ltilley

My fiance and I will most likely go to Grand Cayman for our honeymoon. We have been given a free condo to stay at, which is nice.

But we are wondering how much 7 days/nights in Grand Cayman will run? We will be renting a car. We plan on going out to dinner 4-5 times, taking Capt. Marvin one day, heading out to Rum Point and snorkling off the beach at the condo.

We're not scuba divers, so the snorkling is free.

We just want to know how much the honeymoon will run us. THANKS!

mrsdeanan

We just got back from our honeymoon at the Cayman Islands last week. We were gone for 11 days and ate at a different restaurant each night. Figure for dinner about $150 - 175 average a night for a drink, an appetizer, main course and dessert each. The very best meal we had was at Cecil's restaurant at the Kaibo yacht club at Rum Point. We both had the honey sesame soy ginger pan seared tuna. It was the best tuna we have ever had - it was amazing! We were going to drive the 45 minutes to eat their for our last night but it is closed on Monday and Tuesday. We would fly back to Cayman just for this meal - you must go! Also, Raguzzi (italian) on 7 mile beach by the Hyatt was great with amazing desserts - the banana caramel pie was even better than the chocolate mousse. Do not go to Ottmars or DJ's - waste of money. Deckers & Bed were so so. Lighthouse at Breakers - make reservations for eating out on the deck (its good for atmosphere). Bamboo (sushi) at the Hyatt was great for drinks and dessert - sushi was average. Smugglers Cove had good food but wasn't as romantic as I hoped. Try to eat make dinner plans around 6:15 so you can watch the sun go down and enjoy the transformation of the restaurants. Have a fabulous time - we did. Aside from dinner, there isn't a lot to spend money on. The butterfly farm is cute for $6 and Hell is a tourist trap but who cares - we wanted to send post cards to friends from Hell. The turtle farm is nothing special other than hundreds of turtles all in dirty water. The tortuga rum factory has great rum cakes and flavored rum. We came back with a 6 pack of banana rum and some rum cakes. Shopping is really nothing special and neither is the jewelry. For snorkeling, go to Cemetary beach - 100s of silver fish in 1 ft of water. Also Devil's Grotto / Eden rock. Email me when you get back and let me know.

anonxx

Please keep in mind that if you are on a tight budget you can easily control your costs, especially since you are staying in a condo. There are lots of wonderful expensive restaurants like all of the posts mention, but there are also great places to go for a special dinner that don't have to cost near as much. For example, the Tree House is nice, and you can request a table right on the water. You can save a lot of money by limiting your drinks and having dessert later on the beach. For us, it is even more enjoyable to make our own pina colada's (or whatever drinks you prefer) in our condo, have a nice dinner, and come back to the beach or our balcony to enjoy a quiet dessert. A nice atmosphere, romance, etc., but at a fraction of the cost. Also, most excursions to Stingray City run about $30/person, and all of the snorkling is free if you bring your own equipment. (or maybe your condo provides it)

meta

You can easily go to nice restaurants for dinner and not pay a fortune. 1st of all, cutting back on drinks during dinner is one way to do it. Also, many restaurants will automatically include a service charge in the bill. I'm not saying it's cheap, but a really good place doesn't have to cost more than $100. Many others will be less.

NorthSideSue

We spend many weeks a year in our North Side condo. One of the best money-saving tips I can offer is to eat breakfast at your condo, eat at any of the great restaurants for a late lunch (same food, lower prices) and then have some cocktails at some Happy Hour and return to your condo for a light supper.

jacketwatch

Do you plan to eat out for every meal? As this is your honeymoon I imagine there won't be much time in the kitchen so it would be helpful to know your dining plans.

mrsdeanan

Something I forgot to mention earlier - if you don't have a problem with tap water, you are ok, but if you request bottled water, expect $6 Cayman to be added to your bill. As someone else mentioned, a lot of restaurants tack on the 15% gratuity - don't pay it twice. It shows on both the menu and on the receipt - so check it carefully. We also ate breakfast and lunch in our condo and just went out for dinner. The supermarket is extensive so you really don't need to bring food from home.

TravelingSue

Our secret is to eat a big breakfast and no lunch. We never drink alcohol (we are not drinkers) and splurge on dinner. We never have room for dessert. You could save a good amount that way.