Grand Cayman Island, 1989

In the fall of 1989, my husband and I took our first Norwegian Cruise Line cruise. A couple days in, we decided cruising offers the best travel value. Cruising combines exciting ports of call, fun and interesting excursions, onboard entertainment, gaming, great dining, friendly staff and passengers with ease and affordability.

On the Seaward, our itinerary was: NCL’s private island cay off the coast of Florida, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Grand Cayman Island is a British overseas territory located south of Cuba and north of Jamaica. Seven Mile Beach, one of the world’s best beaches, is here. There’s also good snorkeling, scuba diving and a turtle farm in West Bay.

We chose Seven Mile Beach for our day excursion. Our “party” boat arrived an hour late looking like something Huck and Tom took when they went down the Mississippi. We were about to board a thatched roof raft with a motor that didn’t look “seaworthy.”

But once onboard, the steel drum band started playing, the rum punch started flowing and the dance line started limbo-ing. It ferried us to a very peaceful, empty stretch of beach with powder-fine sand. I found several large pieces of sun-bleached coral. The coral in itself would have made my day.

It was the ride back that made the excursion.

We were an hour late getting back to the ship. The whistle was blowing. And, as the rule goes, if you aren’t back by the time the whistle blows, be sure to have your camera with you so you can snap a photo of the ship leaving you behind at port.

The lido deck was packed with passengers watching our little party boat approach. We circled the ship twice – music blaring, people laughing, dancing, and singing - before docking. The band continued playing as we disembarked. We formed a Congo line singing “hot, hot, hot” all the way up to the lido deck. When we reached the top, much to the amusement of our fellow passengers, we waved goodbye to Grand Cayman and the best party boat west of the Mississippi.