5 ships in one day erodes ‘quality over quantity’ idea

| 26/01/2023 | 88 Comments
cruise ships Cayman News Service
Four of the five cruise ships in port Wednesday

(CNS): Commitments made early in the PACT administration by both Premier Wayne Panton and Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan to switch the focus of cruise tourism from quantity to quality were undermined Wednesday when five ships arrived in the George Town Harbour. Similarly, plans to spread calls across the week have failed to take root as more than 11,300 passengers arrived yesterday, putting an immense strain on Grand Cayman’s attractions.

Visitors battled to find a space on the beach and the town was packed with people trying to get served in shops and bars, regardless of concerns previously voiced by residents, business owners and those in the tourism sector that having so many ships in one day has an adverse effect on all guests, including stay-over visitors.

The borders reopened to cruise ships in March 2021 and passenger numbers began picking up in the summer after all restrictions on travel were removed. According to the Port Authority, around 750,000 cruise ship passengers had visited Cayman by the end of December 2022, about 40% of the total number who visited in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

In the wake of the pandemic and the ongoing challenges relating to cruise tourism, the government talked about a reset and a new approach to the sector. It set out goals to have ship calls spread more evenly both throughout the week and through the year. But it appears that as a result of the expected decline in cruise ships this year, as the leading cruise lines stick by their decision not to tender their mega-ships, the ministry has not made any attempt to roll out that policy.

In August the minister appeared to walk back the idea of spreading out cruise ship visits and reducing how many can arrive on any given day. Instead, he talked about spreading cruise passengers around the island to ease the pressure on attractions.

“I know there is a position to reduce cruise tourism numbers,” Bryan said, maintaining that reducing numbers could have a negative effect on stakeholders. He had not given up on the ‘quality over quantity’ policy but wanted both, he said, claiming that spreading cruise visitors around the island would benefit Caymanian tourism businesses and reduce pressure on the environment and traffic.

However, one of the main problems that face both overnight and cruise visitors is access to Seven Mile Beach. With the ongoing erosion of the southern end of the world-famous beach, the closure of Calico Jack’s and Royal Palms, and a concerted effort by hoteliers and condo owners to deter non-guests from their beaches, visitors are finding it increasingly difficult to find a spot.

It is not clear when the cruise lines will begin reducing calls, but another four ships brought more than 8,000 people on Thursday. On 2 February almost 12,000 passengers could be in port when three ships, including the MSC Seascape, which can carry over 5,500 people, call on Grand Cayman. There are also at least three more days in February when 10,000 passengers or more are expected in George Town.


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Category: Business, Tourism

Comments (88)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I walked through Public Beach mid-day on 1/25 and 1/26. It was a circus! A complete disgrace. Visitors were actually trying to walking away from the higglers who were following and harassing them. Selling pot, liquor, etc. A total sh.t show for ‘paradise.’ Cayman did not put up its best viewpoint!

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    • Anonymous says:

      When did we start allowing higglers? Not s9 long ago it was illegal and you never saw any. Now harassed all the time at SMB. No longer go.

  2. Anonymous says:

    And how about this bright idea with the george town beautification project, blocking off a main road that could have possibly eased a bit of traffic, im out there every day and the majority the tourists still use the sidewalks,you may see a handfull in the street section, i mean how our elected officials and the people that think of these ideas can be so stupid?? So sad to watch Cayman going from bad to worse

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  3. Anonymous says:

    GRRED GREED and more GREED

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    • Anonymous says:

      Matthew 6:24

      “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

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    • Anonymous says:

      Greed might make sense if there were bigger buckets of money being filled somewhere by this foolishness. The truth is, cruise tourism is a net drag on economy, stay over quality, transportation, and an opponent to the longstanding cachet of exclusivity we had hoped to be selling.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Well so much for the cruise lines saying they are not going to come here anymore if we didn’t build the cruise piers..

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    • Anonymous says:

      The rger ships wouldn’t be able to comecruise lines didn’t say they weren’t going to come. They said the cruise companies were building bigger ships. The tenders wouldn’t be able to offload in time to keep their schedules. In the future the smaller ships would not be able to maintain profits. The bigger ships offer a lot more than the smaller ships. So they will be scrapped in the future. Most companies during the pandemic scrapped ships already. So cruise lines will go down in numbers.
      https://youtu.be/VBkn_Dy05oU
      But people don’t care. But they will when they have to start the stipend again at a much higher rate then $1500. per month because of inflation.

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      • Anonymous says:

        The most fragile of economies, with no manufacturing industry, no meaningful exports, and if even if those were in place, there isn’t a skilled workforce, and it appears there never will be.

        When the next global pandemic comes, or the next Ivan level or worse natural disaster comes, the fragility will show itself.

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      • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

        Disagree. During the debates prior to the People’s Referendum, the cruise line managers indicated that it was “likely” they wouldn’t include Cayman Islands in their schedule in the future without a large cruise pier(s).

        That was a lie. Glad we didn’t fall for it.

        People DO care, however they are less concerned with dated tourism systems that no longer serve the best intrest of the ecology nor the people.

        I would be happy to see NONE of these floating pollution boxes come here, but let us never forget the threats that were made in an attempt to leverage the Cayman Islands into a boondoggle/money pit.

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        • Anonymous says:

          And you will provide jobs for those that need cruisers? Taxis, tours, etc. A significant percentage of low-income Caymanians need those jobs. They have no skills, they have no other sources of income. They will evolve into the scum of Cayman society that resorts to crime, violence, selling drugs – exactly what you would not want. So Beaumont Zodecloun – genius; how will you reconcile the loss of jobs for Caymanians who will choose between crime or employment?

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Remember Manhattan is 22 sq. miles with 8 million people coming in the morning and leaving at night. Brooklyn is the only place people go to in the summer to go to the beach ( Coney Island, Rockaway beach, sheep’s head bay, Manhattan beach). Are people saying 150,000 population on an island that is 3 1/2 times bigger can’t live comfortably, efficiently and have suitable infrastructure to move around without driving through George Town to go to 7 mile beach area or Camana Bay? That’s sad, really sad. The future of this country has to able to provide jobs and help entrepreneurs to achieve a positive income to able to live as a middle class people. Not everybody is coming out of high school prepared to work in a bank, accounting firm, insurance or the trades. Some people will be happy to work in tourism. Cruise tourism is also needed for those people. Whether we achieve opportunities to add more attractions or private/ public beaches could be a good thing.
    The local population is working from 8am till 5pm, how are cruisers interfering with the local residents??? You all are not on the beach at the same time!! Other islands have private beaches for commercial purposes its a source of income for government and tourism work force. Every year more graduate can’t find jobs at entry level. There is no trade schools in Cayman how will these children be able to achieve success. Not everybody is a scholar. In the past we had scholars and laymen. We had captains and sailors you need both to sail a ship.
    If the traffic is so unbearable use the 4 lane highway that Dart help build. Remember if people lose employment they will be paid by your tax dollar through NAU. Does anybody who works for Government tell us how much of our revenue goes to unemployed people now?
    With a pay beach you can block the beach from being use if you hate cruisers. Send them to the pay beach. But it must have bars, restaurants, pools, kiosks for locals to partake in crafts and other like small businesses that your family cousins can pay their electricity, water, food and mortgages. the pay beach would be open to all that don’t hate.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The education system improvement or else we will have thousands more of unemployable people doomed for low wage tourism jobs, that is if the young people even care to learn.

      The other huge problem is many companies and businesses have been burned by bad experiences with Caymanian workers.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Trade schools are needed NOW. Of course, Caymanians need to want to learn.

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        • Anonymous says:

          “Caymanians’ need to want to learn.” And there is the key element that is so badly missing. And until the CIG stops employing a vast number in the country to do very little of productive work – it ain’t going to happen.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    How come it cheaper to fly to LA than Miami? Asking for a friend.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    You get the kind of government you deserve. If a party said we are going to have a pause on new hotels and condos, limit the number of cruise ships on any given day, stop the destruction of the mangroves, ban commercial activity on public beach etc. etc. do you really think they would get elected.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    How is spreading tourists all around the island supposed to help the environment?

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    • Anonymous says:

      A glance at the roadsides and beaches after a holiday are indicative of widespread indifference on the environment.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You were not meant to make sense of the idea, you were meant to just swallow it down and believe KB’s untimate wisdom!

  9. Anonymous says:

    The people of the islands must recognise that these ships offer very little benefit to most of us. Ok their port fees add a little bit to the government coffers, but not enough to cover the destruction and waste caused by the ships and their waddling occupants.
    Any income only goes into the pockets of a few already wealthy people who have all the power and make all the decisions.
    I wish Caymanians weren’t so ‘easy-going’ and actually would do something to stop all this before everything is destroyed for good.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nice sarcasm. So how about we put some of the ‘waddling’ visitors physiques next to our Ministers physiques?

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    • Anonymous says:

      The all time record cruise arrivals year added just $3mln to general revenue, and that was the gross number before tender subsidies and rebates are factored. CIG farts away more every year on a few weeks of Christmas cleanup.

    • PB says:

      Wow, I am one of those cruise visitors who has been coming to Grand Cayman since 2004. We intentionally made unnecessary spending there, as much as we could, after Ivan hit and people were out of work. We felt that tourism is such a huge part of GC’s economy, we should do our part.

      After reading your comment, I will NEVER book a cruise that stops at Grand Cayman. I don’t want my taxes and port fees to go there while we stay on the ship.

      I hope ALL cruise ships stop going there and let’s see then how happy you are. Your famous beach is falling apart so tourists will not want to fly and stay either.
      What will the locals do without tourism?

      I live in the US in a state that has popular beaches. Millions of people pour in from other states to visit our beaches all summer. Shore traffic adds to all of our headaches. Some of those visitors litter and even commit crimes. Some people might think it only benefits wealthy business owners at the shore. WRONG, it benefits ALL of us in my state for the massive influx of tax dollars. Not only that, but all of those wealthy business owners provide jobs which people need to pay their bills and feed their families. Our state will continue to invest in its beaches and tourist attractions. Not all of it is open to be trashed by humans. A huge part is made a state park with no development. There has to be balance between industry and environmental protection.

      My point is, I am also a “local” dealing with tourism. Your attitude sucks and if that is how locals in GC feel about tourists, I will never EVER be a burden to your island country again. There are plenty of cruises that go elsewhere.

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    • PB says:

      I will keep this in mind when looking for a cruise destination. Thank you for helping me see the light.

  10. Anonymous says:

    when is enough ,enough. when do the rich caymanian cartel and the expat vulture capitalists have enough money ? when do we have enough overpriced shoebox accommodation and imported vehicles clogging the roads? when will there be enough non jobs for under qualified, ineffective employees at the charitable, sorry civil, service and enough feeding from the trough of public funds? simple answer is never, because when the general population have finally had enough we will be duped/bribed again by the next batch of “honourable” members…

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  11. Anonymous says:

    That’s why Kenneth started hinting on moving the governor. He’s making way for Dart to take over the Public Beach. Anyone knows who owns all those unmarked buses doing tours. That’s why Kenneth has to allow all those ships in. Don’t forget Dragon Bay.

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  12. XRebellion says:

    Sick of increasing environmental destruction, overdevelopment, congestion, overcrowding & political corruption?🤔

    Then don’t waste your #1 vote on a billboard.

    🟢Protect our environment
    🟠Halt overexpansion
    🔴Stop duplicity

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    • Anonymous says:

      I certainly didn’t voted in these buffoons to be ministers – they literally voted themselves in. The voting system need an overhaul!!

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  13. Anonymous says:

    The cruise lines said you WILL do as you are told, so we did.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Why not 10? Where is the breaking point?

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    • Anonymous says:

      There is no breaking point for Kenny the 🤡. All about the mighty dollar and stuff the affect on Cayman citizens.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    A stoplight is now required on the road leading to the port – shedden road.

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    • Anonymous says:

      26 @ 8:24 pm – Absolutely right! But there used to be lights at that junction. Like everything in Cayman, we go backwards!!!

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  16. Anonymous says:

    The real embarrassment is the condition of the dock that hasn’t been cleaned since the Northwester. It’s full of dirty sand, oil and gravel. One day soon some elderly person will fall down and sue the CI Government.
    The businesses in George Town can’t really be complaining about 11,000 people. I don’t believe it. There were stingray city boats that didn’t make any money. Busses and taxis too. Beach maybe having some issues, but opening up Royal Palms should solve a heavy day. Abetter option is what Coral Beach is doing. They charge to enter their beach. The guests are used to this in other islands like Cozumel. This is an opportunity to separate locals from cruise ship tourists. We could charge cruisers to use the public beach and the money could be use to maintain the beach.
    We see locals using the government beach next to the Governors House. Sometimes there is no place to park or sit on that beach. There is “two” benches unless you bring your own chair.
    We know that 80,000 people are resident in our island, those beaches will be overwhelmed in the future. Will the naysayers say the same thing about those people? Will they want services offered on the beach or will they be satisfied to sit on a blanket? One day not so far away we said that would never happen, remember? Well what about 100,000-150,000 people? We have got to plan for the future. Real Estate has proven people are willing to pay whatever and come to live next to a landfill, true?
    My solution is that Gov’t buy beach in Frank Sound before there is no beach to go to. Use the same business opportunity that Cozumel is using to pay the money back. Open Bars and restaurants with beach chairs and pools and offer more to tourists and locals alike. But charge for the beach and its facilities.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yur NUTS!

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    • Anonymous says:

      heh. I know you only see me by Governors Beach but its totally OK for you to approach and have a short conversation if you think your ideas are worth sharing so long as you reciprocate that action.

      Don’t charge me for it.

      There are only so many places to distress outside of home. Being in the water is mine and I need access to the beach to get there.

      Why do you consider separating locals from cruise ship tourists an opportunity? /s

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Forget visitors.. Locals are struggling to access our beaches and the snobby hotel bars and restaurants turn their noses up at our business. They seem to have very short memories as they forget it was we who kept them afloat when the boarders were shut. SMH

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    • Anonymous says:

      If you PAY their cost they will serve! I guess you want reduced costs because???????? Ya, get it.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Nice try, they just don’t get it. They feel entitled since they were born here. No need to get educated, no need to get a job, no need to accept responsibility for the current indigenous crime gangs, no need to acknowledge and admit to what their grandparents sold out for/to. The CIG will give them a low paying working wage to DO NOTHING! A mighty nice life to aspire to, but this is Cayman, it is the reality for much of the younger generation. (And I aspire for better, and will work for it).

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    • Anonymous says:

      Board up the Borders!

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    • Anonymous says:

      boarders? Surely you mean borders.

    • anon says:

      I see Boarders is still alive and going strong,

  18. Anonymous says:

    11300 passenger puts an “immense strain” on infrastructure CNS? Just wait. Dont you recall the pre Covid days when 5 digit arrivals were commonplace? I can remember the day we had 21000 – the whole of downtown smelled of coconut oil. The traffic in GT was indescribable. And all that before they started closing off roads and we lost great chunks of SMB which cruisers could walk to.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    False promises!

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  20. Anonymous says:

    If only we had a minister of tourism that had some interest in returning
    our tourism product to exclusivity as opposed to Carnival lowest end mass tourism .
    Guess his snout in the trough depends on taxi driver and beach higgler supporters.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yup. That’s how he got elected. That will unfortunately work next time. Cayman electorate is profoundly ‘bribe-worthy’ and can care less for their country. What you elect, is what you get! Vote for cr.p – get cr.p in return.

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    • Say it like it is says:

      In his defence he has racked up more air miles in his short tenure than any Minister before him.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Following the Cayman Islands tourist groups on social media, stay-over tourists are already very much aware to avoid any kind of tourist attractions on busy cruise ship days.
    This is fine if it’s one day a week, but if our stay-over tourists need to start avoiding tourist attractions everyday, then they are gonna find a different island to enjoy their vacation and spend their cash dollar.
    Crying Kenny… you there?

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    • Anonymous says:

      As a Condo owner since 1987, I now go out very little due to safety, and I recommend my renters to cook in as much as possible. Saves the stupid restaurant costs, saves worry about safety. We have the pool, the beach, so why take chances. Cayman, you are destroying yourself. This years visitors, will be next years visitors elsewhere. Why come here?? And yes, I will be seeking to sell my unit. I can get a better, safer, more stable rental unit elsewhere. I do 1/2 yr rental, 1/2 yr on-island. But Cayman is NOT what it used to be and the future looks bleak. You have no idea of how to govern yourself. Corruption, pollution, crime, violence, repressive actions towards some lifestyles, ministers who are uneducated, ecology that is being ignored, laws that don’t get enforced, can’t buy a glass crusher but can spend multiple times the same amount on study after study after study for nonsense. SMB????? You have destroyed it with allowing construction too close to the shore (you know this). You allow hard walls that facilitate the beach destruction (you know this). You allow the mangroves to be destroyed (you know this). You look blindly as developers ignore laws, then ask for permission after the destruction has been done (you know this). SO… with all that you know, will you continue?

      And yes, criticism me as a long-standing condo owner that cared deeply for this beautiful island. I have supported countless Caymanians in my activities here for the past 35 years. I hope you are happy with who will come after me.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You are so right. Some of us have been trying to tell them this over and over again. They don’t listen, they don’t care, they don’t know how to manage and protect. Most of these elected jackasses ( especially this last batch) are all high on ignorance and think they know. Sad for us who have to stay here and watch our island deteriorate while these charismatic so call expert destroy everything. I wish you well!

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  22. Anonymous says:

    If you’re shocked that Wayne and Cryin Bryan are going against their word then you need help.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    UDPact are so dependent on Jamaican support that they will not do anything to disrupt the “vendors” ruining our beaches.
    We have been dragged down to the lowest Caribbean island experience for tourists.
    Minister of tourism got a clue what to do.?

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    • Anonymous says:

      The DP is scowling at you from his ivory tower! How dare you attack his voter base. Mackeeva’s status grant chickens are coming home to roost! The PPM were right, that one single act has set these islands on a course to become a dependency of Jamaica once again

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  24. Anonymous says:

    ‘Erode’ is the one constant in PACTs and previous administrations mission & decrees.

    There’s foregoing DoE recommendations for SMB, there’s development and desecration of the environment, theres’s targeting the high net worth for housing over affordable homes for Caymanians, there’s neglecting infrastructure (traffic) over quality of life, there’s corruption over integrity and there’s avoiding lawfulness, due process and proper penalties for assault assailants. Erode is pretty good word to be trending in the Cayman Islands 😔🧪

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    • Anonymous says:

      But let’s be fair here. PACT inherited all of this from previous PPM and UDP maladministrations.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Sure we can be fair but PACTs platform for election was to put a halt to it, fair would be calling PACT hypocritical

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      • Anonymous says:

        UDPact could do something to change previous administration’s mistakes, but they’re turning a blind eye to it so that blame the last lot.

        • Anonymous says:

          Exactly, but right now we have Roy pointing fingers and blaming PACT for everything his own administration failed to do or caused. Such flicking hypocrites in Cayman politrix… ALL of them.

      • Anonymous says:

        As a fragile political construct, PACT, roughly = 30% or less actual PACT, 30% PPM agenda runners, 30% UDP kleptocrats, and 10% clueless payroll collectors. We can stop pretending PACT is a functional party now.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Well, it’s not only the visitors are finding it difficult to find a spot on what’s left of the beach, so are locals.

    Minister quote, not given up on the “quality or quantity”but wants both for the sake of stakeholders,

    I don’t think trying to spread tourist around the island on these buses would make a difference , the island is too small, too much commuters on the road, I don’t see any easement of pressure on the environment or traffic for that matter.

    My personal opinion I believe our Tourism Minister is delusional and talks more than thinks.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Join the line of those that think the same about our Tourism Minister.

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    • Anonymous says:

      All they care about is quantity of tourism $$$ not quality of life for locals. One look at our roads, our dirty beaches, perpetual gridlock from the East, the dump and the poor standard of education tells all. Third world politrix.

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  26. Anonymous says:

    More PACT destructive broken promises. Just understand, they don’t care!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed it’s been a multi-administration issue, even pre-dating UDP administrations going as far back as the days of “teams”, but TODAY we have the most ill-equipped, non-prepared administration ever and you can bet there won’t be a thing done to deal with this constructively.

  27. Anonymous says:

    These ships provide little value to Cayman.
    The only people who profit are the tenders, the jewelry shops, and the little guys on the waterfront.

    Go from full lock down to bringing in 5 ships a day. What’s next build a new port to bring in mega ships with 10k people each?

    I assume most people drive through town during day, if not it stakes 30-45 mins to get from kirks to eden rock gridlock the entire way..

    Cayman isn’t designed for tourist destinations like larger islands.

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  28. Anonymous says:

    Fear not, for Kenny Beach will solve all these issues in one fell swoop.

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  29. Anonymous says:

    So what you’re saying is, Kenneth was talking nonsense?

    Well, colour me shocked.

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  30. Anonymous says:

    Fully expecting to see vendors and chancers pitching up at Governor’s Beach very shortly. Public Beach has been completely ruined by these pests.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Public Beach has been ruined by multiple CIG parties who support the over exploitation of our shores. Travelers come to what is available as for ports. If Cayman would only allow 2 boats in – problem solved! Don’t blame the travelers – blame the idiots who allow this many boats here! Want to really face reality – Blame the uneducated, bribed electors who vote in corrupt and incompetent Ministers. I’m so tired of Caymanians blaming everyone else, when they are fully capable of fixing their own problems.

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    • Anonymous says:

      If that happens , then expect to witness some backlash at Governors. Fortunately the RCIPS is only a dozen yards away around the clock.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Once the 268 room Hotel Indigo is completed in one year, with over 500 guests at peak time, not much space will be available at Public Beach.

      “On paper”, Dart has indicated that Hotel Indigo guests will simply use the beach in front of the Kimpton, but there is not enough room there for that density, and cant stop guests using Public Beach.

      (plus general population growth…)

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      • Anonymous says:

        I believe a good way to spread the cheer, the tourists and the money is to create places for the people to gather. For instance, build a nice docking facility on beaches in each district (where available) with accompanying buildings for small restaurants, craft stalls, story telling areas, artists musicians etc. by doing this the tourists will be able to travel by boats without cluttering up the roads which are are already in grid-lock. This will also allow the people of the district to earn some funds. I haven’t done any environmental, or coastal studies on this so it’s open for criticism that I am sure will follow. However before you criticize please put forward your suggestions.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Soon be like Jamiaca with the pay to use beaches

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