Wednesday was finally going to be our first stop at a foreign port. As with most mornings on this trip (okay, all mornings on this trip) I got up early and quietly made my way out of the cabin. Today I made my way to the fitness center and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill as the ship approached Cozumel. We had booked a day at a beach club called Nachi Cocom that I'd read good things about during my pre-trip research. The girls took their time waking up and we made our way upstairs to Topsiders for breakfast. The weather was beautiful and we were excited to get off the ship.
After breakfast we grabbed our beach gear and headed off the ship. I'd been to Cozumel about 15 years ago for a spring break, but didn't remember too much about it. To get off the ship and get a taxi, you have to go through an open air shopping mall with lots of junk for sale and plenty of people trying to grab your attention. It was all I could do to keep the family moving through there. We got a cab and headed for the 20 minute drive out to the beach. We drove by a few of the places I did remember hanging out the last time I'd been there, which was pretty cool.
One mistake we made ... we did not bring any towels with us from the ship, so we had to rent ratty towels from the beach club. Not a huge deal, but $20 wasted. The approach to the beach club is a bit run down, but once you got to the beach, it was lovely. The place limits the number of people it lets in each day, so it was rather quiet. At least until later in the day, but I'll get to that in a bit.The girls played in the waves a bit and we ordered some drinks and really just relaxed. We met a couple of other families that were on the ship with us and enjoyed the sunshine. The club has a pool which was frigid cold, but there was a hot tub (or a warm tub) which was barely habitable, so the kids were drawn there. The margaritas were flowing and flowing. The food was good, nothing to write home about, but good fresh guac and yummy tortillas with the fajitas.
At one point, one of my daughters was in the ocean with some of the other kids and she broke out screaming and crying. She'd discovered that her Mickey Band, the bracelet that all the kids have to wear to get into the kid's club on the ship, had disappeared. The poor thing thought that they weren't going to let her back on the ship without it. In between comforting her, stifling my laughs and ensuring her that she will be allowed back aboard, I tried to look around the beach and water for it, but its gone to Davy Jones' locker.
After lunch, a late arriving Carnival ship had come in and a group of about 20 people from that ship arrived. The place took on a much more "spring breaky" vibe after that. The kids stayed mostly in the pool so they weren't exposed too much to the shenanigans, but things were decidedly less relaxing. Around 3pm we had our fill of the beach and we packed up to head back to the ship. One of the waiters brought the girls cute little rainbow headbands as gifts. We also purchased the silly sombrero hat picture that they took of the family as we arrived.
When we got back to the terminal, we ran into our fairy wicked step-sister friend and some of the other cast members at starbucks using the wifi to do important things like check their facebook. We picked up some little souvenirs at the mall and headed back aboard as the sun was setting.
The day wasn't over yet though, because tonight was Pirate night and the Pirates In The Caribbean Party. We all had a great time at dinner, pretending to be pirates and taking lots of pictures with our hook fingers. Lots of people on board got all dressed up as pirates, and the characters were all around in their pirate gear. After filling up at dinner, we headed up to the deck for the show and a really fun party, highlighted by Mickey flying in from the stacks to rescue the ship from Capt. Hook followed by a firework display. And of course, there was our fairy step-sister pirate friend right in the middle of the show. The girls danced with the characters and once again got right up front for the best parts of the show. A fun end to another great day in our vacation.
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