Year 2 Day 360 – “Living the Dream”. Monday, 4/24/2023. Day 10 (George Town, Grand Cayman) of 21-night Radiance of the Seas, Galveston TX to Los Angeles, CA. cruise. We are in George Town, Grand Cayman early in the morning. George Town is the capital of the Cayman Islands.
This port is a tender port. The tenders started around 7am. People seem to be up earlier in the mornings on this 15-night cruise compared to the six-night cruise last week. I think it is due to the age of the cruisers on this trip. This trip there is an older age group than the last one. After dinner last night in the main dining room, we went for tea in the Windjammer, and it was empty. That is very different than the six days also. The main dining room is full and buffet empty. On the shorter cruise filled with younger people it is the opposite. Another thing we noticed on this ship is that there are a lot of older crew members. Why is that? Old ship, older crew members. Are the older crew members sent here, have they been assigned to this ship forever, or is there a shortage of younger people that want to work on cruise ships? We will probably avoid the Radiance class of ships in the future. We do like the ships with the promenade deck and a little newer with no shower curtain. We are on the tender at 8:30 am.
It took about three minutes or less to get from the boat to the dock in the tender.
It’s a decision people need to make when they cruise a lot. Are you cruising for the ports, for the ship, or for the crew. Every ship has its pros and cons. We are cruising on this ship for new ports and going through the Panama Canal. I also like to experience different ships. My feelings are the crew make the biggest difference in your cruise experience. If you want to learn more about this port. Here are links to my webpage for two previous visits. George Town, Grand Cayman
1) https://deestimes.com/2020/02/29/george-town-grand-cayman/
2) https://deestimes.com/…/14/living-the-dream-year-2-day-10/
When you get off the tenders the first thing you will have Royal Caribbean taking pictures. Take advantage of those great photographers. After you come through the gate into the fenced port area there are some really nice restrooms and then some vendors.
The streets are very clean. The stores have come back which is nice to see. Last time we were here was right after the island opened up from covid lock downs. We are off the ship earlier than most shops are open. Most stores open at 10am.
The sidewalks have mostly been refurbished with nice brick designs.
We walked to the right on the street down to the crafters market. It is no longer there. The sign was painted over. That was sad to see. We found a telephone less telephone booth. I guess you stand by it with your cell phone.
We then headed to the left of the dock past Balboa Beach. This beach is named for a shipwreck located in the harbor. We stopped at a local small fish market on the water. They were selling Triggerfish that were caught yesterday. They charge 7 CI per pound. It is common for snorkelers and/or divers to be bitten by triggerfish because they are very territorial. However, such a bite isn’t going to be extremely painful or life threatening. It isn’t believed that the triggerfish bites people in an effect to consider them as a food source.
Swimming in the water all around are huge Tarpon. Tarpon is edible but people rarely eat them because their meat contains a lot of small bones and it’s reported that they don’t taste very good.
It was very hot and sunny. We walked by the water back to the port where we boarded a tender and went to the ship before lunch.
The ship is tilted to allow easy access to boarding the tenders on deck 2 starboard. They fill one side of the ships balusters with water to make one side of the ship heavier. Of course, you feel like you are walking across a sloping hill while walking around the ship. A Cayman Islands Port Authority Harbour Patrol boat sat alongside of our ship all day. We were the only cruise ship docked here today. We started with five tenders and at 2pm we went down to two tenders transporting. Last tender leaves port at 5:15pm.
Steve is constantly annoyed that I am creating my daily blog on my phone. It takes a lot of time to write this blog. If I didn’t write this daily blog, I would go bonkers on a day like today. I am not one to sit around. In the afternoon we went to the diamond lounge and grabbed a specialty coffee to go. The Diamond Lounge concierge on this cruise is fantastic. Always greets you with a smile and will assist with anything you need. He is not in the Diamond Lounge in the afternoons though. His hours are listed below. This is normal for all ships.
This is the view from the tables in the Diamond Lounge. The ships are very quiet on port days. Different class ships have different spots for their Diamond Lounges with different views. Some actually have no windows.
We took our coffee and went and sat by the windows in the park Cafe where we could watch the water twinkling in the sunlight. So pretty! And at home all is quiet!
Here’s a video of our Balcony Stateroom 1510.
Our stateroom hallway dead ends into a Crew only area.
Look at these ship animals watching the pool swimmers. If they look to their right, they can see me on my balcony waving to them. You know those animals would not wave back. I know they wanted too though.
On our way back to our room we walk thorough by the card room in the centrum and see this closet full of games. I can’t see myself playing board games on a cruise. But the tables are usually full of people playing games. And look at the number of games stacked in that closet.
I am loving the new evening Main dining room menus. There is something for everyone.
It is so nice to be welcomed to our cabin in the evenings by a new towel animal. We have the best stateroom attendant.
Today’s product recommendations are for traveling by car. 1) We always carry this Igloo Playmate cooler in our back seat. She is always belted in. We carry water, lunch and snacks. We never go anywhere without it. https://amzn.to/41rWJNa 2) A first aid kit is also a necessity when you could be on the road far from a town. This is a great one. https://amzn.to/3Uyo2Ty 3) We also keep wet ones in all our vehicles. Using rest areas or eating snacks require the use of good antibacterial wipes. https://amzn.to/3UCWhJS 4) I also always keep these toilet seat paper covers in our vehicles. I hate those interstate rest area seats. Men have it so easy. Not us ladies we have to sit on those seats. Sometimes they are really wet from other people’s bodily fluids. How gross is that. These work great. Keep them in your vehicle or purse. https://amzn.to/41qjz7J
To see more about Radiance of the Seas, click here: Radiance of the Seas – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count
To view the complete daily diary, click here: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count