ExpertTripPlanner... please refrain from using inflammatory phrasing such as "not enough, yet, for me to feel safe from the threat of bigotry or violence".... don't be ridiculous...you clearly know very little indeed about my country, and yes, I am being defensive about Cayman.

Caymanians are very warm and welcoming people, and about the least discriminatory and bigotted people you will ever come across... and as for violence... you are at much higher risk in virtually any US city.. I can't even imagine a visitor feeling unsafe in Cayman or ever under threat of violence... sorry, but you are unjustly and unjustifiably trying to pigeonhole Cayman and Caymanians.

I totally agree with Tom...of the places that we have been,Aruba,St John (2 times),Kaua'i and Grand Cayman...I felt the safest and had the most fun on Grand Cayman.

Christie

Hey, Expert - I totally get it. It's important to feel safe wherever you go. Those who have not experienced bigotry firsthand will not understand. If only these people could spend a day in our shoes...

GFaure, to say "these people" is a bit "holier than thou" isn't it ?

I don't care if someone is gay, straight, black, blue, pink, moslem, christian or a janeist monk, I treat them equally and on their indidivual merits.

You are also presuming to say that "these people" have no experience of bigotry or discrimination... sweeping statement again.

As regards Cayman, there are bigots and those who otherwise make unreasoned and unfair judgemens on people they meet for one reason or another. I'm sure you can see such behaviour in Cayman as you could in any country, I've just been trying to make the point that Cayman is, generally speaking, a very warm and welcoming place.

Give Cayman a chance, come with an open mind and I'm sure you'll find you have nothing to be concerned about.

I'm going on my honeymoon to GC from January 3rd to the 9th, and I for one could use some advice! I chose GC because I actually prefer a more americanized island, with the tropical atmosphere, snorkeling and crystal clear waters. I don't mind lots of people, but wanted someplace safe and friendly. I went to GD once years ago as a cruise ship passenger, and visited Hell (won't again lol), the turtle farm, and did stingray city which was amazing. I am a little concerned about how expensive the island is, but I think it will be worth it. We're staying at the sunshine suites with a kitchen are in the room so we figured buy some snacks and eat a small lunch in the room, save our money for nice dinners out. We hoped to rent a car for a few days to go around and see the island, and hit some of the good snorkeling spots. Neither one of us have ever been scuba diving before, but I would absolutly love to dive to see "the wall". Do you have to be certified or experienced or do they have a beginners dive that anyone can do? Hubby says he sees no point in spending money to go to a different location, but he's never been south of maryland either lol.. this will blow him away. I'm very excited about the trip my only concerns really are that the island is very pricey and that I won't be able to apply for my passport until the end of september because I booked the plane tickets in my married name (I had a total blonde moment yes I know lmao) so I hope from the end of september to beginning of january will be enough time to get our passports! I'm sweating bullets... lol..

I agree with Christiegr...Aruab is way more commercial, built up and touristy than GC. We really enjoyed GC (got married on the beach there in a great low key villa resort on 7MB) and will return. We have just been been trying out other islands first. Main drawback to GC was that it was expensive. But air to GC is the cheapest of all the islands so it kind of balances out.

that should read ARUBA not the dyslexic word it appears to be. I apologize for my crappy typing skills. I am a 2 finger typist (just didn't catch on in 7th grade :-)) but I go very fast, hence all the errors.

2 Words: Cruise Ships

There are plenty of places to go on GC to avoid cruise ship crowds...

Kath,

If you want to stay in a private condo on the Northside, I can HIGHLY recommend Harv's Kai. We love it there.

and as far as the CAG is concerned...I was the first moderator chosen for that board, and was ashamed of some of the backhanded things that went on, asked to be removed...

I then pm'd information to Vegas, who posts here as well, some sites to look at for her upcoming trip to TCI and got BANNED for sending links (she was going to TCI, whether I sent links or not, so what is the harm). It's actually, quite sad, you cannot mention good service or food, or times for anything other than the vendors who pay for that site. I get it, but it doesn't give a good overall picture.

We used to stay on 7MB area, years ago, and found the cruise ship traffic too much for our taste. I like the Northside where I can walk for an hour on the sweetest beach and not see another soul. I like being able to walk the road to Chisolms and never worry about being run over by rush hour traffic. I like the slower pace, the beauty, and the ability to just relax there.

I wish you luck wherever you stay.

Just a few more days SUE!!! We'll be sunning our buns in our favorite place. Yahoo.

Karen,
You've got that right, girlfriend!!!!!!!!
Sue

I'm off island over the weekend, but back at The Reef on Wed 20th... Sue and Karen... give me a call and come by for lunch one day :)

Tom,
I'll give you a call, and Karen and I will take you up on that lunch invite!
Sue

Thanks for the info Ike. Those look great - still haven't made any reservations yet so I appreciate the follow up.

YAY!

Lunch with Cayman Tom. How cool. Can't wait.



....so many shoes, so little luggage space :D

On the day I visited GC (yes, I came on a ship), a young boy got hit by a car on the main street. The Carnival Cruise Line's Stingray City boat ran into another boat as it was anchoring at Stingray City. It was total chaos. How long ago was your hurricane? There is still so much damage evident. The landscape wasn't lush, like I prefer. Cruises are how I decide which island to come back to. It was my least favorite of the 8 Caribbean islands I've visited.

Since you were on a cruise, and if you only got to Georgetown, you only saw a small portion of the island. Even that trip on the boat out to Stingray Sandbar wouldn't show you the entire thing.

The island did suffer greatly with Ivan. We were down the spring after Ivan, and there was damage, but from recent pics (and I return in 3 days to see for myself) it's looking great.

I don't think you should judge the island from only the Georgetown/Stingray Sandbar thing. There is much more to that island that just those things.

See the Eastside or Northside...they're wonderful

We are going in mid-October and we can't wait. It has been 2 years since we have been to GC and I need to go back. We bought a timeshare at the Grand Caymanian and we love it. It is on the quiet side of the island. The Grand Caymanian posts when the ships will be in Georgetown so we can avoid it if we want to. We can see Stingray City from our room and we love it. We have been to St. Lucia, Aruba, St. Thomas, St. John, Bermuda, St. Martin and Turks and Caicos. Personally, we like GC the best. Out of all of those islands the snorkeling in GC has been the best.

Having been to quite a few islands, I've yet to find off shore snorkelling that even comes close to the quality I found in GC. When I first started going to Cayman in the late 80's, it felt almost desolate! During my last visit, about 7 years ago, a 10 min. car ride from our resort to town took about an hour! I still loved it there & just needed to explore new (& sometimes less commercialized) places. Cayman has some of the most beautiful reefs in the carribean and the people are extremely friendly. I was also impressed with the fact that as busy as Cayman was becoming, the island still remained so clean! I always felt super safe there. Then again I thought the same about Provo, T&C until my car was vandalized in '03. Everything changes.