Cayman Airways - MIA to Cayman Brac
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mbs
Contributor
Yea, the Otters or should I say Otter is still wonky 
The pilot and the airline staff are doing their best to make things work, but @tridacna is correct that its just a mess. We were supposed to be on the 5:10pm saturday flight to Little. They actually walked a handful of us out to the plane and then the pilots started waving their hands to go back! Couldn't finish dealing with whatever the problem was in time to make it in daylight. That said, they put 12 of us up in the Marriott on 7 mile with $25 each for food. Damn nice hotel. Just wish I could have seen it in the daylight We will go back at some point since its so fantastic, but also hope they get their **** together! Diving, staff, guests, food all great. My only complaint was our room had a bit of a funky mildew odor...
The pilot and the airline staff are doing their best to make things work, but @tridacna is correct that its just a mess. We were supposed to be on the 5:10pm saturday flight to Little. They actually walked a handful of us out to the plane and then the pilots started waving their hands to go back! Couldn't finish dealing with whatever the problem was in time to make it in daylight. That said, they put 12 of us up in the Marriott on 7 mile with $25 each for food. Damn nice hotel. Just wish I could have seen it in the daylight We will go back at some point since its so fantastic, but also hope they get their **** together! Diving, staff, guests, food all great. My only complaint was our room had a bit of a funky mildew odor...theshusters
Registered
Is it easier to fly from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman and back on non-Saturdays? I've just heard from another poster that Cayman airways is a nightmare and often screws up. Is that true? I'm hoping maybe it's better, if I fly from a Wednesday to the following Friday
Does LCBR do mid-week bookings? CMIIW but I thought only Sat-Sat allowed. I would call and ask. FYI: LCBR is much better than GT - both diving and accom.
Damselfish
Contributor
If you are forced to return from Little to Grand on a Saturday, another strategy to avoid the Saturday GCM departure mess is to extend your vacation and stay on Grand a few days, time and budget permitting. Dive some more, eat, shop, enjoy umbrella drinks on the beach, whatever.
Little to Grand is no big deal (assuming you get there) as you’re not dealing with lines and crowds for that part. Leave GCM another day. If you have to go through Miami you get to avoid that on a Saturday too. Not as good as avoiding it entirely, but doesn’t hurt.
Little to Grand is no big deal (assuming you get there) as you’re not dealing with lines and crowds for that part. Leave GCM another day. If you have to go through Miami you get to avoid that on a Saturday too. Not as good as avoiding it entirely, but doesn’t hurt.
AggieDiver
Contributor
The reason Cayman Airways was a mess this fall was that they usually send the planes to Canada for annual maintenance during the low season. Any issue they have with the other plane during that timeframe can cause a meltdown if it can't be fixed within a day or so. I believe they are looking for a 3rd Otter or some sort of lease agreement where they can recover from those situations better in the future.
But to answer the question, yes it is easier to fly through GCM on any day that isn't a Saturday and the weekday flights on Cayman Express are easier to get closer to your travel. Usually if you are trying for the last flight over to LC on a Saturday afternoon or one of the direct flights to GCM from LC on a saturday morning, you need to have them booked 3-4+ months in advance, and more for high season travel.
Regarding LCBR and non-Saturday to Saturday bookings, they will let you do them if they have availability and there are not available connections that can get you there on the Saturday-Saturday for the dates you are looking at. For instance, if you want to come into GCM for a given week, and there are no saturday connections available, tell them that and they will often left you book Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun instead. I think they are more hesitant to do mid-week packages, but ultimately if they have the availability and that is when you can get flights, they will typically let you book it, at least during low season. High season may be a different story, but I haven't been there during high season in over a decade.
But to answer the question, yes it is easier to fly through GCM on any day that isn't a Saturday and the weekday flights on Cayman Express are easier to get closer to your travel. Usually if you are trying for the last flight over to LC on a Saturday afternoon or one of the direct flights to GCM from LC on a saturday morning, you need to have them booked 3-4+ months in advance, and more for high season travel.
Regarding LCBR and non-Saturday to Saturday bookings, they will let you do them if they have availability and there are not available connections that can get you there on the Saturday-Saturday for the dates you are looking at. For instance, if you want to come into GCM for a given week, and there are no saturday connections available, tell them that and they will often left you book Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun instead. I think they are more hesitant to do mid-week packages, but ultimately if they have the availability and that is when you can get flights, they will typically let you book it, at least during low season. High season may be a different story, but I haven't been there during high season in over a decade.
It seems like Cayman Airways has had a lot of problems. We had to get the CEO Fabian Worms involved in one time. Even after he approved our refund, it took two months before we received the check.
They used to claim that you could take an earlier flight from GCM to CYB if space was available. What really happened is that they cancelled the flights all day from GCM to CYB until they had a full flight. Then you don't get your luggage because the plane is too heavy.
To get to either CYB or Little, the only way to go is the MIA to CYB 737. Unfortunately, as other have said, the return flight on the 737 stops in GCM. You literally get off the plane, go thru security, and then back on board the same plane. Apparently, the security in CYB is insufficient for you to fly to the US.
They used to claim that you could take an earlier flight from GCM to CYB if space was available. What really happened is that they cancelled the flights all day from GCM to CYB until they had a full flight. Then you don't get your luggage because the plane is too heavy.
To get to either CYB or Little, the only way to go is the MIA to CYB 737. Unfortunately, as other have said, the return flight on the 737 stops in GCM. You literally get off the plane, go thru security, and then back on board the same plane. Apparently, the security in CYB is insufficient for you to fly to the US.
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