Out of all the cruises we have ever done... this was the first time we did not port until the middle of the afternoon. Our times in Cozumel were 1pm-10pm. That morning seemed like any other sea day. We didn't have anything booked and honestly had not even decided if we were really going to get off the ship or not. While Mark has stayed behind and had the ship to himself all day.... T and I never have. Adventure usually is calling our name :)
People were crazy. They were making announcements over head begging people to NOT go down to the gangway... as we still had not officially arrived in Cozumel. We kicked back in our balcony and behaved for once. Finally we arrived and while everyone else was rushing off the ship, we headed up to the water park. There was a whopping 1 person in the pool and 2 little kids in the water park area. T swam in the pool a little.
I have seriously developed a phobia and I don't know where it came from. I can hardly get myself into a public pool anymore. In my middle age years I am disgusted by the thought of swimming around in someone else's urine. I could give a flip less about chemicals to solve that problem. I just can't do it. So thankfully T swam in the side no one was in and Mark got himself some food. Then we headed back to the water park. I am still scarred from the slides on the Magic and that toilet bowl thing so I flat refused to get on these. Mark was a trooper though and he signed up for a 1 time on each slide and then decided it was safer to just lay out and get some sun beside me. T played his little heart out with no lines for the slides, I read my Kindle and Mark took a nap. After a couple of hours we decided to head back to our cabin and go into Cozumel.
Shopping in the port is ok... I guess. I refuse to buy anything in the shop everyone is herded off the ship through. Just principal for me because they force me to walk through it. There were some people I wanted to get some souvenirs for so we headed out the port area and turned to the left. There is a pharmacy directly across the street if you are looking for that sort of thing in Mexico. There was a little guy standing on the sidewalk saying "You want some medicine?" Mark said "No Thanks, We are good." The little guy said "You sure? You never know!" That was funny at the time, but seriously later on in the cruise I was really wishing we had taken him up on that offer!
I have purchased many things in Cozumel before. The first couple of years I just bought the stuff for what they were asking for. (After seeing the same souvenir in another port for 1/2 the price, I now know better.) So if you go shopping outside of the port there are plenty of opportunities if you turn to the left. Here is what I have learned, the prices are cheaper the further down the road you go, or the farther back into the little market you go. Those places will also 9 times out of 10, take what you offer if you are within reason. So... I made my purchases and was very happy with the prices I negotiated so we started making our way back.
Mexico is always an interesting place. I found a perfectly good pair of flipflops on a trash can by the road. I only wish I knew their story to tell :) I left them there for the next person to enjoy.
Once back inside Puerta Maya, we headed towards our favorite place to eat ... Pancho's Backyard. There are some party places near the ship, but if you walk down to the end you will find Pancho's. They have tables, lounge chairs and hammocks in the sand if you want to eat near the water. They have tables outside under umbrella's or you can eat inside which is still open air. For all the years we have been going, we always see the same waiters and waitresses. It's like vising your favorite restaurant when you go back home and the same people are still there. I have never eaten anything there I didn't like.... and they have wonderful margarita's. This time Trenton and I had Pina Colada's (his was virgin). They do also offer free WiFi which is nice. On this occasion we noticed as a customer left, he dropped money out of his pocket. The waiter saw it and literally chased the guy down to give it back. Well done Pancho's Backyard. You will keep me coming back every year!
Our next ritual stop is the fish pedicure which is located right outside. There is a little area where you can get table massages by the water or the fish pedicure. I am pretty sure they are separate businesses, but they are right there together.
Mark and I decided to get table massages the last time we were there. Holy Crap. Ladies... you need a warning. I was wearing a tank top, shorts and sports bra that day. She had me take my tank top off which was no big deal and lay face down on the table. Next thing I know she whipped my sports bra off before I could even get out a "Whoa there!" So here I am.... completely topless in Cozumel. Mark was at a table on 1 side of me and some strange dude was at the table on the other side of me. I tried to negotiate with her...but it's a little hard when you can't even sit up and look at them and she didn't seem to understand my English of "How am I supposed to get that back on!?" I am sure the lucky flat chested women of the world don't have this problem, but if you actually have boobs, putting on a sports bra when you are hot and sweaty takes some talent... and room to make that happen. Mark said his massage was wonderful..... I couldn't tell you. I laid there the whole time thinking how in the hell am I going to get dressed without going to jail or scaring the kids? I will tell you though.... she got me back in that thing as expertly as she took it off and I don't think I flashed anyone. Here's hoping anyway. SO... ladies. The massage is probably good. Leave your modesty on the ship... or stop at Pancho's and get a margarita or 2 and then you won't care anyway.
I wasn't signing up for the massage again so fish pedicure it was. I think it is $20 for 1 person, but T and I do it so it was $30 for 2. They have you sit down and they wash your feet really good, dry them off, then put you in little disposable booties. Then you go sit above the fish tank and they take your booties off. You slowly lower your feet into the fish tank. You can't move fast or kick or else you can hurt the fish. They are fish from Turkey I think? They are called Garra Rufa. They are supposed to do great things for your feet... and nibble on your dead skin so it makes your feet smooth. It tickles like all get out when you first put your feet in there, but gets manageable as the time goes on. Trenton loves it and his laugh is infectious. It's worth $30 bucks to hear him laugh like that!
After that we headed back to the boat. Cozumel is my favorite port to watch for pier runners. It is really funny when you have 2 boats pulled up side to side to watch people stumble down the pier and get on the wrong boat. Seriously, it provides me with hours of free entertainment. I was really curious to see the stumbling people coming down the pier in the dark when we left at 10pm, but our cabin was on the wrong side :( Oh well, there's always next time.
Cozumel was our last port this part of the cruise. We had 1 sea day before returning to Miami. I gotta tell you. It's not hard or sad to pack when you know you are getting on another cruise. While it would have been ideal to do a back to back on the same ship... This really did turn out well. I was almost happy to do it because I couldn't wait for our adventure to continue!
