Cruise to Cozumel: The End

The return voyage to Galveston, TX was uneventful. There’s not much to discuss here. We were packed up and ready to disembark on Sunday night. We got up early to see the sun rise through some rain clouds on the horizon. We ate breakfast in the Panorama Bar and Grill area. We ended up back in our room for awhile to take a nap before heading up to the top deck to see the Galveston sites as the ship docked. I was amazed to see how the tug boats turn that big vessel on a dime to put it against the dock without even a tiny bump. Wow!

Cruise to Cozumel, Day 4

DH woke up early, again, and wandered around up on deck for a while. He does a lot of wandering. He returned to the cabin to wake me for brekkie. We went up to the Panorama Bar & Grill on the Promenade deck. Afterwards, we came directly back to the room for a shower and morning nap. We ended up sleeping until 12:30!! We got up to go find some lunch. What a stressful day! Eat, Sleep, Eat, Sleep, we can be as lazy or as busy as we want.

We ended up back at the Panorama Bar & Grill for the lunch buffet. Afterwards, I dragged DH down to the Blue Sapphire to learn a line dance and play some Name that Tune.

DH is not into line dancing, so we watched other people having a great time. He’s a great people watcher. I entered a raffle drawing for a free cruise but I lost. There were many Bingo games going on as well and I was tempted to play, but my people watcher said, “No...that’s no fun. Don’t play that.” I was finally able to talk him into participating in a game of Battle of the Sexes.
Unfortunately, the men’s team won….but only because they cheated.

We discovered that it was nearly dinner time and we were interested in trying out the Seafood Bistro that was “advertised”. I was expecting fried fish, shrimp, etc and was disappointed with the choices of turkey, chicken, and lemon flavored snapper. There was no shrimp or anything of the like. I guess they thought that if they added the Red Snapper to the selection, they could then call it Seafood Bistro. Oh, well.

After dinner, we went back up to the Blue Sapphire to watch another song and dance show of “Extreme Country”. It was really cute but I think I really enjoyed the “Dream Voyage” much more.

After the show, I finally broke down and purchase one of the necklaces and some bracelets that I had been seeing all over the ship. I also had a very enjoyable chat with a cocktail pianist from Australia named Ian. He has traveled all over the world working for Carnival as a cocktail pianist. He informed me that they are also currently hiring pianists. I’m very tempted now to send in a CD and DVD. I wouldn’t mind working on the ship for a few months. Hmmm.

DH enjoys some fresh air.

Question & Answer session with the Entertainment Team.

DH doesn't like having his picture taken much.

At the fabulous buffet!

A beautiful sunset with a crescent moon! I thought this was very interesting.

Cruise to Cozumel, Day 3

We arrived in Cozumel, Mexcio at approximately 8 a.m. During my wandering around Friday night, I had made arrangements for DH and I to participate in a horseback riding excursion at Rancho Buenavista. I was so excited that I had forgotten all about his knee problem. However, the painkiller must have done the trick for him because though he’s walking with a slight limp, he’s not complaining much. Hmmmmm.

As we exited the ship in Cozumel, we were accosted by ship photographers and Cozumel natives dressed in Mayan attire. After striking many poses, we sauntered on down the pier to gather at the meeting place for the horseback riding. The 4 guides who met us were Jose (bus driver), Bruno (bus driver), Eduardo (guide), and Einer (guide).

Eduardo welcomes us to Cozumel.

We boarded the bus driven by Jose where Eduardo explained some rules to us and encouraged us to leave tips for Jose (and his 7 wives, 18 children, and 2 boyfriends). Eduardo also introduced us to Einer explaining that Einer is also know as Mexico’s Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both Einer and Eduardo were very informative and entertaining. I really didn’t care much at all for the 1/2 hour bus ride, extensive talking, instructions, and haggling shopkeepers. I also didn’t think the horseback riding excursion was worth $80 per person. Otherwise, the horseback riding experience was fine.

I was assigned to a mare named Manpana, after a Mexican city. DH was on a slowpoke mare named Selina. We rode through some Mayan ruins that were discovered during cleanup after a hurricane came through Cozumel about 20 years ago. Einer explained the meaning and significance of some of the caves and sights to us.

Mexico's Arnold Schwarzenegger explains some horsey rules to us.

Our excited looking steeds.

Me on horseback. Can't see the horse due to photo editing.

DH on Selina.

There were 3 caves: 1) Temple for the Love and Fertility Goddess, 2) the waiting place of a groom while his bride canoed over from the mainland, 3) the Coochie Coochie cave, a gift to the honeymooners.

Einer also showed us a statue of the Rain God. He was explaining how the Mayans would sacrifice small children to the Rain God in order to appease him and get rain for their crops. Eerily, as he was explaining this, it began to rain. Not just a little rain, but big, cold drops of rain pouring down on us. What fun!!! It lasted only a little while before the sun came out and dried it all up.

I wanted to give Einer and Eduardo a tip but in my excitement of the day, I had also forgotten to hit the ATM for some cash. On Einer’s side of the island, there isn’t any electricity or running water. Hitting an ATM there was out of the question. When the horseback ride was finished up, we were driven back to the pier area so we could do a little shopping before reboarding the ship and heading back to Galveston.

Once back on board and in the cabin, I took a shower, went shopping for some flip-flops, and lost DH somewhere on the ship. I found him in the casino playing Carribean Stud. We had plans to go up to the much anticipated Mexican Buffet and party but we dozed off in our room and didn’t wake up until daylight! I think we were tired! :D

Cruise to Cozumel, Day 2

DH woke up early, at 5 a.m. (as he usually does). He wandered up to the very top deck to watch an unrestricted view of the sunrise. I, however, chose to snooze some more. He finally returned to wake me up and we headed up to the dining room for a fancy, schmancy breakfast. I had a decent brekkie of 2 fried eggs, 2 teensy tiny hash brown patties (think Burger King hash browns, 2 pieces), bacon, toast, canned OJ, and a baked apple covered in a cinnamon-honey flavored syrup. The apple was very yummy!

After brekkie, we wandered around some more and attempted to sit through a shopping talk where Shopping Specialist Kiwi James gave many informative tips on shopping in Cozumel. I began dozing off again mid talk and decided to return to our room for a nap. It was only 10 a.m.!! I’m not sure what DH did or where he wandered but he returned at noon to wake me for lunch. This time we opted for the buffet up on the Lido Deck.

While we dined, we were entertained by a Hairy Chest Contest and an Ice Carving demonstration. Though I begged and pleaded, DH would not compete in the Hairy Chest contest. He’s such a party pooper!!

After lunch, we split up for a bit to pursue our individual interests. He said he went to the casino for a while, but I think he strolled around watching the bikini clad hoochie momma’s who were baring it all for the sun’s rays. I went shopping in the ships gift shops and finally ended up at a piano bar where Canada’s Angela Johnson led a game of Name that Tune. Out of the 20 tunes that were played, I guessed 15 of them! I was so excited only to have my bubble burst when another contestant correctly guessed 18 tunes. The prize we competed for was a little plastic “piece of Ship on a stick”, a cute little gift shop trophy with a plastic model of the Ecstasy on top.

After Name that Tune, I discovered the Internet Café where I paid $24 for one hour of computer time. I quickly tapped off an email to my sister (who was keeping my little girls) and my older daughter at home. Once that was done, I ventured out on a “DH hunt” and found him at the slot machines in the casino. I should’ve looked there first. I truly walked off all that eating by making several treks up and down the 855 foot long Ecstasy.

I convinced DH to cash in his $50 winnings and accompany me to the Blue Sapphire lounge to play the “Newlywed/Not So Newlywed” Game. So much fun! The 3 competing couples were an older couple who were celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary, a young couple married only 1 year, and a newlywed honeymooning couple. I laughed so hard at this game. The older gentleman reminded me of my father in law which made his comments even funnier.We then returned to our stateroom for a short nap before we got all gussied up for the formal dinner. From 4 to 5 p.m. we just laid around and relaxed. DH has a fascination with watching the sun rise and set, so he wandered up to the top deck to watch it set before coming back to get ready for the evening.

DH gets all tied up for our formal night.

We dined in the WindStar dining room again. DH enjoyed some stuffed mushroom appetizers followed by lobster and shrimp with steamed broccoli. I had the same thing with a Caesar salad. For dessert I indulged in a special cake (or was it a souflee?) with white and dark chocolate. On the menu it was called Bitter & Blanc. DH enjoyed something like the Black Forest Gaudet that I’d had the night before, but this time it was a white cake with bananas. Very interesting.

We wandered around a bit after dinner and watched people posing for their formal portraits before we chose a setting for our own. I wanted to try them all (there were so many!) but my husband convinced me to choose only one. :(

We returned to our room and changed into more comfortable duds before heading back to the Blue Sapphire for the “Dream Voyage” revue, a 45 minute long song and dance medley similar to a Las Vegas show.

Earlier in the evening, I had wanted to check out the Karaoke contest that was going on and practice some of our dance moves we learned in classes we took at LSU prior to our cruise. However, after the “Dream Voyage” show, DH’s knee began swelling so any dance plans were nixed. We did wander down to the Karaoke contest and people watched for a bit before returning back to our room. DH took a painkiller, undressed, crawled in bed, and promptly passed out.

I wasn’t sleepy or tired, so I made plans to visit the much discussed mid night buffet where I viewed many beautiful displays of melon carvings, ice carvings, cheese carvings, and really pretty chocolate things. I loaded my plate up with goodies before returning to the room and passing out myself. I’m surprised I didn’t induce a diabetic coma with all the junk I ate!

Cruise to Cozumel, Day 1

This is the first time DH and I have ever been on a cruise. He has worked offshore for several years and tells me that cruising can't be much different. However, I have a conflicting opinion.

We left our home at approximately 8:30 a.m. to arrive in Galveston, TX at 1:30 p.m. We boarded the M.S. Ecstasy of Carnival Cruise Lines at about 2:15 p.m. We found our stateroom located at the very rear of the ship on the Main deck where we have a gorgeous porthold view of where we've been. We also found a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne placed there in honor of our anniversary. There was also a lovely towel elephant waiting for us. How sweet!!!

Once we got unpacked, we walked around and tried to locate the different area we might be interested in visiting. The Blue Sapphire lounge looks like lots of fun! A short time later we came back to our stateroom for a short nap before the all important pre-embarkment safety and life jacket talk and demonstrations. After we were shown how to properly wear a life jacket, we came back to our stateroom to get ready for our first evening meal aboard a cruise ship.

Me with Galveston behind me. We were assigned to the WindStar dining room. We hadn’t seen the dining room during our initial exploration, so we had to hunt for it. When we finally found it, we discovered that it wasn’t open for dinner yet. We had to wait for a few minutes before being shown to our assigned table. DH and I sat alone for a few minutes wondering whether we had table mates and what they were like. When they arrived, we all introduced ourselves to the Porters from Dallas, Tx and to the Kanecks from Baton Rouge, La. How strange to learn we were practically neighbors! We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that we had a lot in common.

Waiting for dinner.

We all enjoyed dinner together. DH enjoyed a Black Tiger Shrimp cocktail, Filet Mignon, steamed green beans, red potatoes, & a slice of N.Y. style cheesecake. I had Beef & Barley Soup (ugh!), Caesar salad, and the Filet Mignon as well. I chose a Black Forest Gaudet for dessert which is basically like a Black Forest cake with cherries baked in. I did not care at all for the taste of the water or tea we were served. In fact, I didn’t care for anything the ship made with water (i.e. juice, coffee, hot chocolate mixed with water, etc.) I think the ship uses a desalination system to remove the salt from seawater and filtering it for consumption. It just tasted plain old nasty to me, so I stuck with canned Colas ($2.00 per can!) or bottled water for the duration of the cruise.

At sea with nothing in sight.

After dinner we wandered around a little more before located the Blue Sapphire again where the Welcome Aboard! Venue Show was performed. Several dancers came out on stage and performed a Broadway style song and dance number followed by comic Percy Crews II. Percy was absolutely hilarious and had me laughing so hard that I could not breathe! You can see some clips of him at http://www.percycrews2.net/.

The show ended at approximately 9:15 or 9:30 p.m. Though I wanted to see and do everything I absolutely could, my body just wouldn’t let me. We had a long drive and exhausting day so we chose to go to the stateroom and pass out until early Friday morning.