GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND

"Ahoy! Grand Cayman Island off the starboard bow!"

Daybreak over Grand Cayman 

Our first port of call was Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I was really excited to see Grand Cayman as I have heard so much about this beautiful place and it is somewhere I have always wanted to visit. 

A few weeks before the cruise, we received an information book from Disney about the different excursions that were available for purchase. There was a website we could go to to purchase our shore excursions. They had all kinds of different things available and they all sounded great. We just couldn't make up our mind for one reason or another so we never booked anything. They had a desk on Mid Deck 3 called "Port Adventures" which was dedicated specifically to booking these excursions as well. We really liked one they had which was a tour of Hell (I'll explain later)  and Seven Mile Beach. They wanted $200 per person though which seemed excessive so I just couldn't bring myself to book. They made a big deal about how the Port Adventures booked through them were "recommended and guaranteed" whatever that means. 

They had a presentation on our first day at sea about shopping at the stores and how to get the best deals and whatnot. At the end of the presentation the women asked for our information and how much we were planning to spend and what not. I thought that was weird and didn't give my information. It turns out she was a "professional personal shopper" and wanted to be involved in the negotiation of purchases so she could earn a commission on our shopping. Awkward...

So we all got to shore and there were all kinds of locals and taxis and all kinds of folks looking to be hired. Dara and I went up to a couple who had a mini-van taxi for hire and told them we were all interested in seeing Hell and then spending the day on Seven Mile Beach. They said they's do us even better -> They'd take us to see the resort and banking districts, the Governor's Mansion, Bill Gates' House, The Dolphin Discovery, the Sea Turtle Farm and then Hell and Seven Mile Beach leaving us all afternoon to lounge and play on Seven Mile.  The price we negotiated 

-> $80 cash for all 5 of us! Done! 

Long story short -> If you take the Disney Cruise, unless you really need to have your hand held or whatnot, don't buy the Port Adventures from Disney as they are marked up like a 1000%! Just find a local on port. They are way happy for the business and will do way more for you for way less.

I also traded some of the locals for their currency. Cayman Money is really attractive in my opinion. I wanted to take some bills and coins home. Aren't these some of the coolest dollar bills you've even seen?:

 CLICK HERE -> THE DOLPHIN DISCOVERY