Beach excursions value?

[brassfrog]

Still in early trip planning stages of very first cruise.  I'm fairly certain that when we stop at George Town, Grand Cayman, all we will want to do is hang out at the beach.

 

Royal Caribbean's website suggests an excursion at 7 Mile Beach.  Based on the posting, for $46 per adult and $36 per child (so $164 for my family),  I would get 4 complimentary drinks and lounge chairs, but no food.

This doesn't seem like a great value when the beach is a public beach.

What am I missing here?  Can anyone else comment on going to the beach at Grand Cayman (or any of the Caribbean ports)?

 

Thanks,

 

Neil

 

[Matt]

Hi Neil

 

If I were you, I would look on a site like TripAdvisor and research a good beach to go to on 7 Mile Beach and then get off the ship and find a taxi driver to take you there.  Negotiate the price with them.  

 

You will likely get a better deal than with RC in this situation.

[michelle]

Have run into this a few times.  I use www.shoretrips.com to book beach days or

you can sometimes call hotels, located on the beach you want, and some will give you

day rates to use the hotel - without you having an actual room - and yes if the shore tour

does not include food - I would not book it.

good luck

[mike]

What am I missing here? Can anyone else comment on going to the beach at Grand Cayman (or any of the Caribbean ports)?

 

We head out on Navigator in 19 days with the itenerary that includes George Town. Given that's a tendered ride and our desire to not have to rush to beat the crowd, oh and the gorgeous pics of beaches :D , that's our guaranteed beach day. I'll try and post afterwards. I've narrowed it down to any of the 7 mile beach 'sections' for ease of access. Hopefully we find one that has food, drinks and beach umbrellas. Sorry I cant help yet, but hopefully I can give you a firsthand answer soon.