Chief Cruiser Posted October 12, 2005 #1 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Just my opinion, but here are the details. I was in Grand Cayman on September 28, 2005 on the Carnival Inspiration. There were 3 ships in port and it was awful. The shops, resturants, and sidewalks were elbow to elbow and tempers were flaring. I had looked so forward to finally getting to Grand Cayman and I was so disappointed with our experience there. People were so thick, I felt like at times it was impossible to breathe. Based on what I observed, I would be inclined to either stay on the ship or seek a secluded beach somewhere if presented with that situation again. Unless of course, you are one of those kind of folks who camps out half the night at Wally World to fight 10,000 people for those Thanksgiving bargains on the Friday after. If so, then more power to you! You will feel like you are in paradise for sure! I don't know if the number of cruisers in port that day had anything to do with the time issues we ran into or not, but my wife and I took the Grand Cayman Highlights tour. I think it cost either $35 or $39 per person. The tour was operated by Kirk Tours (purchased through Carnival) and I do not recommend this tour. There are no highlights in Grand Cayman (that I saw or was pointed out to us) unless you call every hotel along the beach being pointed out as a highlight. The ONE and ONLY thing other than a hotel that was pointed out as a highlight was the Govenor's Mansion, which we saw for about 30 seconds after we pulled over to the side of the road. We then moved on. The tour was slated to last 2 hours. It actually took about 2 hrs. and 15 minutes and here is the breakdown of how that time was spent. 10 minutes at the Tortuga Rum Factory. 10 minutes at the Town of Hell (which is nothing more than a souveneir shop and a Post Office and the Post Office wasn't even open!). 24 minutes at the Turtle Farm. These total times that I mentioned includes off loading the bus, walking to the "attraction", time at the "attraction", walking back to the bus and reloading. You didn't have time to turn around hardly. Rush, rush, rush. No quality time at all on any of these stops. The rest of the time was spent in traffic. The traffic was unbelieveable and I can't imagine the traffic and people jam that will take place with more ships in port as when I was there. Surely, there are other routes to expedite traveling to and from the port to these tour destinations ot give you more time. I personally feel the time at these stops were shortened to accommodate the additional time spent waiting in traffic, which really takes away from the cruiser's experience of the island. I was really frustrated and disappointed after returning to port. I felt like I had spent 2 hrs. on a bus and saw nothing. I am in the process of drafting a more detailed letter to Carnival to express my disappointment in this shore tour. Just my opinion, but there must be a better way to drop $70-$80 in the Caymans other than sitting in traffic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cali-croozer Posted October 12, 2005 #2 Share Posted October 12, 2005 There were 5 ships there when we sailed and, there's a post on this boards about 10 ships being in port!:eek: The dock area was crazy! We went to Smith's Cove (about a mile and a half to the right of the dock, away from 7 mile beach) to escape the crowds. Back at the dock, my husband did some shopping (he always gets a HD shirt) and the kids and I went back to the ship for some peace. Sorry your excursion wasn't too exciting; your tour, however, did do the highlights of Grand Cayman (that's about all there is there, tourist wise). But not spending enough time in each spot and getting stuck in traffic must have been frustrating and unexpected. The island, still picking up the pieces from the hurricane, just can't handle that amount of people, in my opinion. Hope you have a better experience if you go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjidog Posted October 12, 2005 #3 Share Posted October 12, 2005 We'll be in Georgetown in January. Seven ships are scheduled to be in port that day. At least I now know what to expect.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cali-croozer Posted October 12, 2005 #4 Share Posted October 12, 2005 benjidog.....a tip for you. Get back to the tenders early. I got on the tender, without a wait, about an hour before "last call". The lines for the other ships, leaving earlier than ours, were way down the block. The time before that, we waited until the last minute and were stuck in the tender line (very hot) for 45 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjidog Posted October 13, 2005 #5 Share Posted October 13, 2005 benjidog.....a tip for you. Get back to the tenders early. I got on the tender, without a wait, about an hour before "last call". The lines for the other ships, leaving earlier than ours, were way down the block. The time before that, we waited until the last minute and were stuck in the tender line (very hot) for 45 minutes. Thanks, I just added that to my notebook for Georgetown. I think the excurtion we want is 3 1/2 hours. I hope that's enough time. We will pick one from the ship just in case. I guess it will just depend on what time it starts. We're there from 8 to 5. And I want to get in a little shopping.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
We'll Sea Posted October 22, 2005 #6 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Chief Cruiser, We were there last week, took the same tour on October 13 and had the same experience. It was awful. We had, I think, 5 ships there that day. Our tour was rushed and crowded. No time to buy and send a postcard from Hell. The rum cake shop was so crowded you couldn't move. Our tour bus was right along with several other buses making each stop packed with tourists. Shopping was hot and irritating with crowds and honking cars. We were back on the ship by 1:30. Didn't drop near as much money in GC as we did in the other ports we visited. If there is a next time, we'll either stay on the ship or just go to the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoes4445 Posted October 22, 2005 #7 Share Posted October 22, 2005 We're spending a week there in January, and even I am getting concerned about the crowds. I know we can take off and go wherever we want in our rental car, but the crowds almost seem to be too large for this island. I have a travel book that says GC limits the number of people on the island (from cruise ships). I can't find the book, but it was a reasonable amount, like 4,000 or so. I guess they have changed that...Well, we'll see. I'm sure after Ivan, they want as much money coming in as possible, and started allowing more ships in port (since so many of the hotels were still closed), but 8-10 ships is nuts. When we were there, there were 2 ships in port and the place was packed. Stingray City was packed. I just can't imagine what it's going to be like with the possibility of 16,000 to 18,000 people getting off of cruiseships (on Thursday's). Thursday's seem to be the worst...so were're coming and going on those days. I'd hate to try and do anything on the island on those days. We also did the tour that the OP talked about...and it was lame. We only did it so we could be one of the first off the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photocruiser Posted October 24, 2005 #8 Share Posted October 24, 2005 If you are going to hell!!!!... at least preprint your address labels before you leave for your cruise so you can send postcards. Have someone stand in line at the cash register and someone else pick out postcards; give them to your partner and buy them and the stamps. Hurry and place preprinted address labels and put the postcards in the mailbox just outside the shop. Be prepared that these postcards might get to their destination at least 3 weeks later. It might have been due to Katrina; as we finished our trip a day after Katrina hit Miami, Chief Cruiser' date=' We were there last week, took the same tour on October 13 and had the same experience. It was awful. We had, I think, 5 ships there that day. Our tour was rushed and crowded. No time to buy [i']and[/i] send a postcard from Hell. The rum cake shop was so crowded you couldn't move. Our tour bus was right along with several other buses making each stop packed with tourists. Shopping was hot and irritating with crowds and honking cars. We were back on the ship by 1:30. Didn't drop near as much money in GC as we did in the other ports we visited. If there is a next time, we'll either stay on the ship or just go to the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
We'll Sea Posted October 25, 2005 #9 Share Posted October 25, 2005 That's a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2relax Posted October 25, 2005 #10 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I was fortunate to be at Grand Cayman when there was only one other cruise ship in port. (We were there while Katrina was hammering the U.S.) We went to Stingray City. It was the best experience I have ever had in the water with the stingrays. Even nonswimmers enjoyed it. I would highly recommend this excursion independently or through the cruise line. Be sure to get the earliest one available. We were one of the first boats out there for the day, but there were probably ten more boats there by the time we left. We had a good location, and I was never bothered by the other people. Since we got back early in the day, I was able to hit Del Sol and make my purchases with very little disturbance. By the way, I think there is ALWAYS a lot of traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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