Cruise Day Five - Grand Cayman

Today we arrived in Grand Cayman at 7:30 AM.  We had to take a tender boat to the port because the cruise ship had to drop anchor a little ways out to not disturb all the coral that in further up inland.  So Daniel and I had a wake up call at 7:00 AM so we could get dressed and ready to get off the ship as our first shore excursion started at 9:00 AM.  The tender took about 45 min. from the time we waited in line, got on the tender boat and made it to the shore of Grand Cayman.  Grand Cayman was BEAUTIFUL.  Water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom in like 30 / 40 feet waters.  We toured the island for a bit before it was time to get ready to go parasailing.

Welcome to Grand Cayman!

So our first excursion for the day was PARISAILING.  Let me tell you this was Awesome!  We got to soar up above the water (approx. 400 feet) and you could see the whole island and the beautiful colors of the water.  We took a few pictures from the air and one of the guys running the excursion took pic’s of us taking off, while we were in the air and when they dipped us in the water.  He gave us a memory stick of all the pictures he took so those pic’s will come later.  Below is some pictures that we took while in the air.

View while headed up in the air!

A little higher...

After we got back from parasailing we walked around the island a bit more and found a Dairy Queen in Grand Cayman!  It was so weird (I thought Dairy Queen was only in Texas)… Daniel and I decided to eat at Dairy Queen for lunch thinking let’s have a burger etc.  Well the only thing on this DQ menu was hot dogs and blizzards.  SO needless to say we had a DQ hotdog for lunch.  Lol

It was now time for our last excursion in Grand Cayman.  Snorkeling over coral reefs and snorkeling over a shipwreck.  This too was AWESOME except for one minor set back…. Daniel got sick.  He snorkeled for maybe 30 min. over the coral reef and started to get a headache and nauseous. So he got out of the water and sat on the boat.  I felt bad for him and was going to get out with him but he insisted I stay in and enjoy myself. So I did and it was AMAZING.  There were hundreds of tropical fish just swimming all around.  A lot of them swam in groups and when they got close to you they just split and went around you.  I didn’t see Nemo though but I think I saw a few Dory’s.  I took some pictures with the underwater camera so we’ll have to wait till we get back to see if any of these turned out.  We snorkeled over the reefs for about an hour and then got back on the boat and headed to a local shipwreck… They said that this shipwreck was from back in the 1800’s when a boat carrying rice cargo got stuck in the middle of bad weather (a hurricane) and was on their way to Cuba but couldn’t beat the storm so they stopped off at Grand Cayman.  They tried to get all their cargo and crew off the boat before the storm hit but by the time they got the ship docked the storm was already there and their boat was starting to take a beating.  Boards and pins were starting to break so they decided to un-dock the boat and anchor it a ways out hoping it could weather the storm and once the storm passed they would come fix the few holes and be on their way.  Well the storm lasted three days and when they went back to their boat the boat had capsized and sunk.  Main reason is their cargo was rice and well what happens to rice when it sits in salt water for three days… (You can figure the rest out).  Anyways once we learned about the ship wreck we got to dive right in and explore.  Daniel tried getting in once more but felt too sick so he got out and I explored the ship wreck.  It was so neat.  You could see the bow and the stern and all the pieces in between.  Small little port holes and the engine with the stamp of the manufacture still imprinted on it.  I tried taking some pictures but the water proof camera stopped working.  It said I had 9 pictures left but wouldn’t do anything.. So we will see when we get back what turned out.  Here is a picture on our way out to go snorkel…  ALSO: Note to self… Next time you go snorkeling put sunscreen on the back of your legs especially by our bootay… because Kim here put sunscreen all over her body except the back of her legs and is now sunburned all the way up to her booty.  Swim suit sunburn lines here we come!  : )

We're headed to the Coral Reef Site.

Can you see the fish?  It's Blue!

Once we were done snorkeling it was about time to head back to the ship as we left Grand Cayman early today (4:30 PM).   Well that’s about our day today.  Hopefully we make it to our dinner tonight.  It’s supposed to be our nice dinner in the ‘fancy’ restaurant.  Daniel’s taken medicine and is asleep now and our dinner isn’t until 8:00 PM (it’s now 4:30 PM) so hopefully he feels better after he sleeps a bit and we can still make our dinner.  We’ll see…  But before I go I have to post the famous Jimmy Buffett’s MARGARITAVILLE picture.  We found this while walking around the island before our snorkel excursion.  Enjoy!

Myriah and Garrett: Only 3 more days until Mommy and Daddy will be home.  I hope you’ve been behaving for Oma and Aunt Tee Tee and that you will be behave for your Nana now.  We can’t wait to see you when we get back on Saturday night.  You better be at the airport waiting for us.  We love you bunches.  Hugs & Kisses from Grand Cayman (Since we are just now leaving at the time of this post).  Love you! ♥

Love,
Daniel & Kim