Day Five ~ Cozumel, Mexico

Woot Woot! It's a port day!!

When we went to bed, we set the alarm for 6:30, but we woke up before that. We were very near the pier and ready to dock. So I made coffee and we went outside on the balcony to watch the sunrise and docking procedure.

And I love morning journaling on the balcony!

More docking

So it was pretty cloudy, as you can see, so no sunshine. And it's a little cool. Not sure what kind of beach day it will be, but we're looking forward to finding out!!

We had breakfast in the WJ today. It was much less crowded than normal because we waited until people were able to disembark and then went. After breakfast Doug and I split (we did a lot, he used the elevator and I took the stairs). I went to the room to get the beach bag while he went down to wait for me to disembark. So we met on deck 1, grabbed water and towels and headed out.

And my favorite ship picture. The ship makes me feel so teeny tiny. I can't imagine if we were on one of the newer, mega ships!

So we walked through the port area to the taxi stand to grab a cab to Nachi Cocom. It's an all inclusive day resort. You need to make a reservation ahead of time with a deposit, and then pay the balance when you show up. They only allow 100 people a day, which made me happy. I don't enjoy crowded beaches!

The cab ride was fun. Doug took plenty of pictures.

And then we were there!

We paid our balance ($88 for two people) and they lead us to chairs and proceeded to make us feel like royalty. And for a couple of hours, we were the only two people there. It was like a vacation on a deserted island! They said only 44 people were booked for the day, and the other ships came in later.

It was absolutely beautiful!! A little cloudy and cool. We didn't get in the water. The breeze was cool. But we surely enjoyed drinks and food. The most amazing guacamole I've ever had! And Doug took some really cool pictures while I walked the beach. It was SUCH a great time! So relaxing, which is a theme in this trip :)

The food was SO delicious. And so were the frozen mango daiquiris.
ALL of the staff here was SO nice. They weren't pushy with the extra cost things, but they did make you aware of them, which I appreciated.  Before we left I bought 4 Cuban cigars from the gift shop. The boys asked for those, and so I delivered. I had no idea what I was buying, so I asked the man to just sell me what he likes to smoke lol.

And then they called us a cab and we were on our way back to the port shopping area. It was still pretty early in the day; not quite 1. I browsed a few shops, bought the requisite coffee mug and tree decorations, and some things for the boys, and some coffee beans. Then across the way to the tequila shop for samples. And I ended up buying a bottle of tequila. Oh, we bought several bottles of vanilla, too.

All aboard was 3:30, and we were back on board well before that. I am always anxious that I am going to miss the ship! We were back on board about 2. We cleaned up and lounged on the balcony. Doug took pictures. We had about 2 hours until sail away.  

At 3:30 we came in from the balcony and took naps. It started pouring rain right when we came in to nap, and was still raining when we sailed away, and we were SO happy we came back early or we'd be walking in this rain!

So for sail away we went to the Park Cafe for a snack and thought we'd sit at the Solarium bar, but it was SO crowded! So we went to the Schooner Bar and ordered mudslides and waited to sail at 4, although it was 4:30 before we set sail.

And then back to the cabin to get ready for dinner! I took a long, long soak in the tub. I LOVE having that huge bathtub in our cabin. I was having much pain this trip, and so really enjoyed the tub soaks. Doug made me a mimosa with the champagne we had in the room and the OJ we had for a welcome back gift. We were Emerald Crown & Anchor status at the start of this cruise, and Diamond at the end WootWoot!

So we were ready for dinner and headed out to the Photo Gallery to collect pictures and then have pictures taken. And then to dinner. It was about 7, which was earlier than we had been eating, but Peter had a seat for us right away. And I am SO glad we went to dinner early this night because we were seated next to the most awesome family that we are now friends with. You meet the best people on cruises!

Dinner was delicious and fun. I had a garden salad, which was baby spinach with roma tomatoes, croutons and fresh mozzarella with a delicious dressing. I had a thin piece of pork with crab meat on top with mashed potatoes and a grilled tomato, which was so good. Dessert was warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, which was really good, too. Coffee was yuck. Saby kept me supplied with Moscato. By this time he has my card number memorized! Nice, but maybe not? lol

Doug had shrimp cocktail, chicken Caesar salad and creme brulee. He loved the chicken and had it again later in the week.

So we sat next to a family of 4. Renee and Steve with their two girls, Maria and Carissa. They were talking about their day at Mr. Sancho's. I joined their conversation. The tables are so close, it's almost like you are seated with them. And we talked with them the rest of the dinner. When we left, I told Doug, "Boy, I hope they liked us, because I really liked them." LOL and hopefully we'll sit with them again. And we ended up sitting with them every night, except the one we went to Chops. It was SO nice! 

After dinner we went to the Schooner bar to drink and listen to Grahame.  We bumped into Paula and Brian there and talked with them, which was very nice. I talked to a lot of people this trip. Which isn't my usual introverted way. But it was SO nice! I think Doug liked that about me this trip, too.

We went to the cabin about 11 and wanted to relax on the balcony for a bit and talk about the day. But it was still raining, but even though the weather was kind of yuck, it was a fantastic day! It did end up raining ALL evening. We were hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Day Six ~ Grand Cayman

We were awake at 6:30. No reason to be awake, but awake nonetheless. And then we opened the drapes...it's a game to see if it is sun or rain. Gray skies and drizzle this morning. Oh well. Beats Ohio in December. We lazed around until about 7.

Doug dried off the balcony chairs so we could attempt to have coffee outside this morning. And pre-breakfast pastries :) So I made coffee while Doug went to the WJ for pastries. He much prefers when we don't wake up until closer to 8 so he can just pop up to the Park Cafe lol. And...this is only the 2nd time I've had pre-breakfast raspberry pastries. I'm making changes LOL.


We were able to sit on the balcony this morning and we were discussing our day. Our plan was to stay on the ship and lounge by the pool all day while people were in port. It may not be a possible, so we were discussing Plan B.

We went to the dining room for breakfast, and my 2nd, and last, eggs Benedict. Oh yum. We were still 3 hours away from dropping anchor (it's a tender port) and were hoping the weather would improve.

Before heading to the MDR for breakfast, we got a bag of laundry together to leave for the cabin steward.  Then on to breakfast. We arrived after the crowds, and were the only two waiting, so we were able to eat alone. Which always makes me happy in the morning. I enjoyed my eggs Benedict SO MUCH. And a mimosa :)  Must have Vitamin C, right?

And then we headed to the Solarium to hopefully find loungers, and we did! Doug made a friend before I even met him, since I had gone to the room for the bag (with my kindle, sunscreen HAHA, sunglasses, the journal) and he was happily talking, talking, talking.

It is HOT in the Solarium. Of course they had the roof closed. So I went to the room to change into my swimsuit. I decided another mimosa was important, so walked to the pool bar before heading back to the Solarium.  Walking across the pool deck, it looked to me like it was clearing up. So I told Doug to change, and I moved outside and got a great chair, dried it off and settled in.

And not ten minutes later it started storming. So I moved back under the awning. The breeze feels really nice. And if I have to be in a gentle rain and thunderstorm, it may as well be on the pool deck in the Caribbean ocean, right?

We were ready to drop anchor. Doug was there with me. And I had a mimosa in hand. And it was starting to clear up! Hopefully it will stay clear and we can move back into the sunshine!  Joe and Sally were also on the pool deck, right near us, and it was nice to visit with them.

We had lunch and drinks and before long Doug was in the hot tub with Joe. They solved all of the world's problems that day lol. And then the sun came out WOOT WOOT!!

So we moved back up, and then got in the pool. Well, Doug did, and I sat on the side. He stayed in the pool talking to more Cruise Critic people, Scott and Tammy. More nice people! This was the best cruise!  I enjoyed the hot sun, my book and a margarita while listening to...Christmas Music! Which was a little strange. Heatwave plays at 4, and it wasn't quite 2, but the plan was to just be lazy. I was getting pretty good at that. We stayed on the pool deck until it was time to get ready for dinner. We had Chops reservations tonight....for real lol.

It was really nice being at the pool all day. After a while the sun was just too much, so we moved back into the shade again. David and Joan were at a table by the window, so we sat and talked with them. Doug took pictures. We listened to the band. Then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

So back in the room Doug took more pictures and we got ready for dinner.

So we had pictures taken this night, then before Chops we went to the next cruise desk to check prices for the cruise we're taking next year. We really want to bring the kids with us. We keep saying next year, but if we wait for too many next years, there will be grandbabies in the mix. So why not this next year, right?

We then went to the Schooner bar for pre-dinner drinks. We have spent quite a bit of time in the Schooner bar, and Alex has become our favorite bar server. We were able to really talk to her about her family and life. She is the SWeETEST girl!

 

Then it was time for dinner at Chops. I LOVE Chops. I had the crispy goat cheese salad. It is SO yummy. And the 6 oz. filet with grilled asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Doug had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, the 9 oz. filet with mushrooms and cheesy tater tots (blue cheese, yum). We shared the sides. We had yummy, warm bread with anchovy mustard butter. Oh My Deliciousness!

Peter from the dining room came up to check on us. And then we had dessert. Warm chocolate cake with coconut ice cream for me, and coconut ice cream for Doug. Desserts didn't usually thrill him since they were mostly chocolate. He doesn't like chocolate! Can you imagine?

At dinner we mostly talked about booking the kids on our cruise next year and how to make that work. It's a 12 night Southern Caribbean voyage on Grandeur going to St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados.  I get excited just thinking about it!

After dinner we collected our pictures and headed to the deck party. The band was playing and people started showing up. At ten the DJ came and the cruise director staff took over and got the crowd up and line dancing. It was a fun, lively party. Tammy and Scott were there and sat with as, as did David and Joan. Saby came by and got Doug a drink. We stayed for a good while enjoying the party vibe. But it was getting really windy, and was lightening, and we decided to head inside.

First we hit up the Solarium Bar and Irenea for mudslides and headed to the cabin for the night. We watched the lightening while enjoying our drinks and then went to bed. It was another perfect, relaxing, quiet day. Tomorrow ~ Jamaica!!