Day 45 - 01/03 - George Town, Grand Cayman

We were awakened by the thrusters positioning the ship for its anchorage today in the George Town harbor which is our last port of call this trip before returning to Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday. Unlike two weeks earlier, today there was only an MSC ship anchored in the harbor. We ate a leisurely breakfast and made our way to the Ocean Bar which serves as the meeting point for the 4-5 star Mariners who can disembark the ship via tender without getting a tender ticket. It was a bit of a wait before we were called and told to follow a HAL employee to the aft elevator where we went down to A deck and boarded a shoreside provided double deck tender that held about 250 passengers. An unfortunate side effect of these large tenders is that it takes a while (an hour) to load them.

When we were almost loaded, I saw the Captain come on the tender and approach his wife who was already on the tender. He passed her a wad of bills and she was definitely happy to receive the money. It was cute to watch.

We were on shore by 10am and our excursion had a report in time of 11am, so we walked around the downtown port area. It's got some interesting statutes, museums and shops. I particularly wanted to find and did find the Post Office and took a documentary picture.  

Back at the port, our catamaran tour group formed and soon we were on two buses for a 1/2 hour ride to our catamaran. We quickly boarded it and headed out to Sting Ray Cove which is a relatively shallow sand bar in a larger bay. It was about a 45 minute catamaran ride out to the site at 6.5 knots per hour. The water was clear and there were lots of rays and one could pet and feed the rays, but we elected to not do that as we had previously done it at Half Moon Cay several years ago. There was quite a swell but it was fun snorkeling and watching the rays and the accompanying small fish. I should note that no fins, beach shoes or any type of foot wear was permitted to be worn.  

After an hour, we reboarded the catamaran and sailed back to the harbor. I got to take the wheel for a while and play captain. Back at the dock, our bus whisked us back to the port where my wife and I walked west along the shoreline to Da Fish Shack and ate a late lunch of appetizers of Conch and Chicken Wings.

Here's a snorkeling tip for those paying a future visit to George Town. Bring your own snorkeling gear and walk out of the port gate and turn left and walk up to the Dairy Queen. There's a small beach there and it provides free access to some decent snorkeling. The only drawback is that someone has to stay behind and watch the group's possessions. There are also several dive shops that may be able to provide snorkeling services.

Back on board the ship, we noted that the Happy New Year and Christmas message that had been painted on the side of the ship has been replaced by Grand South America 2020 Cruise which is the title of the cruise that begins on January 5, 2020. I should also note that all of the interior Christmas decorations were removed last night, and the background music is no longer Christmas music.

We enjoyed a very nice Pinnacle Grill dinner with our friend Larry before attending the early show of the Flyrights. It was really good as has been the case for the previous shows they put on. We then went to the Ocean Bar and listened to the Ocean Trio and waited for the start of the 10pm Orange Party. We sat with a couple from Florida who lives Full Time in a motor home when they are not cruising. We stayed a few minutes for the start of the party, but left when the music got too loud and after Angela sampled the Dutch treats.

Tomorrow is a sea day and a packing day for us as we prepare to disembark the following day. Both of us have a renewed vigor for the Caribbean ports we visited and hope to return at some time in the future.  

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