On our own or through Carnival

[62 Cruiser]

We are going to Grand Cayman as part of our 5 day cruise on Inspiration. We "dock" in GC at approx. 7am and leave port at 2pm. We were looking at either going on our own to Sea Grape or taking the excursion to 7 mile beach w/ transport for $29pp. I know the cab ride is about $4pp. How much are chair rentals? On the cruise excursion you get a complimentary drink and a beach chair but you are only there 3.5 hours(including the ride there and back). What would be the better deal?

[Karysa]

The first time we went to GC we did our own excursion. Since GC is a port where a tender is used, the next time, I would book a ship excursion that started as early as possible. We were on the Voyager of the Seas and it took about 2.5 hours to get off of the ship or maybe even longer. That was in 2004 so maybe they have found a way to speed things up by now.