We’ve made it to the homestretch of this six-day cruise on the Carnival Horizon, and today’s port of call is Georgetown, Grand Cayman. After a night of rough seas, I was anticipating today’s visit to turn into a sea day, but here we are!
As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, we hit a patch of high winds and high seas once we departed Ocho Rios. The ship was rocking quite a bit Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. However, upon our arrival in Grand Cayman, the sea calmed down considerably.
Grand Cayman is a tender port, meaning the ships remain slightly offshore, held in position using a combination of thrusters and GPS positioning rather than dropping anchor. Guests are then shuttled ashore by tender boats operated by the Cayman Port Authority. These boats hold around 250 passengers each and run back and forth continuously throughout the day.
Once the all-clear was given, tender operations began around 8:15 a.m. With four ships in port today, about 15,000 people were out and about walking around the city or heading out on shore excursions.
I headed ashore around 1:00 p.m. and was able to walk right onto a waiting tender for a quick, yet choppy, three-minute ride to shore. From there, I did some wandering around the town, making a stop at the local Cuban cigar store to pick up a few freshly rolled cigars and take some photos, while my travel companion did some souvenir shopping.
We didn’t stay out long, as the last tender was scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Our big mistake was heading out at the same time everyone was headed back, but I had a few meetings in the morning and couldn’t get out earlier.
Once we wrapped up shopping and meandering, we made our way back, only to be met with a huge, unorganized line of people. While the two Carnival ships in port were using the same dock, there was no signage or anyone directing people to the correct line. What I thought was the line for the Horizon was not, so we switched to the other line.
Remember I mentioned that those tender boats hold around 250 people? Well, with about 2,000 people in line, it was going to be a slow go. While there were tents up in the queue to keep us out of the sun, it was still a long and slow process. It took about 45 minutes from the time we joined the line to the time we got onto the very crowded tender, where guests were sitting shoulder to shoulder.
I commented that we looked like a bunch of refugees crammed onto these boats heading to freedom.
Once we were alongside the ship, it took yet another 15 minutes for us to get off the tender and through security. Then there was the line for the elevator!
I took the stairs.
Tonight was the second and final Elegant Night of the cruise, and looking around the ship, it was anything but. After a day exploring and doing shore excursions, it was obvious that the last thing people wanted to do was get dressed up, as most were dressed casually.
On a seven-day cruise, Elegant Night is usually the first and final sea day of the cruise, while on a six-day cruise, it’s held on the first sea day and one port day.
These are also nights when the main dining room features a special “Feast” menu, and tonight was one many look forward to—lobster and prime rib. I was expecting the dining room to be very busy, as on previous cruises, I’ve seen wait times for anytime dining upwards of 75 minutes.
However, as my friend and I sipped a few cocktails at the steakhouse bar, wondering where we should have dinner, I kept a close eye on the dining room wait. Throughout the evening, it didn’t go over 10 minutes.
Normally, I skip the main dining room on Carnival, as frankly, the food isn’t that great. But we agreed that since there wasn’t a wait, we should give it a shot. I checked us both in on the Carnival HUB app, and in just a few minutes, the alert came that our table was ready, so we headed over.
Remarkably, the restaurant was quite empty! We were given a table for two along the windows, and our server came over with bread and took our drink order. I asked why it was so slow, and he was also surprised, as they were expecting it to be busy as well.
We started off with some appetizers, including the Tuna Nicoise and Beef Carpaccio, which were nothing to write home about but hit the spot.
For entrees, I went with the prime rib and lobster tail, while he chose the Chicken Cordon Bleu. My prime rib was pretty much all fat and had no seasoning or flavor, while the lobster was sweet and cooked perfectly. The chicken probably would have been a better choice, as I was told it was very good.
For dessert, a few scoops of ice cream and some panna cotta rounded out the meal.
Overall, the service was good, food arrived timely, and service wasn’t rushed. One thing I hate about Carnival’s dining room experience is the “entertainment,” which tonight consisted of someone singing two songs very loudly over the restaurant’s speakers. This, along with way too much loud banter from the maître d’, isn’t my cup of tea at dinnertime.
The food itself was about what I expected from the main dining room—bad, but not horrible. It’s made for the masses from recipes that could be taken straight from the Golden Corral Cookbook. Those who enjoy it, enjoy it. Again, not my cup of tea, and I’ll spend the extra money to dine in a specialty restaurant rather than eat in the main dining room.
A quick trip to the casino tonight resulted in a few wins—not big enough to pay off my tab, but enough to rack up some points. However, it wasn’t anything close to previous cruises, as the casino is pretty tight. My winnings went right back into the machines, but I did have enough wins to keep me playing for about an hour.
After a nightcap, I decided to call it an early evening and head back to my stateroom for some peace and quiet because tonight, the Havana Bar didn’t have a band! As I’ve mentioned previously, my room is directly on the other side of the dance floor, so until 11:45 p.m. each evening, I have my own private concert, complete with pounding bass through the mattress. It was nice to actually come back and relax after a long day and not have to wait until the band called it quits to get some shut-eye.
Our next, and final, port of call is tomorrow when we arrive at Cozumel, Mexico, at 10:30 a.m. As always, thanks for following along.
FunTimes for Day 4:
The Fun Times for December 4, 2024 can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.