Mike & Missy's Grand Adventure! 9/5/09 DCL Western & WDW TR w/ pics! COMPLETE!

[UGAFan0829]

Bargain Shopping and Lost Jeep Parts!​

Today was yet another day that we were all looking forward to. The Magic would be docking in Cozumel, and we’d booked the Jeep Exploration for the day. The morning began around 7. Like most other mornings, the first thing we did was head out to the verandah. Today was also Gayle’s birthday, so as she and Mike were talking on the verandahs, I snuck a birthday card under her door. We took our time getting ready, and like most all other mornings, we made our way to Topsiders for our normal breakfast routine. Since our excursion meet time wasn’t until 10:45, we were able to enjoy the morning.
After breakfast, we headed back to our rooms to check out the view of Cozumel from the verandah. These Carnival ships were already there when we arrived.

All the humidity made it hard to keep my camera lens from fogging, so it was a little bit of a challenge to try and take pictures!

I thought the water in Grand Cayman was pretty, but the water here was gorgeous!!

As we took in the sights, we noticed that they were doing something with one of the lifeboats that was below us.

I imagine that it was just some kind of test that they do on a regular basis.

We finally pulled ourselves away from the verandahs and made sure that we had everything we’d need for our day in Mexico before heading down to Rockin’ Bar D for our meet. After everyone had turned in their signed waivers, we were ready to disembark. We made our way off the boat and on to the pier where we met Memo, who was our tour guide for the day.

Memo then lead us across the street and into the shopping area close to the pier. He introduced himself, and then told us what we would be doing for the day as well as went over some guidelines and rules for the tour.

We then turned the corner and found ourselves in the parking lot where we’d board our Jeep.

Since we were a party of all adults, Memo asked that we be at the tail end of the group. We then found our Jeep and packed ourselves in.

Thankfully, since it was just the 4 of us, Mike was able to do all the driving which was good for us since we were in a stick shift. Finally, everyone was in their Jeeps and ready to go.

Memo lead us out of the lot, and we headed out of town. The first store that we passed was the Cha Cha Cha Market, but I didn’t see anyone dancing! LOL

As we edged closer to the end of town, there was a gentleman who took each Jeep’s picture as we passed him. Once we were finally through all the stores and such, there was nothing but beautiful shoreline and tropical landscaping on each side of the road. I really couldn’t get over just how beautiful the water was. I snapped a ton of pictures along the way!!

It wasn’t long until we were nearing our first stop, El Cedral.

I remember that this is the oldest Mayan settlement, but I don’t remember if it’s the oldest in Mexico, or just in Cozumel. We turned off the main road, and then onto a dirt road that lead to our destination. There were a couple different buildings on the property, and the tour began with Memo giving us a pretty detailed history of everything.

I do remember that one of the buildings was a church, and you could walk inside of it.

The other building was closed off.

Directly across from these buildings were a shop and some restrooms. One thing that I didn’t realize about Mexico is that tips are a big part of their income there. In each restroom that we went in, there was someone there with a tip jar/box. So, if any of you are going to Mexico and plan to use the restroom, make sure to take some tip money.

 

[UGAFan0829]

After leaving El Cedral, we headed back out to the main road, and continued down the coast line. Our next stop, was pretty much just a place on the side of the road. There was a little hut that was a store on the beach side, and restrooms on the other.

The beach here was beautiful, so everyone took the opportunity to take some pics.

After taking some pics, we mosied around in the shop. Brandi really wanted one of the Mexican blankets, so she inquired about the price of theirs. The price started out at $40, which was way more than Brandi wanted to pay. The guy kept trying to make a deal with Brandi, but it still was more than she wanted to pay. So we nicely told them goodbye and walked back to the Jeep to wait for the rest of the group. As I was getting in the car, the guy from the shop came up with the blanket, and told Brandi that he would sell it to her for $10, no less. I guess he really wanted to make that sale. We were all a little surprised that he came after them, and his attitude about it was kinda funny. He had already put it in a bag for her and everything. He told her, “Here, I take $10, no less. You want it, but you are killing me here. I have to make money to live.” Ooooookay. I think Brandi felt like she had to take it at that point, so she handed him the money and took the bag. It was a little strange to say the least. I had heard that they would try and bargain with you, but we didn’t think someone would actually follow us to our vehicle!! We all got a good laugh out of it afterwards!

Back on the road, we continued on in the same direction. The further out we got, the bumpier the roads became. There were parts that were actually a little scary. At one point, we came to a place in the road where it looked as though the road had washed out on the side leaving a really big hole. The Jeep in front of us had met an oncoming car, so all they could do was hit the bump. Right as they did, the back fender flare came flying off. It took us a minute to realize what it was, and by that time it was too late to stop. Not to mention that at times, it was all we could do to keep up with the rest of the group. We wanted to stop and pick it up, but we were too afraid that as soon as we did we’d get lost from the group. Since we had no idea where we were, we figured it was a smart idea to just stick with the group and let someone know once we got to our next stop. It wasn’t long until we came to where we’d be eating lunch. And as soon as we all got out of the Jeeps, Memo came back and was asking everyone how the ride was. The lady from the fenderless Jeep got out, looked at Memo and said, “Oh, that thing fell off”, and pointed to where the fender flare should have been! Memo kinda freaked out at that point and wanted to know where they lost it. They told them about where it was, so as we were heading to get our food he took off to go find the lost fender flare. Seeing how the lady just casually mention the lost part, and then Memo somewhat freaking out was a little funny!

With the excitement of that over, we made our way to lunch. The place where we’d stopped looked to be a small open air restaurant/bar that didn’t seem to do very much business.

They had a buffet all set out for us under a covered patio area that was quite nice. There were several tables and chairs, so there was plenty of room for everyone.

Of course we were right on the beach, so the view was the best part.

We found a table and then made our way over to the line. Some of the offerings that they had were beef, chicken, steak, nacho chips with cheese sauce and salsa. Again, since I’m a pretty picky eater all I had was chips with beef. I normally like cheese sauce, but this stuff looked a little funny, so I declined. It was a decent meal, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. For our drinks, we could chose from Pepsi, 7-Up, and something else that I’d never heard of. As we were eating, there were 2 ladies who were going around offering massages. There were 2 massage tables down on the beach, but we told them no thank you. After everyone was finished with lunch, we also had the opportunity to swim or snorkel if we wanted. They didn’t have any snorkel gear or equipment to rent, so we found some chairs on the beach and enjoyed the views. As we sat there, then guy who had taken our picture at the start of the tour came by with our pictures. It turned out pretty good, and since it was of all 4 of us, we decided to get it.

Not much longer after that, Memo signaled for everyone to make their way back to the Jeeps.

We were back on the road, and headed on around the island. We drove for a quite a while before we made what would be our final stop of the tour-The Pee Pee Station.

This was a neat little station on the side of the road that sells all kinds of knick knacks. We spent a few minutes there before Memo gathered us all around. He then told us that due to timing issues that this would be the last stop of the day. We were supposed to make our way through the town of San Miguel, but we wouldn’t be able to because of time limits. I was a little disappointed, but we’d already seen a lot, and we were all pretty tired by this point, so it was okay.

After leaving the Pee Pee Station, we made our way into town and back to the Jeep lot. We parked and made sure that we had all our belongings before saying goodbye to our Jeep. From the parking lot, we headed back towards the mall that we’d come through that morning. Gayle and Brandi wanted to do some shopping, and we wanted to look around ourselves. We visited several stores, but time was running out on us. Gayle and Brandi still had some things that they were looking for, but we really wanted to get back to the ship so that we’d have plenty of time for dinner. Tonight was Pirate Night, and we didn’t want to be late for dinner. So we headed back to the ship and left them to do their shopping. Getting back to the pier was a little confusing, with the way the mall is configured. I’m glad that Mike had remembered which way we came, because I was definitely turned around! We frantically made our way back to the ship and managed to be onboard by 4:30.

Look at that water...

I had planned to be back way before now, but it didn’t work out that way, so I was definitely stressing about being ready on time. Not to mention we were worried about leaving Gayle and Brandi behind and hoped they made it back in time for dinner as well…especially since it was Gayle’s birthday!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The blanket and fender episodes were hilarious!

That water is so beautiful! I am dreaming of lying on a warm Caribbean beach right now surrounded by that beautiful crystal blue water.

 

[praisehisname]

I'm so glad you enjoyed Cozumel. We fell in love with it and would like to go back!

Denise

 

[Mickey's Goofy Gal]

As always - I am loving your trip report! I get so excited when I get an email indicating there is a new post!

 

[Jennifer48]

Pee Pee Station!?

 

[babycakes01]

So super funny! It sounds as if you all had a memorable day in Cozumel! Love, Love, Loving this TR! Thanks again for all the work!!!

 

[84disney]

I am enjoying your TR so very much! Thanks for putting the time in to share with all of us . Our family is going on the Magic 7 day February 20th. We are so excited and reading your TR is such fun!

 

[UGAFan0829]

The blanket and fender episodes were hilarious!

That water is so beautiful! I am dreaming of lying on a warm Caribbean beach right now surrounded by that beautiful crystal blue water.

I'm glad you liked the blanket and fender stories. It was really funny in person!

I'm with ya on dreaming of that beautiful Caribbean water!!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Cozumel. We fell in love with it and would like to go back!

Denise

Cozumel was gorgeous, and our definite favorite out of it, Grand Cayman and Key West. We'd love to try one of the all-inclusive resorts sometime.

As always - I am loving your trip report! I get so excited when I get an email indicating there is a new post!

Thanks, Kim. I really enjoy writing...it helps me to re-live all our great memories!

Pee Pee Station!?

I know!! I thought the same thing!!

So super funny! It sounds as if you all had a memorable day in Cozumel! Love, Love, Loving this TR! Thanks again for all the work!!!

Awww, thank you. That's really sweet of you to say. I always get excited when new readers post, so thanks!!

I am enjoying your TR so very much! Thanks for putting the time in to share with all of us . Our family is going on the Magic 7 day February 20th. We are so excited and reading your TR is such fun!

Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying the report! I remember how much I poured over all the reports here before our trip, so I just want to give back a little!

I bet you are excited about your upcoming cruise...I know you'll love it!!

 

[Tinkerkell123]

Loving the report!

 

[UGAFan0829]

As we were getting ready for dinner, we heard a knock on our door...Gayle and Brandi had finally made it back to the ship. Boy, were we relieved!

Tonight's dinner was back in Parrot Cay, and of course we'd have the special Pirate themed menu. We mananged to make it to dinner right on time, though we didn't have time for any pictures beforehand, but that was okay. Mike and I felt a little silly after we were seated at our table and realized just how few people that had actually went all out with the costumes like we did. That was okay though, because we did get several compliments!!

Shortly after being seated, Dennis completed our outfits by giving us our pirate hats...

After being "capped", it was time to order our "Pirate fare" for the evening. To start off, I had the Pirates Golden Pot Stickers:

These were pretty darn good, but you'll have to stay tuned for the land portion of the trip to see how they compare to the Pot Stickers at 'Ohana!
Mike chose the Black Beard's Jumbo Crab Cake:

Next came my Jerk Chicken Salad:

While Mike had the Caribbean Style Conch Chowder:

And for the main course, I decided to go with the Dutchmen's Roasted Dijon-Crusted Sirloin of Beef:

This was quite yummy...the gravy was even better!!
Mike had the Captain Swann's Red Snapper:

He really enjoyed this as well.
Lastly was dessert...Since there was nothing on the menu that looked good to me, I went with the Brownie from the kids menu...

Mike ended up having 2 desserts...as he was ordering, he accidentally told Dennis the wrong thing. But as soon as Dennis heard us talking about it, he brought the one that Mike had really meant to order.
First was the Shiver Me Timbers White Chocolate Cheesecake:

Then came the Walk the Plank Triple Layered Chocolate Gangplank Cake:

As we were being served our dessert, Dennis brough out Gayle's birthday cake. Our Head Server, Zan, came over as well and had a lot of fun with her as you can tell...

He was actually trying to put it on her nose instead of feed it to her like it looks! He decided to be nice about it though...

After dinner, we still had plenty of time before the Pirate Party, so we headed back to the room for a few minutes. Of course, we had more wildlife hanging around when we arrived:

 

[UGAFan0829]

Next up was the Pirate Party, which we'd been looking forward to ever since our first cruise. We missed the party on both our other cruises, so we were anxious to see it for the first time! By the time we made it up to deck 9, there weren't any seats left, but there were lots of places to stand near the stage. We staked out a spot and got ready to paaarrtttaay!!

It was really hard to get decent pics of the characters. I don't know if it was because of where were standing, or because we were moving, but a lot what I took didn't turn out very well. Here's what I did manage to get...

Then came my favorite part...

And before we knew it, the party was over! It was really a lot of fun, and I'm glad we were finally able to take part in the festivities!!

It was around 11:30 as we headed back to our rooms, but we managed to get a couple pics of us all dressed up before the night was over...
Normal pose:

Pirate pose:

I was pretty happy with the way our costumes turned out. For those of you who followed my pre-trippie, you may remember how hard of a time I had actually finding a costume for myself. I found Mike's waaay before the cruise, but didn't find mine until a couple weeks before we left. I thought my honey was way cute in his!!

After we returned to the room, we deadfully set our clocks up one hour. Since we were missing the dessert buffet, we decided to have our own treats and ordered a couple of Mickey bars from room service...

We savored every bite of our bars, and then tucked it for the night. It was hard to believe that we only had 2 nights left on our magical voyage!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your food looked yummy and what a sweet way to end the night.

 

[praisehisname]

I think you got some really good shots of Pirate Night! And your outfits were great!!!

Denise

 

[Mickey's Goofy Gal]

Loved the outfits! I wish I had a Mickey Bar right now!

 

[Jennifer48]

Pirate outfits came out great!! Love them!

 

[redsox721]

Just came across your trip report. It's awesome. I love your pictures. Looks like you had a great time. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Your food looked yummy and what a sweet way to end the night.

It was quite yummy...some of the best of the whole cruise!!

I think you got some really good shots of Pirate Night! And your outfits were great!!!

Denise

Thank you. It was really hard to take pictures that night, for some reason. I wish I'd gotten better ones of the fireworks, but that's okay. We all had a good time regardless!

Loved the outfits! I wish I had a Mickey Bar right now!

Thank you. I'm sure you remember all the time it took me to finally find a costume for myself. I was happy with the way they turned out.

Pirate outfits came out great!! Love them!

Thanks, Jen!

Just came across your trip report. It's awesome. I love your pictures. Looks like you had a great time. Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for joining in!! We did have a great time, and I can't wait to write more!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Silly Hats and an Anniversary Celebration!​

Today was our 2nd and final day sea. We awoke early enough to get some shots of the sunrise over the ocean.

After enjoying the beautiful deep blue sea from the verandah for a while, we had to get ready for Mickey’s Island Jam Breakfast at 8:15. We showered and got ready for the day, then headed up to Parrot Cay. I wasn’t real familiar with this breakfast, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect, or even why they called it an “Island Jam” breakfast.

We took our seats, and the food started coming right away. Abrahim gave us our pick from a basket full of breads and pastries.

Soon after, the characters started making their rounds. First was Dale…

Next was Minnie…

Then came Pluto…

After the first round of character appearances, our food was delivered. Mike and I chose pretty much the same thing…Eggs, Mickey waffles, bacon and hash browns! Yummy! I was so excited to see the Mickey waffles!

As we were eating, Chip decided to have some fun at the table next to us…

Poor thing was trying to place his order, but no one would pay him any attention!!

He then decided to pay us a quick visit where he had fun playing with Brandi’s ponytail…

Next, came our silly hats...at least that’s what I called them.

I had no idea Abrahim was behind me in this one…I felt SO silly…

We couldn’t stop laughing at how silly we all looked, but it was fun!!
Goofy finally decided to pay us a visit…

Then came the Big Cheese himself…

Dennis and Abrahim were a lot of fun, and they really got into the whole liveliness of the morning…

Breakfast turned out to be a lot of fun. As I said, I didn’t know a whole lot about it, or what to expect, so we were pleasantly surprised…especially when all the characters made their appearance. Not to mention, it was nice to have a sit-down breakfast for once!!

 

[Mickey's Goofy Gal]

Sounds like a very fun breakfast with lots of laughs! I LOVE the hats!!!!