ETA 12/28/15: We did this same excursion again in November 2015. You can read the more recent post by clicking here.
Our only port excursion I have not reviewed yet is our excursion in Grand Cayman. This was our very first port excursion, way back in February 2013. Just a warning that this will be a very picture-intense post as our private charter for that day had a dedicated photographer on board and she took TONS of amazing pictures.
For our day in Grand Cayman, we (along with my in-laws, who were cruising with us) reserved a private half-day charter through Cayman Luxury Charters on their largest boat, the Cayman Elusion. I was extremely happy with this company and would highly recommend them. In fact, we have booked them again for our stop in Grand Cayman on our upcoming November cruise. Our day included stops at Stingray City, Coral Gardens (a popular snorkeling spot) and Starfish Beach. Included in the cost were snacks and drinks, a 3 person crew, as well as the use of the jet ski & snorkeling equipment and the services of a photographer (with all of the images later mailed to us on a CD).
When we first got off the tender and onto the island, we met our taxi driver at a spot right near the dock. She had been recommended by Cayman Luxury Charters and I had prearranged with her (through email) to take us to and from the dock in the Camana Bay Area where the Elusion is kept. By the way, the Camana Bay Area looked like a great place to explore if you are looking for something fun to do on the island (they have a great website here). The taxi driver was a very sweet lady whose family had lived on the island for 6 generations. Her van was nice and clean and while we drove, she told us all about the island and described the things that we were passing. After a short drive we pulled up at Camana Bay and saw the Elusion and crew waiting for us. Now, it is an understatement to say that this is a beautiful boat. I regret not taking more pictures of it, especially the interior rooms down below which included a seating area, kitchen area, 2 bathrooms and a bedroom as well as a storage area. The crew was very nice and professional. We had Adam the captain, Arthur the First Mate and Catherine the photographer. Once the crew showed us around and verified our itinerary, we settled in and Catherine started taking pictures:
Soon we were riding off towards Stingray City:
When we arrived, we saw that we were one of the first few boats to get there that day:
It was nice to have the place to ourselves for a little while! There were tons of boats and people there by the time we left. After Adam dropped the anchor and they moved the jet ski out of the way, we put life jackets on the girls while Arthur and Catherine jumped in the water ahead of us. When we got in, Arthur helped us interact with the stingrays while Catherine started snapping away. As you can tell by the quality of the photographs, she had a VERY nice camera.
The girls were a little nervous at first, but soon they warmed up to the stingrays:
Arthur told us that this one was name Frisbee because it didn’t have a tail:
After we played with them for a little while, Arthur and Catherine brought out some squid to feed the stingrays which was really neat:
After feeding the stingrays it was time to get back in the boat and head to Coral Gardens to go snorkeling. On the way, we ate some snacks and Arthur told us about the types of fish we might see:
When we arrived, we all got snorkeling gear (except for my youngest who was 3 and too young) and after a safety briefing from Adam, we jumped in. I appreciated how safety conscious the crew was. Adam explained that he would circle us on the jet ski as we snorkeled and told us how to signal him if we needed help. He also showed us how to give him the “I’m OK” sign. Here we are getting in:
This is one of my most favorite cruise pictures ever:
And after we got home, I realized that I inadvertently captured the same moment from above the water. Here you can see Catherine taking the above photo:
Here is my youngest, watching from the boat and keeping an eye on everyone:
Catherine got some great snorkeling shots:
It wasn’t too long before our 6 year old wanted to get back on the boat but was really far away. Adam came to her rescue and gave her a lift:
After we had snorkeled for a while it was time to head over to Starfish Beach. This is a beach where the girls could play for a bit and is home to lots of huge starfish. Here we are pulling up while Arthur drops the anchor:
We waded to the shore and right away Arthur swam down and got a starfish for us to look at. I have seen pictures of this beach where the water is clear and you can see easily starfish, but on the day we were there the water was cloudy for some reason. So, the only one we saw was the one Arthur got for us. Right away Catherine snapped some great pictures:
While some of us played on the beach, others took the jet ski for a spin:
I think Catherine took this as I waded back to the boat to get my camera:
After we played and walked on Starfish Beach for a while, our time was almost up so we had to head back to the marina. On the way back, we all decided to ride up front and enjoy the view:
As we were pulling into the marina, we went through a mangrove forest and there were lots of HUGE iguanas in the trees like this one. It was really neat to see!
Sadly, our excursion was now over. As we got off the boat, we said our good byes to the crew and our taxi driver was waiting for us. She drove us back to the port area where we caught the next tender back to the ship. We loved our day with Cayman Luxury Charters and can’t wait to do it again in November!
If you would like to read about other other shore excursions, you can do that here:
Great pictures! I love the ones of the ray feeding and the girls with the starfish on the beach.
What a wonderful excursion and wonderful pictures. How do you go about booking private tours? Do you read reviews online? I have thought about it for our upcoming cruise. Could you do a future post on this topic? Our family will do a European cruise next year, and I’d rather do a few private tours, as it would be less expensive than cruise tours. Thanks!
Thanks Karin! When choosing private tour operators I use Trip Advisor. So far it hasn’t failed me! I don’t know anything about European excursions so unfortunately I can’t speak from experience, but I would imagine Trip Advisor would be helpful for that as well. You could also check the Disboards for Europe advice. I love your idea of writing a blog post about this, I will definitely add it to my list!
So we have been on the Dream.
Do you feel Going on one of the smaller ships would feel like a disappointment?
We loved the dream but I wanted to see some other islands.
Hi Amy! This is a hard question to answer because it is so subjective. I’m sure some have been disappointed, and I know others have not. I personally prefer the smaller ships, but some people don’t. I will try to give you some of the pros and cons to help you decide. On the smaller ships, there are fewer people which means smaller crowds at boarding, getting on/off the ship at ports, and at Castaway Cay. The dining rooms are smaller and therefore quieter, which I like, and they even do some little shows at dinner that they are not able to do on the larger ships. They don’t have the bells and whistles of the larger ships, like mini golf, Aquaduck, Midship Detective Agency, etc., and the atrium is smaller and has a less “grand” feeling. There is also no Remy on the smaller ships, and the adult areas and kids areas are smaller, although still really nice. If the bells and whistles and “grand” feeling are important to you, then you might be disappointed. If not, then I think you will be fine. Like I said, I love the smaller ships but YMMV. Hope this helps!
I just booked my charter. A few questions: 1) did you feel like there was enough time or did you wish you had an extra hour or two? I have an option to add a few more hours and I’m wondering if it might be worth it or if four hours is more than sufficient ( I have a 3 & 5 yo). 2) I see in one of your posts you booked a start time of 10:30 AM. Did you find yourself with extra time in the morning and would’ve liked to start earlier or with all the hustle and bustle of tendering, is 10:30 the best time for a start?
Thank you so much for this post! I booked the same company you did and I’m so excited!
Hi Robin! We did not have any extra time in the morning, we started as early as we could. All ashore for us was 9:30 am, and the tendering process and catching a taxi to the dock can take up to an hour. So, we started at 10:30 and went until 2:30. All aboard for us was 5:30, so we could have probably fit in another hour or 2 but you really need to give yourself at least an hour to get back to the ship. I personally would give myself 1.5 hours to get back to the ship. I felt like 4 hours was enough time to do everything we wanted to do, but more time would have been even better because we could have stayed at each location longer which would have been great. We had early dining though at 5:45 and I think it was also pirate night, so we wanted to get back to the ship by 4:00. However, your kids are younger than mine so they might tire out a lot faster and 4 hours might be all they can handle. I would think about how much you think your kids can handle before getting too tired and decide based on that. But, overall, I think the more time, the better. Hope this helps!
How far ahead can a person find out the all ashore and all aboard times? My kids are 12 and 15, we’re going on our first cruise next April. It is all beginning to seem a bit overwhelming so I’m living your information!!!
Hi Ann! So glad you’re enjoying the blog! The best way to predict the times is to look at past navigators of sailings on the same ship with the same itinerary. Look at the most recent ones you can find. Ships tend to keep the same schedule when they repeat the same itinerary over and over. This is the best collection of past navigators available: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/
Hope this helps!