Once downtown, we were once again faced with aggressive shop owners, though it wasn't nearly as intense as it was in Progreso. The streets were lined with shops geared towards tourists, and businesses such as Cariloha, Del Sol, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, and prices listed in pesos and dollars, told me we were in an area that heavily relies on tourism. It seemed like every other store was a jewelry store drawing us in with a free charm as a way to get us in their store, but everyone was very nice. We also got great souvenirs. I was excited to get nice, big tote bags for around 5 dollars each. (Teachers can never have enough bags!) I was also pretty excited to buy nail polish at Del Sol that turns color in the sun (as do all of their products). When I checked out, I was given the option of adding a very nice canvas tote bag to my order for a low price. I'm glad I did, because I carry it to work and back almost every day now. Ironically, the nail polish was the reason I went and I haven't used it since vacation. I'm not even sure where it is. I should find that..... Anyway, also among the souvenir shops wasCariloha, a store that carries products made of bamboo. It's a little pricey (not unrealistically for the value, just more than the cheapo souvenir stores surrounding it), but they did give us all free bamboo necklaces. My sister bought a t-shirt that is so incredibly soft because it's made of bamboo. I don't know why more companies don't use bamboo; there was a display there showing how quickly it grows and replenishes itself. It seems like a really good plan. They also carry sheets that are unbelievably soft. We ended up shopping longer than we intended to, so we had to choose between finding a restaurant or a beach, so we went with a beach.
Our second stop on the cruise was Cozumel, Mexico. I really enjoyed it, and I could see myself going back on a vacation just to Cozumel. As soon as we (all four of us this time) stepped off the boat (and took numerous pictures with costumed people), I could tell Cozumel was going to be much different than Progreso. Even the pier looked polished and touristy with signs that said "Welcome to Cozumel." After walking through a maze of shops right off the pier, we grabbed a taxi to go downtown. The plan was much like it was in Progreso: shopping, then beach (and hopefully some Mexican food somewhere along the way). Once downtown, we were once again faced with aggressive shop owners, though it wasn't nearly as intense as it was in Progreso. The streets were lined with shops geared towards tourists, and businesses such as Cariloha, Del Sol, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, and prices listed in pesos and dollars, told me we were in an area that heavily relies on tourism. It seemed like every other store was a jewelry store drawing us in with a free charm as a way to get us in their store, but everyone was very nice. We also got great souvenirs. I was excited to get nice, big tote bags for around 5 dollars each. (Teachers can never have enough bags!) I was also pretty excited to buy nail polish at Del Sol that turns color in the sun (as do all of their products). When I checked out, I was given the option of adding a very nice canvas tote bag to my order for a low price. I'm glad I did, because I carry it to work and back almost every day now. Ironically, the nail polish was the reason I went and I haven't used it since vacation. I'm not even sure where it is. I should find that..... Anyway, also among the souvenir shops wasCariloha, a store that carries products made of bamboo. It's a little pricey (not unrealistically for the value, just more than the cheapo souvenir stores surrounding it), but they did give us all free bamboo necklaces. My sister bought a t-shirt that is so incredibly soft because it's made of bamboo. I don't know why more companies don't use bamboo; there was a display there showing how quickly it grows and replenishes itself. It seems like a really good plan. They also carry sheets that are unbelievably soft. We ended up shopping longer than we intended to, so we had to choose between finding a restaurant or a beach, so we went with a beach. There were taxis lined up along the street, so it was very easy to find a ride. It reminded me a little of New York City in that respect, except it was probably easier to get a cab in Cozumel. Just like New York, you just have to sit back and trust that the cab driver knows what he is doing. We sped down the highway at a high rate of speed, zooming around other cars, and squished together in the tiny back seat. (My dad rode in the front.) There was no air conditioning, so the windows were down the entire time. It was scenic, thrilling, and a bit dangerous. The beach that the driver insisted on taking us too= (I'm sure they had some kind of deal worked out) turned out to be absolutely beautiful. It was called Paradise Beach. They had a minimum amount of money they wanted each person to spend on food and/or drinks. That wasn't a problem, because we were hungry and I finally had an opportunity to get some real Mexican food! There was a giant pool next to a bar sitting under a hut. We didn't mess with the pool though. After renting a locker, and storing our excess stuff, we walked past the pool to the numerous palm trees. Under the trees were rows and rows of lounge chairs in the sand, and just beyond the trees was the sunny beach with clear blue water. There were also blow up activities like slides that you could use for an extra fee, but we were content to swim and let the water cool our sunburned skin. It was crowded in that there were a lot of people around but not in that we couldn't have space in the water or find chairs to sit in. We swam for awhile, and it was glorious. I could have stayed much longer, but we didn't want to be late back to the ship. So we finally settled back in our chairs under the palm trees and waved over a waiter who took our order and later brought our food right to our chairs on the beach. (Can I live here?) While we waited for the food, my sister and I spent some time in the hammocks hanging next to the chairs and took a few pictures with her camera. (I don't have much from here, because I locked my camera up in the locker.) When the food came, we sat back in our chairs and had a coke and the best quesadillas I've ever had in my life. I don't know what cheese they put in it, but it was AMAZING. Of course, the beach side service and the view (Paradise Beach is named appropriately) made it that much better. My mom and dad had some kind of nachos that were pretty good, but oh those quesadillas. About this time, I started getting really nervous about getting back to the ship on time. It seemed to take forever to get our food paid for (it really wasn't that long, I was just nervous about getting left!). I passed the time reading in my chair, which was also glorious. Despite my anxiety on the matter (I'm really not as nervous of a person as these posts make me sound!), we got our stuff gathered, our locker deposit returned, got a cab (there were several waiting outside the beach entrance), and got back to the port without about an hour to spare. We stopped by a few of the shops there to finish buying souvenirs (prices were actually pretty good there, and I had seen a shirt I wanted on the way out earlier), went back through security, and were in our rooms before the departure deadline. I went up on the top deck to watch the ship pull away, and it was breathtaking. It was one of those small moments I'll always remember. A storm was starting to move in as we pull out, so the blue sky was also filled with rain clouds. As the ship turned away, the water was several brilliant shades of blue, and a light rain began to fall. It was incredible. After we got going, I just sat in a deck chair for a few minutes alone and soaked it all in. All in all, I really enjoyed Cozumel. I would love to return here for vacation as a destination and not just a stop on the cruise. If I cruised to Cozumel again, I wouldn't do much different. I would probably spend a little less time shopping to have on the beach. I would definitely eat those quesadillas again! (I'm getting really hungry typing this. And I don't have any tortillas, so I can't make quesadillas. Sad day.) I wouldn't mind returning to Paradise Beach, though I'm sure there are other great beaches there too. So do I recommend Cozumel? YES!
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Yes, those are my white legs in the photo. (They got a lot tanner by the end of the cruise.) This was the first cruise I had ever taken. I went in with an open mind. I was excited by the stress free, all inclusive, lots of food, traveling to a foreign country idea. I was a little weary of motion sickness. I took plenty of medicine just in case, but it didn't bother me much. By the end of the cruise (or probably before that) I had made up my mind; I love cruising! I'm totally down for another one any time. The cruise I went on was through Carnival on board the ship named "Elation." I'm told this is a smaller ship, but it didn't seem very small to me! There was so much to do I didn't get to all of it. We sailed from New Orleans to Mexico, stopped at Progreso and Cozumel, and had two full days at sea, not counting the day we left which we spent sailing down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. It would take me forever to tell you about every aspect of the ship itself. If you want to know, check out their website HERE. So let me highlight a few of my favorite things. 1. No cell phone service or wifi! To some of you this may sound awful. I have to admit there were moments I missed it. Mostly when I was trying to find my family and couldn't call or text. We had to get by the old fashioned way of looking for each other, leaving a note, or calling room to room and hoping the other person was "home." Besides that, it was so relaxing to disconnect for a few days. I didn't realize how much stress the constant connection puts on me. I'm not really a phone talker, but no texts, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. seemed inconvenient yet maybe a needed break beforehand. By the end of the cruise I didn't really want to turn my phone back on! 2. Sitting out on the deck: I actually didn't do this as much as I thought I would for two reasons. Reason one was because there was so much to do below deck that kept me busy. Reason two was the main reason though, and that's because I got sunburned the first full day. I am usually very diligent about protecting my skin and would rather be pale than risk skin damage. However, my legs usually never burn or tan or do anything except stay so white they could blind you if you looked directly at them. I wondered if my legs had somehow lost all pigmentation. I could lay out in the sun by the lake all afternoon and nothing would happen. So I was careful to put plenty of sunscreen on my face, chest, shoulders, arms, back, etc. I neglected my legs. I figured nothing would happen, and gosh darn it if there was any chance of getting any color in them it would be laying on a deck in the middle of the gulf so I was going for it. What I didn't expect was for the tops of my thighs along the edge of my boyshort swim bottoms to burn to a bright red. (The rest of my legs did tan though. It was a miracle!) So for the rest of the trip I was careful to keep them out of the sun as much as possible. Not that it stopped me from swimming on the beaches of Mexico, but I'll get there later. Even though my legs burned so bad (the skin was sensitive for weeks afterward), I was in better shape than the rest of my family who had burned shoulders and chests. My dad was the worst. He actually fell asleep in a chair that day and burned all over. His legs were AWFUL. We were pretty sure he obtained second degree burns. (My nurse of a cousin confirmed the suspicion when we returned home.) So he was definitely out of the sun for the rest of the trip. He didn't even get off the ship the first day in Mexico, and in all of our vacation photos his legs are a nice shade of lobster. Anyway, I'm rambling off topic. (That happens to me a lot.) Just laying in a chair, with no phone, no schedule, and taking in the scenery, reading a book, or watching the Men's Hairy Chest contest (oh yeah, that's a thing) was so relaxing. 3. FOOD. I always heard about the food on a cruise, how much there was and how good it tastes. It was a little different than I imagined. I pictures 24 hour overflowing buffets. However, there was a schedule of when certain food areas were open and when they were serving what. But there was always food somewhere. Sometimes you had to stand in line, but it never took very long. In the casual dining room there was 24 hr pizza, yogurt and ice cream machines, dessert bar, hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, fried chicken, etc. By the pool there was a grill with burgers and such and a Mongolian grill. The breakfast was amazing with many options. Since most of the cruise passengers were from the South, there were grits every day. I love grits, but I hardly ever eat them. This trip was a different story. Every day on the ship there were grits. I've never eaten so many grits in my life. And the pancakes were so light and fluffy. And I could eat bacon AND ham. I've never been much of a breakfast person, but if it were always like this....delicious, cooked by someone else, and eaten on an outdoor deck over looking the ocean....I could get used to that. My favorite thing though, was eating in the dining room at night. I loved changing into nicer clothes, meeting up with my family, and being waiting on by the international staff. I ate things I had never tried before. Escargot, which was much more buttery and delicious than I imagined (even though it looks less than appealing), and Baked Alaska (which was good, but not as good as I imagined) were two new things. The only thing I could not bring myself to try were the frog legs. I mean, they look like...frog legs. I started off pretty adventurous, but the last day I decided to order the fried chicken from the comfort menu and it was AMAZING. The only thing I didn't like much was the turkey and dressing dinner I got one night in the middle of the cruise. Maybe I'm just used to Southern style Thanksgiving cooking, but it was a little weird. I always drank tea and water with my meals. For one thing those are free, and for another I just don't drink a lot of alcohol. I would have one drink some nights in the dance club or piano bar, but otherwise I was happy with tea and water. (And the Lo Carb Monster energy drinks I brought on board. I am so addicted.) Funny story, my mother also doesn't drink much. She drinks less than I do, which is saying a lot since I never drink at home and usually don't have more than one drink a night on vacation. She got one of the fruity frozen drinks the first day and drank less than half of it because she was afraid it would make her drunk. So imagine everyone's surprise when she eagerly buys a shot a dinner the first night. A waiter was coming around with a tray full of shots and would ask each table if they wanted one. They did this every night, but it wasn't annoying because they weren't trying to sell you anything. If you didn't want it you just said no and they moved on. This one had Kahlua, Irish Cream,and I can't remember what else in it. My mother immediately says yes she'll have one and asks if I want one too. I say no thank you, as I am mostly confused and slightly entertained by the fact my mom is buying a shot. My dad signs the bill and my mom throws it back. Okay, that's not what happened. She actually took a little sip of it and gagged. Here's the hilarious explanation: My mother owned a coffee shop up until a few months ago when we finally had to shut it down. We had Irish Cream and Kahlua syrups you could put in your lattes (non-alcoholic of course). So when my innocent little mother saw small cups and heard two flavors she recognized, she thought it was a free coffee drink sample. Imagine her surprise! She said it tasted like medicine and wouldn't drink anymore. We definitely have not let her live that one down! Also, 24 hour free room service. The day I got in from Progreso, I was tired, hungry, and wet & sandy from the beach. A turkey sandwich never tasted so good. And that chocolate cake...OMG. It was possibly my favorite food on the whole ship. After that I ordered just cake from room service. Anyway, here are more food pics. 4. Another thing I really enjoyed was the night life. I totally did not expect this. I'm not a nightlife person. A night out for me is dinner and a movie. I've never been a bar hopping, clubbing type, even when I was in college. I'm a Christian, an introvert, and a small town girl, so that sort of thing never appealed to me much. I thought I would enjoy the daily shows more (which they were great too, except the comedy, I didn't find it very funny). The first night on the ship was ladies night in the dance club with free champagne. So my sister and I thought we'd swing by. At the very least we'd stay a few minutes, try the champagne, and people watch. The champagne was terrible. Or it may have been really good and I just don't like champagne. This was only my second time to ever try it and I thought it was awful both times. So did my sister and the stranger at the next table who we talked to for a few minutes. Maybe it was cheap stuff to give away? I don't know, but it was free so we drank it anyway. We watched people dance for a while, then it got pretty crowded so we moved to a table at the other end to have a better view. My sister will not dance in public, but I pretty much have no pride in that sort of thing. So I danced to a few songs. It was so much fun. We said we would come back another night, but we never did. Because we found a spot we liked even more. The piano bar! I know what you're thinking. A bar? That was your favorite spot on the entire ship? I'm not even a big drinker, but I did have one drink one night that was absolutely amazing. It was called a Hurricane Wave. It had rum, hurricane daiquiri, and banana daiquiri. So good. Only thing was that it was frozen, and my mouth is really sensitive to the cold so it took me forever to drink. The other nights I would order a Rockstar energy or a root beer. No one cared what or if people were drinking. It was just fun to hang out, listen to the music, and sing along. (And to top it off, the bar was decorated like New York City. Of course we would gravitate to the room decorated like New York. I have a slight obsession.) It was small and comfortable, and it just sort of became our spot at night. The singer in the piano bar was incredible. Her name is Susan Erwin. (Her website is here. She also has a facebook page here.) She is a talented pianist, has an amazing raspy voice, knows tons of songs (almost anything requested was played, when she found out we were from Texas she played Amarillo By Morning, then had to explain to a British couple who George Strait is), and was just fun to hang out with. She would stop between songs and talk to everyone. As luck would have it, our last night on the ship was also her last night on the ship. So a bunch of us sat around the bar (that was around the piano) until about 1 am singing and making the most of her last night. It was a lot of fun. One night instead of Susan playing, the guitarist who usually played at the atrium bar filled in. I had a crush on him from day one of the cruise when he led my group in the safety drill. Attractive, British, guitarist, great voice, and he seemed like an all around nice guy. His music is also worth checking out. His name is Edd Carr. To go to his page click here. Even besides the musicians, the entire staff on the ship was very friendly and helpful. Our steward Lawrence was great. The second day I requested some ice to keep my Monster cold for the next morning. After that I had a fresh bucket of ice in my room every day without asking. We had towel animals, chocolates, and an itinerary left in our room daily. And he would often turn my reading lamp on it and leave my book on my pillow. The little things made all the difference. So would I recommend cruising? Absolutely. To anyone and everyone. Young, old, families, singles, couples, friends, even those who suffer from motion sickness and claustrophobia (that would be me, I was fine on both). Do it! The Elation was great, but I'm sure any of the ships are fun. They are called funships after all. Although if you sail out of New Orleans, you are guaranteed plenty of grits and country music. |
AuthorI love to travel as often as possible. I like taking day trips around North Texas, weekend road trips, flying cross county for a week or two, or jumping on a cruise ship for a foreign country. This year I've driven across most of the Southern United States. I have a slight obsession with New York City (and am due for another trip soon!). Archives
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