The blue dots indicate the four ports of call.
For the next four days, each day was spent at a port of call. This day, it was Georgetown, Grand Cayman.
Here's a VERY rough approximation of the cruise route:
The blue dots indicate the four ports of call.
We had an early breakfast, and I noticed out the window that we weren't the only cruise ships in town:
Ship Parking
I went up on deck to take a picture of the Grand Cayman shoreline:
Grand Cayman
...and then we caught a tender to shore:
Boarding The Tender
Small Boat. Large Ocean.
We've been to Grand Cayman once before, on our last cruise. That time, we weren't able to take the dog with us. This time we were, although we had to jump through a number of bureaucratic and veterinary hoops to do so. However, there was one small problem.
Someone from the ship had called ahead to make sure there was a representative from the Grand Cayman Agricultural Department on hand to meet the guide dog users at the dock, to clear the animals for entry. Turns out, however, that they thought all of the dog users were going ashore together, whereas in fact, Terry and I were going on a different shore excursion from the others, and were going ashore about an hour earlier (see what I mean about ghetto-izing?). Consequently, there was no one there to meet us.
So phone calls were made, and we waited, and fretted about missing our tour, but the government person showed up, and North was clear to enter the country, and we caught our tour, and all was well.
While we waited, I observed the pier area. It was much the same at each of the ports - areas where people gathered for the various tours, freelance tour operators trying to snag people who hadn't already signed up for a tour, tacky souvenir shops, etc. You need to get away from the pier area to get any kind of feel for the place. I also got this picture of some local wildlife:
Local Wildlife
We met up with our tour group and boarded a bus...
Tour Bus
...which took us to our first stop, the Nautilus "semi-sub." This is a variation on the glass-bottom boat idea. The ship never actually submerges, but the passenger area is all underwater, and you can look out the windows and see the sea... so to speak.
The Semi-Sub
So we sailed around, and saw the sights under the sea. Lots of fish, of course. Unfortunately, most of the pictures I took didn't come out. Here's one of a diver feeding the fish:
Feeding The Fish
The yellow and white striped fish, apparently, are called "Sargeant Major Fish."
We also saw the remains of two shipwrecks, the Balboa...
Wreck Of The Balboa
...and the Cali.
Wreck Of The Cali
In the third and fourth pictures, you can see more of the Sargeant Major fish, and in the fourth, you can see the Cali's anchor chain.
Underwater tours like this are fascinating. I went snuba diving in Hawaii last year (sort a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving), and I had the same reaction - it's a completely different world down there, and we landbound critters are barely aware of its existence. At times, it looks literally otherworldly - like you were seeing the surface of another planet.
I saw many other things down there, that I didn't get in the pictures. Lots of fish, of course, of all colors. Parrot fish, which have multicolor spots. A whole school of bright blue fish. There were barracudas, but they were on the other side of the ship, and I didn't see them. Lots of rocks, most of which weren't rocks at all, but coral. Something called brain coral, which looks just like a human brain. Fascinating.
By the way, it wasn't all blue, it just comes out that way in the pictures. In fact, the range of colors that I saw were much the same as on land.
After we came up for air, we waited for the tour bus...
Waiting For The Bus
...which took us to the next stop, The Butterfly Farm, which is exactly what it sounds like. A guide took us around the farm, gave an entertaining and informative talk about the life and times and sex lives of butterflies, and showed us various caterpillars and chrysalises. Then we had a chance to wander the garden and watch the butterflies on our own.
Lots Of Butterflies
The butterflies in that last picture are called Owl Butterflies, due to their coloration. Apparently, their favorite food is rotting fruit. The wonders of nature...
Let me make a comment about the butterfly farm. I was not aware that butterflies become butterflies when they are about to die for reproductive purposes. Aall this time, I thought that becoming a butterfly was the big deal, sort of like when Pinocchio becomes a real boy. No, this is not true. Another interesting fact was that the guide was from England. Many of the guides are from elsewhere, it seems; everyone wants to escape, and some do it permanently. I didn't get a chance to touch any of the butterflies, none landed to caress my shoulder (sigh), but I did get to hold a caterpillar. It was also really warm, so much so that the sweat poured down my back while we were standing there just listening to the guide expound on larvae and pupas and all those other facinating subjects. It was very informative, and I felt that I learned a great deal.
After the tour, we looked at the gift shop (I bought a calendar). Then we stepped out onto the porch to wait for the bus back into town. At the side of the porch, I noticed...
A Banana Tree
...a real live banana tree, with real live bananas growing on it. To someone who lives in the tropics, of course, this is no big deal. But to a city boy like me, who thinks that bananas come from a bin in the supermarket, it was a thrill. Terry also checked it out:
Terry And The Bananas
We took the bus back into town, and went in search of lunch. At this point, I'll pause to give a little bit of information about the Cayman Islands. This is largely plagiarized from the information handed out by the cruise line.
The Cayman Islands were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1503, on his final voyage. He originally called them Las Tortugas, after the sea turtles that were there. On later maps, the islands were referred to as Caimanau, the Carib Indian word for crocodile, although the name actually (though inaccurately) refers to the iguanas that are native to the islands.
There are three Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. The cruise ships all seem to go to Grand Cayman, although all three are inhabited. The islands were a territory of Jamaica until 1962, when Jamaica gained its independence, but the Caymanians elected to remain British subjects, which they still are.
So we went to lunch at...
Corita's Copper Kettle (downstairs)
...which had been recommended by a guard at the pier, who we were talking to while we waited for the man from the government to check out the dog. Here's the inside of the restaurant:
Corita's Inside
Terry had shrimp, and I had a jerkburger, which is not as nasty as it sounds. It's a burger with jerk sauce, which is a highly spicy kind of sauce usually associated with Jamaica.
After lunch, I took a picture of what the Cayman Islands are perhaps the most famous for:
A Bank
...and also this picture of the Peace Memorial and monument to King George V:
Memorial and Monument
And then we went and did a little shopping at the duty free shops. I bought Terry a pair of earrings. We also looked for 151 rum. The last time we were in Grand Cayman, we bought a bottle of 151 proof Caymanian rum - that's 75% alcohol. We still have some left. You drink that stuff SLOWLY. Anyway, they don't have it any more. The most they had was 140 proof. Still potent, but somehow, not the same. We did, however, buy a rum cake.
At the shopping area where we were, there were a number of parrots flying around loose. Just as I was pointing them out to Terry, one right over her head let out a tremendous squawk and scared her to death. Also, there were some iguanas in a cage:
Iguanas
Look close, they're there.
Just before we caught the tender back to the ship, I took this picture of a church:
Elmslie United Church
...just because I thought it looked pretty.
As we headed back to the ship, I was able to get this picture of the entire ship from a distance:
The Legend of the Seas!
So we got back to the ship, took a rest, took a walk, had a drink with Rob and Lee, and went to dinner. This night, halfway through the meal, the dining room staff paraded around the room, and the head chef introduced himself and his staff, and then they all sang "O Sole Mio."
We took another walk, played in the casino for a while, and then went to the show. This night, it was a comedian named Troy Thirdgill. He was hilarious. I don't think I've laughed so hard in years. Check his website. There are some clips of his material. (If you have a popup blocker, you'll need to disable it).
Before the show started, though, we had a special presentation. There were a lot of kids of various ages on the cruise, and the ship had a variety of special programs for them. This night, before the show got started, a couple of dozen kids, wearing kerchiefs on their heads and carrying carboard swords, came marching down the aisles and up onto the stage, and did a little pirate skit. Very cute.
Pirate Parade!
After the main show, they had a "Love and Marriage Gameshow." Sort of a takeoff on The Newlywed Game. They got three couples up on stage - one that had been married 10 days, one that had been married a few years, and one that had been married over 50 years. Then the wives went backstage, and Gavin asked the men personal questions, and then the wives came back in, and they were asked the same questions. And then the husbands went backstage, etc. The old couple won, and we all thought that was as it should be.
That night there was a "Dancing Under The Stars Party" on the pool deck, with a midnight buffet. Terry and I went with Rob and Lee, but it was too noisy and crowded. So we went into the Solarium and had some pizza at the snack bar.