bookbabe

If you want a rental car, the airport is where most companies are located, other than a couple on Seven Mile Beach as mentioned above.

As a ship excursion or with a tour company that picks you up at the port, sure. Not really feasible DIY with a rental car, IMO, just not enough time.

About a 40-45 min drive each way.

The person entering Canada to get on a cruise departing from a Canadian port would need to do ArriveCan for their method of entry (plane, car, train, etc.) and this is unrelated to any cruise-related requirements. Then, they may or may not need a second ArriveCan, depending on whether or not the cruise itself leaves Canada and then returns. Leaving Canada by cruise ship and not returning, ie. Vancouver to Alaska or Quebec to Boston one way, the Canadian government says you DO NOT need an ArriveCan before boarding since your ship is not ARRIVING in Canada, it’s leaving and not returning. Some cruise lines, eg HAL, may be confused, but the government is pretty clear on that. Leaving Canada by cruise ship on a round trip cruise, ie round trip Vancouver, or taking a cruise from somewhere not Canada that visits or ends in a Canadian port, ie round trip Seattle or Oslo to Montreal, you DO need an ArriveCan submission done in the 72 hours before embarkation, since you are ARRIVING in (or leaving and returning to) Canada as part of your cruise. You do it before boarding the ship, not in the days before actually arriving at the port. They have the cruise lines looking for the receipt at your cruise checkin, since that’s easier than having huge lines at whatever port you enter (or return to) Canada at.

Which boats are used can vary by cruise line and day, depending on how many ships are in port, etc. you might want to ask in a few recent roll calls for cruises from your cruise line that have stopped there recently, see what was used. The tender ride is only a few minutes long, it’s not far to the pier from where the ships anchor. And if the weather is too rough they will skip the port, so generally it’s not too bad.

We used Azova when traveling to proctor the free govt tests that we took with us. They’ll also proctor a variety of tests purchased at pharmacies. As long as you have a smartphone, it’s much easier than hunting for a testing company in a strange city. We just did the tests in our hotel room using the hotel wifi. https://www.azova.com/travelvideo/

I know this is an old thread, but it’s the only chocolate one I could find. 🙂 Our cruise line offers an excursion to this estate rather than the ones mentioned above. http://www.howeltonestate.com/howelton-chocolates/ We prefer cruise line excursions when we can, but if there’s a much better experience elsewhere we would consider it. Thoughts? Has anyone been on any of the chocolate excursions and can comment? Thanks!

Most car rental places are at the airport. Andy’s has a Seven Mile Beach location, but IMO it’s not really walkable. You could try phoning Cayman Auto Rentals to see who answers - 345-949-6954

While you can try calling your favourite chain’s location there, few of the Cayman hotels have ever offered day passes, and that doesn’t seem to have changed post-reopening. Royal Palms, Tiki Beach and Calico Jack’s have all closed permanently. Public Beach is one of the further sections of SMB from the cruise port, but it’s one of the only sections left that has free facilities and chair rentals accessible by cruise ship visitors. There are lots of nice sections of SMB to throw a towel down on if you don’t need restrooms and such, I like Governors Beach. If you want a beach club with a bar/restaurant and such, Coral Beach is the only one on SMB at the moment. https://www.explorecayman.com/things-to-do/beaches https://coralbeach.ky Any of these places can be gotten to by taxi or bus, just tell the driver what you want - be specific about Public Beach the place, not *a* public beach to get the right one. https://goo.gl/maps/7QTZJZYochFAbi9R7

That is very unusual about the taxi. I am willing to bet he was not the regular driver, or even that maybe the bartender called a buddy rather than an actual taxi company. In 20 years of taxis to/from the airport multiple times a year, we’ve never had a taxi that didn’t take USD. In fact, even the taxi authority lists rates in USD on their app and website. https://www.caymantransport.ky/transportation-services/taxi We’ve never had anyone on island refuse USD, ever, not once in over 20 years. Not even kids selling lemonade or cookies outside the grocery store. Even they can almost automatically convert between currencies, doing the math in their head. ($20 US is $16 CI) The worst that happens is that you get your change in CI dollars. Your experience was VERY unusual, so please don’t let it colour your view of the island. It was not the norm by any stretch of the imagination.

Not sure where you were trying to use US dollars and got told no, but Cayman has a set conversion rate and uses US dollars everywhere. We own property there and visit regularly, and have never had trouble using US dollars in any store, taxis, attractions, gas stations, restaurants, etc. Most places even list both currencies on the bill as a convenience. As for the tenders, yeah, tendering is a pain, but lots of ports have tenders. We’ve had at least one tender port on almost every cruise we’ve taken in every region. It is what it is. I look at them as being a free water tour of the harbour area. (Saw more ocean wildlife on the tenders in Cabo than we did on our paid whale watching tour in Alaska. lol) However, Cayman is revisiting the idea of floating piers for the cruise port, so maybe that will come to fruition and that issue will be solved.

If you’ve never been in a cave before, they’re kind of cool. Not what I’d personally list as the number one thing to do on the island, but if I had already done the stingrays I’d be okay stopping in at the caves as part of an island tour. FYI, the caves are NOT near the cruise port. You’ll need an excursion, taxi or rental car to get there. Allow lots of time to get back. https://www.caymancrystalcaves.com

Yes. https://www.edenrockdive.com Paradise restaurant that had a second access to the Eden Rock area, the one a bit closer to the ship, is closed, however.

https://www.caymancompass.com/2022/08/19/cayman-lifts-more-covid-travel-restrictions/

Cayman doesn’t really have any all-inclusive resorts like you find on many islands. There are many public beach areas, but they generally don’t have the type of facilities an all-inclusive would. Public Beach is one of the further sections of SMB from the cruise port, but it’s one of the only sections left that has free facilities and chair rentals accessible by cruise ship visitors. There are lots of nice sections of SMB to throw a towel down on if you don’t need restrooms and such, I like Governors Beach. If you want a beach club with a bar/restaurant and such, Coral Beach is the only one on SMB at the moment. https://www.explorecayman.com/things-to-do/beaches https://coralbeach.ky Any of these places can be gotten to by taxi or bus, just tell the driver what you want - be specific about Public Beach the place, not *a* public beach to get the right one. https://goo.gl/maps/7QTZJZYochFAbi9R7

There are dozens of great restaurants to choose from, with all types of cuisine. You may want to browse this website, then post back with names of places that interest you for feedback. Or provide more specifics than “not coffee, ice cream or fast food” so that we can provide more targeted suggestions. https://www.caymangoodtaste.com/restaurants Most of DH and my personal favs are along the Seven Mile Beach corridor, which is a little past walking distance of the port. Eats, Craft, Thai Orchid, Casa 43, Brooklyn Pizza, Lone Star are all places we visit frequently when having lunch in town. The Falls is our fav date night steakhouse. Lobster Pot is closer to the port, but it’s also more of a date night fav than a lunch in town spot.

Public Beach is one of the further sections of SMB from the cruise port, but it’s one of the only sections left that has free facilities and chair rentals accessible by cruise ship visitors. There are lots of nice sections of SMB to throw a towel down on if you don’t need restrooms and such, I like Governors Beach. If you want a beach club with a bar/restaurant and such, Coral Beach is the only one on SMB at the moment. https://www.explorecayman.com/things-to-do/beaches https://coralbeach.ky Any of these places can be gotten to by taxi or bus, just tell the driver what you want - be specific about Public Beach the place, not *a* public beach to get the right one. https://goo.gl/maps/7QTZJZYochFAbi9R7

It should be Port Charlottetown. No idea why it’s not listed. https://portcharlottetown.com

Try searching for Port Charlottetown…it may be listed under the P’s not the C’s. And you can likely have them show the same ArriveCan receipt (printed out or a forwarded email) to the cruise line port officials at embarkation. The Canadian govt won’t care that you boarded the ship at different times on embarkation day, you’ll all be arriving in Canada at the same time, which is what they care about.

Holland America may be insisting that you do ArriveCan, but the Canadian govt’s rules are clear. Fouremco posted the copy/paste from the official govt website immediately above your post. ArriveCan is done for cruises that ARRIVE in Canada at some point during the cruise. That could be leaving Canada and then returning, or it could be coming from another country and stopping in a Canadian port. If you leave Canada and don’t return, or if you stay in Canada for the entire cruise, you do not need to do ArriveCan.

If you are able to get a taxi right away and your tour isn’t late returning, you’ll likely be fine. Travel time is about 15 min, allow 30 if it’s a busy cruise ship day. You’ll want to get the number of a taxi in advance or have the front desk call one as soon as you get back. You’ll want to hustle, and it would completely stress me out, but it should be doable. (DH and I generally stick with cruise line excursions to avoid this kind of stress, but YMMV)

Are your parents entering Canada separately? ArriveCan is only for the actual border crossing from another country into Canada. For cruises, it’s shown at embarkation of the cruise that enters Canada at some point during the trip, and that’s the only time you’ll need it. They don’t physically check it when getting off the ship at the actual ports because they’ve gotten the info electronically from the cruise line in advance via the ship manifest.

A cheaper option is Azova, they’ll proctor your freebie govt green box tests. https://www.azova.com/travelvideo/

DH, a diehard Pepsi drinker, is going to be very disappointed. He’ll drink the Coke, but he won’t be happy about it.

I would suggest either the Cayman Turtle Experience or a beach day at Public Beach, or Coral Beach if you want something more formal in terms of a beach experience. Turtle Experience https://www.turtle.ky For Public Beach, just grab a taxi at the port and DIY. You can stop along the way for snacks and drinks if you like, depending on how long you want to spend at the beach. There’s a playground, restrooms and usually vendors for chairs and umbrellas. Or there are other beach options if you want something further afield. https://www.explorecayman.com/things-to-do/beaches Coral Beach is an actual beach club/restaurant with restrooms and shower facilities that patrons can use. https://coralbeach.ky