Bringing frozen pre-cooked seafood & sauces to Cayman
Jul 3rd, 2004, 06:07 AM
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Bringing frozen pre-cooked seafood & sauces to Cayman
Author: LSUMom
Date: 07/03/2004, 09:52 am
My family is heading to Cayman in a couple of weeks, and we are staying at the Beachcomber Condos on 7 mile beach. My important question is this: We are from Louisiana, and we'd like to bring Freezer bags of precooked Shrimp Fettucini sauce, Gumbo and homemade meat sauce to make Lassagna. Will Customs allow us to bring in frozen packages of pre-cooked meals in this fashion? We are traveling with a Group of 16, and needless to say, want to take turns cooking at our condos. I've been all over the website but find nothing that relates to bringing in seafood or pre-cooked freezer bag dishes to the islands. We plan to pack this in an ice chest with dry ice. Although we've been to Cayman several times, we've never attempted to bring food before, and agree that this will save us a ton of $$, not to mention that our kids do not care for some of the local island favor and would prefer homemade lassagna or gumbo in our condo (yes, we are also spoiled with great seafood from New Orleans).
Any assistance regarding the seafood question would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you so much - this is a wonderful message board!
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Date: 07/03/2004, 09:52 am
My family is heading to Cayman in a couple of weeks, and we are staying at the Beachcomber Condos on 7 mile beach. My important question is this: We are from Louisiana, and we'd like to bring Freezer bags of precooked Shrimp Fettucini sauce, Gumbo and homemade meat sauce to make Lassagna. Will Customs allow us to bring in frozen packages of pre-cooked meals in this fashion? We are traveling with a Group of 16, and needless to say, want to take turns cooking at our condos. I've been all over the website but find nothing that relates to bringing in seafood or pre-cooked freezer bag dishes to the islands. We plan to pack this in an ice chest with dry ice. Although we've been to Cayman several times, we've never attempted to bring food before, and agree that this will save us a ton of $$, not to mention that our kids do not care for some of the local island favor and would prefer homemade lassagna or gumbo in our condo (yes, we are also spoiled with great seafood from New Orleans).
Any assistance regarding the seafood question would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you so much - this is a wonderful message board!
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Jul 3rd, 2004, 07:23 PM
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LSU Mom - under the "Cayman in 6 days", I responded to you but not sure if you'll see it there. I'm not sure dry ice is allowed on airplanes. You might check with your carrier regarding this. Also check out the gotocayman web site - they have a FAQ re' bringing food into Cayman - this might be of help to you.
Jul 4th, 2004, 05:23 AM
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Okay, I've taken all I can take on this subject...I must speak out. With all due respect, IMHO bringing food to the islands to save money is tacky tacky tacky.
Alright...said my peace. Don't hit me too hard. =) At least I didn't complain about the bahamas (LOL) Greenie
Alright...said my peace. Don't hit me too hard. =) At least I didn't complain about the bahamas (LOL) Greenie
Jul 4th, 2004, 07:20 AM
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Uncalled for reply Greenie. Just because it does not suit you does not mean it should hold sway for others. GC is very expensive and if folks wish to save money on food then that is their business. Then you need not reply. Very selfish of you.
Jul 4th, 2004, 08:32 AM
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The message board is for info and opinions, and just because one does not like the opinion of another does not make a contribution less valid.
I did a cursory search on this topic and came up with a few discussions on travel boards. There were mostly people with questions about it. Two people said they had done it and would not again. (One for the hassle factor and one because they found prices not much higher.)
I have enough trouble getting myself and my luggage to my destination without schlepping a cooler through the increased security and dealing with worrying about the contents being a problem (especially in a group of 16 where you would have to take a large amount of food to start with).
No thanks!
I did a cursory search on this topic and came up with a few discussions on travel boards. There were mostly people with questions about it. Two people said they had done it and would not again. (One for the hassle factor and one because they found prices not much higher.)
I have enough trouble getting myself and my luggage to my destination without schlepping a cooler through the increased security and dealing with worrying about the contents being a problem (especially in a group of 16 where you would have to take a large amount of food to start with).
No thanks!
Jul 4th, 2004, 10:52 AM
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For those who have not yet visited Cayman but are now petrified about how expensive it is and perhaps plan to bring everything down to salt and pepper, I would note that the supermarkets / grocery stores (depending on what side of the pond you are from) are excellent here.
Yes, the prices in those stores are higher than the US, but compared to eating out in a restaurant, they are a deal.
Pretty much everything you can buy in the US you can buy in the Cayman Islands, sometimes better than most (Kirk Supermarket has great organic vegetables, for example).
So, for the cooks among you, I would say that you would save so much (compared to eating in a restaurant) even if you buy everything down here (and most visitors do), rather than carrying coolers full of stuff with you.
Now, for my opinion, I too woudl not bother carrying stuff with me.
For a family of four for a week, you have to be figuring about $2000 for air, a few hundred for a rental car, anything from $1000 to the sky is the limit for accommodation.... so you are probably at $1000 per person before you eat anything... and that is not just Cayman, that is pretty much anywhere in the Caribbean.
Having spent $1000 before food, I do question if it is worth saving maybe $50 per person by bringing stuff with you to bypass the local grocery store.
I think a lot of visitors agree with me, as we do get enquiries from people asking us to stock their condo with groceries for them before they arrive, ie paying for the convenience of not having to even shop locally for food.
Yes, the prices in those stores are higher than the US, but compared to eating out in a restaurant, they are a deal.
Pretty much everything you can buy in the US you can buy in the Cayman Islands, sometimes better than most (Kirk Supermarket has great organic vegetables, for example).
So, for the cooks among you, I would say that you would save so much (compared to eating in a restaurant) even if you buy everything down here (and most visitors do), rather than carrying coolers full of stuff with you.
Now, for my opinion, I too woudl not bother carrying stuff with me.
For a family of four for a week, you have to be figuring about $2000 for air, a few hundred for a rental car, anything from $1000 to the sky is the limit for accommodation.... so you are probably at $1000 per person before you eat anything... and that is not just Cayman, that is pretty much anywhere in the Caribbean.
Having spent $1000 before food, I do question if it is worth saving maybe $50 per person by bringing stuff with you to bypass the local grocery store.
I think a lot of visitors agree with me, as we do get enquiries from people asking us to stock their condo with groceries for them before they arrive, ie paying for the convenience of not having to even shop locally for food.
Jul 4th, 2004, 02:19 PM
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Perhaps the OP wants some good old down home Cajun cooking because she and her family just really like it. This board is to help in that matter. So what about bottling some of that wonderful cuisine?
