Our journey, Chapter 17: A moving experience
Wow, what an experience! The music on our cruise was as good as promised. Botti was fabulous as always, as were David Foster and Katharine McPhee. That was to be expected. The nice surprise was nearly every performer was incredibly talented and entertaining. In addition to great up close and personal sessions, there were Masterclasses. The one with Randy Jacobs was fantastic as he shared stories about playing with icons of the past and gave us a preview of a new album he is releasing. Our only complaint about the talent was there was so much of it we wore ourselves out trying to catch as many shows as we could.
The ship, itself, is a bit tired. Clean and well maintained with wonderful staff, but it’s not a newer ship. I don’t blame Celebrity. I wouldn’t allow a third-party to charter one of my newest ships for weekly jazz cruises. In our opinion, music lovers should not hesitate to book a jazz cruise. The music will be incredible, as will the food and service provided by Celebrity. Just be prepared to overlook a somewhat dated ship.
As expected, Natalie had zero interest in stepping foot on land when we docked in Cozumel. No big deal. With the majority of the passengers ashore, we had a leisurely day in the sun and no crowds in the lounges.
On the other hand, when we reached Grand Cayman, we were anxious to see Georgetown since we haven’t been there for over thirty years. We had decided to walk to see the hotel where we had stayed on Seven Mile Beach. Clearly, we had forgotten how far it is from Georgetown to the hotel. I wonder if we should have considered the name of the beach to be a clue… A little over two miles toward our destination, Natalie looked at me and asked me what we were thinking when we decided to walk, especially in the wrong shoes. Luckily, we soon came to a Marriott with a great little beachside restaurant.
Seven Mile Beach is fantastic - when it’s actually there. Grand Cayman is very pretty and affluent with many excellent restaurants and friendly, welcoming people. On the other hand, it is very flat, with the highest point of the island being a mere sixty feet above sea level. Whenever a hurricane hits, Seven Mile Beach tends to return to the sea. It was hit last year, so we saw what was left of the beach. However, we were assured the government was committed to restoring the beach in the coming months.
After lunch, Natalie wisely announced we were going to take a taxi back to the boat. (Thank goodness I didn’t have to wimp out on my own.) Despite the island’s exposure to storms, it offers enough plusses for me to start to look up real estate prices. Oh my. I thought crackers were expensive in the USVIs. But we continued to have an open mind. Then, I asked the cab driver about the hotel where we had stayed years ago. She told me it had been destroyed by a hurricane. Gulp. Still, it wasn’t until we returned to the ship that we finally wrote-off Grand Cayman.
The ship wasn’t scheduled to sail until 11:30, yet we realized we were moving before 6:00. Not leaving, mind you, just moving away from the harbor and turning. It wasn’t until a bit later that we learned there had been a 7.6 magnitude earthquake six miles below the surface just offshore from where we were anchored. So, our captain had taken precautions to turn us into a possible tsunami, which fortunately never materialized. But expensive, hurricanes and earthquakes? No. Scratch Grand Cayman from our list.
We’re headed back to Aruba the first week of March for what has become a nearly annual trip. The food is great, its out of the hurricane zone and no earthquakes to my knowledge. Nevertheless, Natalie has given it a thumbs down as a place for a Caribbean home. I wonder if she will change her mind after Grand Cayman. We’ll see.