Cruising to George Town, Grand Cayman

The first stop on my eleven day cruise on the Celebrity Equinox was to George Town, Grand Cayman. It is one of three islands nestled in the western Caribbean just 480 miles south of Miami. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are the other two islands that make up the Grand Cayman Islands.

I travel all the time and have been to several islands in the Caribbean but this was my first time in Grand Cayman. The weather was very nice at about 81F. We had to take a tender boat to the island because the waters around Grand Cayman were very shallow. A huge cruise ship can’t dock in shallow waters. The tender boat is a small boat that takes you from the ship to the island. It took about 15 minutes.

Every cruise line offers a shore excursion for each port of call. We opted out of the Celebrity shore excursions because it was cheaper to just hire a taxi driver to tour us around the island. If you are traveling solo, I would definitely recommend going on a cruise sanctioned excursion for safety reasons. But bring extra money because the cruise sponsored shore excursions can be very expensive. Since I was rolling deep with my family, we decided to do our own thing.

We hooked up with a driver named George Bush. Ha! His name really was George Bush. George offered to take us around town and give us a little tour for $15 per person. Our first stop on the island was at Hell. You could send a postcard to your friends from ‘Hell’ and see the unusual rock formations caused by volcanos.

We also stopped at the Rum Factory and sampled some rum cake. They must have had every flavor of rum cake. From original to pineapple to banana. So many choices. I also picked up some liquor that apparently isn’t sold in the US but it’s for cheap on the islands. Has anyone every heard of Pure White Hennessy? I’m not a drinker but my mom said that it’s the bees knees and you can’t really find it in the states. When you do find it in the states it’s because folks have imported it and will mark the price up more than fifty percent. I was able to get the Pure White Hennessy in George Town, Grand Cayman for only $35.

Celebrity Cruises also offer price matching on liquor found at any port of calls. All you have to do is show a picture of the liquor with the price and Celebrity will match the price in their liquor store. I ended up having to use this option when I realized that I wanted to buy another bottle of Hennessy for a gift. I just showed the store manager my picture on my phone and he honored the price I received on the island.

If you love the beach, Grand Cayman is the spot where you can scuba dive, lay out on the beach or enjoy other water sports. Unfortunately water is kryptonite to my travel partners so I didn’t experience any beach excursions on my trip. Womp! Womp! Which sucked because I bought a lovely new bathing suit. I do encourage travelers to make time for the beach while they are visiting George Town, Grand Cayman. It’s a must.

Below are some images I captured of my time on the island.

My nautical look while exploring George Town, Grand Cayman.

Lava rocks in Hell, Grand Cayman

My dad and our tour guide George Bush.

 

 

 

 Unusual rock formations from lava.

If you are ever in George Town, Grand Cayman, reach out to George. He and his daughter run a great touring service.

Have you ever been to the Grand Cayman Islands? Where did you go? What did you do?