One of the channels on our room TV was linked to the webcam mounted at the front of the ship. Tuning into the channel was our way of checking on the weather, sea conditions and location of the ship. I referred to it as our "faux porthole." 😄
Via the TV, I could see we were getting close to Grand Cayman when I woke up. As I was getting ready for the day, Bob walked out to the lower promenade deck (our "faux balcony") to get a better look. I was in the bathroom finishing some business and heard the cabin door open. I just assumed it was Bob returning, but then the bathroom door opened a crack and it was Wan, our cabin steward!! Oh my!! 😲
I'm not sure who was more surprised...him or me! He quickly apologized and left. With my business finished, I tried to flush the toilet but nothing happened. A few seconds later the Captain made an announcement that the ship had lost propulsion and we were on emergency power. That was the reason for Wan's unannounced visit...he wanted to warn us that the toilets weren't working. Oops. Too late.
Bob and I went outside and could see four of the big tender boats and a tug pushing on the side of the Veendam trying to keep it in place.
Other than the non-flushing toilet, everything else appeared to be functioning as normal. But by the time we got to the buffet (by elevator) the captain made a 2nd announcement that people should stay out of the elevators and that the air conditioning would not be working. Walking out to the back of the Lido Deck we could see that the tender boats had left but the tug was now attached to the back of the ship by rope and was pulling to keep the ship in place.
Given the circumstances, I was doubtful that we would be going ashore today but around 8:15 the captain announced that some of the power had been restored and we were able to pick up tender tickets at the ocean bar. The ship was starting to get warm with no AC so I was glad we were able to leave.
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| Tendering to shore. |
Grand Cayman is not our favorite port in the Caribbean and probably wouldn't even make the Top 10 list. The most popular attraction is Stingray City Sandbar but having done that a couple of times already I figured we would just take our gear and find someplace to snorkel from shore. But...that was before Jon and Michelle decided to cruise with us.
Once I knew they were coming, I wanted them to experience swimming with the stingrays and I had booked a tour for the four of us with Nativeway Watersports. The ship tours are usually very large groups and I knew from prior experience that Nativeway would be on a smaller boat with fewer people.
We were to meet our tour on shore at 9:45 and not knowing how long the tender process would take, we were there over an hour early. The guys shopped in some of the stores near the tender dock while Michelle and I sat on a bench in the shade of the white tent where we were to meet the tour.
A little after 9:45, no one had showed up so I called the number on our email confirmation. (I was thankful for T-Mobile and their 25 cents/minute rate!) Sharon, the owner, said she was on the way but had been held up by traffic because streets were closed for the Pirate's Week parade. When she did arrive a few minutes later, she got us connected with our driver and told him to treat us well because we were a very special group of her relatives. 😉 And he did! We were given seats in the front of the small bus while others from a large group on a different tour sat in the back.
After driving to the other end of the island, the driver dropped us off at the Yacht Club. We met Chris, our boat captain for the day, and another couple who were staying at the Westin Hotel and would be joining the four of us for the tour. Chris pointed out a large cooler filled with jugs of water and punch...both the non-alcoholic and alcoholic versions...and told us to help ourselves whenever we wanted.
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| With only 6 people on the tour we had plenty of room on the boat! |
The boat was pretty fast, but it still took around 25 minutes to get to the sandbar known as Stingray City. On the way, we met other boats heading back to shore so the area wasn't near as crowded as what we had seen in the past.
Many years ago, fishermen would congregate on the sand bars to clean their fish and stingrays came to eat the fish guts and squid that were thrown overboard. They soon learned to associate the sound of the boat motors with food and it became a tourist destination.
With our little group of 6, we were able to have a lot of interaction with the rays. And then when Chris brought out a bucket of food for the rays they went crazy...even crawling up our backs!
The second stop on our tour was snorkeling at a coral reef a very short distance away from the stingrays. The coral was so much nicer than what we had seen at Key West and so much more enjoyable in the calmer water.
When I got back to the boat after snorkeling I found myself in the middle of a school of large fish. I didn't realize it at the time, but Chris was tossing in tiny pieces of Doritos to make them swarm around me!
Our third and last stop on the tour was at Starfish Point...a secluded beach with many starfish visible in the shallow water. A tail-less stingray swam up next to us while we were in the water with the starfish.
On the way back, Chris gave us gals each a chance to drive the boat. A van was waiting to take us back to Georgetown when we returned to the dock.
It was 2 pm by the time we took the tender back to the ship. We dropped off our snorkeling gear in the room and went directly up to the Lido Deck. The buffet was closed but we were able to get a small plate of nachos at the Dive-In for a late lunch.
All seemed to be well on the ship when we returned and there was no sign of the issues from the morning. We could feel the cool air-conditioned air as soon as we entered the ship (which was a welcome relief) and the toilets were back to their normal WHOOSH when flushed.
After eating such a late lunch we weren't very hungry, but we didn't want to miss having dinner at our new reserved table! I had the French onion soup from the everyday menu, wiener schnitzel and a dessert of hazelnut cake.
The evening entertainment was excerpts from the BBC film, Planet Earth II set to the live accompaniment of the ship's musicians. It was the 3rd or 4th time we had seen it, but still thought it was fabulous. We also saw a similar presentation of the BBC Frozen Planet video when we were in Antarctica.
After the show we went up to the Lido buffet to get a glass of lemonade and then went to the Crow's Nest to play cards. At first it was a nice quiet place to visit but then a very large...and loud...group from the bar crawl came in. The crew member leading the group was screaming into the mike which made it impossible to even carry on a conversation in the room. We waited it out while they played a game that must have been called "hip hip hooray". Finally they paraded out singing "we are the bar hop"... Looked like they were having a great time!
Later, when we headed back to our room we could still hear them walking through the ship singing loudly!
The Orange Party was scheduled to start at 10 pm but our beds were calling.
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