From: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDUP7
Date: 1 Sep 92 13:19:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online, St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 

(continued)
and  then  try  to  find your new departure gate. Of the entire trip  
this phase is the one I hate. 
 
We  own  time-shares  in  Plantation  Resorts in Myrtle Beach, South  
Carolina  which,  in  turn,  is  associated with Resorts Condominium  
International.  This  group  allows  you  to trade your "home" time- 
shares  for equal time at affiliated resorts around the world. There  
is  a  fee associated with the exchange but it certainly opens a lot  
of  doors.  My  wife and I were able to get, on very short notice, a  
week  at  Morritt's  Tortuga  Club  located on the east end of Grand  
Cayman,  28  miles  from  Georgetown.  Travel arrangements available  
were  such  that we could either arrive at 11:00PM Saturday night of  
our  check-in day or arrive at 1:30PM the Friday before. Not wanting  
to  give  up any beach time we chose the earlier arrival. Our rental  
car  agency,  along  with  three  others,  was  100  yards  from the  
terminal  front door. Betts opted to let me run through the tropical  
downpour  to  get  the car while she sat in regal splendor under the  
awning atop our pile of luggage.  
 
We  spent  the  Friday  night  at  the  Beach  Club  Colony Hotel, a  
delightful  place  right  on 7 mile beach. It's a little raffish and  
with  a  worn  look but only $80US (including a 10% gratuity!) for a  
neat,  clean  room with a genuine four-poster bed and a door opening  
almost  on the beach. Our evening meal in their open air restaurant,  
served  by  a very friendly Brit, was delicious and totalled for the  
pair of us $43US for soup, salad, entree, and dessert.  
 
Saturday  morning  was  spent  grocery  shopping,  since our room at  
Morritt's  had  a  small  kitchen,  after  which we drove out to the  
resort.   They  have  a  good  restaurant  on  the  premises  called  
"David's",  a diving service, and the usual sailboats, jetskis, etc.  
There  is  a  lovely  pool with pool bar and snack bar. We enjoyed a  
$8CI  barbecue  chicken  lunch  there.  Very  friendly people at the  
resort  but  it  is remote, as advertised, so there is not much else  
there  in  the way of other hotels, restaurants etc. and, because it  
is  on  the  trade winds side, breezier. We were told that there are  
plans  for  a  convenience  store,  a  beauty parlor, gift shop, and  
boutique.  When  you are deciding on a place to stay think about how  
important  it  is  to  you to be on the beach and/or in a hotel that  
you  are  familiar  with  (Radisson,  Ramada, Holiday Inn, etc.$120- 
150US  a  day) or can you accept the unfamiliar at a lower rate such  
as  the  Beach  Colony. Do you want to be in a Dive- oriented resort  
such  as Sunset House or do you want to talk about things other than  
"boy  did  you  see  that Eagle Ray that came up from 300 feet?" and  
"Although  my  ABT was less this time my RNT remains high but I felt  
my surface interval was sufficient to...."  
 
There  are certainly other ways to get accommodations. A good travel  
agency  will  have  access  to numerous travel packages and, for the  
divers,  diving  packages  are  easily  included.  We  have found it  
advantageous,  however,  on  this and other trips to hold off on the  
diving  packages  until  we get to our destination. Weather can turn  
sour  very  quickly  and money paid to dive is rarely refundable. In  
fact  most  dive  operations  will take you out in some pretty dicey  
weather  rather  than  refund. Of course they understand that people  
have  come a long way to dive and are not happy to be told that they  
can't go out so it's a vicious circle.  
 
The  exchange  rate is eighty cents Cayman Islands for one dollar US  
($.80CI=$1.00US)  Almost  every  shop, store, hotel, etc will accept  
$US  in payment but will give $CI in change. Unless stated otherwise  
prices  are  in $CI so you must be careful at the outset. Your $20US  
is  really  only  $16CI  and  those  apparently  good prices are not  
really  so  far off the standard resort mark. We found it helpful to  
memorize  as follows: $20US=$16CI, $10US=$8CI, $5US=$4CI. This works  
well  when you are first starting out and paying in $US. Later, when  
you  have $CI remember $5CI=$6.25CI, $10CI=$12.50US, $15CI=$18.75US,  
and  finally  $20CI=$25US.  Seems simple as you read this but if you  
forget  it  that real bargain you got will zing your wallet when you  
are  not  looking!  I  have found that a cheap pocket calculator set  
for  the  exchange rate keeps me out of trouble. For the Caymans set  
$CI*1.25  and  you  have  the  answer in $US. While shopping, if you  
really   want  the  item,  it  is  always  easy  to  "overlook"  the  
calculation  and  stick  to  the  "cheap"  CI  price.  If  you  take  
Travelers  Checks  you  can get any bank to exchange them for $.82CI  
for  $1US, a three cent advantage. This means that for every $1000US  
in  travelers  checks  you  exchange  you get $820CI versus the $800  
street  value  of  greenbacks. If you are going with a family and/or  
you  like to think in thousand dollar units this extra is enough for  
a  very  nice  evening  meal.  Don't forget to factor in the cost of  
purchase  of  the  checks  at  the  outset. That can be overcome, of  
course,for  example  AAA  members can get American Express travelers  
checks  free  of  charge.  In that case the $20CI is all gravy (or a  
snorkel trip!).  
 
Of  course  in these times most of us stick with plastic and pay the  
piper  when  we get back. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express are  
all  perfectly  acceptable. Merchants will convert the bill from $CI  
to  $US  before  they  put it on the MasterCard or Visa slip. If you  
use  Amexco, however, see if they will bill in $CI. If so, your bill  
at  piper  time  will  be figured at the bank rate! This is one very  
good  reason  for  using  Amex even if they do have the worst annual  
fee  in the world and every merchant I have talked to from Hong Kong  
to  Grand  Cayman  swears that Amexco is always late to pay. Leaving  
(continued)