Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[dizneeat]

Hope you had a magical birthday.

I would not like the mosquito's at all.

Nice pics and good for you bringing the repellent.

Thank you! We had a very relaxed weekend.

The mosquitos were EVERYWHERE, and it made you feel so uneasy. The tour was interesting though.

Karin, what a great read! and your photos, especially of Italy are beautiful!

Just happened across you today and saaw your birthday was last week so I hope you have a great year!

Thanks for following along. It's nice to hear that you enjoy it.
Italy is just a short 5 hour drive, so nothing "too" special, but it is always a nice break.

Thank you for your birthday wishes!

What a neat excursion! I love things like this.. ancient.. historic. So cool! I love the pictures. Thing I wouldn't be a fan of.. the bugs!! Not that anyone is... so I am surprised that there were people who didn't spray ahead of time.

It was a fun excursion - apart from the mosquitos.
The sites were impressive and the guide was very knowledgeable, but we all got very distracted when a swarm of mosquitos zoomed in on us.

I don't think people really knew how many mosquitos there would be. I knew of mosquitos but would not have sprayed so heavily had our friends not told us about them.

Karin, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry I missed your birthday. I hope you ahd a magical day.

The Mayan ruins tour looks very fascinating. I know that Mark would have loved it, minus the mosquitos of course.

Kathy, I know you are busy planning your upcoming trip, so I have no problem with you being a bit late with your birthday wishes.

Tom and I were both so looking forward to the Mayan ruins. It was one of the highlights of the trip. The mosquitos were not part of the fun. But we had a few more stops on that tour which were real nice as well.

 

[dizneeat]

Me too! So sorry to have missed your special day! Hope you had a happy birthday Karin!

Thank you for your birthday wishes, Ellen.

Sorry I missed your birthday. I hope the day was amazing and you have a fabulous year. Still lovin the trip report!

No problem missing my birthday. I love that you still come back to read, even though this TR has been going on forever.

 

[jenseib]

Did you do the same excursion I did? I forget where we went to see the ruins without going back to look it up. and then we went to the tequilla place after. Those ruins look like the same ones we did, but of course I think a lot of them probably look similar.

Edit...I just went back and looked at my pictures and I have that same fountain, so we did go to the same place!!!

 

[RGirl]

Hi Karin!

Looks like we will miss each other in 2015. We are on the August 8 Fantasy sailing with a week at WDW preceding that. Too bad!!!

The mosquitos sound horrible!!! Can’t wait to read about the rest of the excursion though.

 

[franandaj]

Ugh! I must have read this on my phone and not commented.

We are stopping in Cozumel on our next cruise and were considering this option, but the mosquitos sound icky. I'll have to weigh this with the benefit of seeing the ruins vs the critters. Actually bugs don't seem to like me, I rarely get bit, Fran on the other hand gets eaten alive so we'll have to figure out whether it's worth it. Looks like a pretty neat tour.

 

[dizneeat]

Did you do the same excursion I did? I forget where we went to see the ruins without going back to look it up. and then we went to the tequilla place after. Those ruins look like the same ones we did, but of course I think a lot of them probably look similar.

Edit...I just went back and looked at my pictures and I have that same fountain, so we did go to the same place!!!

Yes, I remembered your description of it, while ON the tour. It definitely was the same one.

Hi Karin!

Looks like we will miss each other in 2015. We are on the August 8 Fantasy sailing with a week at WDW preceding that. Too bad!!!

The mosquitos sound horrible!!! Can’t wait to read about the rest of the excursion though.

What a shame we are missing each other. And by just a few days as well.

The mosquitos were horrible! The excursion was really interesting and we loved the rest of it as well, but the ruins were "ruined" by all those mosquitos. Thank god for bug spray!

Ugh! I must have read this on my phone and not commented.

We are stopping in Cozumel on our next cruise and were considering this option, but the mosquitos sound icky. I'll have to weigh this with the benefit of seeing the ruins vs the critters. Actually bugs don't seem to like me, I rarely get bit, Fran on the other hand gets eaten alive so we'll have to figure out whether it's worth it. Looks like a pretty neat tour.

The tour itself was nice and I was SO glad we had been warned about the mosquitos. Don't know if I had "bought" the spray option on arrival.
We went to a tequila factory lateron and drove around the island and you really got a good look at the island.
The bugs are something else. If Fran is safe with bug spray - no problem (and bring plenty of the spray to respray).

 

[dizneeat]

Day 15, August 21

Mosquitos, ruins and an Italian dinner - Part 2

After an hour we were all ready to head back to the bus and out of the sun and away from the mosquitos.
Before we got on the bus we were all treated to a bottle of water



and then it was time to hit the road again.







We drove for about 20 minutes before we arrived at our next destination, a Tequila factory.







Once we had gotten off the bus we all gathered outside the building and listened to a Mexican factory guide who was really knowledgeable.















We got to see one several agave plants





which are used to make Tequila and then headed inside the building where we got to listen to more history and were than treated to a sampling of the different kinds of Tequila they offered.







Having been to a Tequila tasting on the ship before I was not sure I should try it, but I did and was glad I did. Apart from one Tequila I liked all the others and we even bought a few smaller bottles to take home. Then it was time again to get back to the bus











and now we were in for a drive around the island and see some of the beautiful scenery and beaches.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Did you get to see how the tequila is made, or just the "guest" areas? Tasting is great, but it spoils you on the cheap margaritas after that!

 

[dizneeat]

Did you get to see how the tequila is made, or just the "guest" areas? Tasting is great, but it spoils you on the cheap margaritas after that!

No, you can't visit the actual destillery, but they had props to show how the tequila is made.
The tasting was quite generous, got everyone in a "shopping mood".

 

[TonyMouse]

I know my daughters do

 

[jenseib]

That was the same guy we had too...he was so funny. What a rough job he has.

Yes, I was unsure about tasting them too, but I was pleasantly surprised wit many of the flavored ones. I am still not a big drinker, but I enjoyed them and didn't have to spit them out.

 

[englishrose47]

Great pix of the Tequila Tour!! I did not realize being a NON drinker that those plants were what it was made of . I have seen them on the Land Boat Ride , Interesting to know what they makeWonder if WDW has a distillery?

 

[harrisb1964]

Went to the ruins expecting the worst insect wise. My family and I bathed ourselves in insect repellant. No Mosquitos or insects anywhere we went at the ruins. We went in Feb. I wonder if the time of year you go affects the chance of insect encounters.

 

[MEK]

The tequila tour looks really fun! I am sure I would walk out of there with some souvies myself. IMHO adult beverages are the BEST kind of souvies! Glad you enjoyed the tour. The scenery looks beautiful!

 

[Linda67]

Hi Karin
Just catching up before we head off tomorrow
We did the exact same tour in Cozumel, we loved it and our tour guides were wonderful but boy do I remember those mosquitos
You need to totally cover yourself with bug spray to stand a chance of not getting eaten alive!

 

[dizneeat]

That was the same guy we had too...he was so funny. What a rough job he has.

He was good fun, wasn't he? I really enjoyed all his little stories.

Yes, I was unsure about tasting them too, but I was pleasantly surprised wit many of the flavored ones. I am still not a big drinker, but I enjoyed them and didn't have to spit them out.

We had been to a Tequila tasting on the ship and I did not like most of the stuff, so I was really unsure about giving it a try. But the aged one and the flavoured ones were yummy!

Great pix of the Tequila Tour!! I did not realize being a NON drinker that those plants were what it was made of . I have seen them on the Land Boat Ride , Interesting to know what they makeWonder if WDW has a distillery?

Yes, they make the Tequila from those Agave plants. It was interesting to hear how they do it.
A destillery at WDW? Hm, sounds interesting - you might have given them an idea.

Went to the ruins expecting the worst insect wise. My family and I bathed ourselves in insect repellant. No Mosquitos or insects anywhere we went at the ruins. We went in Feb. I wonder if the time of year you go affects the chance of insect encounters.

Maybe February would be a better month to visit. We went in August and it was horrible. We were so glad we had had that warning from our friends.

The tequila tour looks really fun! I am sure I would walk out of there with some souvies myself. IMHO adult beverages are the BEST kind of souvies! Glad you enjoyed the tour. The scenery looks beautiful!

It was a fun tour. I was not sure of what to make of it in the beginning, but we both really enjoyed hearing all about it.
And I am so with you on the "consumable" souvenirs. No clutter once you enjoyed it all.

Hi Karin
Just catching up before we head off tomorrow
We did the exact same tour in Cozumel, we loved it and our tour guides were wonderful but boy do I remember those mosquitos
You need to totally cover yourself with bug spray to stand a chance of not getting eaten alive!

Hi Linda!
Your trip is starting already? Have a great time!!!!!!

We really enjoyed the tour as well and were SO happy to have been warned about the mosquitos!
There were swarms of mosquitos coming towards us like little black clouds. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

 

[annmarieda]

The tour looked like a lot of fun! I like tequilla so doing a tasting SOMEWHERE is on my list. (in other words some day... anywhere I can do one is on my bucket list).

I think it is funny to think about how things are made and what made people think to do it. Looking at that plant I just picture the first person looking at it and thinking I wonder what I can do with this. Such an intimidating looking plant.

 

[dizneeat]

The tour looked like a lot of fun! I like tequilla so doing a tasting SOMEWHERE is on my list. (in other words some day... anywhere I can do one is on my bucket list).

I think it is funny to think about how things are made and what made people think to do it. Looking at that plant I just picture the first person looking at it and thinking I wonder what I can do with this. Such an intimidating looking plant.

It was a real fun tour, the tour overall and the Tequila factory tour too. And PLEASE, do the tasting, it is real fun.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 15, August 21

Mosquitos, ruins and an Italian dinner - Part 3

Then it was time again to get back to the bus and now we were in for a drive around the island and see some of the beautiful scenery and beaches.













After a while stopped at a really scenic spot, where we had a short break to get a drink from one of the many stands which sold drinks and souvenirs.



But most of us when down to the water’s edge to take photos of the lovely blue seas, and the waves breaking at the rocks.

















All too soon the time we had been given was up and we had to get back to the bus. There was one more stop at a little Mexican village where again the main focus was on selling things. We had about half an hour to wander around, which we did, but there was by far not enough to do and see for all the time without walking through the little shops.















They had a lot of nice jewellery but the prices were far above what it was worth to us, so we went back to the bus sooner than expected. And finally everyone was back on board as well and we were heading back to port.

To be continued ............ ​

 

[jenseib]

Thats the beach we went to and I think one of the prettiest beaches I have ever seen for photos. The rocks and different textures there were just fabulous to photograph!!!