We made it from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel!
It was another full day of activities. I started my morning with yoga and room service for breakfast. There is something so special about sitting on your balcony, sipping coffee, and watching the sun come up.
Our ship pulled into port at 9am so at around 9:15am I headed out to Cozumel. It was a relatively short walk from the ship to the port. Our SeaPasses were scanned as we left and we were instructed to keep all food and drinks onboard. There were a couple dogs to keep us all honest with the rules. We were offered basically two excursion options from the cruise line. One was a catamaran, snorkel, and beach experience and the other was a chocolate, tequila, honey, and Mayan culture experience. I chose the latter.
We began our excursion at port by signing some liability waivers digitally. We then headed through the port elementary school style in two lines. Next, we went to an air conditioned bus. Our first stop was the chocolate place. We learned the history behind chocolate and how it was traditional made during the Mayan times. We then sampled some mole on a fresh corn tortilla and then a little later sampled a freshly-ground chocolate mixture with a few different ingredients. There was a giant banner about food allergies behind the guy handing out the samples, but who pays attention to that when someone’s handing out chocolate. I sat down and ate my sample. Literally seconds later the guy starts talking about what’s in it and I hear “Allspice!” Ahh! (I’m allergic to allspice.) I then think, they really should have a sign for allergies. Then I see two giant signs that clearly state what’s in the mixture we got. 🤦🏻♀️ Now I’m uneasy because I’m not sure how sick I’m going to get. I think…well there’s nothing I can do now and continue onwards. (Don’t worry I’m not deathly allergic to it.) The tour continues with some tequila tasting. We had a coffee infused tequila which was my personal favorite. We then get back into the bus and head to see the bees. Normally, I’m not thrilled to be around bees and would never pick an excursion that involved bees BUT these bees don’t have stingers!! Before we see the bees they show us this Mayan ritual and we crowd around in this tent-like structure. I’m all the way in the corner next to some log hanging from rope. As the Mayan ritual begins, I notice a buzzing noise. That hanging log is a bee hive! 😧 I start to panic but then remember they can’t sting so calmly stand there admiring these little bees up close. Next stop is an explanation of the bees. The guy starts out by giving us a warning about not getting too close to the hive. He says while they don’t string they will swarm and fly around you if they feel the nest is threatened. I think, well that piece of advice would been nice to know five minutes ago while my face was literally inches away from the opening of the hive. 🐝 I guess I wasn’t threatening 🤷🏻♀️. We end the tour by driving through the town in Cozumel and our guide gives us a tour of it. The tour ends at the port and most people head back to the ship.
I’m not normally a large group guided tour kind of traveler and we have a couple hours before we need to be on the ship. I ask the other travel agent if she wants to explore a little and she says yes. We walk down the street and enter the hotel next to the port. From there, we walk to the beach and admire the beauty of the many shades of the Caribbean Sea. After snapping some pictures, we head back to port.
This was my first time going to another country by cruise. I was blown away about how easy it was to get off the ship and back onto the ship. We literally only needed our SeaCard although they did ask us to bring a photo ID as well. No customs. No immigration. It was wonderful!
Back onboard it was back to ship life and still a lot more to explore. I grabbed a quick lunch at the pizza place onboard and then dessert was Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. After lunch I did some more accupuncture. Next, I watched as the ship pulled away from the dock and we began our journey back to Texas. We played a quick 9 holes of mini-golf which I really enjoyed and then headed to the back of the ship for rock climbing. I successfully rang the bell!
Dinner was back at the main dining hall which has been my favorite place to eat! We have the same servers each night and they’ve been truly remarkable. Dinner is delicious as always. I had a peach salad, lamb with baked potato and broccoli, and tiramisu. We then caught the tale end of a little preview of the ice skating show. Can you believe it’s like 90 degrees out and they have ice skating on the ship?!? We then head to the Guacho show which was the headliner for tonight. He was entertaining and funny.
We end the night exploring some lesser known areas of the ship. We head to Olive and Twist on deck 14 and also to the chapel! Olive and Twist looks like a place we need to visit during the day. Some really good views! Now it’s time for bed. Tomorrow is another day at sea. 🙂
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