that they even say to just fill in whatever info will make the submission work even if it’s not accurate. Other cruise lines seem to understand the rules.

The first part is referring to the ArriveCan entry you will show at the airport when boarding your flight to Canada in order to board the cruise that departs from Canada. The second part of the above refers to the ArriveCan entry for round-trip cruises departing from and then returning to Canada, such as the round-trip Alaska cruises from Vancouver. Continue reading that same page to see the info regarding cruises that leave Canada and do not return (the next section, titled “Boarding Cruises and Shore Excursions” and select the option for cruises not returning to Canada).

Unless your cruise leaves Canada and then re-enters Canada, you won’t need an ArriveCan for the cruise. You will need one for your flight to Canada.

I would contact them and ask.

The closest location is likely Public Beach.

The info in other threads is correct. Coral Beach is the only beach club left, or there are various public beach entry points where you can DIY, or there’s Public Beach with a few facilities and some possible rentals available.