Don’t stop me now, I’m going to Hell

 I’ve been to Hell and back.  Really.  I will explain later.

Last night’s dinner was Caesar salad, shrimp scampi over linguini and cheesecake for dessert.

The main theater entertainment was a production show — singers,  dancers and acrobats performing to classic rock — the Kinks, The Who, Rod Stewart, Queen, AC/DC, Bon Jovi. I loved their version of “Don’t Stop Me.”

I especially liked “Highway to Hell”.  

(Off topic, but the fact that there’s a highway to Hell and a stairway to Heaven suggests the volume of traffic for each.)

After the show we spent time on our balcony, trying to stargaze.  Ir was overcast, though, so we didn’t see many stars.

This morning we made port at Georgetown, Grand Cayman.  So did the Carnival Vista and the Carnival Sunshine — I could see each from our balcony.  After breakfast at the buffet, we made our way down to the gangway to board a tender.

Georgetown is a tender port — there’s no pier to accommodate cruise ships, so you take a small boat (a “tender”) to ferry from ship to shore and back.

This is our third visit to Grand Cayman.  I know it’s a British protectorate, but I’m still not used to them driving on the “wrong” side of the road.  

Christmas trees, snowmen and Santa and his reindeer seem incongruous here in the tropics.  

We did a bit of shopping near the port — he bought a t shirt and a pair of sunglasses (he left his on the ship.)

Our shore excursion took us to the Nautilus, a semi sub that runs a tour of  coral reefs and related wildlife. I learned that the reefs are protected, there’s no fishing allowed within two miles of the shore.  Also, the government is actively developing coral reefs in the protected zone. We saw two shipwrecks and lots of coral.  And then the sub captain donned diving gear and fed the fish.  They swarmed around him.

We made a quick stop at the beach to admire the white sand and turquoise water, 

Next stop was a small shop that sells rum, rum cake, hot sauce and souvenirs.  We each got a tasting sample of banana rum and a very small piece of chocolate rum cake.

Last stop: Hell.

It’s a small area of the island known for its eerie rock formations. Bought a few souvenirs here.  He got a t shirt that reads “Hell was too crowded so I came back.”  

Then it was back to the port, and a tender back to the ship.

I’m relaxing on the balcony now.  Can’t wait to see what on tonight’s dinner menu.

I think I’m going to have to upgrade to high speed internet, I can’t post photos …