To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World’s Longest Valor Review, part 8)featured
I woke up on my own around 6:00 am, but I went back to sleep and Stephanie woke me up around 7:00am. We thought that would be enough time to get ready, grab breakfast, get a tender and get to our excursion with plenty of time to spare…but it wasn’t. We literally ran to Rosie’s, grabbed boxes of cereal and croissants, ran to say goodbye to Mom and grandma and headed down to the purser to check on Platinum tendering. They told us since they’d been tendering for awhile, we wouldn’t need it, but there were some lines when we got down to deck zero. The tenders were extremely rocky, but the ride only lasted three or four minutes (despite them telling us ~15). We were anchored along with the Norwegian Dawn, the Disney Magic and the Carnival Legend.
This was our second time in Grand Cayman (our first time being on our first trip on the Miracle in 2005) and our initial impression of Grand Cayman was that it was…different…somewhat less nice than we remembered…but we came to realize the tenders had brought us to a different area than we were left at six years ago and our memories were readjusting.
Our tour, the Best of Cayman Island tour, met up at the pier at 8:30 am. We’d taken this tour the first time we’d been in Grand Cayman and it was a really nice and fun way to see the island, and since I didn’t have my good camera then, I wanted to go back and photograph certain spots. Otherwise, we’d probably have just ended up going to a beach (which we’d be doing in Honduras) or drinking at Senor Frogs (which we seemingly do…everywhere. Used to, anyways). We met up with our tour and led on to bus 10 with Wilbur. The tour this time wasn’t nearly as nice as it was the first time. They didn’t give us a stop at 7 Mile Beach to take pictures (like we did the first time we took this tour), the turtle farm was self-touring instead of guided and we only had 20 minutes in Hell (which was barely enough time to buy postcards and postage to send postcards to my friends, check out the souvenir shop and see the rock formations). Wilbur didn’t really talk much. He gave us some info and told a few jokes, but it was mostly quiet. The Tortuga rum factory had excellent samples and prices (we had an 11% off coupon from a coupon book they handed out at the pier. I always grab these as souvenirs, but they often have very usable coupons in them!) and had a little zoo of exotic type animals. Then Wilbur showed us the “real” Grand Cayman…and while I usually love these kinds of things and seeing how people really live in other places, I like it when it’s something I sign up for so I can prepare for it instead of being led to a deserted dirt road and wondering if someone is going to jump out and rob me. Stephanie didn’t care for the tour. It was kind of a waste of $55 for being something we’ve already done. I’d still highly recommend it to someone who’s never been to Hell or seen the island because you will see a good portion of it. And if you go to Hell, don’t forget to send a postcard to yourself while you’re sending them to your family and friends. There’s nothing quite like getting mail postmarked from Hell- even if you’re sending it to yourself!
Cayman Turtle Farm
Hell
The Tortuga Rum Factory
We went back to the ship, but it was too early for lunch. I was famished, so we met up with Mom and grandma and grabbed a sandwich from the deli (the only station open) and Dewey found us and we chatted for awhile. Then Mom and I went to catch a tender to go shopping and Stephanie stayed on the boat to hang out on deck with grandma.
We stayed out for about an hour walking around and looking in shops, but nothing really caught our eyes. There’s only so many shot glasses and tee shirts you can collect and these prices weren’t that great. I think the shopping in Grand Cayman is massively overrated- the shopping is much better in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Even the liquor prices (which are supposed to be amongst the best in Grand Cayman) weren’t all that competitive compared to other Caribbean islands. Stephanie had us pick up an extra rum cake for her (we tasted them at the rum factory and they were *fantastic* and fresh, so we picked up a couple, but she wanted one more) and we headed back onto a tender.
We went back to the rooms and I met up with Stephanie to grab lunch at Rosie’s. I’m growing tired of these offerings (there’s less options now with no rotisserie line because they decided to make two lines for Taste of Nations. Farewell, Rotisserie) so I had the Mongolian wok (which was good) with some chicken fingers (always good). And Tiramisu Cheesecake, which is the best dessert you will ever find on a casual dining restaurant on the seas.
Stephanie went to grab some chairs poolside (none by the adults-only pool, so we got them near the main pool) and I changed into my swimsuit and we swam for about an hour. I fell asleep while we were drying off and laying out, but Stephanie sprayed me with sunscreen so I wouldn’t burn. She looks out for me like that. We got went back to the room, took showers and did our hair and then headed back outside for sailaway. The Disney Magic? Has the coolest horn ever- it plays When You Wish Upon a Star!
We went to Serenity after we hit up one side of the boat and it was chairhog hangout. A group of four people claimed a couch and chairs that would seat more than 10…with a single cup. Literally. “Saved” an entire couch + chairs…with a cup. When Stephanie went to sit down, they came running over and then told her in all seriousness that they could only spare one chair for her. They weren’t even using the couches- they had lounge chairs by the railing. Carnival really needs to do something here because the Serenity deck? Not a private cabana.
Stephanie, Mom and grandma went down to past guest party first because they were ready and I met up with them a few minutes before the doors opened. The lines were ridiculous. Really. It’s like a cattle call 15 minutes before the party even starts. And yet…everyone rushes to the main floor of the show lounge while the upper level has it’s own dedicated staff of drink and snack servers and no one ever goes up there! This time, it was much easier to get drinks (yellowbirds yummy, blue margaritas not so much) and hors d’oerves. Went to take pics outside afterwards and then Mom took grandma to take a nap and we went to dinner.
Dinner was okay. The pacing was awful (the entire meal took over two hours) and the food was just so/so. This would normally be our supper club night but there was some confusion with the menus (the wrong one was posted outside the dining room when we checked earlier in the day). Mom even skipped dessert because it was taking so long. Back to the food, though? Nothing bad. Nothing overwhelmingly amazing. Just…the usual.
French Onion Soup (baked with a slice of homemade bread, freshly grated Gruyere and parmesan cheese)
Black Bean Soup (served with steamed rice and a touch of sour cream)
Smoked Chicken Quesadilla (mild guacamole, tomato, cilantro salsa and sour cream served with flour tortilla on a bed of field greens)
Black Tiger Shrimp Cocktail
I don’t remember what this was…it’s a spa appetizer…a timbale of something. Stephanie didn’t care for it
Prosciutto Ruffles (thinly sliced Italian ham and sweet melons)
Braised Style Short Ribs from Aged Premium American Beef (sesame eggplant and fried rice)
Slowly Roasted Center Cut Pork Loin, with Island Spices and Herbs (fried rice and crisp garlic seasoned green beans)
Grilled Flat Iron Steak from USDA Choice Beef (served with steamed vegetables of the day)
Strawberry Cheesecake (a classic cheesecake topped with strawberries)
We went back to the room to watch TV and relax and room service had delivered the replacement for the canapes plate (Mom had gotten her plate of canapes earlier that day). I think I wrote in a previous entry that Stephanie had called room service (per the Purser’s instructions) and told them neither of us eat seafood, so when they delivered these, if they could replace the seafood canapes, we’d much appreciate it. Delivered to us was this completely lovely sweets plate, with truffles, dipped strawberries and the baklava Stephanie had been craving for awhile.
The normal canapes plate delivered to Platinum cruisers
The plate they put together for Stephanie and I
At 8:30, we went down to In the Bag (a kind of trivia game…we came in second), which got a little rowdy. Afterwards, we went to Lido for snacks and tea when grandma had her dinner, and then we all went browsing in the shops. But on a side note- while we were up on Lido with grandma? Tongs are there for a reason. When you’re dining with your children, allowing them to stick their hands in the food trays to grab food with their hands instead of using the tongs? Yeah, that’s not cool. I type this as I sit here *still* coughing from a respiratory bug I picked up onboard three weeks ago. Hygiene and manners: learn it, live it, love it. Really, though. Please use the tongs. I implore you. I’m massively squicked out when I see people use their hands to grab food. Food too hard to grab? Poke and slide, baby. There’s never a good excuse to grab food with your hands.
After that? Everything was a blur. I changed into my comfy clothes and sat down with Nancy Grace, and the next thing I knew, I was dozing in and out. I’m told I was exhausted and cranky. Mostly exhausted. I wanted to go watch Iron Man 2 on the big screen, but I needed to go to sleep before I started throwing things. We grabbed food from the late night grill, watched more Nancy Grace (can’t stop, won’t stop!), and went to sleep. One of these nights on some cruise at some point, I’ll find a way to stay awake long enough to make my way back to my rightful place- bellied up at the piano bar.
Today’s Lido lunch menu
Today’s Lido dinner menu
