Princess Cays, Bahamas

Day Two: Princess Cays

This is about all we saw of Princess Cays.

We’re not big fans of cruise-company-owned “private islands” in the Caribbean. Past experiences have taught us that most of the time these excursions just end up being boring beaches with over-priced drinks and cheap trinket souvenirs for sale. We’d rather stay on-board the boat and take advantage of the peace and quite while the rest of the passengers burn their feet in the sand! And take advantage we did…the ship was deserted and we had the whole pool to ourselves.

Besides, Princess Cays isn’t really a “private island”. It’s a really a 40-acre strip of land on the southwestern coast of Eleuthera.

But don’t get me wrong! If a half-mile of beach, live music, barbecues, and hair-braiding is your thing, I’m sure it’s an awesome place to visit.

Thank God for Jimmy Buffett

I don’t usually go for cheesy tourist traps, but I have to say…hanging out at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Grand Cayman made us TOTALLY forget about our canceled snorkeling and stingray excursion. Here’s the thing about Margaritaville…its authentic and its fun (and its not a cheesy tourist trap). The food was great, the bartenders were super friendly, the drinks were cold and everyone in that joint was an old friend that day. Jimmy’s got a beer called Land Shark Lager that’s crisp and icy and he had a dozen of them behind the bar with my name on them. I need a parrot hat.

Update: Jody wanted me to mention the kick-ass Margaritas…she was hammed. And the Land Shark lager was delicious enough that I picked some up at our local grocery a couple of days ago.

Beach Day in Grand Cayman

Since the stingray excursion was canceled, we ventured down to a local beach to catch some rays of our own. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring any books with us to read because we thought we were going to be busy swimming all day with the fishes. Ugh…guess we’ll actually have to to talk to each other to entertain ourselves LOL .

It started out pretty quite, just Jody and I and a few other couples…we had the whole beach to ourselves. But then reality sunk in for the other several hundred people whose excursion was also canceled and it got a little busier. Luckily, we brought some cash so I was able to enjoy a few local Caybrews.

Cruise tip: Always bring some cash with you when you go ashore even if you think you won’t need it. Things will and do go wrong. Some folks had to take the tender back to the ship to pick up cash…killing an hour and a half of fun in the sun beach time.