***NOTE*** I had to split this into two...I had too many pictures! imagine that!
Anyway, after a few minutes the van arrived. Somehow we never ended up taking a picture of the van but it was a 10 passenger van, I believe by Hyundai. It was quite nice, fit us all in well (along with my suitcase). The drivers side was the same as the drivers side here, so that worked out, and I was nominated to drive. The funny thing about that is that everyone I know complains about my driving (too fast, too erratic
stop almost running off the road, no picking your nose and wiping it on the dashboard
.oh wait, that one you didnt need to know about), yet somehow I always get nominated to drive. This has plagued me my entire life, from back when I was a kid. Of course I had to peddle the car, and walk both ways uphill to school, but that is a story for another time, and certainly does NOT belong in a trip report.
So we piled in and it was time to go to Hell. Darn it, another digression. I forgot to tell a story when writing my day at sea portion of the TR. Knowing we were going to Grand Cayman the next day, I had a diabolical plan. Our Neighbors are somewhat religious, not overzealous by any stretch of the imagination, but they take that stuff seriously (not that I dont
oh crap this isnt coming out right, but hopefully you will understand). So that night at dinner I waited for DNH to give me a hard time (a regular occurrence, which I have a hard time with because Im mr. innocent
). When he did, I looked him straight in the eye, pointed at him (for effect you know) and said, loud enough for our whole table to hear)
Thats it, tomorrow your going to Hell.
Ok, so maybe it wasnt that funny. But DNS9 was extremely concerned about why I would say that to his dad. Funny, looking back I think maybe that wasnt the best use of my judgment. Seemed right at the time. Huh.
So we headed to Hell. Hell is not a large place. Actually saying it is not a large place really doesnt give it the justice that it deserves. Its tiny. Two little stores and a whole bunch of cool looking rocks, picture opportunities and post cards. Lots of witty sayings like I went to hell and BACK and such things as that.
Connor and Nick in Hell
Connor is the Devil in Hell
Nick is the Devil in Hell
If you rent a car, I recommend you go there, just to say that you have done it. If you do not rent a car, please do me a favor and do NOT waste your money on a cab ride there. Two seconds and you are out of there. So there you go.
Our next mapped out destination was the Turtle Farm. I thought this was going to be neat as I figured we were visiting a place that repopulates the worlds Sea Turtles. DS8 (Nick) is a big animal lover, so I figure he is going to love this place. He is defacto a animal conservationist so I figure that plays together well.
Ahem. Well did you know that on Grand Cayman they EAT the turtles??? Like the title says, Turtles for breakfast. So I suppose in a lot of ways where we were going is like going to a cattle farm and playing with the cattle. Except these were smaller, slimy and you could pick them up. Dont get me wrong
Im not the squeamish type, so I dont have any idea why the idea of eating turtle bothers me. Strange.
Anywhooooooo, we arrived at the Turtle Farm and paid admission. Yup, admission. Boy they sure have you there, dont they? They charge admission AND they charge you for food. To feed the turtles. That they are going to sell for food. What a great racket. Clearly Im in the wrong business. Im moving to Cayman and going into the turtle business. It was about $50 for two adults, two children and two bags of food. Once you go in, it is laid out kind of like a small aquarium. In the middle was a giant pool with the large sea turtles. This is where you go to feed the turtles and we did our part. They swim over and eat away. If you have never seen Sea Turtles, it is a cool opportunity to see them up close and personal, real personal as you will see in a moment.
During this time there were many tours that came through. I would assume this is an excursion. Let me give you another tip
dont pay for an excursion to the Turtle Farm, rent a car and go on your own. It will be cheaper, and you can latch onto a tour and listen to what the people say
and it wont cost you a dime (other than the $50 you paid to get in), plus if you rent a car you dont have to drag your %#^%@%%^$ suitcase with you.
Next we went to the left to the tanks with the younger turtles. Now I was a bit shy at first, not knowing what to do other than maybe petting them. Then one of those tour people I was mentioning came along and started yanking turtles out of the water. Once you get them out you hold them by the shell, but if you only hold them by the shell they start flapping their little flippers around
and they are STRONG! Oh, and the shell is sharp. So be careful. However, we were taught a secret. Look around
is not one else watching? Come closer to the screen
.a little closer
ok, perfect. You can stroke them under their chin and then will calm down immediately. No flapping, and no cutting of your hands and arms with their shell. Shhhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone.
Here are the cute pictures:
Nick with a Turtle. Told you he loved animals. He ended up with his entire shirt soaked because he kept pulling the turtles out of the water.
Connor was harder as these little guys were heavy. So he needed some help, and some convincing that it was ok to hold them.
Look at this good looking guy! And yes, thats me hold him.
This next picture might take a bit of explaining. Some of you have read about RASUL from some of the other posters. I am not 100% sure what it means, but can infer from their posts. Let me just say right now that DW and I did not engage in RASUL, so I was forced to look elsewhere for my loving. nuff said.
She was slimy, but satisfying.
So after we got our $50 worth of viewing turtles we headed to the gift shop to donate more of our money. We bought a Christmas Ornament (which was very cool), and both kids bought something as well. Our Neighbors had similar experiences, and then we were ready to head back out. We asked someone about lunch and they pointed us down the main road (which would happen to bring us past the beach we would ultimately go to) to a bar. No idea what the name was
but it was basically a sports bar, nothing to write home about. We got some Nachos, and some drinks (the beer was quite good I must say).
Then it was time for the beach. We had heard that we should go to the 7 mile beach across from the Courtyard. We headed there and found a spot to park right next to the beach, hopped out (yes, with the suitcase in tow), and found our spot. Timing was everything for us here
I think that a lot of folks came right to the beach from the ship and got lounge chairs, etc. There were tons of them by the time we were there and the beach was fairly empty. It was fabulous, we basically had a place to ourselves. The water was warm and very clear. We even saw a stingray! There were also lots of little fish that provided quite the entertainment as the kids thought they could trap them. Needless to say we did NOT have sushi that day.
Nick and Chris in the water
Connor and Kathryn enjoyed the beach. Actually Connor more than Kathryn, our neighbors arent big play in the sand people while I enjoy building sandcastles and Connor enjoys destroying sandcastles. We are a good pair.
arent we cute???
Nick and Chris spent the majority of the time there snorkeling around (aha! Someone use all the crap that I lugged around). It was difficult at times to keep track of them, I think next time Im going to buy bright orange snorkels or tie a float to their backs or something.
After a couple of hours it was 2:40 and it was time to head back to the ship. The last Tender was around 4:30, and we had to return the rental car. So we packed our luggage and brought everything back to the van. Mike and I dropped everyone off back by the Tender and went off on our quest to return the car. So, one thing I need to mention here is that I am not the best at directions. Lets face it, I would get lost in a box. Mike is only marginally better at direction than I am
yet somehow we ended up with the job of getting the car back. And the added pressure that if we were late we would miss the ship
be stuck on a beautiful tropical island with no kids
warm water and sand. Thinking back, perhaps we tried a bit too hard to make it back in time.
So we wandered the streets and actually found the rental car place fairly easily. We stopped in the parking lot to pick up some Cuban Cigars (yeah
Im a real rebel) for smoking later. Remember all that alcohol that I brought onto the ship with the intention of drinking? Similar experience with the Cigars. They were a fabulous idea
and I really would have enjoyed it, but finding the time just didnt happen. Waste of some money
but it is pretty cool just to be able to say I bought Cubans.
The rental car place drove us back to the Hard Rock Café (another part of their service) and we were there with plenty of time to spare (over an hour!), so we did what any good husband would do when presented with the opportunity to rush back early. We hit the bar. We had a beer and enjoyed each others company for a bit, and then wandered over to the launch so we could tender back to the ship. We got on the Tender and it headed back when
.wait for it
.the ships horn blew. HOLY CRAP! They only do that when they are ready to leave. Luckily we were actually on the tender and they didnt leave without us. How ironic would that beer at the Hard Rock have been then???
We got back and took showers and dressed
tonight was a big night for us
for it was
PALO! Woohoo! We took the kids up to deck 9 and fed them (pizza and chicken strips, what else?). Then we went to do pictures
cause that is what you do when you are on the boat and dressed. How else would Shutters survive?
Nick, Connor and Mickey!
Nick, Connor and Donald! Donald had been Connors favorite for a while, recently replaced by Stitch. But we still like him.
Then it was off to the clubs and lab with the kids so we could have some adult time. When we got up to Palo it was kind of funny because there were people waiting. We got quizzed by the guy behind the desk if we had requested a server (which we hadnt), and then our server from brunch came rushing up all excited to see us. Apparently he had taken the liberty of putting his name on us
AND saving us a very cool table so we didnt have to wait. You really cant beat that. I really wish I could remember his name. I do know he was from India, and was really nice.
All of us at Palo
I think we have all read about the great service at Palo, right? Well, this guy took it one step further. He looks at me and immediately says, is your finger all better now? No more cast?. If you read earlier I mentioned my broken finger. This guy had seen me once for brunch and remembered that. I was amazed. Yes I realize he probably simply wrote it down
but it was that extra magical touch that makes Disney
well, Disney.
We had all kinds of food, Procietto Pizza, Margherita Pizza, Calamari, Filet Mignon, and of course we had to have the Chocolate Soufflé which I wont even try to explain to you. Its like you have died and gone to creamy rich, cakey chocolate heaven. Unless you get the vanilla sauce All in all the food was fabulous and we ate like pigs (as expected).
Trying to enjoy our time without kids we headed to a show, Mickey Mania. This is like a quiz show where you go on stage and compete. So they told us to be loud. We were loud. They wanted to know who wanted to play
we wanted to play. They told us you had to have a kid with you. What a disappointment. Now I know what Sleep feels like. So we skulked out of there and went to the lobby
and would find none other than Mickey and Minnie!
All of use with the king and queen of the seas.
So here we are
4 adults with no kids
There are so many possibilities, some involving lotions and such
what do we do now???
Yup, we look at pictures. That little shop of horrors. Im pretty sure you have the ability to mortgage your house so you can buy more pictures. They have low rates there as well.
The biggest benefit of looking at the pictures is that Mike has the uncanny ability to make interesting expressions in almost all of his pictures. I dont know that any of us (Mike included) has laughed that hard in a long time. I cant really describe it
so most likely its not that funny to you.
It was time
we picked up the kids and headed back to go to bed. A long, but great day in Grand Cayman
with so many more ahead. Oh, and of course a towel animal
A Stingray for us
by the way
dont forget to eat the chocolates.
Thats it folks
Clearly I havent written in a while
I wanted to split this episode in two
but DW came to your defense since its been forever since I posted. So here you go, hope you enjoy!
Next up: Chapter 12 Swimming with Dolphins
.
, and then they took Connor and Kathryn to the Luau party in the clubs. While they were gone we hit the foosball tables...
. the best laid plans of mice and men 
). We could see the lights of Grand Cayman off in the distance which was pretty cool. This, to me, is one of the better things about being on a cruise ship. If you stay in a hotel and wake up in the middle of the night, first you probably cant go outside without getting dressed, and even if you do happen to be rich enough to have a hotel room with a balcony it wont be showing different things day by day. I LOVE this and its one reason we are fans of cruising.
) But I digress.
