We did the western for our very first cruise ever. Because we had not visited any of the ports, we opted not to do any excursions that would take up all the time from exploring the islands while we were there.
In Key West, we rented one of those golf cart cars to buzz around in. It was great...we headed down to Bo's for the best fish sandwich ever and conch fritters. Stopped at the Hemingway house and did the tour..we had already done the trolley tour, which is also great, so we headed down to the southern most point on our own. Stopped at our favorite art gallery to see what was new.
In Grand Cayman..at the top of the dock area is a taxi dispatch station...we wanted to go to hell and the turtle farm, they offered a 2 hour taxi tour that took you on a tour of the island, let you out at all the famous places to take pics, shop, etc, then they offer to drop you at a beach if you want, or back in town where you started to shop. We like to have lunches/dinners in port if we are there over meal time so we get a chance to visit with the locals and learn more about the places we visit. In Grand Cayman we found two wonderful places for lunch and souveniers....Rackhams...water side up on the left..not to far, and Big Bamboo, also water side, on the left, up not to far. Rackhams has a full menu (looked and smelt wonderful, but we had already decided to eat at Big Bamboo, because it was a microbrew with 5 beers to taste..lol), great souvenier store. Big Bamboo cooks fresh food for you on their deck grill it is wonderful. Next time, we will try Rackhams for food..the food looked and smelled delicious coming out of the kitchen. plenty of people were eating there.
Rackhams serves the Stingray beer brewed in Grand Cayman. It is also very good.
Oh, and the 2 hour taxi tour..excellent..great price..I think around $15 per person...worth every penny. We were not rushed at all, the driver was great..definately can recommend doing this on your own.
In Cozumel...we had mapped out what we wanted to do, and had taken some recommendations from previous cruisers on this board. So, when we got off the ship..there is also a taxi stand..kind if in the island between the streets. Prices clearly marked..just agree on price before you get into the cab. We wanted to go to mr. Sancho's beach area first, enjoy some sunshine and have lunch. Well worth it..we spent approximately 3 hours there. The food and service was fantastic. We loved it and look forward to going back there again..hubby said he could spend days there, it was so beautiful and relaxing. You can check it out at mrsanchos.com.
Then we grabbed a taxi back to town, we had them drop us at the forum shops..farthest shopping from the dock and we would work our way back...really not that long of a walk. We went up stairs to little havana or something like that so hubby could get cigars, had mojitos at the bar and visited with the manger and bar tenders, they were great. They gave us advice on where to get vanilla and tequila for better prices than in the souvenier shops. The grocery store of course..which was only about 2 blocks up..so we went there, made our purchases, and did the rest of our shopping. Of course, the forum shops are also where ou pick up your free diamond and tanzanite earrings..so we popped back in there....did that, and I ended up making a purchase as well. Nice people. We kept on shopping..lol..had too much to carry, so we went back to the ship, dropped everything off, freshened up some..as it was getting to be dinner time. We come back out..fished up the shops/areas we hadn't looked at yet, checked Senor Frogs, Hard Rock Cafe and then headed to carlos and charlies for dinner. It is right across from the dock. The magic is beautiful at night..restaurant is open in the front to the street. Fun music, dancing. The food is excellent, great servers. We had a blast.
Hope that helps, enjoy your cruise. Best thing is to be prepared!
Hi Susan! 
