Cayman Airways...not again

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Bethie:

There is normally a 5:00 PM and a 5:10 PM flight on most days.

The Tampa flight normally connects to the 5:10 PM flight. The 5:10 PM flight is the one that got cancelled.

They are putting those affected on the 5:00 PM flight. Flight schedules ere not changed on the 5:00 PM flight.
 
We just arrived via Atlanta without a hitch. Well except for having to land at Brac, go through security again all for a 6 minute flight to Little Cayman. LOL.
 
We've just returned from 2 lovely weeks in the Caymans and all our flights worked out eventually, but with some added stress from Cayman Airways as usual! This is going to be a long story - sorry!

We flew on AA from ORD to GCM via Charlotte for a week on Grand Cayman. That was the best option because we couldn't find a direct flight from Chicago on the way down.

A week later we flew a Cayman Air Twin Otter direct from GCM to LCM for a week on Little Cayman, and the following week we took an CA Otter from Little Cayman to GCM and then we flew United Air direct from GCM to ORD.

The direct UA flight was a little more expensive but it was worth it! We got home from GC in just 4 hours and I much prefer the immigration and customs experience at O'Hare to some of the other options - Miami especially can be a nightmare!

I hope that UA continues offering weekly direct flights from Chicago to Grand Cayman on Saturdays because that it a very nice option. On our flight home the plane was half empty - which was nice for us but also worrisome that they might not continue offering the direct route - but a Flight Attendant told us that the trip down to GC from Chicago was packed and so that made me very happy.

Before I begin my Cayman Air saga I want to give a shout out to the George Town Yacht Club because they easily make your GCM airport experience much, much nicer, especially with all the ongoing construction at GCM. The Hungry Horse Airport Restaurant was never a great venue and now you have to drag your bags to a tent in the parking lot just to eat the unappetizing menu offered by the HH!

The GEORGE TOWN YACHT CLUB is only 3 minutes away from the airport and they run a free shuttle every 15 minutes from GCM to GTYC and back. They open early on Saturdays and Sundays and offer breakfast until 11 am because so many people travel on the weekends. You can have a nice relaxing (indoor or outdoor) meal or drink (or both!) in a lovely setting overlooking the marina while waiting for your connecting flight.

We had eaten at the GTYC once or twice during the first week on GC because we love their cracked conch. The restaurant is owned and operated by the same people that own Macabuca and the Cracked Conch Restaurants but I think the cracked conch served by the GTYC is even better - and the appetizer portion is a large size and is plenty for for one person for lunch or as a snack for 2 people. We prefer their regular tartar sauce and not the spicy sauce - but you could ask for both!

After a week on GC, we drove to Owen Roberts airport, returned our rental car to Payless, checked our bags with Cayman Air, then took the free shuttle to GTYC and had a delicious lunch before returning to the airport, going through security, and flying CA to LCM. The shuttle driver was named Christine and we had told her what time we wanted to head back to the airport after lunch and she was there waiting for us.

After a week on LC we flew back to Grand Cayman for our connection to Chicago and when we arrived at GCM we checked our bags with UA, again caught the shuttle with Christine, had a nice lunch at GTYC and came back in good time to go through security and catch our plane home - it was a nice, relaxing way to say goodbye to the beautiful Cayman Islands. And Christine was waiting to take us back at the appointed time as usual.

If you decide to visit the GTYC during layovers the next time you are on Grand Cayman, be sure to give yourself enough time to get through security and immigration - but the yacht club is really close, and if you can't check in early (because the gate for your airline isn't open yet) you can take your bags with you to GTYC and they will stash them out-of-the-way so that you can enjoy your meal. And if you are traveling with children, they have a nice little pool available that the kids can enjoy for free while you are relaxing and preparing for the flight home.

The GTYC is at the Barcadere Marina and it is NOT the same place as the Cayman Islands Yacht Club - the George Town YC is the one close to the airport.

Here's another travel tip, I don't know if you enjoy alcoholic beverages on vacation but we do! So you might want to buy a bottle or two of liquor at the duty-free shop in your local airport before you leave your home country and bring it with you, because liquor is quite expensive on Cayman - and each adult is allowed to bring in a one-liter bottle. When you arrive on GCM, before traveling to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, you will have to collect your luggage and go through immigration and customs. Then you will have to go outside, turn left, go back inside the ticket terminal, recheck your bags, and go through security to access the departure lounge and board your CA flight to the sister islands (unless you make a detour to the GTYC first before going through security!)

Before you recheck your bags, stash your duty-free liquor in your checked luggage - and make sure that the bottles are well-padded! You cannot take your duty free bottles through security because they are bigger than 3 ounces. And you cannot buy duty-free liquor in the GCM departure lounge because you are only doing inter-island travel, not international. If GC is your final destination and you are not traveling on to the sister islands, then there will be no problem with bringing in duty-free alcohol.

I will share info about flying Cayman Air with the next message ....continued...
 
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Continued from above....And now for our Cayman Air story - finally!

We had booked a CA Otter flight to LCM when we made our reservations months ago, but a month before departure I received notice that they had made a slight change to our departure time from GC and I accepted the change. The day before we were to leave GC and travel to LC I tried to check in online and print our boarding passes - but I couldn't do it. I kept getting error messages that there was a "STOP on our tickets". I called CA and waited on hold forever and was finally told that the stop was because we had made a change to our flight time. I explained that we hadn't made the change - CA made it and I accepted it - but I couldn't get any resolution, so we decided to go to the airport early the next day to try and get it worked out.

The next day when we checked in, the ticket attendant had problems processing our tickets, she kept getting that STOP. Finally she asked "did you change your flight times?" I told her "No, Cayman Air changed our flight times a month ago and I accepted it!" She just said "Oh, I see!" and she overrode the error and checked us in.

We eventually made it to LC that day, but there were delays and we got there late - and the airline is very poor about communications. We sat in the departure lounge in front of the CA gates but couldn't get any information from the agents. They were focused on earlier delayed flights and wouldn't talk to us. Or they told us untrue stories - like the plane would arrive in 15 minutes - when we later learned that it hadn't even left LC yet! Eventually the plane arrived and we had a nice short flight over to LC.

Just a few words about the LCM airport. It is really small and there are no lights so the planes can only fly during daylight - and it cannot accommodate any planes larger than the Twin Otters - which adds to the worry about delays. Also, you are only allowed a total of 55 lbs. of luggage per person on the Cayman Air Twin Otter planes - and they may charge a fee per pound for over weight. When we were coming back from LC there was a guy with a lot of camera equipment and he paid $93 for overweight luggage. But they don't always charge for overweight - it may only happen when the plane is full.

And you might not be allowed to have carry-ons on the small Twin Otter planes - again if the plane is full. So backpacks and other small bags that you would normally carry-on a larger plane would have to be checked (and they might be included in the calculation of your 55 pound limit.) If you have a large purse or tote bag (or maybe a small backpack) that can be stashed under the seat in front of you - then you may be able to carry it on the plane.

If you are going to Cayman Brac, the airport is larger and can accommodate turboprops and jets and later flights - so you have a better chance of getting all your bags on Brac - at least that has been my experience.

On the day that we arrived on LC, one of our bags didn't get there until late afternoon on the following day, and several other people on our flight also had to wait a day for bags, too. Luckily our dive equipment arrived but most of our clothing did not. But I am familiar with the nuances of traveling to the Cayman sister islands, so I had stashed swimsuits, sea skins, a change of underwear, contact lenses, and our dive computers and C-Cards in my purse and we were fine. Some folks didn't receive their dive gear the first day, but the Reef Divers shop at Little Cayman Beach Resort provided free loaners until their equipment arrived.

For our return flights from LCM to GCM (and then on to ORD via UA) I was able to check in online in advance and print boarding passes so that was good, but we still had a snafu when we arrived at the LCM airport. Cayman Air lets each traveler from LC or CB pack a bag and send it to GCM a day in advance and we had taken advantage of that nice option - and we each sent a bag over the day before we left - or so we thought.

Normally, they give you the baggage claim tickets when you check in at LCM and you pick up your advance bags in the luggage terminal at GCM and then check all your bags in for your flight home. But apparently they had had a "mechanical problem" the night before and our advance bags never made it back to GCM, they were still sitting in the airport at LCM on the morning of our departure. We were afraid that only half of our luggage would make it home to Chicago on time because the Otter planes are so small, but miraculously when we arrived at ORD, all of our bags showed up, so that was good!

Another tip, when you fly back to GCM from Brac or Little, don't let the airport staff force you into the incoming immigration and customs lines with people that are just arriving in the country - you already went through I&C when you first arrived. Go to the lines for "Caymanians" or "Returning Residents" and tell the agent that you are doing inter-island travel and you just flew in from Little (or Brac) and they will waive you through to the luggage terminal so you can get your bags and check in for the flight home.

One more comment (non-air) about our LC trip. We rented a car for one day to drive around the island. The car rental agency is McLaughlin's and they are in the same small strip mall in Blossom Village as the grocery and liquor stores and the gas station. Check your credit card insurance and auto insurance before you travel to find out what is covered - because they will only sell collision and damage insurance (unless you waive it) but they do not sell any type of liability insurance.

That has not been my experience on other Cayman islands, but on LC we were told that they do not sell any liability insurance with rental cars. There's very little traffic on the island so the chances of an accident are low - but you will be driving on the left, so you might want to look into options for rental car insurance before you travel.

Also, bring you drivers license with you and they will sell you a temporary drivers permit that is good for a month on all 3 Cayman islands. We had rented a car on GC and the permit was still good when renting a car on LC.

Let me know if you have any questions, you may encounter some bumps on trips to the Cayman sister islands of Brac and Little - but it's worth it IMO - the diving is wonderful and the islands are lovely! :)
 
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Kathy, is the no carryon bags rule a very recent change on the Otters? We flew both ways on the otters in September, and I carried a backpack on and my wife carried a regulator bag both times. There is no where on the plane to stow them, but with all the empty seats that are typically on the plane, we just set them on our lap, in front of our feet, or in the seat next to us.
 
Kathy, is the no carryon bags rule a very recent change on the Otters? We flew both ways on the otters in September, and I carried a backpack on and my wife carried a regulator bag both times. There is no where on the plane to stow them, but with all the empty seats that are typically on the plane, we just set them on our lap, in front of our feet, or in the seat next to us.

I don't remember it being a big deal in the past either, but this time the planes were pretty full. There may have been a couple of empty seats but that's all. We were told that we could only carry on items that we could put under the seat in front of us. I had a large purse and I carried it on my lap on the way over but I managed to shove it under the seat on the way back.

Or maybe it was just the whim of the person in charge at the airport on that day! Cayman Air is not known for consistency.

But I saw them make a woman remove her backpack and weigh it and check it and they included it in the calculation of overweight luggage fees - and it wasn't a huge backpack either; but then they didn't say anything to me about my big purse - so go figure!

I will edit my post above to say that you MAY NOT be allowed carry-ons if the plane is full; that is probably more accurate, thanks.
 
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Yeah, probably just the whim of the person in charge that day. They have always included my carryons in the weight allowance leaving LC. I almost never have to weigh my carryon and rarely have had to pay for excess weight in GC...always have to pay in LC.
 
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