Cozumel

When I got up this morning it was overcast and raining lightly.  From the upper deck I could see the lights of the Mexico shoreline.  The ship had slowed significantly, probably to make a certain time slot at the dock.

We had a large breakfast and then prepared to disembark.  What to pack for an overcast day with a predicted high of 71 degrees?  We ended up carrying three bags with us: shorts, long sleeves, some snorkel gear; almost seems like we’re moving in.

After breakfast we went down to the gangplank deck and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  They had the gangplanks in place but they were closed because another cruise ship was in the process of docking on the other side of the same dock.  We probably stood there for 45 minutes before they allowed us to disembark.  It felt like a steel canyon between the two massive cruise ships.  The scale of these things just boggles the mind.

Another ship was docked on the other side of us so we had over ten thousand people descending on Cozumel at once.

And everyone gets funneled through the duty-free gift shop on the way in.  A long corridor of stuff that you don’t need. We’re not really into shopping for souvenirs.  A few things for the kids but that’s about it.  And I’ve found that the best place to shop for souvenirs is usually at the local supermarket.  So we skipped all the little shops and stands hawking everything from diamonds to t-shirts and made our way to the Fiesta Rental Car counter, where we had a car reserved.  For fifty-five bucks, we had a car for the day, allowing us to go anywhere we wished, whenever we wished.

It was about a half-hour drive to the extreme opposite end of the island where we stopped at the Punta Sol lighthouse and then spent some time walking the beach.  I even donned a swim suit and took a dip in the Caribbean Sea.  It was lovely weather, partly cloudy, low 70’s, making for a pleasant beach walk.  And in an area not so overrun by cruise ship tourists.

As we were leaving, a bunch of cars full of people started to show up.  By not relying on a canned tour operator, we managed to get in ahead of the pack.

We had a lovely loop drive around most of the island of Cozumel.  We stopped at a couple of supermarkets, but did not find what we were looking for.  It’s not often that happens. Usually we can find something.

After returning the car, we walked around for a bit, picking up a couple freebies along the way.  Then it was back on the ship to make our 5pm dinner reservation time.

Dinner was very good food-wise, but lousy service-wise. The service has generally been top-notch on this cruise, but this dinner was slow.  We were some of the first in the dining room and nearly the last to leave.  We’ll have to do something different next time.

Because of the lateness of the dinner, we were a little late to the evening show and we had to separate to get seats.  This was the second evening of the Rhinestone Cowgirls.  We were there for the first seemingly ages ago, but only lasted a couple songs because we were so tired.  Three very talented young women who did a great job, however some of the lyrics of the songs they sang were morally off-base.

We walked top-side for a while and then sat on some of the deck chairs and watched the last 15 minutes of the movie that was playing on the big jumbo-tron above the pool.  Kinda cool watching a movie under the stars while underway.

We stopped in the live theater to watch some of the karaoke that was going on.  Some of the singers were pretty good, others were just awful.  But everyone looked like they were having a good time.  Must be the alcohol.

Then off to bed.  Tomorrow will be a busy day also with an early start.