Couple of questions regarding the CAYMAN V

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Hi all, couple of quick Q’s ref the CV for those who have been on board recently. We generally cart our standard luggage onto Carib liveaboards ( 2 slabs beer, 4 x litres good gin, slab Schweppes tonic water, big bag limes, electrolyte drops for water, 2 litres heavy cream, our own ground coffee, partridge in a pear tree etc.)

Wondering if anyone who has been on recently could answer:

1) are the sodas/tonic waters on board all Seagrams?
2) are there full fat cokes?
3) are the tonic waters in big bottles or cans?
2) what is the local beer the boat carries?
3) was there any fresh citrus available readily other than sliced on meals?
4) was there any mixer for coffee other than power/milk and possibly coffeemate creamer?

Thanks in advance....and yes, we are princesses...

 

[KathyV]

Hi all, couple of quick Q’s ref the CV for those who have been on board recently. We generally cart our standard luggage onto Carib liveaboards ( 2 slabs beer, 4 x litres good gin, slab Schweppes tonic water, big bag limes, electrolyte drops for water, 2 litres heavy cream, our own ground coffee, partridge in a pear tree etc.)

Wondering if anyone who has been on recently could answer:

1) are the sodas/tonic waters on board all Seagrams?
2) are there full fat cokes?
3) are the tonic waters in big bottles or cans?
2) what is the local beer the boat carries?
3) was there any fresh citrus available readily other than sliced on meals?
4) was there any mixer for coffee other than power/milk and possibly coffeemate creamer?

Thanks in advance....and yes, we are princesses...

Where are you planning to buy these items before you board? Alcohol and food is expensive in the Caymans and it will feel even more expensive if you are paying with Canadian money. I find paying with US dollars to be quite painful.

When traveling to Cayman we often buy liquor at the airport duty-free store, after we clear airport security and before we leave the US. The amount of alcohol that each adult can bring into Cayman duty free is:

1 liter of spirits or 4 liters of wine or 1 case (not exceeding 9 liters) of beer.​

Of course you can bring in more but you will have to declare it and pay duty.

I have never been on the CA V and I don't drink gin and tonic or beer so perhaps others can advise you, but my memories of the CA IV is that the food and beverage selection were excellent and there was always plenty of ice and fresh sliced fruit available; and I'm pretty sure that there was also fresh dairy readily available.

My husband and I each brought a bottle of our favorite liquor on the CA IV that we mixed with onboard beverages and ice and we were quite happy.

I can't remember specifically - I may be confusing different LOB trips - but I believe that they were trying to limit the environmental wastes produced during a voyage so some of the soft drinks and other beverages may have been served on tap - but I am not sure.

I don't remember about the coffee, I generally find restaurant coffee too strong and bitter, and I am not crazy about hot beverages in the tropics in general. If you bring your own ground coffee, how will you prepare it? Are you also planning to bring a coffee maker?

You might try asking Aggressor directly. I know personally that they are very accommodating in regards to food allergies so if you tell them of your preferences for fresh cream, etc. they will probably try to address your requests.

When will you be traveling to Cayman?

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

This isn’t our first rodeo we are basically a travelling circus.

-We bring a huge insulated kleen kanteen full of heavy cream in checked luggage, started to see heavy cream in places like ambergris caye now which is a big bonus so we don’t need to schlep it there.Still not expecting it in cayman though.
- executive blend from st Lawrence market is the team coffee we bring it ground.
- we have these nifty little single serve gold mesh frieling coffee filters that sit on top of a cup. All we need is hot water.
- all our booze always come from duty free. If we get hit in customs we just pay the excess on the excess, no complaints. We have never been hit with excess...yet
- kook aid electrolyte drops for everyone if the water is a bit funky and people are seasick so they don’t dehydrate (haven’t had funky water in an aggressor though). We find that it’s easier to drink funky boatwater if it tastes of orange and you need the electrolytes.
- we bring a small can crusher and crush our cans and take them with is when we go. The only thing we leave is coffee grounds.
- limes etc. As I said, we are princesses..sometimes you need to just spring for the extra to get the right G&T...we are English after all.
-jar of olives for martinis
- 20 x Spotify playlists to suit everyone and overrule the guy who wants to put thrash metal/insane clown posse on the divedeck on the first day..You can bet there will be someone boat from Texas, so there is a country playlist just in case.
- extra everything GoPro/ housings/batteries/memorycards/etc. We don’t use gopros any more, but it’s 100% the thing that someone on their first liveaboard needs a replacement xxxxx for after the 1st day and you save their trip red filters etc.
- a external hard drive full of movies and shows for the crew on the boat including HD blue planet 1 and 2
-a pack of cigarettes for the person who decides that they want a cheeky smoke on the last night.
-spare battery for every cannon/Sony/Nikon
-full med kits including everything to sort out sinuses when they inevitably all go to hell for everyone in the 5th day
-all the alka-seltzer’s in the world to deal with the ‘too much food’ of liveaboards.
-extra lembeh/pointer sticks for the guy who haven’t seen them before and want one.
-scubapro bcd flashing nightive lights for the same reason
-pairs of spandex socks and blister plasters for everyone who starts to blister up after the 4th day.
-earplugs for the whole boat...

That’s about half the list...

 

[KathyV]

This isn’t our first rodeo we are basically a travelling circus.

-We bring a huge insulated kleen kanteen full of heavy cream in checked luggage, started to see heavy cream in places like ambergris caye now which is a big bonus so we don’t need to schlep it there.Still not expecting it in cayman though.
- executive blend from st Lawrence market is the team coffee we bring it ground.
- we have these nifty little single serve gold mesh frieling coffee filters that sit on top of a cup. All we need is hot water.
- all our booze always come from duty free. If we get hit in customs we just pay the excess on the excess, no complaints. We have never been hit with excess...yet
- kook aid electrolyte drops for everyone if the water is a bit funky and people are seasick so they don’t dehydrate (haven’t had funky water in an aggressor though). We find that it’s easier to drink funky boatwater if it tastes of orange and you need the electrolytes.
- we bring a small can crusher and crush our cans and take them with is when we go. The only thing we leave is coffee grounds.
- limes etc. As I said, we are princesses..sometimes you need to just spring for the extra to get the right G&T...we are English after all.
-jar of olives for martinis
- 20 x Spotify playlists to suit everyone and overrule the guy who wants to put thrash metal/insane clown posse on the divedeck on the first day..You can bet there will be someone boat from Texas, so there is a country playlist just in case.
- extra everything GoPro/ housings/batteries/memorycards/etc. We don’t use gopros any more, but it’s 100% the thing that someone on their first liveaboard needs a replacement xxxxx for after the 1st day and you save their trip red filters etc.
- a external hard drive full of movies and shows for the crew on the boat including HD blue planet 1 and 2
-a pack of cigarettes for the person who decides that they want a cheeky smoke on the last night.
-spare battery for every cannon/Sony/Nikon
-full med kits including everything to sort out sinuses when they inevitably all go to hell for everyone in the 5th day
-all the alka-seltzer’s in the world to deal with the ‘too much food’ of liveaboards.
-extra lembeh/pointer sticks for the guy who haven’t seen them before and want one.
-scubapro bcd flashing nightive lights for the same reason
-pairs of spandex socks and blister plasters for everyone who starts to blister up after the 4th day.
-earplugs for the whole boat...

That’s about half the list...

With that diet I don't think that you can blame the liveaboard for needing alka-seltzers!

Cayman is a first world country and Grand Cayman is very developed. There are several large supermarkets on Grand Cayman, so I would be surprised if they don't have heavy cream - it is a British country after all! When will you arrive and how much time will you have to go shopping?

Drinking water in Cayman is produced by desalination and I've never thought that it tasted funky - and it is safe to drink.

Our first LOB trip to the T&Cs (another British island nation) was on a Peter Hughes Dancer boat and there were a lot of Brits on board. They ran out of tea bags after just a few days and there was almost a mutiny! The captain managed to hook up with another boat working the area and borrow some tea bags - and so peace was restored.

Out of curiosity, how much do you usually spend with the airlines on overweight baggage fees?

What time of year are you traveling? We had perfect weather during our trip on the CA IV and spent most of the time diving around Little Cayman, but we had the chance to dive some of the best sites around all 3 Cayman Islands. We were there in the fall which can be windy and rainy but we lucked out. I hope that you are also lucky and have a great trip!

Please write a report when you return!

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

We land Tuesday night. Mess around for a few days then get in the boat on Saturday. We never land the same day we get on the boat, too stressful/to many variables to mess it all up. We usually do a full day of diving on Saturday and get on the boat after the night dive. Means we get to miss all the yawn inducing ‘welcome’ presentation stuff and hit the boat when everyone else is settled in and had a few drinks.

And we always bring our own tea bags...fortnum and mason. I’d like to not have to bring heavy cream, but I can’t seem to find any evidence of there being any available in the cayman supermarkets. If anyone is going grocery shopping today, maybe they could chime in?

We have no issues with overweight baggage fees. Suffice it to say we have the big pelican rollers. Exactly 62 inches, weighted to the ounce with photography kit. Wear our BCDs on the flight etc...it’s a military operation...

 

[Dogbowl]

Curious how many bags do you check?

I’d like to say, well prepared!

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

1 x big boy pelican for camera equipment
1 x large divebag for wetsuits/stuff we can live without if we lost it and stuff we can’t bring into the cabin.
1 x approved size carryon with regs/laptops etc
Wear BCD
Wear photog cargo pants full of lenses/lithium batteries/drone etc.etc. A pair of flip flops

We don’t really wear clothes...on the boat. 6 x pairs of saxxx underwear and hospital scrubs. I think I took an extra shirt once.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

This is what it looks like before we kick off...forgot to add. I also bring my own camera dunk tank.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

I should also add that I don’t recommend the Cressi divebag, but I do recommend the pelican air.

 

[KathyV]

We land Tuesday night. Mess around for a few days then get in the boat on Saturday. We never land the same day we get on the boat, too stressful/to many variables to mess it all up. We usually do a full day of diving on Saturday and get on the boat after the night dive. Means we get to miss all the yawn inducing ‘welcome’ presentation stuff and hit the boat when everyone else is settled in and had a few drinks.

And we always bring our own tea bags...fortnum and mason. I’d like to not have to bring heavy cream, but I can’t seem to find any evidence of there being any available in the cayman supermarkets. If anyone is going grocery shopping today, maybe they could chime in?

We have no issues with overweight baggage fees. Suffice it to say we have the big pelican rollers. Exactly 62 inches, weighted to the ounce with photography kit. Wear our BCDs on the flight etc...it’s a military operation...

Just an FYI, nobody on Cayman is going grocery shopping today. Almost all the stores are closed on Sundays. There are a few small (gas station) convenience stores that stay open for essentials, but not much else.

In case you are every considering a land-based trip to the Cayman Sister Islands, you may be interested to learn that the Clearly Cayman resorts have just announced a deal with Cayman Airways for direct flights from Miami to Cayman Brac on Saturdays, with the option for a short hop over to Little Cayman on a Twin Otter plane.

Baggage limitations and delays have long been an issue when traveling to Brac and Little but this should help with that problem, but you have been to Ambergris Caye so you probably know all about that.