It’s time for the final port of call for this 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Venezia, and today we’re at anchor in George Town, Grand Cayman. There were only three stops on this cruise: Nassau, The Bahamas; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and today’s stop.
The Carnival Venezia arrived in Grand Cayman around 8 a.m., dropping anchor just off the coast of George Town. If you’re wondering why the ship isn’t docked, it’s because Grand Cayman doesn’t have a pier. While there has been talk about building one for years, it just never happened. Instead, cruise ships anchor offshore, and passengers are tendered—aka shuttled—back and forth to land using water taxis operated by the port authority. It adds an extra step to getting ashore, so if you made arrangements on your own, be sure to plan accordingly and get on an early shuttle.
Despite the common phrase “anchor,” modern cruise ships like the Carnival Venezia don’t actually use anchors when stopping in Grand Cayman. Instead, they rely on advanced dynamic positioning systems to stay in place. This high-tech system uses GPS and the ship’s thrusters, located below the waterline at the bow and stern, to make constant micro-adjustments, keeping the ship steady without drifting.
Why don’t they anchor? Grand Cayman’s waters are relatively deep near the shore, and dropping a massive anchor could damage the delicate coral reefs below. By using dynamic positioning systems, cruise lines help protect the marine environment while keeping the ship safely in position, ready for passengers to tender ashore.
Water Shuttle Process to Grand Cayman
So, how does the water shuttle process work? First, guests head to a designated area on the ship to grab a ticket with a boarding group number. Once their number is called, they make their way down to the gangway and board the shuttle for the short ride to shore. Platinum and Diamond guests, as well as anyone booked on a Carnival-arranged shore excursion, get priority access, so they can skip the wait. Everyone else just has to hang tight until their group is called.
As for excursions available through Carnival, there are activities like snorkeling with stingrays at Stingray City, visiting the famous Seven Mile Beach, or exploring the island’s crystal-clear waters on a catamaran tour.
If you’re like me and prefer to explore on your own, there’s plenty to do within walking distance of the pier. You can browse the duty-free shops for souvenirs, grab a bite to eat at local favorites like Margaritaville or Cayman Cabana, or just take a leisurely walk along the waterfront and take in the beautiful views of the ships at anchor.
One of the great things about Grand Cayman is how safe it is for tourists. Unlike some other Caribbean destinations, like Jamaica, where you need to be extra cautious, Grand Cayman is known for its low crime rate and friendly locals. You can explore on your own without worry, and even if you choose to take a taxi to a beach or another attraction, the drivers are reliable, and fares are typically fixed rates.
When it’s time to head back to the ship, things aren’t quite as structured as getting ashore. The water shuttles run continuously throughout the day, with the last one for the Carnival Venezia departing at 3:15 p.m. Unlike the morning process, there are no boarding groups or priority lines—everyone just waits in line until they can hop on the next available shuttle. The line can get a bit long in the early afternoon, especially as more people start heading back at the same time. The shuttles run frequently, but be prepared to wait. Just don’t cut it too close—missing that last shuttle means you’ll be waving goodbye from shore.
Joining us in Grand Cayman today were Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam, which I was just on a few weeks ago, and Princess Cruises’ Sky Princess.
Breakfast and Lunch Options
For those looking for breakfast before heading ashore, the main dining room offered a port day express breakfast, while a heartier selection was available at the Lido Marketplace buffet. Breakfast burritos were also served at Tomodoro (Carnival Venezia’s BlueIguana).
When lunchtime rolled around, the usual offerings were available, including the buffet, Guy’s Burger Joint, Seafood Shack, Tomodoro for burritos and tacos, and the pizzeria.
Departure from Grand Cayman
As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, I happened to catch a cold and haven’t been feeling all that wonderful. Quite a few others on the ship have come down with the same bug so there’s a good amount of coughing and sneezing among the passengers.
I didn’t have any thing in particular planned to do in Grand Cayman other than to head to the Cuban cigar store right across from the pier and also to do some walking around, so I decided to skip the whole water shuttle process and use this time to walk around the ship, take photos and take videos of the different decks and public spaces.
A few weeks ago when I was visiting here while on the Carnival Horizon, the line to return to the ship around 1pm in the afternoon was long and took over an hour to board the shuttle, so with that in mind and me not feeling the best, I didn’t want to get into all that!
Quite amazingly however was the fact that the Carnival Venezia departed on time! Usually there are water shuttles running back to the ship way past the “last shuttle” time, but we pulled up our virtual anchor and headed out to sea on our trek back to Port Canaveral around 4pm.
Festa Italiana on Carnival Venezia
Being on an Italian-themed ship, you’d expect there to be some Italian-themed activities, right? Absolutely! And tonight was the night for them, in the form of Festa Italiana.
Actually, some of the festivities started earlier in the day, and the Lido Pool was all decked out to look like a festival straight out of Little Italy. Events scheduled for Festa included:
- Terracotta Trek – A race and a test of strength, speed, and teamwork, with a champion being crowned.
- Gelato Showdown – A gelato-eating contest, of course!
- White Hot Night – Dress up in your best white outfit, accented with a little red and green, and you’re good to go dancing on the Lido to wrap up the night.
Carnival Cruise Line Casino Information
When evening rolled around, I stopped by the casino to try my luck, and unfortunately, there wasn’t any. I played a few different slot machines and spent a little more money than I wanted to, varying my bets from $1.25 up to $5.00. While the $5 spins helped bump up my points, they didn’t result in any substantial wins.
The casino on Carnival and other cruise lines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella—including Holland America, Cunard, Princess, and others—is run by the Carnival-owned Ocean Players Club. While all the lines follow the same point accumulation calculations, offers and points are not transferable.
Here’s how it works: For every $2 you cycle through a slot machine, you earn 1 point. Points accumulate throughout the length of your cruise but don’t carry over to the next one, so on your next cruise, you’ll start from zero and work your way up. As you accumulate points, you do get some perks. For example, at 500 points, you get $5 in free play, and another $5 in free play when you hit 1,000 points. When you hit 2,000 points, you earn free drinks while playing. Anything above 2,000 points is at the discretion of the casino hosts, and a lot of offers—such as dinner for two in the steakhouse—are becoming harder to get, even at high point levels.
If you’re saying to yourself, Scott, you’re wrong… it’s 1 point for every $2.50 you cycle…, you’re kinda right. This used to be the case but was changed a few months ago. Along with dropping it from $2.50 to $2, the free drinks while playing threshold was increased from 1,500 points to 2,000 points.
In addition to perks in the casino like free play, contests, and other small gestures, on the evening before departure, you’ll get what is called a Come Back and Sail (CBS) offer. This offer is based on your play during the cruise and can vary from a free inside stateroom with a small amount of free play to a suite with a very large amount of free play and a free drink package. These offers typically have to be redeemed within a set amount of time.
Once you’re back home, you’ll receive additional offers a few weeks to a few months later that are automatically linked to your Carnival VIFP (loyalty program) number. These offers can be viewed by logging into your account on the Carnival website. Many times, they’re more generous than the CBS offers, so be sure to check often.
Finally, points are only accumulated while your stateroom keycard is in the slot machine! So don’t forget to pop it in before playing, as you won’t get credit for any play where a card was not entered.
If table games are your thing, points are accumulated there as well but are calculated differently than slot play. You’re encouraged to speak to the pit boss about points and to make sure your play is being rated correctly when playing tables to maximize your point accumulation.
Main Dining Room Dinner Menu
Dinner in Il Viaggio
For dinner tonight, I decided to hit up the ship’s Italian restaurant, Il Viaggio. This restaurant is only on the two Carnival Fun Italian Style ships—the Venezia out of Port Canaveral, FL, and the Firenze out of Long Beach, CA. On all other Carnival ships, the Italian restaurant is known as Cucina del Capitano.
Il Viaggio comes with a $42 per person charge, which seems steep compared to the price of Cucina del Capitano, but the menu is far more diverse, and the experience is more upscale. Dinner includes your choice of an appetizer, main course, and dessert.
To start, I went with the House-Made Burrata, which was served with tomatoes and was absolutely delicious—creamy and fresh. I also ordered the Polpette al Forno, which turned out to be a single meatball (despite the menu saying “meatballs”) served over polenta.
For my main course, I went with the 14oz tomahawk pork chop, which was served with a cannellini bean stew, and I asked for a small side of spaghetti. The chop was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was tender and delicious.
When it came time for dessert, there was no doubt I was going to try the Mile High Gelato Pie after seeing several of them being walked through the dining room. This thing was huge—way more than one person could possibly eat in one sitting. But I did my absolute best not to let any of it go to waste.
I was a little hesitant to have dinner here because, hey, $42 for Italian? But I was absolutely stunned by how fantastic everything was. From Simon the host to my team of servers, to the food and cocktails, everything exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny. Service was unrushed, polished, and first-rate. If you’re on the fence like I was, do yourself a favor and don’t pass up the opportunity to have dinner here.
After all that food and gelato, I needed to walk it off, so I wandered around the ship for a bit before heading back to my room, popping some NyQuil, and calling it a night.
The next two days will be spent at sea as we head back to Port Canaveral. With tomorrow being Valentine’s Day and the second elegant night of the cruise, there are a whole bunch of special activities scheduled throughout the day for the occasion—so be sure to check back for the next report!
Carnival Fun Times for Day 5:
