Second Port: Cozumel

Our second of two ports was Cozumel, Mexico. Last cruise, we sailed Eastern Caribbean so I was pretty excited about the Western Caribbean itinerary. We were lucky that no hurricanes bothered us. The seas were pretty smooth the whole trip. We had the pleasure of docking next to Oasis of the Seas here. MASSIVE! The biggest ship of any cruise line currently in service. We think our next cruise will be on her. We felt like little peons with the Oasis passengers staring down from their 17 decks to our measly 11 decks. We docked facing them and man, are there a lot of cabins on that ship. It carries something like 6,000 passengers so I guess they have to sleep somewhere. I liked that the Oasis balconies are all glass. Ours were steel and just had an opening on the top half. We’ll get a balcony when we sail on her or her sister Allure, I’m sure of it.

Taken from our balcony in port. Look at all those rooms on the Oasis!

Anyway, I had booked the Segway and Snorkel Adventure excursion through Royal Caribbean in this port. We were supposed to meet an excursion representative on the dock to take the tour. This took us a long time. Well, it felt like a really long time. Dude wasn’t holding up his sign. We were early but we started to worry that we’d missed them. Finally we found someone but still had about 25 minutes to kill. It was a blazing hot Mexico kind of day. We wandered around the duty free and drug stores for a bit. Their drug stores are crazy down there! Any drug that you would certainly need a prescription for in the States, is just readily available over the counter down there. Nuts! Don’t worry. We didn’t buy any drugs, prescription or otherwise. Actually, we didn’t buy any souvenirs here either. Unheard of!

Just in case you need a sandwich with your estrogens

Finally, we met our guy, Felix. He looked like a drug lord. No joke. He had a scary beard and sunglasses. He ended up being really nice though, drugs or not….I didn’t get to ask. The tour only had 6 people on it including us, which was great! First, we took an open air bus to a stark building with a TV and DVD player where we watched a frightening safety film about how to use a Segway. People on segways make it look super easy. The truth is after 5-10 minutes or so, it IS easy. This video leads you to believe otherwise. The cartoon guy in the video was constantly falling off his Segway and hitting his head. This went on for a good 15 minutes. He needed Felix to give him lessons like we got. Felix was a good teacher.

We donned our sweet helmets (I didn’t get to take any pictures.) and mounted up. There was a small paved track behind the building for us to practice on. Once we all had the hang of it, we set off. First riding down a sidewalk and then on a secondary road for probably 20 minutes or so to a nearby resort, Fiesta Americana. I think it’s all inclusive but I’m not sure. Anyway, here Felix took us snorkeling. The currents were crazy strong and while we did see fish, coral and even a stingray, it was also pretty strenuous swimming for a long time. When we were finished and I asked how long we’d been in the water, he said 40 minutes. Damn! This was the only physical activity I subjected myself to all week but boy was it ever tough! I earned my pina coladas that day.

After snorkeling, we were able to use the resort’s facilities for about 45 minutes. John and I split a delicious hot dog and margarita. Tequila and I don’t really get along but when in Mexico, get a margarita! It was fine. I only had one because we still had to Segway back to the building. No tipsy Segwaying allowed, says Felix. The resort had a massage tent but we didn’t have time for that. DRAT! Next Cruise FOR SURE. They did have these big beach beds though that were super comfortable. I could have laid there all day. After we declined to buy the 8x10 photos of us on the Segway and the one of us snorkeling where John looks terrified for some reason, we rolled on back to the building. We were all much more confident Segwayers by this point and were moving pretty quickly. Felix said this tour sometimes has up to 30 people on it. I couldn’t even imagine! We were riding in a line. I was behind him in the front but he had to keep checking back to make sure the 6 of us were still there. Thirty people must be a nightmare. He said we made his job very easy that day. You’re welcome, Felix! Back on the open air bus and to the dock after that. John and I enjoyed a couple Dos Equis at the port and headed back to the ship. Probably for more pool time and lunch (we’d only split a hot dog and done all that swimming, remember?)

That night we went to the Crown & Anchor party for returning cruisers, also recommended by our friends. The drinks were flowing here too! And they had really good appetizers as well. We went to dinner and somewhere in there we saw a comedian who was pretty funny. Oh and there was the Royal Caribbean Quest game show but I forget if that was this night or the night before. I told you, it’s tough to keep track. I think it had been the previous night. We were bummed that our buddy Jon Li had the night off from tickling the ivories. Oh and one of these nights there was a midnight buffet. We weren’t hungry but we ate a little anyway. When on a cruise ship, it’s difficult to say no to delicious Mexican buffets. It’s difficult to say no to delicious Mexican buffets on land too.

Oh yeah! Remember the jewelry I made earlier in the week? Well, the instructor had said there would be a necklace workshop too for a matching set. Wheee! Unfortunately, it was at the same time as our Segway tour. Poor planning.

Here are the Oasis and the baby Grandeur docked together

Next Up: Last day at sea and getting sadder by the minute that the trip is coming to an end.

First port: Grand Cayman

Our first port was Grand Cayman. I did not schedule an excursion for us here because we were hoping for a beach day. This was our first experience with tendering too. Luckily, the weather was good, though overcast. Even still, the tender was rocking over the waves and I could see how, if it had been raining or windy, that short ride could become very unpleasant. Right at the dock are the typical souvenir shops and jewelry stores that are so popular in the Caribbean. Most of the shopping, I heard, was a short cab ride away. Much as I would have liked some new jewelry, I knew we had paint to buy at home. We toyed with the idea of taking an island tour with one of the guides holding up their signs on the dock. John is always worried about these people though, convinced we’ll be kidnapped and our fingers cut off to send back to our families. Ultimately, we just took a cab to the Royal Palms area on Seven Mile Beach. Here, there was the Reef Grill, where we had a delicious grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich and tried a Caybrew, the local beer of Grand Cayman.

The water was perfectly turquoise and as we walked a ways down the beach to try and find a good spot. There was no one around just steps from the beach club at the Reef Grill. It was gorgeous. John and I got in the water for a bit but then, realizing that I wouldn’t be finding my massage on the beach any further down, decided we’d head back to where the chairs and amenities were. I was bummed about the massage but for $24 we rented 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella. Life is good.

The drinks and food at the Reef Grill were kind of pricey for beach fare. Plus the exchange rate wasn’t great. A few chairs down we noticed a couple mixing their own drinks with some rum and coke they bought at the port. We were kicking ourselves and wondering why we hadn’t thought of that. Brilliant! Next time, I guess. We didn’t realize until we were leaving that there was a small store behind the Reef Grill that sold liquor. Duh.

After a few hours (it was a short day in port), we changed out of our suits in their facilities. The ladies room was nice; John said the mens’ was atrocious. Poor John. Took a cab back to port and tendered back to the ship. We didn’t buy anything in Grand Cayman at all. Not even a Tortuga Rum Cake. I used to buy souvenirs everywhere I went. I guess I’m changing my ways.

Back on board, we hung out by the pool and had second lunch. We split the lunch on the island so I guess this was actually 1 ½ lunch. I don’t remember what else we did before dinner. Probably napped. LOVE pre-dinner naps. But, this night after dinner, we discovered a great piano player in the Schooner Bar. His name was Jon Li and he could play anything! People just requested songs and he sang and played. He was great. I should have bought his CD. Maybe I’ll see him on a ship in the future. I can’t remember if we saw a show this night. I should have written these thing down. Or, if I knew where I put my Cruise Compasses, I’d just consult them. Anyway….another great day of vacation!

Was I right about that water or what?

Next stop: Cozumel