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Grand Cayman has many sights to see, from turtle farms to Stingray Bay, from submarine rides to shopping, from snorkeling to scuba, from Seven Mile Beach to Hell, there is a lot to see. The thing is, I’ve (we’ve) been here and seen a lot of it already. I did not feel like doing any excursions, so I waited my turn for “general” tendering.
Grand Cayman does not have a dock. They use tenders to take passengers to and from each ship. The total capacity in port right now is 11,400 with all four ships. Tenders carry 150-200 people and run 10-15 minutes from ship to port. Each ship (even the big ones) seem to get 4 tenders, two at ship side and to port side rotating in. If half of the passengers wanted to go ashore, how long many trips would each tender take each way?
See kids (and even those of my generation), when you asked in school if you would ever use math in real life, did you ever think it would be something like this?!
There were two carnival ships and two NCL ships, ours and the “Prima”, one of the newest super liners. These are floating cities. They offer so much on board that it would be daunting for me, how would I pick between the water slides and go carts, or the miniature gold, or the….? As impressive as they mega-ships are, I think I like the smaller ones just fine.
The crew, however, may be a another story. Many took to the deck and took selfies with the Prima behind them. Many like the larger ships, better pay and better accommodations, or so they tell me.
I hear the announcement that general tendering is now available and I make my way to Deck 4 where I board a boat for a 10 minute ride into Georgetown.
With four ships in port, the streets were full as were the shops. There were many storefronts vacant, “ravaged by Covid” according to the store next-door. Like other port towns, there were bars and restaurants (which were packed), souvenir shops, and jewelry shops. I had eaten before leaving the ship. I stepped in a few shops and found one selling sodas and grabbed one. I made my way around until I found a nice jewelry store.
I was immediately approached by a salesman and he walked me through the store. He picked up several pieces to show me and when we got to the case with the Tanzanite, he picked up that I was interested. Teresa loves Tanzanite and if I could find a good deal, maybe I’ll get her a little something. He started to show me earrings (generally less expensive than necklaces or bracelets). I explained my wife did not have pierced ears and he immediately went up to a necklace/pendant. He explained the differences in color (deep vs light) and which were more valuable and desired. I listened while he went on and one and on, the history, the rarity, the mining process, how the stone my be blue in some conditions and violet in others and … on … and on… and I let him. Not that I am an expert by any means, but I knew that about half of his pitch was incorrect, inaccurate, or out right wrong. He did make some good points too, don’t get me wrong, but much of it was to impress someone “fresh off the boat”.
He held the necklace under the light and it sparkled for sure. He laid it on a cloth and grabbed his calculator and began punching in a sequence of numbers. He turned it around to show me, saying it retailed for $3,500, but with all the traffic coming through, his manager authorized him to sell it for $2,500 USD. I smiled and said “that’s over my budget”.
Without skipping a beat, he asked, “what might you budget be? I might be able to take more off, or find you a piece that fits.”
I smile back and tell him I had $750 or so I was willing to spend. He put the necklace away and pulled out another. The stones were lighter and “less desirable than the deep blue of the one I showed you, but still very nice”.
He tapped away and it came to $900, on the first try. I smiled, “Still too high, but I also know my wife’s tastes. She would have liked the other better.” Let me think about it and look around some more. Maybe I can come up with a little more.”
I continued to look around and he followed me like a puppy. I found a nice bracelet a few cases down. The stones were Lapis and were bluer. He tapped away and again came and he wanted $1200. I politely put it back down. I looked at a few more things and then thanked him and walked out.
Now my phone was on, but in airplane mode. I was not going to risk “roaming international” charges. But, a few building down was a HardRock Cafe. As I walked in, the hostess said it was a 60-90 minute wait. I did not want to eat, just walked into the shop. There, they had public wifi, several really. My list showed “HardRock_Guest” and “HardRockCAFE__Guest”. I looked above the register and saw “HRCGuest” posted as their official WiFi.
I connected and looked it up, same stone type (lapis) and gold plated bracelet around $59-$65. Yep, the same…. Glad I was not a sucker.
By the way, I dropped from the “official” WiFi and tried the other two. My phone has a VPN and firewall and when it detects and intrusion or other malicious activity, both fire up and logs it. Both networks were phishing sites, my apps popping up immediately and both were trying to read things on my phone they had no business with. So, beware of “public” sites and only use ones the stores are actually hosting (though VPN and firewalls are still recommended).
As I was walking into another store, happened to see a lady I saw in the jewelry store. She was wearing a similar bracelet, very similar…. I was afraid to ask.
The other day, I had stopped to talk to some friends as I was passing through O’Sheehans. Both had ordered the fish and chips and it looked delicious. I thought that I would have to try it some night and tonight was the night. I went to the bar so as not to take up a table by myself. While it took a while to get my order in, once placed the plate came out pretty quick.
The fish was done just right, not overly battered and fried perfectly. It was fresh too, not frozen. The chips were thin cut fries and snapped when bent. I had to ask for the Malt Vinegar, but that was fine. I would definitely order this again.
When I finished, I got a refill on my drink. The Stardust show was still a few hours off, so I took my drink upstairs to the lounge and get back into my book. And…..
… I got several chapters in before I looked at my watch. The Stardust show was going to start in 20 minutes. Somehow, I missed the courtesy alarm I set. I rush down and get to the theater. It is PACKED, but I find a seat in the balcony. The waiter stops and says it is the last call to order drinks. I ordered a “Bushwacker” and waited for the show to start.
The show started right on time and Simon took the stage. I looked down to the seating area and there was hardly an open seat anywhere.
Simon starts out by warning that this is the adult only show, 18 and up. He says if you want your kids to learn new things and ask you about them for the rest of the cruise, let them stay. He waited.
Once he started his set, the laughter never stopped. I’ve seen many comedians (doing clean and dirty sets) and few have kept the audience in stitches for as long as Simon did. I swear he crammed 90 minutes of comedy into 45 and no one cared. When the lights came up after his final bow and the audience was walking out, I heard one woman tell her husband that they needed to get back to their cabin. “Why”, he asked? “Why?!”, she exclaimed … (seriously, I think she raised her voice instead of hushing it) … ” Because I laughed so hard that I had pee’ed!”
A gentleman walked passed holding himself in a hug and telling his friend his sides hurt… his friend agreed. Mine, too, were a bit sore.
Seriously, Simon’s shows are not to be missed.
After hanging out in the “lobby”, I walked into the casino. I was still pumped from the show and decided to play some “Ultimate Texas Hold’em”. I played for an hour or so and lost about half my buy in before retiring.
