Day 3: Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman was an early port call.  Fortunately, it came right after we switched the clocks, so everyone got to enjoy some extra sleep.  We went to breakfast around 8 and it was super-crowded.  We couldn't even find a seat in the restaurant.  I think there were two factors: first, everyone was up early to get started at Grand Cayman and second, it was drizzling out, so not many people were eating on the deck.  We found a seat outside the restaurant, which was a bit frustrating (carting plates and drinks and kids all over to find a seat), but we eventually got to sit and eat.

I did not book one of the Disney excursions, so we had no particular muster time.  None of the excursions were very appealing.  We knew we wanted to see the Turtle Farm, but Disney only had it combined with other activities, like a dolphin swim, which would have been fun if more than 1 of us could participate (kids were too young, I was too pregnant).  So, I booked it on our own.

Grand Cayman is a tendering port, which means you can't just walk off the ship.  You have to catch a boat from your ship to the dock.  It took a bit of time before there were enough people to load the tendering boat. When we got to the dock, there was an information desk and they were very helpful in calling the Turtle Farm for us.  The farm sent someone to pick us up.  It was about a 20-minute drive from the port to the farm.  We saw lots of chain restaurants and a few chain stores (no WalMart though).  The island reminded me a bit of Jamaica.  Almost everything is closed on Sundays, so the roads were very quiet.  There are also only a few stoplights on the island so the drive went by quickly.

our ship, you can see the two tendering boats attached to the ship

The Turtle Farm was pretty interesting.  They let you get in the water with the turtles, which the kids loved. After we had seen all the turtles, they had a water play area.  We spent a couple of hours there and then decided we should head back to the ship for a late lunch (I was all about getting my money's worth on the ship and not buying food in port).  We all liked the Turtle Farm, they had some extremely large turtles swimming around, as well as smaller turtles and babies.

These were the huge turtles, unfortunately, it is hard to get an idea of perspective from this picture

The turtles liked to be rubbed underneath their chins (like cats), they would hold very still if you would "pet" them the right way.

A small area of the pool

We found a driver who took us on a little tour of the island, including a stop at the infamous "Hell," a black, limestone rock formation, supposedly named because someone looked at it and said, "this is what hell must look like."

Once back at port, we were able to get on a tendering boat, but for some reason, it took a long time before we could get back to the ship.  I am not sure if there was a problem with the group in front of us, but we had to sit for awhile.  I think the whole process took about 45 minutes.

We ate lunch, once again at Cabanas.  By the time we finished, it was probably close to 2.  Once again, the afternoon time is a bit of a blur. We did showers and then took the kids to the kids club, so they could do Super Sloppy Science.  Jack again chose not to participate, instead spending all his time on the computers.

Dinner was at Cariocas, a brazilian-themed restaurant.  The food was disappointing. I wish I had taken pictures of the menus, so I could remember everything.  I know I got some sort of seafood kabob, with tilapia and lobster and I couldn't even eat the lobster.  It tasted like rubber.  I remember being unhappy with all the courses, even the dessert.

The kids were given kid's choices each night, like pizza, chicken tenders, or macaroni and cheese or they could order something from the restaurant menu.  Most nights, they ordered from the routine kid's menu. One night Jack had steak, which he loves.  I think the girls also chose something more fancy, less fried, one night.  But, for the most part, they ate pretty much the same foods during the trip.  They were given melon with each meal, but I felt like there were not many kid-friendly healthy options for snacks or meals for them. Maybe kids with more sophisticated tastes would fare better.

After that, we continued the routine of dropping them off at the kid's club while we finished dinner.  Then, we walked around a bit before picking them up for that evenings entertainment--Villains.  Villains was about Hades (from Hercules) trying to hold on to his rein of the underworld.  It was not nearly as dark as it sounds. We didn't like it as much as Twice Charmed, but it was still good.

Finally, it was bed time.