Paddington's Mischief to Mexico-5/nt Wonder from Miami-updated 17/5 - Cabana#5

[fredgirls]

Today, Day 2, a sea day, began at 4am for me. Something fell over in the bathroom and woke me...and then I felt like I was going to fall out of bed! Everyone else was sound asleep thankfully. I laid there trying to go back to sleep but my stomach had other ideas!
I popped on the sea-bands and managed to get back off to the land of nod. I hoped by the time we all woke things would be calmer. Yeah right!

We were all up early and had fun getting dressed while trying to stand. The winds were high and there was nothing soothing about this rock-a-bye!
The amusement of the situation soon wore off and Esme started to feel a little queasy. We went off to breakfast hoping a cup of tea would solve her unease. Because naturally a cup of tea solves everything!

That didn't go according to plan. BBB was busy...but very quiet. There were a lot of sick looking people. Then suddenly people started throwing up! 2 while we sat there, and a few others running out! Didn't make any of us feel any better!
Then the servers started walking round with the white sick bags!

We left quite quickly!

The first activity of our day was the Animation Class with Ponz, who the girls became very fond of!
Ponz had difficulty drawing a circle as we were moving so much! And then, as we sat there in Animator's Palate, glasses started falling over and doors were banging!

But we still managed these.










Next we went up on deck for some fresh air and we noticed the family pool was closed. There was a band, 'Higher ground' playing and occasionally a big wave would come out of the pool almost to them! We tried to catch pic of the big wave, but of course could never time it right! Here's a little wave anyway.



The girls didn't feel good and just laid on a lounger for 45 mins or so.

Eventually they felt better and Esme went to the club and Alice went down the slide. The mickey pool was still open and I was very surprised. There were lots of kids in it, as there always is on a sea day, and when there was a lot of movement the kids were lifted out of the pool and on to the shallow deck round the side. Didn't look too safe!
And then every so often a kid would get out and be sick on the deck! A lot of 'swabbing' was done this day!

I have no more pics of today. It just went by in a weird fog!

But tomorrow is Cozumel and I've lots to share!

[starchild_217]

I'm loving your trip report. Your family is adorable!

[fredgirls]

Originally Posted by starchild_217

I'm loving your trip report. Your family is adorable!

Aww, thank you.
We are blessed with the ability to not take ourselves too seriously.

[fredgirls]

I woke early again today. I had so been looking forward to getting to Cozumel. Not least for solid ground.
I'd actually said the previous evening that I would kiss the ground when we got there, but my family served me the "Drama Card".

Just OT for a minute.
We find the "drama card" very useful in our house. If anyone gets a little dramatic about something, another member of the family is allowed to serve them the card. It's not real, and just involves holding out your arm as if holding a card. It usually is accompanied by saying 'drama card' or "you've been served". Nowdays no words are needed Makes light of the situation and usually turns stress into laughter.

Back to Day 3.
I was awake before everyone again, so decided to go upstairs for a cup'o tea. Once up there I realized I was the only one up! The decks were deserted!
So I popped back for my camera and did a little tour.
For those of you that know the ship well, this won't be so interesting But there's Cozumel coming next, with some fun finds. Stay tuned.




Seeing these pics of the adult area makes me a little sad. It is SO much nicer and better laid out than the Dream, in my opinion, and I got to spend so little time there! I had imagined all the time Ben and I would spend in the pool and at the bar. But we only really used the Cove Cafe. On the plus side we had fantastic family time, but I have a little bit of disappointment.

We LOVED the sports deck on the Wonder.
Although there is no mini-golf as there is on the dream, there was more space and it just felt like a better layout. And we really loved walking the walkway to look out over the front of the ship.
In the high winds the day before it was actually really hard to make it all the way round!





It was so nice to walk round on my own.





And the view of San Miguel was wonderful.



I decided to return to the room and wake the others.



Next - Exploring San Miguel on our own.

[Luv2Diz]

Fun TR - I'm enjoying it! I love the Wonder - she's my favorite ship. Wow, that is some wave in the pool. No wonder people were feeling woozy!

[5forDis]

This is a great trip report. I can't wait to hear the rest.

[fredgirls]

Originally Posted by Luv2Diz

Fun TR - I'm enjoying it! I love the Wonder - she's my favorite ship. Wow, that is some wave in the pool. No wonder people were feeling woozy!

hello.
The waves were certainly fun to watch! As you can see from the wet areas around the pool and onto the stage area, they often splashed right out!

[fredgirls]

Originally Posted by 5forDis

This is a great trip report. I can't wait to hear the rest.

Hi there neighbour across the border!
Obviously New England is large, but it feels like our US buddy!

[fredgirls]

Before continuing with Day 3, I just wanted to add a little video of the wavy pool. Also to let you hear "higher Ground' the band. This isn't the best quality but they were really good. Ben and I are musicians, so we're usually very picky about musicians, but this group were really tight and we enjoyed listening to them without picking them apart!

I'm not sure what the rules are about including videos with other people in them. I don't think anyone is recognizable, but i'll remove it if necessary.

[fredgirls]

We had decided not to do any excursions. Whenever we visit a new place we usually explore on our own. We just prefer that.
And also knowing we had that Cabana, I couldn't justify an expensive activity!

We had breakfast at Tritons. We'd never done a sit down breakfast, but thanks to advice from 'Pinkocto' in her wonder 4-night trip report we gave it a try! It was a wonderfully relaxing start to the day.

When we got off the ship Esme was enthralled with the colour of the water. It really was an amazing colour. Not something we expected to see where ships dock.





We only visited nassau last time, and were not that excited about the place. After researching Cozumel we were looking forward to exploring.
We used http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/ for research. It is written by locals and is very helpful and encourages you to try other things than those the cruise line suggests.

We exited through the duty free area and shopping mall. The girls went in the very first shop and were very excited about all the souvenirs! I had a feeling this was going to be a long shopping day! And I don't like shopping!

We promised we'd come back later and encouraged them out with the bracelets being made outside, with names on them.
Now...I know they're a rip-off, but the girls were so excited to have something made with their name on it, it was definitely worth it. He already had one with 'Alice' on it, which amazed her, and he made one with 'Esme' on it while we waited. It was amazing to watch them being made!



We headed down the oceanfront past the shops. It was quite fun!

We crossed over to walk along the boardwalk. There were fishermen bringing in their catch and gutting them and locals were coming to buy. It was very relaxing and everyone was very friendly.



We were aiming for the Museo de la Isla de Cozumel. It was quite a walk, but a nice one.



The museum was bigger than I expected. Still small but well done. There was a concise history of the island, both ecologically and economically. Just enough to read but not so much the kids got bored!
All the kids loved the large dioramas of the ocean life. And all the examples of coral.



There is a number of rooms
There was a room where we could look at the island now and one of the island as it was. There was also a pirate room and a room of art. Also outside was some small mayan examples.





The girls loved to see Francis Drake, a British hero, shown here as a pirate!



I had read that the cafe was nice, and it looked beautiful. On the first floor, open air and overlooking the ocean. We weren't ready to eat, but stopped for a drink.





Paddington loved the view. It really was a beautiful location.





We headed out. Just such a lovely relaxing place to be.



Next - heading for Cinco Soles and lunch!

[jm106]

Thanks so the TR. Ill be reading for sure. I am really interested in the museum, sounds great for our family as we dont want to book excursions. I like the chance to learn about the island though

[fredgirls]

Just one more block from the Museum was the shop we were heading for, as recommended by the MyCozumel site. Los Cinco Soles.
http://www.loscincosoles.com/


(This taken from the tourist site)

It was a wonderful eclectic display of arts and crafts. And huge!
I wanted to look at the silver, as I was hoping to find a special ring for Esme for her 13th birthday. And it just so happened there was a nice sale on the silver
Ben and Alice went to explore while Esme and I perused the rings.



I had been thinking about a Trinity Ring for Esme and it just so happened this is the one she picked out! She tried lots of other styles on too. It was a really special time together.

We eventually found Ben and Alice among sombreros and maracas!

We also wanted to come here because my trusty local website had mentioned the restaurant. It was called 'Panchos Backyard'.
We were not disappointed.
It was tucked away at the back of the shop, in a open-air, but covered, courtyard. It was much bigger than I had expected.
The atmosphere was great! There were Marimbas playing old-time tunes and a friendly hustle-and-bustle. And the food was excellent.






Unfortunately Paddington rather overdid it.





After our fill we wandered back along the oceanfront taking in the beautiful view.




It has become a family thing to copy statues we see, so here they are...



And then this guy flew down to say hello.



We sauntered back to the 'tourist' area and the girls bought their souvenirs. Then we headed back to the ship. We had a date with some Flubber...and some pirates!

[fredgirls]

Originally Posted by jm106

Thanks so the TR. Ill be reading for sure. I am really interested in the museum, sounds great for our family as we dont want to book excursions. I like the chance to learn about the island though

The museum was just enough to learn something, without being overwhelming. And a nice break from the sun. It was just a few dollars to get in, and you could pay in $US.
I highly recommend Panchos Backyard for somewhere to eat.

[fredgirls]

Just posted a video of our jolly Marimba Players with 'roll out the barrel'.
Previous number had been 'the Birdy Song'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBzAFdHuOqY

[fredgirls]

So, back on the ship we had a date in the Lab. Alice had wanted to make Flubber when it was offered the previous day, but we had missed it. Then we saw it was being offered as an open house activity, so we were all over that.

Because of the timing, we showered and changed for pirate night first.
I had made Pirate T-shirts but didn't get any good pics of us wearing them, so here they are without our bodies filling them!



I really loved the Lab on the Wonder. Just a great size and the activities were so much fun.

We all started by sitting in front of the big screen, with excerpts of the Movie 'Flubber' playing. The kids were given white coats to wear which excited them a lot!

At this point I noticed a videographer was interviewing someone in front of the 'Flubber' area. They continued to film the whole session. I wondered if this was for the 'On the Wonder' stuff they had been posting on Facebook, but the person they were filming was different. If anyone knows what this might have been i'd like to know!

Anyway...the whole session was lots of fun.
The Host was very funny.
There were lots of explosions and mess and they got to get sticky. A kids dream. Mums...not so much!
You gotta be worried when you arrive for an activity and everything is wrapped in plastic wrap!









This was a great family activity (although Esme chose not to join us!). The only downside is the kids want to take the sparkly, bouncy Flubber home. Not sure how long it's going to have to sit in our fridge?!

It was a quick dash to Supper now. Back to Parrot Cay for Pirate Night.

Last year we got lots of 'official' pics, mainly because we won the draw for 10 free prints. But this year we decided to skip them all.

Our own pics were enough to spark the memories.





We tried to use the mirror to take a family shot but it didn't quite work, and we were laughing so much after this that we gave up!



Sad to see the end of Day 3 already, and a little apprehensive about another day at sea. We were just hoping for calmer seas!