Copyright caymancompass
The hospitality industry is adopting a “wait and see” state of readiness until the path of Tropical Storm Melissa becomes clearer, with decisions expected to be taken over the weekend if the forecast worsens. “We have done all the preparation and our team is all ready to go,” said Hermes Cuello, general manager of Grand Cayman Marriot Resort on the afternoon of Friday, 25 Oct. “But at the moment it is too early to tell which direction the storm will go in and it is moving very slowly. We are closely monitoring the situation and will activate our plans if necessary as soon as the situation becomes clearer.” Indoor activities planned While it wasn’t yet known whether the storm would severely impact the Cayman Islands, Cuello said that he was expecting a lot of rain and storm surge, so watersports activities would be suspended. Instead, there would be events for guests to enjoy indoors, such as arts and crafts activities for children and cooking and cocktail-making classes for adults. If the forecast showed that Cayman was expected to be directly hit by a hurricane, then he said that hotel guests would be encouraged to evacuate the island, if possible, but those who chose to remain would be accommodated. However, he emphasised that this was not the situation as yet and he would continue to keep a close eye on the storm’s progress. An employee at another luxury hotel said that they were keeping guests appraised of the situation but that as of Friday afternoon, it didn’t look like a direct hit was expected, so it was business as usual. The employee said that the hotel had plenty of supplies and that all hurricane preparations had been carried out, so it was prepared for every eventuality. Like the Marriott, it would be encouraging and helping guests to leave island if the forecast changed for the worse. A source at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, said that preparations were under way across the industry, but that current indications were that the storm was moving north after the weekend. Diving cancelled on Sister Islands Kimberley Dangerfield from the Sister Islands Tourism Association said that all dive operators on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman had decided by mutual agreement to cease all diving operations as of Friday morning so that people would be able to leave the island. PADI regulations say that people should wait 12 hours after doing a single dive before flying and 24 hours before multiple dives. Dangerfield, who manages the Little Cayman Beach Resort and Cayman Brac Beach Resort, said that the two properties had postponed all bookings for this Saturday, with current guests leaving the resorts either Friday or Saturday. She said that having had a situation last year with some guests stuck on the Sister Islands waiting out Tropical Storm Raphael, this time “we decided not to take that risk” and to focus on looking after staff on the sites. She said that she expected almost if not all visiting guests to have left the islands by Saturday and all boats were being securely tied with storm lines ahead of the bad weather. “Almost everyone on the Sister Islands has been through a storm before so we are all very prepared and erring on the side of caution,” she said. “It’s like a community here and everyone pulls together.” As of Friday afternoon, there was no change to Cayman Airways flights or operations but the airline said that it was monitoring the projected path of Tropical Storm Melissa and dropping its usual fees for passengers who wanted to change to later flights to and from and between the Cayman Islands. Tickets must have been purchased on or before 22 Oct. and have been for flights between 22-29 Oct. The origin and destination must remain the same and all travel must be on Cayman Airways. The bad weather has already caused a change in the Cayman Island’s social calendar, with the Nightmare at Field of Screams Halloween event planned for Friday 24 and Saturday 25 Oct. at the Field of Dreams cancelled. Organisers said that they hope the immersive family event, which raises funds for the YMCA, Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Humane Society, Eco Divers Reef Foundation and One Dog at a Time, will still go ahead next weekend on 30 and 31 Oct. and 1 Nov. raises much-needed funds
