Our vacation so far has been dominated by one general theme: Weather. Very few of our plans has been impacted by weather however it has drastically impacted certain aspects of the trip. It started on our travel day when our 3 hour flight to Orlando turned into a 7 hour comedy of errors that had us landing in Jacksonville, the flight that left around the same time we did landing in Orlando before us to multiple cancellations of shows on the ship and rain impacted shore excursions. Cozumel was our final port on our cruise and Madison and I were really looking forward to this day. On Madison's first cruise, this was her favorite port so she was really looking forward to returning.
We started our day pretty much like any other day. We slept a little late and headed up for some breakfast at Mini Bites. We were joined in port today by the Liberty of the Seas, Carnival Freedom, and Oceania Riviera. What we found out when we got to Mini Bites was it was going to be windy. As we sat eating breakfast, I watched the Liberty bobbing up and down like a buoy off the coast of Alaska. After finishing breakfast, we headed down the pier and port area. We soon learned why it was moving so much. I watched wave after wave hit the shores causing spray that towered over the top of the buildings. I soon realized it was going to be an interesting day and I was glad I was not swimming today.
Once we arrived in the main port area, we waked around and did a little shopping before heading out on our excursion. The port area was pretty much like like any port. Lots of shops selling the same items. We ventured out of the main port area and across the street where we found a vendor selling hand painted surfboard shaped art. Madison found a nice wolf paining and hand to buy it. So after negotiating a fairly decent price, we decided taking it on the excursion was a bad idea. We had 45 minutes before our excursion started so off we went back to the ship. Nothing like making a beeline for the ship, running up 8 flights of stairs, down a 1/3 of the ship to our room and then doing it in reverse. At least we go to go down that time.
Once we arrived back at the meeting point for our excursion, we met a nice couple from Rochester, New York that were taking part in the same excursion. They were sailing with his company on the Oceania Riviera that week. His company apparently charter the ship for 4 weeks for their staff. Wow, what a way to show appreciation to their people. We talked with them until it was time we headed out on the excursion. On tap for today was a trek through the jungle of Xrails- Cam-Am 4 seat UTVs, to Jade Cavern an underground Cenote. We took a short cab ride to Wild Tours, which was about a 20 minute drive. This time I came prepared. I had bug spray. There was not going to be a repeat of Roatan. Once we arrived on scene, we got a safety briefing and away we went. We were originally supposed to be paired with another couple for the excursion however they allowed us to each drive our own. Most of us made it our mission to see if we could catch air with the Xrail, no go. We traveled for approximately 6 miles through the jungle over rocks, ditches, holes, and small mud puddles (apparently this is the only place it had not rained), until we reached the caverns. Once at Jade Cavern we were able swim and explore the Cenote. Most of us politely declined as the cavern was full of bats and smelled like roses- significant sarcasm implied. After spending sometime at the cenote, we traveled back to the Wild Tours base. Again, despite our efforts, no airtime on the Xrail, however we did get good video of our journey's as our Xrail had a GoPro mount on the hood and the GoPro decided it would work today.
As we got back to the home base, they provided all participants with free shots of tequila. I had to stop Madison at 4, she clearly had enough. Just kidding, despite the number of times she was offer alcohol on this trip, none was ever consumed. As we headed back to our taxi, the skies opened up and we were blessed with a torrential downpour. Go figure, now it rains. As we all sat in the taxi, we all wondered where our driver was. Unfortunately he did not leave the keys for us. Apparently he felt he would melt if he went out in the rain. Once we tracked him down it was off to the port.
Once we arrived at the port, we still had roughly an hour and a half before we left, so more shopping it was. After getting a few more souvenirs for the family, we headed back to the ship for the dreaded journey back home. By this time the seas had calmed down and neither ships was bobbing up and down. After boarding we headed back to our room to clean up for dinner and our last reserved show in the Main Theater, Columbus, the Musical. Tonight was the second formal night in the main dining room.
As we were being seated, we met up with the couple from Ham Lake we met earlier in the week. They were sitting at a four person table and invited us to join them. We had a great meal and enjoyed the company of fellow Minnesotans. We also decided it would be a good idea to simply do an arranged marriage for our kids. So I informed Madison she was now engaged and congratulated her. While we would never do that, it did make for some light-hearted conversation and future vacation planning for the destination wedding on a cruise ship. Tonight we ordered the Tortellini and Lobster for the Main course. Madison decided to add a steak as well. Unfortunately we were having too good of a time planning Madison's wedding to photograph our meals, sorry I know that is why everyone tunes in the blog is for the food.
After supper it was off to Columbus, the Musical. We spent a little more time with the couple from Minnesota and watched what can only be described as the weirdest show I have seen on a cruise ship. It was very entertaining, but was really off the wall. if you have ever wondered about Marvin Columbus, this is the show for you. After the show we headed back to our room and went to bed. Tomorrow was the last full day on the ship and we had lots to do, including conquering the rock wall, revenge mini golf, a journey through the Abyss and much more.
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