Our Western Caribbean Cruise days 6-8
On Friday April 30th we woke up as our ship was docking at our final port--Cozumel, Mexico. We were excited to see the blue sky with puffy clouds after the poor weather the day before in Belize!
We decided to hang out with our friends Peter and Natalie again (who we'd met at our dinner table) and they wanted to do some shopping so we walked off the ship and looked for some good souvenir shops. I wanted a photo of Scott and I in front of the ship, but unfortunately this turned out a bit fuzzy because my camera lens was fogging up from having just gone from the air conditioned ship to the humid and hot air of Mexico!
On our way to the shops this crazy guy grabbed me for a photo op...
His pretend donkey was named George Bush and had some award for bad spelling...apparently a joke on our poor former president. I thought the whole scene was pretty humorous nonetheless!
We also took a few other photos outside of a restaurant with the Three Amigos movie theme:
Then we stopped in a jewelry store to check prices of Tanzanite. I'd checked prices on the beautiful gem at many of the ports, but had no intentions of buying anything. I just like to see what they're selling for :)
Well my bad for stopping in the jewelry store because they made Peter and Scott take a small shot of tequila!! Apparently they think if they offer the guys some booze that they'll buy the ladies something? Ha, they don't know my husband very well!
After that I was forbidden from leading the way into anymore jewelry stores :) We took a taxi to the downtown area of Cozumel and walked through a bunch of stores on the main strip. Some of them had a few interesting things, but mostly it was all of the same touristy stuff, necklaces and so forth.
We ate lunch at a nice restaurant near the shops where Peter had eaten before and then decided we were done shopping. For the rest of the day we wanted to hang out at a beach so we found one that was free to go to as long as you spent $10 per person at the restaurant / bar.
The beach was a little dirty and the water was really scummy so nobody swam, but we all enjoyed about an hour laying out catching rays!
We had to be back on board our ship by 4:30 I think, so we headed back towards the port at 4. While we were not in a huge hurry, our taxi driver apparently was and he nearly killed all four of us on the drive back. On a section of road that had a 35mph speed limit he got a rise out of going 70mph and even sped up when he saw an oncoming car in our lane trying to pass from the other side. I was having a panic attack and was SO MAD! I couldn't believe he would jeopardize our safety--I don't think I'll ever get into a cab in Mexico again without laying down some strict ground rules with the driver!!
As we walked back towards our ship we saw that another ship had docked right next to us and I thought it was so neat to be walking between such enormous boats...
You could see just that little patch of blue sky. It was almost like being in a city between two skyscrapers!
We took a nap and then got ready for dinner. Our ship had to stay longer than expected in Mexico, although we cannot remember now what the excuse was. Someone at dinner that night said it was probably because they wanted us all to get back off the boat and do more shopping--ha! The cruise lines have ties to the shops so they definitely encourage lots of shopping!
That night we played some craps in the casino and more than doubled our money. I of course was happy :) We tried out our standard $10 in a slot machine but our luck in that department had definitely run out. The $10 was gone in a flash :( I'm so glad we're not big time gamblers because like I said a few days ago, I don't stand for losing money!! But winning, now that's a different story!!
Our last day cruising was a day at sea. We attended a disembarkation meeting in the morning after breakfast and then scored what I think are the best chairs on the entire boat to lie out on. They were on a side deck away from the pools and it was breezy and quiet for the entire day. I read an entire novel that day with my only interruption being lunch where we tried out the chocolate buffet...
After we'd soaked up enough rays to make us look almost as dark as the Mexicans we'd just left the day before in Cozumel, we headed inside to get ready for our last dinner on board.
We had a delicious meal and took a group photo with our table mates. We truly had a great time with these other couples and I'm so glad we were able to get to know them.
We also loved our waiter, Giovanni. He was from the Philippines and was such a funny guy as well as a wonderful waiter. He paid attention to detail and even gave me the recipe for the dessert I ordered every night on the trip--the chocolate melting cake. Thanks for a great week of meals Giovanni!
We hung out for awhile after dinner, played craps for a little bit but neither won nor lost, and then headed into our state room to pack up and get ready for the next morning's disembarkation. That day my mom had sent us a few texts with photos of Jaden and Sienna so we were missing them like crazy, but we still didn't want to leave the beautiful ship so it was a bittersweet evening.
The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast and then walked off the ship and through customs before boarding our shuttle to the airport. It had been a very relaxing, fun trip, one that won't be soon forgotten!! We cannot wait to take another cruise--what a great way to see many different places in one week. Maybe one day we'll even do a Disney cruise and take our girls :)
We decided to hang out with our friends Peter and Natalie again (who we'd met at our dinner table) and they wanted to do some shopping so we walked off the ship and looked for some good souvenir shops. I wanted a photo of Scott and I in front of the ship, but unfortunately this turned out a bit fuzzy because my camera lens was fogging up from having just gone from the air conditioned ship to the humid and hot air of Mexico!
On our way to the shops this crazy guy grabbed me for a photo op...
His pretend donkey was named George Bush and had some award for bad spelling...apparently a joke on our poor former president. I thought the whole scene was pretty humorous nonetheless!We also took a few other photos outside of a restaurant with the Three Amigos movie theme:
Then we stopped in a jewelry store to check prices of Tanzanite. I'd checked prices on the beautiful gem at many of the ports, but had no intentions of buying anything. I just like to see what they're selling for :)Well my bad for stopping in the jewelry store because they made Peter and Scott take a small shot of tequila!! Apparently they think if they offer the guys some booze that they'll buy the ladies something? Ha, they don't know my husband very well!
After that I was forbidden from leading the way into anymore jewelry stores :) We took a taxi to the downtown area of Cozumel and walked through a bunch of stores on the main strip. Some of them had a few interesting things, but mostly it was all of the same touristy stuff, necklaces and so forth.
We ate lunch at a nice restaurant near the shops where Peter had eaten before and then decided we were done shopping. For the rest of the day we wanted to hang out at a beach so we found one that was free to go to as long as you spent $10 per person at the restaurant / bar. 
The beach was a little dirty and the water was really scummy so nobody swam, but we all enjoyed about an hour laying out catching rays!
We had to be back on board our ship by 4:30 I think, so we headed back towards the port at 4. While we were not in a huge hurry, our taxi driver apparently was and he nearly killed all four of us on the drive back. On a section of road that had a 35mph speed limit he got a rise out of going 70mph and even sped up when he saw an oncoming car in our lane trying to pass from the other side. I was having a panic attack and was SO MAD! I couldn't believe he would jeopardize our safety--I don't think I'll ever get into a cab in Mexico again without laying down some strict ground rules with the driver!!As we walked back towards our ship we saw that another ship had docked right next to us and I thought it was so neat to be walking between such enormous boats...
You could see just that little patch of blue sky. It was almost like being in a city between two skyscrapers!We took a nap and then got ready for dinner. Our ship had to stay longer than expected in Mexico, although we cannot remember now what the excuse was. Someone at dinner that night said it was probably because they wanted us all to get back off the boat and do more shopping--ha! The cruise lines have ties to the shops so they definitely encourage lots of shopping!
That night we played some craps in the casino and more than doubled our money. I of course was happy :) We tried out our standard $10 in a slot machine but our luck in that department had definitely run out. The $10 was gone in a flash :( I'm so glad we're not big time gamblers because like I said a few days ago, I don't stand for losing money!! But winning, now that's a different story!!Our last day cruising was a day at sea. We attended a disembarkation meeting in the morning after breakfast and then scored what I think are the best chairs on the entire boat to lie out on. They were on a side deck away from the pools and it was breezy and quiet for the entire day. I read an entire novel that day with my only interruption being lunch where we tried out the chocolate buffet...
After we'd soaked up enough rays to make us look almost as dark as the Mexicans we'd just left the day before in Cozumel, we headed inside to get ready for our last dinner on board.We had a delicious meal and took a group photo with our table mates. We truly had a great time with these other couples and I'm so glad we were able to get to know them.
We also loved our waiter, Giovanni. He was from the Philippines and was such a funny guy as well as a wonderful waiter. He paid attention to detail and even gave me the recipe for the dessert I ordered every night on the trip--the chocolate melting cake. Thanks for a great week of meals Giovanni!
We hung out for awhile after dinner, played craps for a little bit but neither won nor lost, and then headed into our state room to pack up and get ready for the next morning's disembarkation. That day my mom had sent us a few texts with photos of Jaden and Sienna so we were missing them like crazy, but we still didn't want to leave the beautiful ship so it was a bittersweet evening.
The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast and then walked off the ship and through customs before boarding our shuttle to the airport. It had been a very relaxing, fun trip, one that won't be soon forgotten!! We cannot wait to take another cruise--what a great way to see many different places in one week. Maybe one day we'll even do a Disney cruise and take our girls :)
Comments
As usual, you guys look beautiful!