Strange Bar Closings on Equinox Today in Grand Cayman

[horseymike]

2 hours ago, OysterD said:

So are you suggesting that with a few weeks notice Celebrity should have cancelled the stop in GC because a handful of people might be unhappy they can't have alcohol for a few hours on the ship?! 

 

Forget the hundreds or thousands onboard who booked months or years ago and want to visit GC, they're irrelevant? The only important thing is to keep happy the few customers who need to be able to drink alcohol at every bar on the ship for a few hours? Bizarre. 

Celebrity has all the numbers, they will see going forward what is the prudent thing to do.

I was in GC pre covid many times , one time post covid , the place has gone downhill , I understand the financial ramifications covid had on these islands , but don't bite the hand that feeds you with some punitive tax or regulation trying to force people off the ship.

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

I can just imagine the hue and cry from people who really wanted to go to Grand Cayman if they would get an announcement like this “a few days ago,  Grand Cayman changed their liquor laws so we cannot serve liquor on the ship while there except from one bar. Therefore our call on Grand Cayman tomorrow will be canceled”

 

😵‍💫

people will vote with their wallets.

[horseymike]

2 hours ago, OysterD said:

So are you suggesting that with a few weeks notice Celebrity should have cancelled the stop in GC because a handful of people might be unhappy they can't have alcohol for a few hours on the ship?! 

 

Forget the hundreds or thousands onboard who booked months or years ago and want to visit GC, they're irrelevant? The only important thing is to keep happy the few customers who need to be able to drink alcohol at every bar on the ship for a few hours? Bizarre. 

this situation has been implemented with very short notice.The situation Going forward is the issue.

[LGW59]

11 minutes ago, horseymike said:

this situation has been implemented with very short notice.The situation Going forward is the issue.

So because one can only get a drink from a specific bar they won't take the cruise???  Not sure what you are even saying.

[horseymike]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

So because one can only get a drink from a specific bar they won't take the cruise???  Not sure what you are even saying.

Everyone has certain amenities they enjoy about cruises, obviously , some more than others.

If a particular port of call and or the "regulations" imposed by them create a downsizing of those amenities, people will look for other alternatives. The bottom line will speak for itself.

[kearney]

On 1/14/2023 at 5:10 PM, BeachTunes said:

Pure speculation but I'm wondering if this is a new regulation by Grand Cayman to attempt to lure passengers off the ship to spend money ashore?

 

Like many other islands that rely on tourism, they were hit really hard by the pandemic and I believe it was one of the last Caribbean ports to reopen in 2022. On top of that, before the pandemic Seven Mile Beach suffered a period of severe erosion diminishing its picture-perfect appeal. The handful of charming beach bars (like Calico Jack's) and some of the beach clubs formerly available to cruisers have since closed. 

 

Again, just guessing. 🤷‍♀️

 

Side Note/Grand Cayman Lunch Ideas: We were looking at an Apex itinerary that visited GC and were sad to see that beach lounger options seemed limited. We since chose a different itinerary on the Millennium but when we do return to Grand Cayman we plan to go for lunch at this cute new restaurant: Ms Piper's Kitchen and Garden. It has fun retro Floridian decor with a great Caribbean/fusion menu. Not on the beach but has a gorgeous little pool. Apparently a delight for foodies and Instagrammers! 🙂 We were last on Grand Cayman in 2016 and had lunch at the casual beach restaurant at The Kimpton Hotel. It was brand new and beautiful. The menu was Mexican-inspired at the time. Highly recommended for the views alone! (No chair/lounge rentals there though as they're for hotel guests only.)

I wondered the same thing. I know recall discussions before Covid about banning cruise ships... now this would seem to have the opposite effect...more passengers getting off the ship...but perhaps impact of Covid closures is resulting in encouraging passengers to get off the ship... will have to look into this more. We have never experienced closed bars there in the past... service is usually reduced during port hours..but always open.

 

Update..my memory may be off..only banning I can find related to Covid..but I thought I had read that there was some frustration with cruise lines... but can not find that...maybe only Key West.

Edited January 21, 2023 by kearney

[cruisestitch]

12 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Everyone has certain amenities they enjoy about cruises, obviously , some more than others.

If a particular port of call and or the "regulations" imposed by them create a downsizing of those amenities, people will look for other alternatives. The bottom line will speak for itself.

A prime example is Bermuda. A lot of people became very angry at Bermuda’s imposition of a $40 fee for every passenger visiting there, whether you got off the ship or not. I know several who had vowed never to visit Bermuda in the future.   Is it enough to make a difference, that is will the numbers show? I doubt it.

 

There are several transatlantic each year. Some visit Bermuda, some don’t. I’ll be choosing the one that doesn’t. But it’s a drop in the bucket and I don’t think it’ll make a wicked of difference to anyone but me that I am making that choice.

 

There are plenty of Caribbean cruises that don’t visit Grand Cayman. Will there be enough people mad at Grand Cayman to show in any sort of statistical fashion? I don’t think so

[kearney]

3 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

A prime example is Bermuda. A lot of people became very angry at Bermuda’s imposition of a $40 fee for every passenger visiting there, whether you got off the ship or not. I know several who had vowed never to visit Bermuda in the future.   Is it enough to make a difference, that is will the numbers show? I doubt it.

 

There are several transatlantic each year. Some visit Bermuda, some don’t. I’ll be choosing the one that doesn’t. But it’s a drop in the bucket and I don’t think it’ll make a wicked of difference to anyone but me that I am making that choice.

 

There are plenty of Caribbean cruises that don’t visit Grand Cayman. Will there be enough people mad at Grand Cayman to show in any sort of statistical fashion? I don’t think so

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

[horseymike]

3 minutes ago, kearney said:

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

You would be surprised. At the end of the day $$$$$ always matters.

[kearney]

2 minutes ago, horseymike said:

You would be surprised. At the end of the day $$$$$ always matters.

What I meant was..that they don't really care if it upsets anyone... they know that they can get it $.. and if they lose a few tourists..no matter... Back in the day tourism was about 90% of the economy..last I heard it was closer to 10%

[cruisestitch]

44 minutes ago, kearney said:

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

Yes,  It had to be paid by Each Passenger on their credit card. Not refundable. So if the ship didn’t make it to that port for some reason, tough.  There was lots of discussion about it back in October when the repositioning cruise from Boston to Florida stopped there. It wasn’t even a multi day stop, and a lot of passengers didn’t see the point of going to Shore for so few hours, especially when the ferry wasn’t even running.   

[C4HCG]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

Was this in addition to whatever port fees Bermuda charges? I had not heard this..but having traveled to Bermuda a number of times..it does not surprise me. Now that they are a global financial center (after Hong Kong went back to the Chinese)..tourism is not of top priority.

Not much different to us foreigners having to buy ESTAs to enter the US. Same principle.

[cruisestitch]

57 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Not much different to us foreigners having to buy ESTAs to enter the US. Same principle.

No I think it’s a very different principle. It had to be paid by every passenger no matter the nationality, for one thing.

[kirtihk]

On 1/14/2023 at 5:50 PM, TrueCruiseaholic said:

It has been a policy in the past, but not really enforced. Grand Cayman has started enforcing the policy (heavy restrictions on selling alcohol). The policy and the negative reaction to it disincentivizes Celebrity from making future stops in Grand Cayman.

 

This will be the situation (limited alcohol availability in port) for the foreseeable future.

If it is a local law, it would affect all cruise lines that stop there. We just returned (January 5) from a Regent cruise, and during our stop at Grand Caiman bars operated as usual.

[C4HCG]

1 minute ago, cruisestitch said:

No I think it’s a very different principle. It had to be paid by every passenger no matter the nationality, for one thing.

It’s exactly the same principle, a payment required to enter a foreign country. Spin it any way you want. 

[kirtihk]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:58 AM, phoenix_dream said:

But Celebrity is not responsible for port restrictions.  That's what's bugging me about all this complaining to be honest. You book a cruise that includes a certain port. Your choice to do so. That port has these restrictions.  So in essence yes, you are getting what you paid for. You paid for a cruise stopping in a port with liquor restrictions.  Now I will grant you that these restrictions seem to be fairly new, as we never encountered them in GC before.  But that is not Celebrity's fault.

Read my post #114.

[horseymike]

56 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

If it is a local law, it would affect all cruise lines that stop there. We just returned (January 5) from a Regent cruise, and during our stop at Grand Caiman bars operated as usual.

good point.

[phoenix_dream]

10 hours ago, helen haywood said:

OP here.  Could not access Cruise Critic while on Equinox since I started this thread.  The internet was really awful.  

I am on Equinox now and was on last cruise.  Best internet I've ever had on a Celebrity ship. Curious yours was different. 

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, kirtihk said:

If it is a local law, it would affect all cruise lines that stop there. We just returned (January 5) from a Regent cruise, and during our stop at Grand Caiman bars operated as usual.

Was your stop before or after January 1? And maybe the law only has applies to large ships? I don't know 

[phoenix_dream]

10 hours ago, OysterD said:

So are you suggesting that with a few weeks notice Celebrity should have cancelled the stop in GC because a handful of people might be unhappy they can't have alcohol for a few hours on the ship?! 

 

Forget the hundreds or thousands onboard who booked months or years ago and want to visit GC, they're irrelevant? The only important thing is to keep happy the few customers who need to be able to drink alcohol at every bar on the ship for a few hours? Bizarre. 

Some of the comments on this thread just blow my mind with how ridiculous they are. I think I'll go find another thread to enjoy. I've had enough of this one (and realize some will not miss me at all🙂)

[miched]

The best thing to do is to submit a comment to detail card when on board

 

Then when doing the survey rate the areas that don’t relate to service unless that is needed as a 1 if you aren’t happy.  
 

If it is an issue of paying for another permit they should do it for the amount that is charged for a package that doesn’t provide what is promised.    On our recent cruise in Nov.  they ran out of Woodford, and basically all wines in the premium package.  Excuse supply issue 

Don’t give them a 10 in areas that have been cut, give it a 1

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[kremerlorraine]

On 1/16/2023 at 10:39 PM, the penguins said:

Scheduled Journey time: 2 hours 25 minutes.

Address of Bus Station is : Harbour Parade.

Distance from Cruise Terminal: 1 mile.

Taxi from Bus Station to Cruise Terminal: 7 minutes 

Taxi cost: £5.

 

 

On 1/20/2023 at 12:26 AM, phoenix_dream said:

They said it was GC regulations.  Is there proof otherwise that Celebrity was lying to us and was just cutting back?  If so please share.

We had the same experience in GC in early January on a Costa ship, so it's not a(nother) Celebrity cutback...

[Markator]

17 hours ago, kirtihk said:

If it is a local law, it would affect all cruise lines that stop there. We just returned (January 5) from a Regent cruise, and during our stop at Grand Caiman bars operated as usual.

I was told several other ships received some hefty fines for not complying. So your Regent may have been one of them or the overseers didn’t board to find out.
Just guessing like someone else said maybe a law in effect January 1 or something that was previously not enforced and maybe is now. 

[terrydtx]

21 hours ago, horseymike said:

Everyone has certain amenities they enjoy about cruises, obviously , some more than others.

If a particular port of call and or the "regulations" imposed by them create a downsizing of those amenities, people will look for other alternatives. The bottom line will speak for itself.

So, this is Celebrity's fault?  No hardly, it is a requirement of the local GC government. Celebrity has not downsized your amenities; they have no choice but to follow local government laws when in that government's territorial waters.

Edited January 22, 2023 by terrydtx

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

So, this is Celebrity's fault?  No hardly, it is a requirement of the local GC government. Celebrity has not downsized your amenities; they have no choice but to follow local government laws when in that government's territorial waters.

Hi Terry,

Not blaming Celebrity. I am stating that if a particular port limits the amenities of a cruise ( especially those pre paid for ) People will look for other cruises that do not stop at that port.