Caribbean Cruise Part 2: Cayman Islands!

 Our new favorite place in the world is the CAYMAN ISLANDS! The third port of call on our cruise, we were so excited! I didn't plan an excursion for this day because I had read on Cruise Critic that this port was an easy place to find entertainment the day-of, and it saves money! I have to admit I was really nervous! I had never NOT planned an excursion (with the exception of Labadee where there really are no excursions)! We tendered in to port and started looking for a taxi to the beach.

View of our huge ship!

We ended up going to Seven Mile beach and it was so easy to take a taxi there. When we got to the beach we could not believe our eyes, it was so so beautiful! I have never seen a beach with such clear water and perfect white sand! Oh my gosh it was heaven! Typically I don't like swimming in the ocean because its usually cold and uncomfortable but I was in the water ALL DAY here! We rented some snorkeling gear and Reese had so much fun going out and looking at the little fish. There weren't a ton, but it was so cool that they were right where we were. We brought some rolls from the ship and fed some of the fish and that was cool to watch!

We weren't in port here very long which was really sad because we loved it so much! That was one downside to having 4 ports of call in a row, our days were somewhat short. So we swam, snorkeled, and laid out for just a few hours before we had to go back to the ship. We really want to go back here one day with our families! Something that set the Caymans apart from other places was that it seemed really "American-ized". There were Burger Kings and Wendy's all over the place. It is the kind of place you feel comfortable walking around, unlike some of the other ports like Jamaica. BUT they still had all the random shops like "Diamonds International". What is the deal with that store?! It is at every single port. There must be a misconception that Americans buy diamonds and sprinkle them in their salads on a daily basis. Confusing. And how many people randomly decide to buy a diamond while on a cruise. You are trying on sombrero's and t-shirts then all of the sudden "Oh, that diamond looks nice, I'll take one of those with this bumper sticker and key chain".

On a separate note, renting our snorkeling gear was an experience in itself. When we got to the beach there were a ton of vendors trying to sell/rent stuff to us and I wanted to find the best deal on snorkeling gear. So, I walked up and down the beach for probably 20 minutes trying to find the best deal and I talked to EVERYONE and was negotiating deals (some of you can totally picture this). I ended up renting from a sassy native lady who said to me "Girl, I don't blame you for not trusting anyone, if I came to America I would NOT trust you, better believe that." Wasn't sure how to take that, so I just took the snorkel gear.

Until next time!!