Trip Report Little Cayman Feb 2023

[AggieDiver]

I really see SCC vs LCBR as an ice cream vs chocolate kind of "problem". There really is no going wrong with either place. This thread has had a nice overview of some of the reasons people choose one over the other, but both are just top notch resorts with really excellent customer service and great dive staff.

One thing I would like to clear up though is that LCBR will let you do non-Sat to Sat trips, particularly if you are want to go longer than 7 nights. In our case, if we travel to LC on a saturday, it usually means taking the non-stop from Houston to GC that gets in late afternoon, with only one Cayman Express flight available to get to LC. If that one flight is full, the Sat-Sat itinerary is a no-go for us for that week. In every case, when I have talked to the booking folks at LCBR and told them a particular week we would like to come and that the saturday afternoon flights we needed to make it happen were unavailable, they have let us do a Friday to Friday or Sunday to Sunday booking as long as they had available rooms. They would really prefer to have guests do Sat-Sat trips, but when it comes to making the booking or losing business due to the lack of flight options, they will make a non-Sat to Sat booking.

 

[J&M Blowing Bubbles]

I really see SCC vs LCBR as an ice cream vs chocolate kind of "problem". There really is no going wrong with either place. This thread has had a nice overview of some of the reasons people choose one over the other, but both are just top notch resorts with really excellent customer service and great dive staff.

One thing I would like to clear up though is that LCBR will let you do non-Sat to Sat trips, particularly if you are want to go longer than 7 nights. In our case, if we travel to LC on a saturday, it usually means taking the non-stop from Houston to GC that gets in late afternoon, with only one Cayman Express flight available to get to LC. If that one flight is full, the Sat-Sat itinerary is a no-go for us for that week. In every case, when I have talked to the booking folks at LCBR and told them a particular week we would like to come and that the saturday afternoon flights we needed to make it happen were unavailable, they have let us do a Friday to Friday or Sunday to Sunday booking as long as they had available rooms. They would really prefer to have guests do Sat-Sat trips, but when it comes to making the booking or losing business due to the lack of flight options, they will make a non-Sat to Sat booking.

We are currently trying to book with LCBR, arriving on a Wed for 9 nights and they are telling us that a Saturday arrival is required. If you have any tips on how to persuade them to accommodate something different, please share. The flights are significantly less expensive for a Wed arrival plus we would rather avoid Cayman Airways on a Saturday (after reading the stories on here). An alternative destination we’re considering too is Saba, especially if LCBR won’t budge. However reading your post that you were able to make a non-Saturday arrival happening has intrigued us.

 

[AggieDiver]

We are currently trying to book with LCBR, arriving on a Wed for 9 nights and they are telling us that a Saturday arrival is required. If you have any tips on how to persuade them to accommodate something different, please share. The flights are significantly less expensive for a Wed arrival plus we would rather avoid Cayman Airways on a Saturday (after reading the stories on here). An alternative destination we’re considering too is Saba, especially if LCBR won’t budge. However reading your post that you were able to make a non-Saturday arrival happening has intrigued us.

Are you trying to book a specific set of dates? If so, they may just not have the availability to do something else. But if you are doing 9 nights, you are going to have to come or go on a non-Saturday, so I am not sure why it would make a difference.

I will say that given the choice of coming in on a Saturday or going home on a Saturday, I would choose to come in on Saturday and leave on a weekday. But if you are wanting to fly Wednesday specifically due to the airfare, I get it. A lot will depend on what time of year it is and how busy they expect to be. If it is high season and they expect to be able to sell out, you may not get much traction trying to push them. But if it is low season and they have a lot of availability, they may be more willing to move.

Where are you flying in from, and is the last flight of the day on Cayman Express available for the Saturday they are trying to bring you in on? If so, the easiest thing is to tell them you can’t get a flight on the Saturday they want you to come in. But don’t just lie about it if it is something they can check.

Otherwise, my advice is to tell them you really want to come visit, but due to flight availability/pricing and what you have heard about Saturday flight difficulties, you would rather go elsewhere instead of coming in on Saturday. Might work, might not, but it is worth a try.

 

[J&M Blowing Bubbles]

Are you trying to book a specific set of dates? If so, they may just not have the availability to do something else. But if you are doing 9 nights, you are going to have to come or go on a non-Saturday, so I am not sure why it would make a difference.

I will say that given the choice of coming in on a Saturday or going home on a Saturday, I would choose to come in on Saturday and leave on a weekday. But if you are wanting to fly Wednesday specifically due to the airfare, I get it. A lot will depend on what time of year it is and how busy they expect to be. If it is high season and they expect to be able to sell out, you may not get much traction trying to push them. But if it is low season and they have a lot of availability, they may be more willing to move.

Where are you flying in from, and is the last flight of the day on Cayman Express available for the Saturday they are trying to bring you in on? If so, the easiest thing is to tell them you can’t get a flight on the Saturday they want you to come in. But don’t just lie about it if it is something they can check.

Otherwise, my advice is to tell them you really want to come visit, but due to flight availability/pricing and what you have heard about Saturday flight difficulties, you would rather go elsewhere instead of coming in on Saturday. Might work, might not, but it is worth a try.

We originally asked for 1/1-1/10 to which we were told they required a Saturday night arrival and could do 12/28-1/6. When we shared we couldn’t fly on 12/28 and if a Saturday was required then we could do 1/4-1/11 which they said was available and provided pricing….so they obviously are not sold out. We also inquired as to why Saturday was required and this is the reply we just received today:

“To answer your question, the resort generally requires a 7 night stay with a Saturday arrival/departure. Because we are a small property, we do this to optimize our room inventory.”

We plan to reply that we’ll be looking at other options because we want a 9 day vacation and don’t have a lot of flexibility with the dates.

That being said…we’re also looking at Saba & Dominica now instead, or perhaps will fall back on Cozumel

 

[tkaelin]

That’s just their way. They told me they might deviate on this for last minute bookings.

 

[tkaelin]

One the reasons we booked scc.

 

[AggieDiver]

If you are corresponding via email, I would definitely call them and talk on the phone instead. If you explain that you are wanting to do 9 nights and even if you were to come in on a Saturday you would be leaving on a non-Saturday, and then ask why it matters whether the Saturday is on the front end or back end, I would be interested to hear that answer.

 

[Damselfish]

“To answer your question, the resort generally requires a 7 night stay with a Saturday arrival/departure. Because we are a small property, we do this to optimize our room inventory.”

We plan to reply that we’ll be looking at other options because we want a 9 day vacation and don’t have a lot of flexibility with the dates.

To paraphrase: “We do this because its best for us and don’t care much what’s convenient for our guests”

They haven’t always done this, even when they were a bit smaller property. We’ve been there a fair number of times since they opened, but haven’t returned since they started this. I dislike the policy for so many reasons. And “maybe we will make slight exception at the last minute if it works for us” doesn’t work for me.

What I don’t get is, they have had so much trouble with airlift to Little Cayman, and were for a while looking for solutions. Never got one. Then they changed to this Saturday reservations policy that makes the airlift problem worse.

I look at someplace like (the much smaller) Turneffe Island in Belize, which actually has has an excellent reason for limiting arrival/departure days. Yet they offer flexibility. Besides Saturdays they also have that midweek day. That allows a variety of stay lengths and avoidance of Saturday travel zoo, while at the same time making things reasonable for themselves. I’ve always wondered why LCBR never looked at that as a solution. Make say Wednesday another sanctioned arrival/departure day. Maybe they could get Cayman Air to add a flight I think there is more room in the schedule then, though midweek they might not even need to. People would have options, schedule holes could be somewhat minimized, and they would alleviate some of the Saturday airlift problem instead of making it worse.

Our last LC trip was to SCC. Loved it. If only they had 100cf tanks for my husband it would be perfect.

 

[J&M Blowing Bubbles]

If you are corresponding via email, I would definitely call them and talk on the phone instead. If you explain that you are wanting to do 9 nights and even if you were to come in on a Saturday you would be leaving on a non-Saturday, and then ask why it matters whether the Saturday is on the front end or back end, I would be interested to hear that answer.

When I told them “It’s unfortunate that you’re not able to accommodate the 9 days we have planned (1/1-1/10). We don’t have flexibility in our schedule to arrive on a Saturday and still make 9 days possible and it feels wrong that our vacation would be cut short/dictated by a resort when there is availability all of the days we’re needing but unwilling to let us stay with them. We travel 4x a year to go diving and have never had this come up. For now, we’ll be looking at other options.”

They came back with “I’m happy to make an exception for you for the dates of January 1-10, 2025. Let me know when you’re ready to book. I’ll need both names and your full contact information.”

Unfortunately, their being unwilling to accommodate us from the onset doesn’t sit well with us and we won’t be going there in January.

 

[J&M Blowing Bubbles]

To paraphrase: “We do this because its best for us and don’t care much what’s convenient for our guests”

They haven’t always done this, even when they were a bit smaller property. We’ve been there a fair number of times since they opened, but haven’t returned since they started this. I dislike the policy for so many reasons. And “maybe we will make slight exception at the last minute if it works for us” doesn’t work for me.

What I don’t get is, they have had so much trouble with airlift to Little Cayman, and were for a while looking for solutions. Never got one. Then they changed to this Saturday reservations policy that makes the airlift problem worse.

I look at someplace like (the much smaller) Turneffe Island in Belize, which actually has has an excellent reason for limiting arrival/departure days. Yet they offer flexibility. Besides Saturdays they also have that midweek day. That allows a variety of stay lengths and avoidance of Saturday travel zoo, while at the same time making things reasonable for themselves. I’ve always wondered why LCBR never looked at that as a solution. Make say Wednesday another sanctioned arrival/departure day. Maybe they could get Cayman Air to add a flight I think there is more room in the schedule then, though midweek they might not even need to. People would have options, schedule holes could be somewhat minimized, and they would alleviate some of the Saturday airlift problem instead of making it worse.

Our last LC trip was to SCC. Loved it. If only they had 100cf tanks for my husband it would be perfect.

Agree with you 100%. We won’t let a resort dictate our vacation travel. There are plenty of other places that we’re happy to try.