Spending $$ in Cayman (us dollars)

[jaina]

We just returned from the Voyager on 2/24 out of Galveston. We were in Cayman 2/21 Thursday. My brother-in-law & dad were held by police/customs for about 3 1/2 hours and interrogated because the clerk at Caymanian Traders thought my brother-in-laws $100 bill was counterfeit. To make a long story short, it was not. It was just an old bill that was made before the ones that work with the pen that checks for counterfeit ones. They got my dad because he paid for the items when my b-i-l couldn't! The woman thought they were working together in some scam. At that point, they thought everything was ok, my dad headed back to the ship, and my b-i-l and sister and their 3 kids (4,6,8) headed for a taxi to the beach. That is when he was grabbed by the police and taken to the customs building where my dad was already waiting! We were on a family reunion w/ 25 family members, so the majority of us waited outside for the 3 1/2 hours until an official money person?? came and looked at the bills and said " looks good to me". The police had all of my dad & b-i-l's money spread on the table. More went on but I don't want to get into all of it! Just be careful with your money in Cayman. Who knows what would have happened if it had been counterfeit and he had not known?? Also, I urge everyone not to shop at Caymanian Traders at the Royal Walter dock. Thanks

[janrj7]

Oh my gosh, how awful! I'm so sorry that happened to you.

 

Why on earth did they take 3 1/2 hours to get a banker (or whoever) in there to verify that the bills were genuine?! That's ridiculous!

 

Thank goodness they didn't make y'all miss the ship! Thanks for alerting us to this.

 

Jan

[caymanjohn]

Sorry to hear that happened to anyone visiting but traders are on the look out for counterfeit bills, particularly US$100s.

 

We also have problems with Cayman bills being forged.

[jaina]

The money official was taking the store clerks deposition, then returned to their office for something, then came to the customs office. At least that is what we were told. The reason I suggested not shopping at the Caymanian Traders shop was the clerk was very rude to my family. I'm all for catching the fake money makers! Also when we tried to get any info out of the police, we were not told much. At one point, I got the ship security guy that was checking people back on the boat involved. He tried to talk to the police, and they told him I had no business in what was going on. We did find out after getting back on the ship that they were aware of the situation and were not going to leave w/o my dad or brother-in-law. That would have been nice for them to know as they sat in the office for hours, or for the rest of us wondering if we needed to get our things off the ship to prepare for the worst.

[chris2597]

OMG!! DH and I were on the same ship with you. How awful for your family. Was the shop in the port area where the tender dropped off?

[drew sailbum]

Sounds like your family member was speaking to officers from the police department's Financial Crimes Unit. Just like most detectives they do not wear a patrol officer's uniform so they may not have stood out as police.

 

Though regretable, it appears the situation was resolved properly.

 

How fast do you think your local police could verify the authenticity of a foreign currency bill? Suppose a bank clerk in your hometown received a 100 Euro note for exchange and an anti-counterfeiting pen's reaction indicated the bill is suspect. At least here in Cayman the relevent authorities are close at hand to deal with the matter.

[Lassie1]

Jaina,

Have you got an email or something I can contact you on? I am from the Cayman Islands and would like to find out more about what happened?

Thanks.

[Jungle Jane]

That is terrible, unfortunately there is so much money laundering thru the Caymans that they are extra suspicious and always on the watch. One of the reasons why I never carry bills in large denominations.

 

I loved shopping there!

[jaina]

you can email me at jainadrew@covad.net

[jaina]

The Financial Crimes Unit Officers were great, my brother-in-law said. It was the regular police I had trouble finding out anything from. Like I said, I have been to Cayman more than a dozen times before and have had no trouble. Loved every minute. Unfortunately this was my sister and her family's 1st visit, so for them, they don't have good memories. And they don't ever want to go back. And Chris2597, the shop was upstairs in the area where we were dropped off. We were the family sitting forever right at the area where you showed your card to get back on the ship. (from about 10:00am-2:00pm) 8 or so adults and 5 kids!

[seashell36]

I was planning on doing some shopping there when we go in October, since I enjoyed it so much when I was there several years ago. Where is this shop? I just want to make sure that I don't buy there using cash. Is it in the area across from where the tenders drop off?

[jaina]

There are 2 tender drop off spots now. The old spot drops you off in front of the main shops right in town. This was at the new tender drop spot. The Royal Walter tender spot. It drops you a little bit down from the other spot- not to far. You can still walk to the shops. Anyway, this shop was upstairs in the Royal Walter terminal. It was Caymanian Traders general store. (ice cream, souveniers, ...) Hopefully they are being a little more friendly now!!