Pathetic Grand Cayman Port Adventures...

[Jaybear]

Disney's selection of Grand Cayman port adventures stinks for our April 2018 cruise. We just want to hit the beach and have a bathroom for kiddos, and the Tiki Beach excursion is gone, and there's no Rum Point excursion, either. Resort for a Day is also offering zero passes at resorts until July. I saw that the Royal Palm Beach Club is open, but they have a pool that's "adults only", which would totally piss my kids off.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a family that just wants to hit the beach, but have a few amenities? Disney is falling short on Grand Cayman in my view.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Disney's selection of Grand Cayman port adventures stinks for our April 2018 cruise. We just want to hit the beach and have a bathroom for kiddos, and the Tiki Beach excursion is gone, and there's no Rum Point excursion, either. Resort for a Day is also offering zero passes at resorts until July. I saw that the Royal Palm Beach Club is open, but they have a pool that's "adults only", which would totally piss my kids off.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a family that just wants to hit the beach, but have a few amenities? Disney is falling short on Grand Cayman in my view.

You don't need an excursion to enjoy the beach in Grand Cayman. Just catch a taxi and ask to be taken to a beach. Many of them have amenities (chairs/lounger/food locations). Some don't.

There are other cruise sites that have specific forums for ports of call. You should check them out.

 

[Silver Queen]

Excellent advice from Princess Shmoo. Getting to a beach doesn't require an excursion and I'm familiar with the other cruise forum that has threads for ports of call. You will probably find some useful information there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Get a taxi and go to tiki beach. Rent some loungers and an umbrella or two and have a great day.

 

[JakeRambo]

My kids loved the Royal Palms. The pool is small and crowded, they didn’t want to go in even if they could. The beach was great, warm and mellow, as good as any pool. Wave runner rental was a reasonable rate. Food was good. All around wonderful stop for us that we would do again.

 

[helene1234]

Thanks Princess Shmoo for your advice !

 

[aliceinvunderland]

If I were you, I would look into a private charter while in Grand Cayman. They will pick you up, take you to the marina (5 minutes away), load you on a private boat, and then take you wherever you want to go. Stingray City, Rum Point, Starfish Point, etc. You can also go back to the ship any time you’d like. We actually rented our own boat last time we were there, and it was amazing! Grand Cayman is super easy to get around, and very safe. You really don’t need a specific Disney excursion for this port.

 

[oakleycat]

No need to worrry about finding a beach with amenities. We did this with no notice or planning, as we had an excursion to Sting Ray City through DCL which we found out was cancelled when we got to shore. We just caught a taxi to Seven Mile Beach where there was a restaurant/bar, bathrooms, and inflatables in the water on a gorgeous beach. Best day of our last cruise!

 

[xQuizx]

My kids loved the Royal Palms. The pool is small and crowded, they didn’t want to go in even if they could. The beach was great, warm and mellow, as good as any pool. Wave runner rental was a reasonable rate. Food was good. All around wonderful stop for us that we would do again.

We did this back in November. It was me, my wife and our kids that were 5 and 3. Jumped into a taxi (it was actually a bus) and found out other folks were going to Royal Palms so we decided to go as well. They have bathrooms to change and chairs on the beach. We plan on going here again on our next cruise.

 

[surfer_ed]

Great advice I was thinking of doing this exact thing. Was trying to decide between Royal Palms and Calico Jacks if anyone has an opinion.

I understand Tiki Beach was closed with Hurrican Nate and has not re-opened. Beach is still there but it pretty dirty since trash etc is not being taken away.

 

[Shanti]

Disney's selection of Grand Cayman port adventures stinks for our April 2018 cruise. We just want to hit the beach and have a bathroom for kiddos, and the Tiki Beach excursion is gone, and there's no Rum Point excursion, either. Resort for a Day is also offering zero passes at resorts until July. I saw that the Royal Palm Beach Club is open, but they have a pool that's "adults only", which would totally piss my kids off.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a family that just wants to hit the beach, but have a few amenities? Disney is falling short on Grand Cayman in my view.

Take a taxi to the beach. Much easier, faster and more pleasant than taking a DCL beach excursion.

 

[abuck75]

I've been racking my brain on what to do in Grand Cayman and I happened to notice I have a kimpton reward night available (I'm normally a Hilton Honors guy, but must have stayed enough over the last several years) and too my surprise they had reward rooms available at the Kimpton Seafire the date of our sailing. Considering rooms are normally close to $1,000, I was surprised it was valid, but should make for a nice day at the pool/beach.

 

[tee11]

Great advice I was thinking of doing this exact thing. Was trying to decide between Royal Palms and Calico Jacks if anyone has an opinion.

I understand Tiki Beach was closed with Hurrican Nate and has not re-opened. Beach is still there but it pretty dirty since trash etc is not being taken away.

I don't know the Royal Palms stop, but have been to the Calico Jacks. At Calico Jacks, we found the beach very narrow. Don't know if that was seasonal/weather related (we were there in September last time). It is basically a beach bar with basic facilities, they have tables on the beach, and basic wooden benches with umbrellas on the beach, but again, there was not a lot of space, and no space for loungers etc. We had a great time snorkeling, and some others said the food/drinks were good/decent, but I am looking for something different this time.

I should add, that this is not a stop for seasoned snorkelers, I was snorkeling with my 4 year old. Sandy bottom and some fish, was perfect. NOT a snorkel area by any means.

 

[tee11]

Take a taxi to the beach. Much easier, faster and more pleasant than taking a DCL beach excursion.

But to which stop at the beach did you go? It's 7 miles! About 5 different taxi stops or so, if I recall, they ate all VERY different!

 

[tee11]

No need to worrry about finding a beach with amenities. We did this with no notice or planning, as we had an excursion to Sting Ray City through DCL which we found out was cancelled when we got to shore. We just caught a taxi to Seven Mile Beach where there was a restaurant/bar, bathrooms, and inflatables in the water on a gorgeous beach. Best day of our last cruise!

Do you recall your taxi cab stop's name? There are about 5 or so different stops they will take you. THANKS!!!

 

[tee11]

I think I have been also to the furthest stop, all the way at the northern end, which is a public beach park, so it has facilites, but very basic. This was many years ago... so not sure if it changed, but the beach section was GORGEOUS!

 

[oakleycat]

Do you recall your taxi cab stop's name? There are about 5 or so different stops they will take you. THANKS!!!

I'm sorry, I don't. I'm a crazy planner and that day were were forced to wing it and didn't write anything down! We got dropped off right next to a beach bar/grill and the inflatables in the water, so I'm sure the taxi drivers know where that is!

 

[grantclaire]

Hi, We were looking at having a beach day at 7 Mile Beach on our upcoming cruise but I checked the port schedule for the day we are there and there will be 5 ships in port that day and I thought it might be too crowded. I also found a webcam on 7 mile beach and it looked crowded!

 

[hanscarlet]

The Westin Grand Cayman day pass is $197 and it is a better beach than Royal Palms and has a delicious restaurant and has a family-friendly pool that is gorgeous... highly recommend the Westin!

 

[Winston Wolf]

Disney's selection of Grand Cayman port adventures stinks for our April 2018 cruise. We just want to hit the beach and have a bathroom for kiddos, and the Tiki Beach excursion is gone, and there's no Rum Point excursion, either. Resort for a Day is also offering zero passes at resorts until July. I saw that the Royal Palm Beach Club is open, but they have a pool that's "adults only", which would totally piss my kids off.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a family that just wants to hit the beach, but have a few amenities? Disney is falling short on Grand Cayman in my view.

There's no Rum Point Beach Adventure anymore? We just did that in November. It was awesome.