When Ship Happens

Carnival Magic - Post 2.0 Upgrades Day 3 - Cozumel

Day 3

We arrived in Cozumel at 9am. I had excursions planned for our other 2 ports, but Cozumel we were just going to see where the day took us. The Mom’s wanted to do some shopping. Mark wanted to rent a jeep and show his Dad the island. We met somewhere in the middle.

We stopped by the Jeep rental place and it was $95 for the day to rent. We thought that was a decent deal… they wanted $200 to rent a golf cart in Key West. However…. I read somewhere that if you get into a car accident in Mexico, they arrest you and figure out the logistics out later. I honestly don’t know if there is any truth to this or not…but if it happened to someone… it would be us! Just as I was trying to convince Mark he was about to end up in a Mexican jail, the guy came back as we were filling out the paperwork and said the last Jeep had been rented. I took that as a sign. Nope… we didn’t want anything else. Gracias. We’ll be on our way now and I drug my family out of there.

I hit up a guy about an island tour and he quoted me $40 per person. 4 hour tour. They would take us to a couple of beaches for photos, passed some Mayan ruins, to the Tequila factory and then to downtown for some shopping. Sounded like a great deal so T and I went to go round up the Mom’s. We both decided they were probably in Diamond’s International and we were right.

We headed back with the whole group and could not find that guy… but the next one we found said $30 per person for the same tour only 3 hours and no ruins. Deal. I did try to find someone that would do it for $20… kinda felt like I was on a roll, but that was a no go. So the $30 dude it was.

We were taken in an air conditioned van… only 1 other couple was with us. Poor things. I could not imagine being invaded with my family when you are least expecting it! They seemed to be troopers though!

First stop was a little Mayan hut. We got out and walked through the grounds and of course donated some money in the little gift shop.  Apparently this little thing is known for fertility... I stayed well away from it. They say if you rub it, you will become pregnant.  I took the widest path around it I could find :)

Next stop was Paradise Beach. Trenton has decided we need to go here next time we come to Cozumel! They had a really nice pool and bar. Some pretty birds and lots of inflatable water toys.  If you decided to go by taxi it really isn't far down the road from the port and it is beautiful!  Not sure what the actual price to get in and stay is.

We drove back through town and onto the Tequila factory. We received a little education in how tequila is made and the difference between that tequila and what we purchase in the United States... as they do not ship theirs.

 

We were able to taste 4 different types of tequila’s and 4 tequila liquors. They really were amazing and my tequila drinking days are FAR behind me! Most tequila comes close to setting your esophagus on fire as you swallow and this was so smooth!  Mark kept asking if I was going to buy a bottle… while it was ridiculously good I saw no reason why I needed to be sitting at home sipping on tequila… lol.  If YOU are interested in purchasing a bottle it is $85 USD per bottle.

There is a little restaurant attached and that is where we ate lunch. It was pretty good. We met some other people there who were from Missouri, but own a house in Cozumel… that really got Mark’s wheels a turning!

 

If you ever eat here... Just be prepared your bill comes in Peso’s! We had to ask for assistance to know how much our bill was so we could convert our tip into Peso’s. We checked the credit card company once we got back on the ship and everything looks like it was a go!

As we were leaving and heading back to the bus we saw the people with the birds.  The price is $5 for 2 pictures.  We decided why not?  Mark had my phone and this was our second picture.  The guy put a bird on Trenton's shoulder and I thought I was just leaning in the picture, when all of a sudden he says "Mommy, look sexy."  I said "Excuse me?"  He says "You know put your hand on your hip like this."  I am thinking "What the hell..."  So I put my hand on my hip and he says hold out your finger.  As I do this... he attaches another damn bird to my finger and Mark snaps the picture!  So here you have it my friends.  The single most awful...yet hilarious picture I have ever taken in my life!

 

 

After lunch we headed downtown and had about 45 minutes to shop. We did good and found everything that was on our list. After rounding everyone back in the van we headed back to the port for more shopping of course! Trenton is in LOVE with the Cariloha shirts and of course Del Sol now has a Star Wars collection. The kid that never wants to buy clothes suddenly can’t pass up a shop!

By this time we were officially exhausted and headed back to the ship. Dinner was good as usual, but uneventful. We did receive some chocolate dipped strawberries as a we are sorry from our debacle at the steakhouse on night 1. That was a nice before bed time treat. We all turned in early in anticipation of our day in Belize….

 

(*So once again... I apologize for all the sideways pictures :/)

Carnival Magic - Post 2.0 upgrades Day 2

Day 2

We are well into our first Sea Day. Trenton and I hit the sky course for several rounds this morning. Thankfully there was no one there to snap pictures of it. It was quite windy and I am shocked it was open. I was trucking on through the easy routes when Trenton double dog dared me to do the hard one. I was rudely reminded about halfway through that I broke my shoulder only 6 months ago and clearly am not as young as I once was. After I survived that lap, I was done! LOL

We headed to the casino for the Facebook Slot Pull. No money was won, but it sure was a fun time. Mark was still sleeping so the rest of us headed for a late breakfast and them off to the Caribbean Shopping Show. I honestly have never attended one of these and here is my take on it…. They give away lots of free stuff! (I didn’t win any of it)… but it has to be the longest show in history and my butt fell asleep! However, I would say it’s worth a shot. They gave away T-shirts, Del Sol bags, socks and a couple of really nice necklaces.  If you like getting free stuff... this is one you don't want to miss!

We gambled a little in the casino and then tried the new barbeque place outside on Deck 5 for lunch. It was pretty good. Had potato salad and cole slaw, pork, chicken, beans, macaroni and cheese, etc. It was a nice lunch.

 

 

Afterwards, we headed back to the Diamonds and Gemstone show, which really is a continuation of the Shopping show from the morning. This time my Mother In Law won a bracelet valued at $175 and we all got a free sapphire gemstone.  This one did not last as long as the first one did... so I am calling that a success. 

Tonight was elegant night. We got all dressed up and had some pictures taken. I could not miss that opportunity.  Dinner was yummy. We have Your Time Dining and found a wonderful wait staff.  They were funny and quick!  We will be requesting them each night.  Most everyone ordered the lobster. I tried the fried oysters for an appetizer and they were really very good! ... and I am not an oyster person. Dessert was hands down the Vanilla Crème Brulee which Trenton describes as heaven with a crunchy top of deliciousness :)

I ended up with a really great family photo from elegant night.... but.... the internet isn't strong enough to turn it :(

I absolutely love it though!

We all visited the casino that night and had a lot of fun!  Donated a little so hopefully it will be kind to us on another night, but we did have a blast!  After that we wandered around, shopped a little and called it a night. 

 

Stay tuned for our adventures in Cozumel!

 

Carnival Magic - Post 2.0 Upgrades Day 1

So I am trying something new.  Usually I blog after we have returned from our trip and everything settles down.  This time I am going to try to write a little each day.  However, we purchased the Premium internet package and frankly.... it stinks!  LOL

Carnival Magic Day 1: Our embarkation went smoothly. We parked at the port. It seems like the staggered embarkation times are going well. It really wasn’t crowded. The Captain’s lounge, however, was pretty full this time. I had some WhenShipHappens lanyards made and handed them out to a few couples we were talking to while we were waiting. Next thing I knew they were all gone before we boarded! Guess I will be ordering some more. They came in and announced boarding was slightly delayed because 1 person from the previous cruise was still on board somewhere and they were looking for him! Ha Ha. So in case any of you were wondering… they will find you :) 

This cruise was special to us because we were bringing Mark’s parents. His mom has cruised with us before, but this was his Dad’s first cruise and really, first vacation ever and it was our treat. I have run myself crazy trying to make sure everything was perfect for them that now I am a scattered brained mess… lol. I keep losing MY things. I told Mark I was afraid I was developing dementia! He lovingly says my brain has just been too busy focusing on everyone else. I guess we’ll see…

We went right to our rooms to drop off our things before heading out to explore. Mark wanted to get his Dad a Bottomless Bubbles card and I told him just to go to any bar and they should be able to do it. They happened to walk into the Red Frog Pub and ended up being the first customers and getting a free beer! What a way to start it off! I am so glad I snapped these pictures off the monitor because the next night they called our room after dinner and asked for Mark to come back and re-take his photo.  They said it accidentally got deleted and they needed it to send to corporate ??  His Dad was no where to be found so I ended up being in the retake.  They asked for our home address and email so .... Hmmm.  I guess we will see.  Thankfully though I have this picture!

I took the Mom’s and Trenton and we headed up to eat! We ran into a life sized towel animal and could not turn down the photo opportunity.

The lido on the Magic looks wonderful. It looks like the decking and pool got a facelift as well as the famous Guy’s Burger and my all-time favorite Blue Iguana. We headed straight for the tacos! The rest of the afternoon was pretty un-eventful. We walked around and looked at the ship (I couldn’t really get any good pictures because there were too many people on board already.) Here is a pic of the pool atleast... with a huge line at Guy's burgers in the background!

I will try again later. That afternoon we attended our Facebook Meet and Greet. It was nice to see some online faces and looks like everyone was having a great time! Funny story about my lanyards… I actually ordered them for the Meet and Greet. They were arriving by UPS the week we were leaving for the cruise so I was anxiously tracking them. The night they were supposed to come I checked my UPS app thingy and it says they were delivered… To a Man… Outside My House! It completely freaked me out because Mark was traveling. Turns out the neighbor got them. He thought we were already gone.

Back to the cruise… I had made reservations for the Steakhouse and we were all really excited about it. I emailed the Steakhouse prior to the cruise and requested a 6:00 time. I was told it was full and they could accommodate us at 5:30. I said that was fine. Once we were onboard I confirmed our 5:30 time in person with the steakhouse representative that was trying to get people to sign up and then again by phone because they called and left a message on our cabin phone. We showed up at 5:30 and were literally “Shoo-ed” out of the Steakhouse and they said they were not ready to give them a few more minutes. We waited 10 minutes… standing outside the now closed door. Mom’s back was starting to hurt and really… it was just awkward standing there all dressed up. Mark finally just walked in (because he’s not scared) and the whole staff was around the corner laughing and telling jokes. He almost lost his cool when the girl came over and said she was holding a meeting. He said he didn’t care. Our reservation was for 10 minutes ago and they could either offer us a seat or reschedule because he wasn’t having his family stand out in the hallway any longer. They sat us down. They didn’t even have our table of 6 arranged so we had to wait for them to move some tables. After that everything went smoothly and dinner was fantastic. We were offered a free bottle of wine since it was the first night which certainly helped to ease my frustration. I was a little shocked and disappointed with how things went. We have eaten at the steakhouse many times and never encountered customer service like that. It’s all good now. We turned in early… day 1 is always exhausting for me. Apparently Mark’s Dad was out living it up until 1:30 AM! LOL