Day 5: Our 2nd port of call was Grand Cayman. This port has no docking facilities so we had to take a tender. (This port was a refreshing change from Montego Bay. It was very clean and inviting. All the locals were friendly and helpful but not pushy.) All six of us signed up for the Turtle Farm, Hell and Stingray shore excursion. We got an early start and left the cruise ship around 7:00 am. We were loaded into vans and given a brief tour. Our guide was very informative and we learned a lot about Grand Cayman. Our first stop was the post office in Hell. Of course we had to buy postcards to send back home showing the postmark "Hell" on it and all the pictures with the slogans like "I've been to Hell and back" and "I'm on the road to Hell"…etc. Kind of corny….but fun. Our next stop was the turtle farm. Our guide again was very informative and interesting as he explained the breeding and the different stages of growth of the turtles. We got to pet and hold some of these great creatures… pretty cool. The last part of our excursion was to "swim with the stingrays. We boarded a boat and took a 30-minute ride out to where the stingrays were. We dropped anchor in a shallow area and all got our snorkeling gear on. The water was only about 4 feet deep. The stingrays were everywhere. We were not the only boat there but one of six. The stingrays knew with all these boats they were going to get fed. Our guide had a "tame" stingray that he held and allowed us to pet and take pictures. There were also buckets of squid that we used to feed the stingrays. That is a weird experience. You have to hold the squid underneath the stingray and he "sucks" it out of your hand. We all had a great time!! It was the first time the girls had ever snorkeled and they really enjoyed it.
Day 6: Our last port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. This port was extremely clean and welcoming as well. Rick and I had signed up for a 1:00 pm shore excursion so we got off the ship early to go shopping. The liquor of course is very inexpensive so we bought a little of this and a little of that. We went shopping in the square. There were traditional shops and lots and lots of colorful kiosks with local vendors who were "willing to deal". If you like to haggle over price, Cozumel is a great place to hone your skills. All the people were very friendly and we got to listen to a mariachi band perform at noon in the park. We went back to the ship and got ready for our snorkeling excursion. The kids had taken an earlier and shorter excursion and made it back before we left. They went on to Senor Frogs and we boarded the catamaran, Fury, which took us out for a short snorkeling adventure. The ocean was a little rough and the snorkeling was hard work this time. We were only allowed to snorkel about 40 minutes and then called back to the catamaran. But after getting out of the water, the free beer and margaritas were served and everybody felt better. We were taken to a private beach where we could snorkel some more, play volleyball, or just relax in the sun. We met two honeymoon couples on this excursion and they were both SO CUTE. They had each gotten married on Sat, August 2nd and took this cruise as their honeymoon. One couple, Tara & John, were from Washington state and Josh & Amy were from Chicago.
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