fireboat

We have been in Grand Cayman for three times. The first trip, we booked our stingray city tour with Stingray Sailing and then worked with them to include a island tour in beforehand since we had some time. They worked with a local cab driver to handle that portion and he dropped us at the marina the stingray tour went out of.

Our last trip this Feb., the weather didn't cooperate so the ship tendered in Spotts Bay and all the water excursion were cancelled. We booked an Island Tour with Capt Marvin on the spot. When I saw Capt. Marvins office along the street, I went right there because of their reputation here on CC.

My point is work with the company you are booking with and they will try to satisfy your needs. Just don't expect the moon.

One of the advantage of the kids clubs is that your kids meet some of the others on the boat. Our 15yo DD and 17yo DS were with on on a recent trip on the Brilliance. They both met kids that they spent time with. The kids in the group eat with the others family a couple of times. On the last night, they had their own table. A couple joined our 'adult' table of 12 and their younger kids joined the kids table. They also found an area to 'hang out' in after the club closed. The kids club facilitates new friendships.

15 yo DD wants to have her hair braided again. She had it done on the pier and was happy with it when we were there in 2010.

It sounds like it can be done at any of the beaches. Is there any place in town? Has anyone had it done at the pier lately? What is the going rate?

Thanks for your advise in advance.

Rented a Jeep to check out the ruin, to see more of the island, and to found authentic Mexican food. Rented from one of the places right at the pier. Read the horror stories on this board, so sprang for the insurance.

Don't remember all of the details but the DD still refers to our trip in the Jeep and says how much fun it was; DS mumbles in agreement. So it was all worth it.

Hello all,

DS's passport came the Friday before and DD's card came after the MLK holiday. Even before the 3 week check-in phone call. Very quick and money saved.

Only offered our decision on book vs. card knowing what the difference were. We have friends in NY so having the card for DD we can go on a day-trip to Canada. And yes, it is a good form of ID until she gets her drivers license. Since it has an official number, it can be looked up if needed. Also helped with RCCL's on-line check-in.

The USPS worker required both copies of DS permit and my license. I wouldn't risk a wasted trip sending him by himself; after all he is a teenager.

I called the USPS passport phone number to set up the appointments, that person scheduled them for the surrounding counties. She got me the quickest ones because of the closeness of our travel date. Didn't know the county clerk's office was an option.

It all has worked out with minimal hiccups. I hope all goes well with your travels.

My in-laws live in FL. Raleigh to Lake Wales: road time 10 hours. Feels like we've been doing it forever. We leave at 8PM and get in before 8AM. Being a firefighter was good training to do most of the overnight driving. I usually slip away after arriving for a nap.

Between 9pm and 10pm, we find a Cracker Barrel and put the kids in their pj's. They seemed to settle in once back in the car. We did the DVD for a while but found that DS would fall asleep while DD would stay awake until it was turned off. Also at Cracker Barrel, they have audio books (on CDs now); the young-reader books are labeled. Now with smart phone, there are apps for audio books. Our local library has "Overdrive" where we can checkout all types of audio books. My DS is now responsible for checking out audio books from the library for all our family trips. Listening to a good book is a great way to past the time and both kids would fall asleep. We listened to many of the Lemony Snicket series.

I have just got back from the post office where we had an appointment for renewing our kids passports [DS 17 yo; DD 15 yo.] First, the USPS workers and manager were GREAT. But we thought we had all that we needed; we were wrong but we still got it done in one trip.

First, I took my DS & DD to the appointment alone (DW was at work.) Either both parents have to be there OR a filled-out DS-11 form is needed, don't forget it has to be notarized. The one thing that we missed was a copy of her driver's licence front & back. At this point, I thought we were screwed (do not pass go, do not collect.) But the employee said that it could be emailed to them. So DW texted me a picture of the front & back and I sent it via e-mail to the manager's e-mail address.

Next, they needed a copy of my driver licence front & back for both kids. My 17 yo had to have a copy of his permit front & back. The copy machine in the lobby came in handy ($.15 a copy, coins or dollar bills required.)

Both kids had expired passport cards which they took. But the worker requested a copy of my 15 yo's birth certificate, which I didn't have because the website said one of either card or certificate. Thinking I was screwed again, the worker said that I can fax it to them when we got home. The fax didn't go through but when I called to confirmed that manager told me to email it to her. She also wanted a copy of my 17 yo's. They had held the paperwork, didn't send it on the 2:45 truck, but waited till the 5:45 truck so I had time to get home and fax it.

Moral of my tale:

1. the postal employees did everything and more to get our paperwork straight.

2. COPIES! Have copies of everything: driver licences (both parents), driver permits, birth certificates.

3. The Dept. of State takes checks for their payments. USPS takes checks, credit cards, and cash, this was the $25 processing fee per each application.

On the questions of book vs. card: We got the 17 yo a book since the passport is good for 10 years for children 16 and above ($110). For the 15 yo, we got a card since hers is only good for 5 year ($15 for card vs. $80 for the book.)

Oh last thing, promise. On the matter of paying for expediting. Helen counted the days; we are 4 & 1/2 weeks out. She said we'd make it without paying for the expedited fee, that saved us $60 per application. She gave us a sheet and told us to call in 3 weeks, if things weren't going smoothly, we could then request and pay for the expediting. Did I say how helpful they all were?

I hope that you have made it this far and have learned a thing or two about getting your family's passport renewal application in as smoothly as possible. DS & I went over the website and had the forms filled out and everything ready but there were hiccups.

I also write this for the future me when I have to do this again. You ole fool, BE WARNED!