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So Sad. Grand Caymen substituted for Key West


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I wasn't aware that the pier in Key West was damaged in December.  I just received an email from Royal stating that we will be stopping in George Town, Grand Caymen instead of Key West on our March 3rd sailing on the Empress.  So disappointed.  We've been to Grand Caymen before and wasn't impressed.   Oh well.  I guess we'll go with an open mind.  

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Really?  Here's what we've done:

 

  • 7 mile beach is gorgeous and the water is beautiful.   Taxi or bus up and back.  Cheap and easy beach day!
  • Book a tour to Stingray City on a private boat that will take you out to the sandbar before the giant catamarans filled with people get there.  Our boat also stopped so we could snorkel with tons of starfish.
  • Take a kayak tour through the mangroves with Cayman Sea Elements.  It was great and allowed us to spend the second half of the day relaxing on the beach.

Key West is cute and lovely, but I'd take GC any day!

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Never been to Key West since iteneraries from Galveston, our home port, that include Key West also include the Bahamas which is a pass for us.  Grand Cayman is awesome.  In addition to those suggestions above, Cemetary Beach is a secluded spot with very good snorkeling right from the beach.  Food is always good in Georgetown.  About the only two downsides are that it is a tender port and it’s expensive.  I hope you find something that you enjoy.

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Having been to Key West 3 times and Grand Cayman twice, I would pick GC over KW in a heartbeat.  Grand Cayman is beautiful and there's lots to do.   The tender ride is very, very short.  Having said that, we missed it once due to weather/seas so that's always a possibility, but we love GC.

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Oh no!! We're leaving on March 4th on Brilliance and I'll be so disappointed if they don't go to Key West! I chose this cruise because of that stop (and Cozumel) and I have no interest in going back to Grand Cayman again. 

Anyone have any info on which ships are still docking in KW?

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2 hours ago, lifes-a-beach said:

Never been to Key West since iteneraries from Galveston, our home port, that include Key West also include the Bahamas which is a pass for us.  Grand Cayman is awesome.  In addition to those suggestions above, Cemetary Beach is a secluded spot with very good snorkeling right from the beach.  Food is always good in Georgetown.  About the only two downsides are that it is a tender port and it’s expensive.  I hope you find something that you enjoy.

Thank you for the Cemetary Beach suggestion.  Planning our second ever cruise and Jamaica & GC are throwing me for a loop.  

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Two things:

 

Love Grand Cayman!  Would happily go there as replacement!

 

We are just off Rhapsody earlier this month, and indeed stopped at Key West (Military Dock) there was another cruise line ship at the downtown dock.  Did not observe any damage or reason why a ship could not stop there.  Damage done was minor and had been fixed.  

 

There is some other reason your itinerary was changed...not dock damage cause.  

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Didnt know about pier damage in Key West, but I’d be thrilled with the Grand Cayman substitution! 

 

I love Key West, but sadly I don’t think that it is what it once was. Once quaint, now it feels overrun with cheap souvenir stores. 

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1 hour ago, gsb said:

Don't blame you one bit.

GC is a mess trying to get into town and then back with the crowded tender situation.

Love Key West and it's walkability.

Agreed.  GC is crowded and it's expensive and it's a pain to get to.

Edited by time4u2go
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1 hour ago, gsb said:

Don't blame you one bit.

GC is a mess trying to get into town and then back with the crowded tender situation.

Love Key West and it's walkability.

I am with you, we are scheduled to sail there on celebrity in March hope ours is not changed, most likely will just stay on ship if it is grand cayman, have done that many times. 

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3 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Agreed.  GC is crowded and it's expensive and it's a pain to get to.

 

Our land shuttle to town from the Military dock took longer to get to town than the boat tender at GC.  Being a Navy base, you are not allowed to walk to town...have to take the shuttle.  And no pictures!  

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6 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Our land shuttle to town from the Military dock took longer to get to town than the boat tender at GC.  Being a Navy base, you are not allowed to walk to town...have to take the shuttle.  And no pictures!  

Interesting.  We had quite the opposite experience when we were there.  Our shuttle got us into town in no time!  And we've had several weather and sea condition related delays when tendering to/from GC.

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OP I understand your disappointment.We pick certain itineraries for certain ports. However everything is subject to change. Maybe next year. But IMO Grand Cayman is a better option than another sea day.  

Edited by davekathy
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4 hours ago, beardedwoman said:

I wasn't aware that the pier in Key West was damaged in December.  I just received an email from Royal stating that we will be stopping in George Town, Grand Caymen instead of Key West on our March 3rd sailing on the Empress.  So disappointed.  We've been to Grand Caymen before and wasn't impressed.   Oh well.  I guess we'll go with an open mind.  

 

We are scheduled to go to Key West on Feb 2nd cruise - be there on Feb. 7th.  Have not heard anything about NOT going there.

You might want to contact someone to find out the REAL reason for your change. 😉

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4 hours ago, beardedwoman said:

I wasn't aware that the pier in Key West was damaged in December.  I just received an email from Royal stating that we will be stopping in George Town, Grand Caymen instead of Key West on our March 3rd sailing on the Empress.  So disappointed.  We've been to Grand Caymen before and wasn't impressed.   Oh well.  I guess we'll go with an open mind.  

 

Could be worse, you could be stopping at Nassau instead. I would take Grand Cayman over Key West in a heartbeat. 

 

🌴

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1 hour ago, DHADEN said:

 

We are scheduled to go to Key West on Feb 2nd cruise - be there on Feb. 7th.  Have not heard anything about NOT going there.

You might want to contact someone to find out the REAL reason for your change. 😉

 

It is the real reason. 😉

 

It's was damaged a while ago. Google it.

 

KW can still accommodate 2 ships, which is why there's still reports of ships docking and not all itineraries have been changed. But if you're due to be there on day that 3 ships are scheduled someone's gotta make a change...

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2 hours ago, island lady said:

Two things:

 

Love Grand Cayman!  Would happily go there as replacement!

 

We are just off Rhapsody earlier this month, and indeed stopped at Key West (Military Dock) there was another cruise line ship at the downtown dock.  Did not observe any damage or reason why a ship could not stop there.  Damage done was minor and had been fixed.  

 

There is some other reason your itinerary was changed...not dock damage cause.  

 

Dock damage is the real reason! 

KW can still take 2 ships, but if 3 are scheduled someone's not getting in!

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3 hours ago, LovetheTXsun said:

Thank you for the Cemetary Beach suggestion.  Planning our second ever cruise and Jamaica & GC are throwing me for a loop.  

Not sure what you like to do, but our second best ever excursion was in Jamaica. Mystic Mountain - although it wasn’t called that by RCCL. It was a ski-lift type chair ride up. They had a pool with a slide and food, as well as a store up top. The zip line was at least nine or ten zips, I think. They were excellent. And there’s a bobsled type roller coaster track. It’s a single person car, and you can attach two cars together if you want. It was pretty neat. Our best excursion, but the way, was the ATV tour in Aruba with Around Aruba Tours. The zoo was awesome - and the ATV tour itself was fantastic. 

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