Caribbean Cruise - Day 3 - Gran Cayman

The day started with breakfast on our balcony at 9am, before we leisurely headed to the lounge to get a tender ticket. (Celebrity had a system where you get a number for the tender you'll ride, and then wait in the lounge until they call your number - this way they avoid the lines of people up and down the stairs that I've experienced on other ships.)

We began our visit to Gran Cayman with a quick walk around the shops in the town near the pier. There wasn't too much that Jeff and I were interested in, so we stopped into a little cafe with free wifi. We used email for a bit while drinking iced tea.

From there, we headed to 7-mile beach. It was beautiful - white sand, crystal clear blue water. The water was so warm that even Jeff was excited to get in and play in the water.

I spent a little time (maybe 30 minutes) laying in the sun, before we rented and umbrella. Then we laid in the shade of the umbrella and read for the rest of the afternoon.

Once I got back to the ship, I realized that somehow, despite the fact that I'd put on sun screen and really hadn't spent all that much time in the sun, I was really sun burnt. Ah, well. Jeff was burnt in some spots, but I don't think he was quite as bad as me.

We headed back to the ship around 2pm. While standing in line to catch the tender back to the ship, Celebrity had a little tent set up with ice water and wet hand-towels that were covered in ice. Perfect for the super-hot day.

Jeff and I had lunch at the ocean-view buffet - the main buffet on the ship. The food was actually pretty good quality. I was particularly won over by the icecream bar, where I got chocolate soft-serve covered in mini M&M's almost every day.

After lunch, we followed our usual plan - relax and read in the solarium, work out in the fitness center, head back to the room to get ready, and then relax and read in the room until dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the room. I'd gotten completely caught up in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and stayed up reading until I finished it.

I've been meaning to read 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' for quite a while. It's a bestseller, it has good reviews, and it was even one of our book club books. I had started the book twice, but only got so far as two guys on a boat talking about Swedish financial issues, before putting it down for months at a time. The book did seem to have a slow start, in my opinion. Then in the middle it picks up, and I flew through most of the book without wanting to put it down. It slowed down again in the end, when the mysteries seemed to all be revealed, but somehow there were almost 100 pages left. I did enjoy the end though, and I like it when books are very thoroughly completed. (That's one of my favorite things about the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy five-book trilogy - at the end, you definitely have a sense of closure.) Overall, I'd recommend reading it - it's interesting, clever, and keeps you guessing. And it really made me want to visit Sweden. (And as proof that I liked it, I started on the sequel almost immediately after finishing.)