Cozy in Cozumel
Today we arrived in Cozumel - the largest island in the country of Mexico is located just about 15 miles off shore from the famous Cancun resort area. At this port, we docked at a pier that is still being completed. The functional part was long enough for our ship to dock to, but it looks like they are building a much longer pier. As in Grand Cayman, much is under construction including a number new resorts and such.
Cozumel is interesting. Basically there is about a 5 mile long stretch along the coast for the tourists.
There are now two big ship terminal docks, and has been our experience so far, we were not the first ship to arrive. In G Cayman, the Carnival Valor beat us to prime docking position (and tenders closer to the shops). Today the Carnival Elation beat us to prime docking position. We were at one end of the 5 mile shopping area, and the area mostly under construction. The Elation was right in the middle of all of the action and their guests could easily walk back and forth to shops. It is nice to have a dock instead of a tender because you come on and off as you please as opposed to waiting for tenders.
We took another tour today. This one was a Cozumel Highlights and Shopping Tour. So they took us to this original Mayan settlement which consisted of a small neighborhood surrounding two piles of rocks, an old charming church, a donkey, three dogs (one in heat), a lot of bugs, and of course shops. This was clue #1 that the tour should have been called Cozumel Shopping Highlights instead.
Anyway, we found a few trinkets, Alyssa was able to play at the play ground which was good, and off we were to see the opposite side of the island and its scenic coastline.
The coastline was scenic with many splashing waves and blow holes in the rocks. However the vegetation was in the
process of re-growth due to the hurricane a few years ago. We were driving along and enjoying the views when we suddenly came across these 5 or 6 shops parked along the beach in the middle of no where! How did these guys know we would stop there???? HMMM?? I mostly ignored them in favor of the chance to walk along the tide pools. Jule found a few cheap trinkets. She likes the bargaining aspect. I don’t.
After this, they dropped us off in the main shopping area of Cozumel. We really like this one shop called Los Cinco Soles - a one stop have it all shop. Otherwise the stores were hit and miss. We ate lunch at a recommended café - Pedro’s Backyard or something like that. It was okay, but frankly I’ve had better in California. We waiting out a down pour
and then walked along the shops stopping here or there. Alyssa was becoming ever so much more impatient and the humidity and heat began to rise after the down pour.
So we finally hitched it back to the ship and took refuge in the swimming pool for a while.
Jule contemplated walking to a few more shops, but we finally figured out that the walk would have been in excess of 3 miles and decided against that plan. Instead we enjoyed freedom in the pool and then resting in the rooms until the ship was ready to depart.
So my first experience ever in Mexico was okay.
The bargaining is weird although I never felt like anyone was really tugging at me to go into their shops. I expected a lot more of a flea market experience but instead felt like we found shop after shop that looked like an abandoned old Walgreens or common drug store along a older city main street (from the 60s, etc). Junk was to be bargained for unless you went into a corporate store like Ron Jon Surf Co., Hard Rock Café, Del Sol, etc
Bargaining is not my fortay - and the Mexicans seem to think all American men are big flirting cheats. Ever single one of them “Hey amigo, something for you… something for your wife….something for your second wife??”
Then of course - “Come on amigo, everyone has two wives. Pure silver amigo…no fakes here. Come on $15 amigo.” Yah…sure. My favorite was seeing all the knock off soccer jerseys. To my dismay, none had the SUPREME champions of EUROPE - AC Milan. They did carry Juventus, Real Madrid, Liverfools, Man U, etc and of course the common Mexican team favorites - Chivas, Americas, Pumas, etc.
I finally caved in when I found these floppy towels that will fall apart if I ever use them. They had Italy…$5. How could I resist? I thought about waving it to the Captain and crew on the bridge (I can see them on the bridge from my balcony). With my luck, waving a light blue “flag” would be some international symbol of piracy and I’d either end up having our ship attacked or myself being accused of piracy and thrown in jail or told to walk the plank.
Alyssa has not really warmed up to the kids program, although we keep trying. Hell, we get an hour to ourselves before the pager goes off to tell us that she wants out. So we pick her up and she grows devil horns and then our evenings get more interesting. She also has not perked up to the formal dining room so we’ve had dinner in the café the past two nights. I will admit, the service overall is not as good as it was during our prior experiences on Royal Caribbean. But allow me to get into comparisons later.
So that was Cozumel, Mexico, and my imaginary second wife that all the Mexicans swear I have. Just once I need to say - team USA is kicking your butts! I don’t think mind coming back to Cozumel, but then again there is so much of the Caribbean to explore. Plus, quite frankly for what we enjoy, the Hawaiian islands are closer and more accessible if we are not on a cruise ship. We are definitely happy with cruising though. Just maybe if they could add a playground somehow….Alyssa was dig that. Daddy too.
Onto Belize….
Cozumel is interesting. Basically there is about a 5 mile long stretch along the coast for the tourists.
There are now two big ship terminal docks, and has been our experience so far, we were not the first ship to arrive. In G Cayman, the Carnival Valor beat us to prime docking position (and tenders closer to the shops). Today the Carnival Elation beat us to prime docking position. We were at one end of the 5 mile shopping area, and the area mostly under construction. The Elation was right in the middle of all of the action and their guests could easily walk back and forth to shops. It is nice to have a dock instead of a tender because you come on and off as you please as opposed to waiting for tenders.
We took another tour today. This one was a Cozumel Highlights and Shopping Tour. So they took us to this original Mayan settlement which consisted of a small neighborhood surrounding two piles of rocks, an old charming church, a donkey, three dogs (one in heat), a lot of bugs, and of course shops. This was clue #1 that the tour should have been called Cozumel Shopping Highlights instead.
Anyway, we found a few trinkets, Alyssa was able to play at the play ground which was good, and off we were to see the opposite side of the island and its scenic coastline.
The coastline was scenic with many splashing waves and blow holes in the rocks. However the vegetation was in the
process of re-growth due to the hurricane a few years ago. We were driving along and enjoying the views when we suddenly came across these 5 or 6 shops parked along the beach in the middle of no where! How did these guys know we would stop there???? HMMM?? I mostly ignored them in favor of the chance to walk along the tide pools. Jule found a few cheap trinkets. She likes the bargaining aspect. I don’t.After this, they dropped us off in the main shopping area of Cozumel. We really like this one shop called Los Cinco Soles - a one stop have it all shop. Otherwise the stores were hit and miss. We ate lunch at a recommended café - Pedro’s Backyard or something like that. It was okay, but frankly I’ve had better in California. We waiting out a down pour
and then walked along the shops stopping here or there. Alyssa was becoming ever so much more impatient and the humidity and heat began to rise after the down pour.So we finally hitched it back to the ship and took refuge in the swimming pool for a while.
Jule contemplated walking to a few more shops, but we finally figured out that the walk would have been in excess of 3 miles and decided against that plan. Instead we enjoyed freedom in the pool and then resting in the rooms until the ship was ready to depart.
So my first experience ever in Mexico was okay.
The bargaining is weird although I never felt like anyone was really tugging at me to go into their shops. I expected a lot more of a flea market experience but instead felt like we found shop after shop that looked like an abandoned old Walgreens or common drug store along a older city main street (from the 60s, etc). Junk was to be bargained for unless you went into a corporate store like Ron Jon Surf Co., Hard Rock Café, Del Sol, etcBargaining is not my fortay - and the Mexicans seem to think all American men are big flirting cheats. Ever single one of them “Hey amigo, something for you… something for your wife….something for your second wife??”
Then of course - “Come on amigo, everyone has two wives. Pure silver amigo…no fakes here. Come on $15 amigo.” Yah…sure. My favorite was seeing all the knock off soccer jerseys. To my dismay, none had the SUPREME champions of EUROPE - AC Milan. They did carry Juventus, Real Madrid, Liverfools, Man U, etc and of course the common Mexican team favorites - Chivas, Americas, Pumas, etc.
I finally caved in when I found these floppy towels that will fall apart if I ever use them. They had Italy…$5. How could I resist? I thought about waving it to the Captain and crew on the bridge (I can see them on the bridge from my balcony). With my luck, waving a light blue “flag” would be some international symbol of piracy and I’d either end up having our ship attacked or myself being accused of piracy and thrown in jail or told to walk the plank.
Alyssa has not really warmed up to the kids program, although we keep trying. Hell, we get an hour to ourselves before the pager goes off to tell us that she wants out. So we pick her up and she grows devil horns and then our evenings get more interesting. She also has not perked up to the formal dining room so we’ve had dinner in the café the past two nights. I will admit, the service overall is not as good as it was during our prior experiences on Royal Caribbean. But allow me to get into comparisons later.
So that was Cozumel, Mexico, and my imaginary second wife that all the Mexicans swear I have. Just once I need to say - team USA is kicking your butts! I don’t think mind coming back to Cozumel, but then again there is so much of the Caribbean to explore. Plus, quite frankly for what we enjoy, the Hawaiian islands are closer and more accessible if we are not on a cruise ship. We are definitely happy with cruising though. Just maybe if they could add a playground somehow….Alyssa was dig that. Daddy too.
Onto Belize….
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