We got up at 6:30 and had breakfast at the buffet again. During breakfast we were getting a view of Grand Cayman, along with a few other cruise ships pulling up.
After breakfast we went to our meeting point for our Dolphin Encounter excursion. When you arrive at Grand Cayman by a cruise ship you have to take a small boat from your ship to the port because the port is not made for ships so large. Once we arrived at the port we got to our van that took us to the excursion. The van ride was about 20-30 minutes. It was nice to see the island.
The dolphin experience was pretty cool. We got life jackets on and stook on a platform in about 3 feet of water. An animal handler showed us tricks the dolphins could do then we each got a chance to do 4 tricks with a dolphin. Professional photos were taken for everyone. It was a cool experience; Lucas enjoyed it. It was fun when the dolphin swam in front of us and we could pet it. The pictures were a bit expensive and it was very hard to look and pick out your photos so we just bought the whole package. I think it was about $150. Lucas was having a meltdown about wanting to change into dry clothes, even though I put a dry shirt on him and his trunks were almost dry. We were trying to go to a beach on the way back from the excursion so I didn’t want to get us all changed.
After the excursion our guide said we could take the van back to the port, try to get a taxi, or take a public bus. One man said the taxis will not come right now because they were too busy so the guide showed us how to take a bus. The public bus was really a big van. It was kind of cool. They drive on the left hand side in Cayman Island so things were a bit confusing. We took the bus to Seven Mile Beach which is one of the most popular beaches on the island.
I think we were all tired, hot, and hungry and kind of unsure if we wanted to do this or just go back to the ship. I thought it wouldn’t be right to come all the way here and not experience something local so we went and we were glad we did. The water was cool but you quickly got used to it and it was so refreshing. I think it was what we all needed to relax and reset. Lucas enjoyed playing in the sand and the waves. He is definitely more brave in the ocean than last time on the cruise. Don got him a hot dog and he got us Jamaican Beef Pattys. This was a good snack. Clouds were rolling in and it was some relief from the sun. We left the beach around 1:30 and found the bus to take us back to the port.
Near the port we went into a couple of shops. We wanted to get a gift for our new neighbor Rachel for checking on our mail for us. Lucas really wanted a stuffed dolphin but we told him no because he had such a meltdown earlier about changing his clothes. This resulted in another meltdown. He was getting really tired. We took the small boat back to the ship.
Once we got back to our room we were all happy to get showered. We hung out in the room for a bit but we were super hungry. Don went to get some snack sandwiches while Lucas and I went to see Mickey. It was pirate night so all the characters were dressed like pirates, as well as many of the passengers. Mickey’s line was so short that we were also able to see Daisy also. Lucas says, “Daisy gives the best hugs”. It was really cute to see them hug. Lucas was not happy about seeing Captain Hook while we were seeing Daisy. He was so nervous about him and asked “if Captain Hook is so bad why did they even let him on the ship?”.
I could smell popcorn and I was so hungry so we got some. Lucas was worried about Captain Hook because we did see him outside on the deck while getting popcorn. We went back to the room and Don was getting dressed for pirate night. I had a shirt but I really didn’t like it. I was singing, “a pirate’s lifes for me” and Lucas heard it as “the pirate’s life is for me!” So we went back and forth saying “no the pirate life is for me!” It was funny.
It was soon time for dinner so we went to our new dinner place, The Enchanted Garden. It was very pretty. I had a vegetable samosa, quinoa salad, and jerk chicken. Again, I wasn’t impressed with this meal. The samosa was good. Lucas was going to get pasta but our server mentioned mac and cheese to him so he immediately changed his mind. I like that the servers are involved and know what you like but if you know kids, getting them to try new things is a challenge so mentioning their favorite does not help. It kind of annoyed me. Don also had the jerk chicken. We tried a few desserts: fruit cake, flan, and pineapple ice cream. They were ok.
After dinner Lucas wanted to start a new story for the detective thing so we did. We chose the stolen puppies story line. Then we went to the Mickey Pirate Celebration. It was the same show as on the Disney Wish. It was cool to see how much more Lucas participated in the songs and understood compared to just 8 months ago. Once Captain Hook came out he grabbed my hand and didn’t let go until after the show. He had a lot of questions about Captain Hook. Eventually I think telling him that Captain Hook was in the ship’s jail and the police were going to come pick him up in the middle of the night helped. So hopefully we don’t see him again on this cruise!
After the show we did one mystery photo and then we went back to the room. Lucas was asleep quickly and it was before 9 pm. Don and I went to the balcony and were able to see a lot of stars.