wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Monday 28th October
I had the teeniest of headaches this morning, which was quickly resolved by a hot shower and a couple of Krispy Kremes for breakfast. Today we were docking in Grand Cayman and Gary and I had an early excursion planned. The kids were also doing an excursion today but not until the afternoon. Wed had to sign a special letter the day before, giving Sian permission to take Daniel off the ship.
For our excursion, we were taking a tour of Grand Cayman. Sian had decided months before that she wanted to swim with the dolphins and had very sweetly offered to pay for Daniel as well. She had saved all her tips from her job as a waitress and was really looking forward to it. Cassie, Nate and Luke were taking the same excursion also. Since they werent leaving the ship till the afternoon, the kids slept in, then swam for a while.
After gathering up sun cream, cash and phones, Gary and I walked downstairs to The Tube, ready to meet for our excursion. It was a bit manic as there were several groups meeting there, for various trips, but we had soon registered and received our stickers, identifying which group we were in.
When we were given the signal, we all had to follow one of the crew down to Deck 1, where we boarded a tender. I have never tendered before so it was quite good fun. It all seemed very well organised and we were on the second tender to leave the ship. Just as soon as we left, another tender was waiting nearby to pull up.
I took several pictures of the beautiful ship as we sailed away.
On reaching the dock, we all disembarked and followed the crew member who had the paddle with our corresponding character on. A sign welcomed us to the Cayman Islands.
We were led out to a small mini bus. I really hoped we were going on the yellow and blue tram but it was not to be.
We were able to get some great unobstructed pictures of the Fantasy from here too.
Our driver/guide greeted us and we all climbed aboard. Our first stop was Government House. Because the Queen is head of state, there was a Union Jack flying outside.
Just outside of George Town, we stopped to see Old Homestead (The Pink House Museum). This is the most picturesque house on Grand Cayman and has been fully restored to its original beauty. Our guide told us this is probably the most photographed house on the island.
We drove a little way down the road running parallel with Seven Mile Beach.
It didnt look like much from where we were but I suspect there are parts of it that are lovely. From here we could look across and see the Fantasy moored up.
Our next stop was Hell. This is one of the islands most popular tourist sites and consists of some very strange rock formations. Apparently, it obtained its name from a British colonial official who declared that this must be what Hell looks like.
I couldnt resist buying a postcard for my work colleagues. I wrote on it From one Hell to another. Except its hotter here! It cost 25c to post and it arrived at work the day after I got back so took just over 2 weeks. Not bad really Royal Mail could learn a lot from them.
It was a really hot day and we were parched so bought ourselves a Diet Pepsi, which made a welcome change from the Coca Cola served on the ship (sorry Nate).
Our next, and final, stop was the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm. It is located just across the road from Dolphin Cove, where the kids were doing their dolphin swim. We parked up and were taken over to the Turtle Farm. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name called and looked over to see Char, Jen, Rob, Cassie, Logan and Gabe. We had a brief chat, then rejoined our group. After receiving our wristbands, allowing us to come and go, we went through to the farm.
Our guide gave us a thorough tour of the turtle farm and we were able to hold one of the turtles. There was also an area where you could take off your shoes and socks and paddle with the turtles too (although I didnt fancy that).
We also bumped into Holly and her daughter, Brittany, here.
Getting to hold a turtle was a wonderful experience. They flap about a bit at first but our guide explained that they calm down if you stroke them under the chin. It was really quite funny. The one I was holding was obviously getting a bit stressed as it had a bit of a flap attack and his (or her) flippers slapped so hard against my arm, it went bright red. It actually really hurt.
Our guide gave us some free time to wander around so we explored the rest of the area, then decided to wander across the road to Dolphin Cove to see if there was any sign of the kids.
We couldnt see them but had a nosey at some of the people doing their dolphin swim. Now I know people have different opinions about dolphins in captivity and everything and I dont want to start a debate here but, compared to Discovery Cove, I thought this place seemed very impersonal. From what we could see, it was in, do your bit, out. I still believe the dolphins wouldnt perform if they werent generally happy but, even so, it was very regimented.
We were back at the minibus early. It was looking pretty stormy and we could see rain clouds in the distance. As we were about to get on the minibus, I saw a coach go past and recognised Sian and Daniel sitting on it. It pulled up into the car park, so I ran over to see if they needed cash (I was very aware that Sian had no cash as you didnt need it on the ship) to get a drink or something. Sian had luckily had the foresight to bring a couple of bottles of water, which she had bought on board. She briefly told me that their excursion hadnt been very well organised so far they had been late leaving, little or no guidance on where to go when they tendered, no towels provided etc. I could see all our group were now back at the minibus so I had to rush off but said wed see them back on the ship later.
We boarded the minibus and drove off, directly into the worst rainstorm ever. I couldnt believe the amount of rain that fell in such a short space of time. There was so much water on the roads, it was pretty scary.
We were soon back at the dock. We had met a lovely couple on the cruise and they very kindly took a picture of us in front of the ship.
We were lucky and there was a tender waiting so we were back on board fairly quickly. After just a small breakfast, we were starving so headed straight up to Deck 11 to get some lunch.
I had the teeniest of headaches this morning, which was quickly resolved by a hot shower and a couple of Krispy Kremes for breakfast. Today we were docking in Grand Cayman and Gary and I had an early excursion planned. The kids were also doing an excursion today but not until the afternoon. Wed had to sign a special letter the day before, giving Sian permission to take Daniel off the ship.
For our excursion, we were taking a tour of Grand Cayman. Sian had decided months before that she wanted to swim with the dolphins and had very sweetly offered to pay for Daniel as well. She had saved all her tips from her job as a waitress and was really looking forward to it. Cassie, Nate and Luke were taking the same excursion also. Since they werent leaving the ship till the afternoon, the kids slept in, then swam for a while.
After gathering up sun cream, cash and phones, Gary and I walked downstairs to The Tube, ready to meet for our excursion. It was a bit manic as there were several groups meeting there, for various trips, but we had soon registered and received our stickers, identifying which group we were in.
When we were given the signal, we all had to follow one of the crew down to Deck 1, where we boarded a tender. I have never tendered before so it was quite good fun. It all seemed very well organised and we were on the second tender to leave the ship. Just as soon as we left, another tender was waiting nearby to pull up.
I took several pictures of the beautiful ship as we sailed away.
On reaching the dock, we all disembarked and followed the crew member who had the paddle with our corresponding character on. A sign welcomed us to the Cayman Islands.
We were led out to a small mini bus. I really hoped we were going on the yellow and blue tram but it was not to be.
We were able to get some great unobstructed pictures of the Fantasy from here too.
Our driver/guide greeted us and we all climbed aboard. Our first stop was Government House. Because the Queen is head of state, there was a Union Jack flying outside.
Just outside of George Town, we stopped to see Old Homestead (The Pink House Museum). This is the most picturesque house on Grand Cayman and has been fully restored to its original beauty. Our guide told us this is probably the most photographed house on the island.
We drove a little way down the road running parallel with Seven Mile Beach.
It didnt look like much from where we were but I suspect there are parts of it that are lovely. From here we could look across and see the Fantasy moored up.
Our next stop was Hell. This is one of the islands most popular tourist sites and consists of some very strange rock formations. Apparently, it obtained its name from a British colonial official who declared that this must be what Hell looks like.
I couldnt resist buying a postcard for my work colleagues. I wrote on it From one Hell to another. Except its hotter here! It cost 25c to post and it arrived at work the day after I got back so took just over 2 weeks. Not bad really Royal Mail could learn a lot from them.
It was a really hot day and we were parched so bought ourselves a Diet Pepsi, which made a welcome change from the Coca Cola served on the ship (sorry Nate).
Our next, and final, stop was the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm. It is located just across the road from Dolphin Cove, where the kids were doing their dolphin swim. We parked up and were taken over to the Turtle Farm. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name called and looked over to see Char, Jen, Rob, Cassie, Logan and Gabe. We had a brief chat, then rejoined our group. After receiving our wristbands, allowing us to come and go, we went through to the farm.
Our guide gave us a thorough tour of the turtle farm and we were able to hold one of the turtles. There was also an area where you could take off your shoes and socks and paddle with the turtles too (although I didnt fancy that).
We also bumped into Holly and her daughter, Brittany, here.
Getting to hold a turtle was a wonderful experience. They flap about a bit at first but our guide explained that they calm down if you stroke them under the chin. It was really quite funny. The one I was holding was obviously getting a bit stressed as it had a bit of a flap attack and his (or her) flippers slapped so hard against my arm, it went bright red. It actually really hurt.
Our guide gave us some free time to wander around so we explored the rest of the area, then decided to wander across the road to Dolphin Cove to see if there was any sign of the kids.
We couldnt see them but had a nosey at some of the people doing their dolphin swim. Now I know people have different opinions about dolphins in captivity and everything and I dont want to start a debate here but, compared to Discovery Cove, I thought this place seemed very impersonal. From what we could see, it was in, do your bit, out. I still believe the dolphins wouldnt perform if they werent generally happy but, even so, it was very regimented.
We were back at the minibus early. It was looking pretty stormy and we could see rain clouds in the distance. As we were about to get on the minibus, I saw a coach go past and recognised Sian and Daniel sitting on it. It pulled up into the car park, so I ran over to see if they needed cash (I was very aware that Sian had no cash as you didnt need it on the ship) to get a drink or something. Sian had luckily had the foresight to bring a couple of bottles of water, which she had bought on board. She briefly told me that their excursion hadnt been very well organised so far they had been late leaving, little or no guidance on where to go when they tendered, no towels provided etc. I could see all our group were now back at the minibus so I had to rush off but said wed see them back on the ship later.
We boarded the minibus and drove off, directly into the worst rainstorm ever. I couldnt believe the amount of rain that fell in such a short space of time. There was so much water on the roads, it was pretty scary.
We were soon back at the dock. We had met a lovely couple on the cruise and they very kindly took a picture of us in front of the ship.
We were lucky and there was a tender waiting so we were back on board fairly quickly. After just a small breakfast, we were starving so headed straight up to Deck 11 to get some lunch.
