Author Topic: A few days in Grand Cayman  (Read 12672 times)

Offline mgoldhammer18

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A few days in Grand Cayman
« on: August 08, 2016, 08:49:41 AM »
I would like to thank everybody that helped me out with this trip here on DDF.

I might get into some details about the planning here that may seem boring to some, but I would like to include the boring details to be able to potentially help others with a trip there.

Planning:

My wife is a beach bum; I hate going to Miami, I'm so bored of Miami.  I told DW we should go to the USVI; no passport needed for the baby, nice destination, shouldn't be an issue getting there and booking a hotel with points, etc.  We later found out that USVI had ZIKA!!!!! What to do now?  We thought maybe we would go to Lake Tahoe or Hilton Head, then I went on the CDC website and saw that there were 4 destinations in the Caribbean that did not have Zika: Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Antigua and Grand Cayman.  Great!  So we have been to Bahamas and T&C, I wouldn't mind going back or going to one of the islands there that I have not been to, but I prefer to explore new countries if I can.  So I was trying to decide between Antigua and Grand Cayman.  Before I figure out how to book with points, I usually price it out.  Antigua hotels were the same price as always, and I am pretty sure there are no points options over there.  I look up Grand Cayman and hotels there were a third of the price of what they usually are. (side note, prices went up as the trip got closer and I have yet to see the prices be as low as they were when I was planning).   The reason I knew that prices were slashed was because I have tried planning a trip to GC on 2 different occasions in the past, and those 2 times I didn't see a single night in any hotel for less than $300.  This time around, prices were anywhere in the $100-$200 dollar range which was pretty good.  I thought maybe because summer is low season, but I looked into it last summer and prices then were higher also.  Sweet!  I was sold on Grand Cayman for the end of August after tisha bav...

Flights:
Dan posted a priceline deal; $96 one way from JFK-GCM.  I looked at the dates, and the last possible date to go was July 13th.  Made a quick call to DW from work, she said whenever we go is fine just as long as we go.  I booked! I figured if I can save some miles then why not.  I used 10,400 True Blue points pp to book the way back.  They said they would charge international taxes and fees for the baby, but never did.

Hotel:
I was considering using SPG points for the Westin.  Before the trip I found out that Chabad did not have minyanim in July due to the community being on vacation.  So I thought that it didn't matter where we would stay if that was the case.  Holiday Inn had the lowest prices of all the hotels, so I booked a few nights cash $120 a night and a few nights using points to book a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen.  DW said she would Kasher the kitchen.  (she prefers if we have a kitchen when traveling because then we have to shelp fewer things.)

Food:
Yes, my office is right across the street from Pomegranate; when I step outside I see that pink sign.  I know it's DDF policy to get POM meals, but DW insisted on getting food from Seasons in Queens.  All in all the food was very good.  Maybe next time we will go with POM meals.

More to follow.

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2016, 11:51:16 AM »
Picture on route to GC, I am guessing that's either Cuba or another Cayman Island

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2016, 11:52:58 AM »
One of the only pictures I have of the room-Dining area with full kitchen in the background

Offline Yaalili

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2016, 01:53:45 PM »
Nice start, keep it coming.

Offline JayR

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2016, 04:09:00 PM »
Nice! Been waiting for a good GC TR. Keep it up  ;D
You can modify your original post. The modify button is right next to the quote button.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2016, 04:21:11 PM »
Nice start, keep it coming.
+1

Nice! Been waiting for a good GC TR. Keep it up  ;D
Are you offending CS91? ::)

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2016, 08:15:42 AM »
Planning part 2:
I forgot to mention this before in the planning section-Car Rental.
On the master thread for GC someone told me to book directly through priceline because they have amazing deals.  I did just that.  I went online and booked a midsize car-Honda Accord or similar, from a company called payless.  The reason I chose this company is because their daily price for a midsize car was the same price as renting an economy or compact car from another company.  I booked for $8 a day.  Little did I know about rental companies in Grand Cayman, should have done more research.  I'll explain later...

Offline JayR

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2016, 01:06:05 PM »
Are you offending CS91? ::)
Not at all. His TR had a wealth of info; my upcoming trip is almost identical to his. Just looking to get more opinions and options.
You can modify your original post. The modify button is right next to the quote button.

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2016, 05:53:21 PM »
Not at all. His TR had a wealth of info; my upcoming trip is almost identical to his. Just looking to get more opinions and options.

When's your trip? I want to make sure to finish the TR by then.
(My boss is about to go on vacation, so perhaps I'll finish while he's away)

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2016, 09:45:39 AM »
Day 1:

Woke up at 5:45 AM to do some last minute prepping and to pack the car.  At about 7:00 AM we drove our cars to my parents house (we have alternate side parking by us, yay NYC).  I parked my car then my father  and I hopped into my wife's car and we were off to JFK.  Traveling with a baby is a bit more challenging than traveling as a couple, so DW insists on doing curbside check in.  After checking in, we went to the even more space line because we were sitting in the front row of the plane.  Security was about 10 minutes.  After we went through security we went to the airspace lounge.  The lounge is small, but it's definitely better than sitting by the noisy gate.  The baby was getting cranky and disturbing people in the airspace lounge, so we decided to just leave the lounge and walk around the terminal.  Before we knew it it was time for boarding.  (Side note for traveling with children-My wife decided to buy a stroller called a baby zen yoyo; when it is folded up, no one would know that it's a stroller, it folds smaller than a carry on bag.  The flight attendants made everybody check in their strollers but did not say a word to us.  Much better than taking a bugaboo).  We sat in the first row and nobody else was sitting in our row with us, awesome!  There was a lot of space in the first row, so we were able to set up a spacious napping zone for the baby on the floor.  The flight was supposed to be 3 hours and 45 minutes, but it ended up being three hours.  It was a good flight and the baby was well behaved. 

We landed in GC and walked onto the Tarmac; very common in that part of the world.  We were the second people to deplane, so we went through customs in no time.  We got our luggage and then we needed to get past the second customs agent.  An airport worker let us cut the line because we had a baby.  The customs agents there are so much nicer than in America.

We walked to the rental car area.  We walked into payless; the agent was upset that the baby got upset for a second, I thought that everybody in GC was supposed to be very nice...She asked if I prefer a car with a steering wheel on the left side or right side of the car, I chose the left.  Though they drive on the other side of the road, I would be less discombobulated if I drive on the side of the car that I am used to.  When we went to T&C I drove on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car, and that took some getting used to.  After I told her that I want a left sided steering wheel, she pointed to a Chevy Aveo and said, "that's your car."  Me-"But I reserved a midsize..." Agent-"that's considered midsize in GC."  After some back and forth I finally said fine, I will speak to the credit card company and your corporate offices when I get back to America (that was all in my head).  Agent-"would you like insurance." I thought to myself that my platinum card covers me for renters insurance so I said "No thank you." Agent-" Okay, that will be $1,900." Me- "Excuse me?!?!?!" Agent-"It's GC law, if you don't take the insurance then we need to put a $1,900 hold on your credit card."  Me-"Why?"  Agent-"When Americans come to vacation here and they drive on the wrong side of the road they are very reckless and get into accidents." Me-"Okay, well I already have insurance, so don't worry." Agent-"You need our insurance."  I thought to myself that I will just call the credit card company after the trip and explain what happened, in the meantime I will pay for insurance.  "How much?" Agent-"$30.99 a day, covers you for everything." Me-"Anything cheaper?" Agent-"You can get the basic one for $18 a day." Me-"I'll take that one."  After all was said and done, she gave us a map of the island to try to get around.

After about 20 minutes of driving we got to the Holiday Inn Resort.  Our room was ready, but they wanted to take care of a small mechanical issue in the room, so they told us to just wait a few minutes.  They gave me a  room temperature water bottle for being an IHG member.  We decided to just give them our bags to put in the room for when it's ready and go out to buy some fruits and vegetables.  We went to a nice supermarket.  All of the shoppers were Americans that live and work in GC now.  The place happened to be expensive, but we were only getting a few things.  The cashier there was so nice, she told me to start dancing to the song that was playing on the loud speaker.  She was telling us how when she went to NY for the first time she went onto the subway and the train started moving and everyone just started sipping their coffee, she thought that New Yorkers were aliens.  Oh, island life.

We went back to the hotel and checked out our room, we were very satisfied.  The only con to the hotel is that it isn't on seven mile beach and though the ocean by the hotel is nice, the beach itself is not so nice.  We went to the pool for a little.  Ate dinner, and called it a night.  We had to wake up early for Stingray City.

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2016, 09:14:41 AM »
Vacations 182 by mgoldhammer18, on Flickr


View from the pool

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2016, 09:15:58 AM »
Vacations 179 by mgoldhammer18, on Flickr


These guys are everywhere

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #12 on: August 14, 2016, 09:17:23 AM »

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2016, 09:18:19 AM »
Vacations 181 by mgoldhammer18, on Flickr


Part of the pool

Offline Galitzyaner

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #14 on: August 14, 2016, 05:46:18 PM »
Vacations 179 by mgoldhammer18, on Flickr


These guys are everywhere
Is that real?
Why didn't I see any when I was there?!  :-\

Offline gavhaller

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2016, 06:39:27 PM »
I would like to thank everybody that helped me out with this trip here on DDF.


YOUR MOST WELCOME.

Offline chevron

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2016, 11:36:09 PM »
HAHA at huge iguana's... my mother thinks they are so cute.. well my mother loves all animals and would probably adopt baby racoons.

How was caymans vs T&C ? I booked to Barbados bc as much as I want to go back to T&C esp chalk sound, I found it to be utterly dull away from the water

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2016, 08:04:58 AM »
Is that real?
Why didn't I see any when I was there?!  :-\

Literally all over, those and also Chickens

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #18 on: August 15, 2016, 08:07:27 AM »
HAHA at huge iguana's... my mother thinks they are so cute.. well my mother loves all animals and would probably adopt baby racoons.

How was caymans vs T&C ? I booked to Barbados bc as much as I want to go back to T&C esp chalk sound, I found it to be utterly dull away from the water

2 totally different trips.  T&C was pre baby, so it was obviously more relaxing.  I personally liked T&C better because it was just a relaxing environment with nothing much going on.  GC is also relaxing, but not as relaxing; there are a lot more activities and excursions there.  The water in GC is dirty compared to the water at T&C.  Also, Chalk Sound, I would go back there just for those views.

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: A few days in Grand Cayman
« Reply #19 on: August 15, 2016, 11:56:06 AM »
YOUR MOST WELCOME.

You're*****
Hope you don't make grammatical errors like that in a graduate program!