Expensive Cayman Islands...any ideas on how to save $

It is expensive on Grand Cayman with the exchange rate and items just costing more to begin with. We just got back...Some sample prices at Fosters Grocery store on 7 mile beach...7.00 US dollars for a large bag of lays potato chips..$40.00 US f0r 4 new york strip steaks. Dinner out for 5 (Three adults and two kids at a mid priced restaurant Fidel Murphy's was $120 US. Pina Colada $10 US and beers 7 US. If you are in a hotel, see if you can get a refrigerator. There are plenty of liquor stores and mini-marts to pick up drinks and snacks. Grocery stores too depending on where you are staying. We stay in a condo to save money and only eat out once or twice in two weeks. Good luck

If you like indian, there's a good indian restaurant that is cheap behind the copper something steak place across from Fosters on SMB. We ate there twice and it was about $60 with drinks. Also, Eats was good on SMB, as well as Fosters take out food.

Have fun. GC is not cheap! If you want to splurge one night go to Calypso Grill. Wonderful!

Peace, Greenie.

Thank you. What a good idea about the fridge...we will be staying at the Marriott. I assumed they will have a small fridge there...

Gosh, based on a few sample prices you have provided, it does sound expensive. However, based on everyone's review of the Grand Cayman Island, it is a nice place.

What was your favorite thing about the island?

Which Marroitt are you staying at? We stayed at the Court Yard when it was still a Holiday Inn and they had an AI plan. Was wonderful. I think they may still have some type of meal plan. It's worth looking into. Our room had a frig.

Our AI tab was over $1,400 for a 6 night stay. We did take advantage of it though. We ate lunch once off property at a snack place by the Natiulus submarine. 1 hamburger with fries and drink was $12.00.

We loved Grand Cayman. 7 Mile Beach is awesome. The best snorkeling of any Island we've been to. Plenty of things to see and do without being oppressive. Sting Ray City is a must.

We're going back in April on a cruise, but if we ever did another land vacation, we'll go AI or meal plan again.

Defintely make sure you get at least a small fridge.

What we did to save some money:

Bring some booze with you. Drinks are really over-priced, so make up your own. This alone will save you $$. You are allowed 1 liter per person.

With a fridge, you can buy ceral and fruit for breakfasts. For lunches, just get some cold cuts. We ate 95% of our breakfasts & lunches this way, and saved plenty. Dinners we ate out.

Yes, there are some very expensive restaurants, but also plenty of moderately priced ones as well. So you can totally control this expense depending on your choices.

We all love to have an ocean view, but you can also save money by picking a garden view room as well. Keep in mind that most folks spend very little time in their hotel room while on vacation, so you can certainly save here as well.

Rent the cheapest car you can find. No need to get a nice car. As long as it has AC, you're good to go.

Hopefully some of this will help save you a few bucks....good luck.

Stay in a condo type unit and you will have kitchen facilities. Yes, prices in the supermarket are high compared to the USA, but quality is excellent, so you can cook in your condo or BBQ outside and have fantastic meals for less than a restaurant in the US.

If in a hotel (ie no kitchen), there are a variety of inexpensive eating options around, just search this and other forums for ideas, but a few to get you started :
- Chicken Chicken
- Cimboco
- A la Kebab
- Bayside
- Copper Falls (great value for a steakhouse)
- Roast chicken etc from the deli at Fosters or Kirks

Favorite thing about the island for us is the snorkeling and how easy it is for us to bring our young boys there. About getting the fridge at a hotel...I have found depends....Hyatt on GC gave us one years ago because we had a baby, but I think I had to say he had a special diet. Westin on GC said no unless we had a medical condition . So there we bought a styrofoam cooler and used hotel ice. Now we just stay in a condo to make it easier. I agree that Calypso Grille is worth the splurge and Cimboco is great for breakfast, lunch and dinner(if you are at the regular Marriott, not Courtyard, it is right there)