Grand Cayman port?

[txflood3]

I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question....but this will be my first cruise in November, so I am somewhat of a novice at this.

I will be on the Carnival Conquest from 10/31-11/7 and Grand Cayman will be our second port of call. Where exactly is the port? I am assuming Georgetown, but we all know what happens when we assume, so I figure I should ask.

The reason I ask, is my fiancee is interested in the sea turtle farm in GC and the sting ray city. I have heard(read) rave reviews of the sting rays but not so highly of the turtle farm. It seems that there is a reef near Georgetown called Cheeseburger Reef and has pictures of sea turtles swimming there. Is this reef close to the port(walking distance)? Anyone snorkeled there and have rave reviews of the aquatic life...including sea turtles?

Thanks in advance...any info is appreciated.

[cruisinqt]

Hey, I am going on that cruise too! :D Are you as excited as I am? I can't wait! In answer to your question, the ship will dock at Georgetown while in the Cayman Islands. We missed out on this port on our last cruise due to rough seas. We couldn't even dock there.:( I am hoping I get to see the stingrays this time.


I don't think the reef with the sea turtles is within walking distance from the ship. I have found that there are always tons of shops right by the port whenever we dock while cruising. I don't normally see beaches or excursions that are walking distance from the ship. But I have mainly done caribbean cruises. So it could be different elsewhere. You might check out [url="http://www.cruiseclues.com"]www.cruiseclues.com[/url] for more info. They have info. on every port and ship including the ports shedules so you can see what other ships will be docked there when you are. There are 4 ships sheduled to be in port when we are there, so I hope it won't be too crowded. It's a big place, so I'm sure everything will be just fine.

This port also has tendering where you are taken ashore by small boats instead of just walking off the ship via the ramp. Another way to find more info. about the sea turtles is to do a search here on the CC boards. Just go to the top of the boards and click on search. Just enter in cheeseburger reef or cayman sea turtles. You should be able to view other threads where people here at CC have talked about that subject. It's just like doing a regular search on your computer. I hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I have researched all of the ports and excursions for this cruise and I feel pretty good about what I plan on doing in each port. I check back here daily, so if you have more questions, I'll try to answer them, or direct you to a good place to find more info. on it.:)

[wineandbeach]

Cheeseburger Reef and the wreck are both within walking distance from the pier. Cheeseburger reef was behind Burger King. We went to Rockhams Pub and swam to the wreck. Cheeseburger reef was further from shore than the wreck. Not too far for a good swimmer. The problem with swimming to these reefs is that you are in open water and there are boats around so it was a little dangerous. My sister and I and our 4 kids swam to the wreck. It was great. i could have stayed out there for hours exploring and seeing the many different varieties of fish. Our husbands stayed at the pub with our stuff. When I go back to Grand Cayman, I hope to do a tour that goes to the wreck and Cheeseburger reef, so i don't have to worry about belongings or getting hit by a boat. There were some tours at these places and of course I forgot to look at the name of the boats.

[montgomeryfamily]

The afternoon Nautilis tour excurion goes to Cheeseburger Reef and includes snorkeling. The Nautilis is a semi-submersible boat that is has a spacious interior and large picture windows. We saw a lot of fish, several swimming sea turtles, some stingrays, and a shipwreck when we were going from the Nautilis dock location to where they anchor at Cheeseburger Reef. Where we anchored and began snorkeling, we saw lots of fish and one sea turtle. I don't know if we scared the others away or what. The divers also feed the fish and gave us some of the food to feed them too. They furnish the snorkel equipment and vests. They also had a freshwater shower and a bathroom. Although you may be able to book this as a ship tour, I suggest that you check out their website and, if interested, book directly with them as it is cheaper. Plus they give you a 15% discount for making an advance reservation. They don't charge your credit card until you get there.

While I don't remember if this has been on all of the ships we have been on visiting to Grand Cayman, I remember that most of them offer a ship excursion snorkeling tour that goes to Cheeseburger Reef. We have never taken one of these, but you could check to see if that might be available on your cruise. These were always so expensive that we felt we would do much better on a private tour.

You can snorkel from land, but is is somewhat of a swim out to the area. I did notice some other boats around, but I assumed these were ship tours. Sorry, I didn't get any names of those boats.

[janerd]

The Turtle farm is not as good as it used to be.It's mostly on the land side of the road.It use to be on the ocean side before a hurricane wiped it out.Stingray city is awesome.If you dive or snorkle its great.If you want to see turtles you have to be in the water first.With all the people coming off the ships,they hightail it outta there.My advice if your gonna snorkle is to get a map of all the reefs,rent a car.The Island ain't that big(you won't get lost)and pretty easy to navigate when you use the road that goes along the shore.Smiths cove is very nice,cemetary reef is good.The reefs close to the pier going to your right when you come on land are devils grotto and eden rock.Eden rock has a dive shop a mere 100 yards from the pier.Check out their web page.The shop is called Eden rock dive shop.Hope this helps.Janerd

[cruzin2paradise]

What about doing stuff on your own? For instance, I want to go to "Hell" and the Turtle Farm and then to the Colony Beach Club . . . anyone ever do this on their own? How much did getting to these places cost? Any suggestions?