Start of my trip itinerary
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Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
January 30, 2008 through February 6, 2008
Occidental Grand Cozumel
Wednesday, January 30th
We caught a Morning flight on Frontier. Check in went fairly easy. They have a new check in system but fairly easy to use. We left at 10:30 am on time. It was a 3 ½ hour flight. We had free tv all the way which made it go quite fast.
We flew into Cozumel with the most amazing view of the Disney Magic. We flew low and right over it. Customs was a breeze. It was much more fast and efficient than Cancun. They have the stop light system as well. We had to only scan one luggage each.
I did a lot of research on the internet and learned that the Cozumel government owns the taxi system on the airport property. They wait to leave the airport until the vans are completely packed with twelve people, all going to various resorts and hotels. Trip Advisor advised us to walk off the airport property to the street and hail a taxi. Taxis can pick you up out there for cheaper and it only takes your group. We had a van for the two of us. Cost was 17.00 USD. It was fast and easy. We will definitely do it that way again.
We had rooms in the exclusive part of the resort called the Royal Club. Check in was a breeze. The taxi dropped us off at the front and the bellman took us by golf cart to the Royal Club where we were offered champagne. Check in was a breeze. Our room was a studio. Nothing extravagant but very nice. We didnt have to wait for the luggage. Had dinner at the LaPosada buffet. We walked the grounds before dinner and saw the most spectacular sunset. It was breathtaking. Unfortunate for us that we didnt have our camera with us. The sun was bright orange/red. It was bid and round setting over the ocean. Not a cloud in sight. It was amazing to see how fast the sunset went.
I am totally disappointed in what they have to offer here. It is a very, very small resort. I shouldnt be comparing it to the Grand Xcaret but I am.
We made dinner reservations at the concierge in the Royal Club for the a la carte restaurants for the remaining dinners.
We borrowed 2 DVDs and went to our room. We watched Crash with Sandra Bullock.
Thursday, Jan 31
We woke up and headed to the beach to reserve chairs. All with the palapas were taken. We found some out in the sun just below the beach club.
We went to breakfast at the buffet. Had our made to order omelets and fresh squeezed orange juice that we loved at the Grand Xcaret. After breakfast we headed back to the beach. Lunch was at the Beach Club. It is a buffet as well but it did offer BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers. We drank dirty monkeys. Dinner was at the Sonoma Grill. It was VERY good. We had Pozole soup, shrimp tacos, and New York Steaks. Great service from Jesus.
Before dinner we headed back to the beach to try and catch the sunset. It was pretty but there were clouds in the sky so it was not as spectacular as last night.
We went back to our room and watched another movie.
Oh and yes, we are burned to a crisp. On an email to Heidi, I called us Cozumel lobsters.
It was a wonderful, wonderful day. This resort is certainly growing on me.
Friday, Feb 1
The day began with the daily ritual of going to the beach to claim chairs. We like our location so well that we didnt even look for palapas. We had breakfast at the Royal Club. The portions are very small but very, very tasty. The waiter was a grump.
We hung out at the beach. We took out a Hobie Cat twice. We had a great time.
Dinner was at the Buffet.
We made friends with a a huge family from Iowa and So Dak. They sit next to us on the beach.
Movie and bed.
Saturday, Feb 2
By now this resort has grown on me. I absolutely love it and want to come back. The two resorts offer two different worlds. This one for its glorious beach and the Grand Xcaret for its plush resort and activities. All I am thinking about is when can I come back?????
We did our daily beach ritual and then breakfast.
The friends that I talked about earlier highly recommended us to snorkel at the beach. He said that we would see more fish than what we expect. We took their advice and snorkeled. It was unbelievable. Tons of colorful fish. We even swam with the resident barracuda. What an experience!!
More Dirty Monkeys and tried a new drink, Cabanas, that our friends recommended.. The cabana is a frozen strawberry, vodka, banana, orange juice & pineapple juice drink. It is now our favorite drink.
We watched another sunset.
Dinner was at the Royal Club. We almost cancelled the reservation because the menu made it sound too gourmet for our taste. We are very glad that we didnt cancel. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was like having Palo to yourself, and the waiter was perfect. His name was Arturo. We were able to have fun with him. We were alone in the restaurant so we took advantage. He teased us and we teased back. We had potato leek soup, Chinese noodle salad and sea bass.
Another movie and off to bed.
Sunday, Feb 3
We made an appointment to meet with the Member Services Director for 8:30am. We went to the beach, back to the buffet for breakfast and then our appointment. Their names are Madeleine and Daniel. Wonderful people. They explained what was new in the vacation club. Three new resorts are being added. They answered any questions that we had and offered us an every year membership. There was no negotiating. They just wrote down a bottom line figure and told us to think about it. We are definitely doing that. They gave us an invitation to the VIP member party at Albertos on the beach which is being held tomorrow. We decided to RSVP with a yes.
An interesting note about Madeleine and Daniel. She is originally from Texas. She was celebrating her recent divorce aboard a Carnival ship with a friend. They took a snorkel and sail excursion and Daniel happened to be the tour guide. That night she left the ship and has never gone back to the states. Four years later they are happily married.
Today we took a snorkel tour through Dive Palancar at the Resort. It was a 2 hour tour and we went to two reefs. Didnt know when we booked it but it was on a glass bottom boat. That was kind of fun but glad we never paid for it on a cruise. It was only 3 couples on the snorkel tour. The first reef was Columbia. The waves were huge. It had great coral that went on forever and lots of colorful fish. One man panicked in the water. We had to wave down the boat. Carlos, the captain of the boat stayed on it while we snorkeled. He brought the boat to us. Ted took over because the man was submerging his wife. Ted told him to hold on and to keep kicking, that Ted had him. It was a very scary situation because the boat wasnt all that close. Once the boat arrived, his wife and I got slammed into the front of the boat so we swam away as fast as we could while Ted fought to get him in the boat. Even with the ladder the man had difficulties getting into the boat. Once he was up safely, we were told to continue snorkeling and that he was ok. That made me happy. His wife continued on like nothing happened which I found odd. A short time later another woman got back in so it was so nice just snorkeling with only 4 people. An experience we have never had on cruises. After Columbia, Carlos offered to take us to one of two reefs. Normally you dont have a choice. Palancar is known for the coral while Hollywood is known for its fish. None of us could decide so Carlos took us to his favorite, Hollywood. We were lucky as he dropped anchor and snorkeled with us. It was a shallow reef. He showed us all kinds of fish like lobster, a baby shark and one big fish but never grasped the name. He also dove down and we held a starfish. Once again, it ended up only four of us six that snorkeled. It was like a private excursion. Nothing like snorkeling on a cruise excursion.
We got back and had lunch. Ted and I can never get enough water so after lunch we took out the Hobie Cat again. It was great wind for sailing. We did it for an hour. After the sailing, Dive Palancar employee, Javier, asked us if we would get a couple of beers for them since they are not allowed.. We brought back four beers and it made them very happy.
Dinner was at the Buffet. We checked out the Super Bowl party. They had two tvs going in the Lobby Bar. While walking around the lobby, someone in Sales asked what we were planning to do the next day. We told him we were renting a car from Rentadora Isis. He said, ahhhh, getting a Mexican Ferrari (VW) I see. He pretty much matched the price and gave us a fairly new jeep. For only 15.00 more we felt it was well worth it. We would do it again. It saved us time by not getting a taxi to and from town to rent from ISIS.
I have been able to stay in contact with Heidi via email everyday. The keyboards here are very different and I cant get the @ sign to show up. You are suppose to hit Alt 64 but it never works. I could write Heidi under AOL because you dont need to add the @aol.com after it if they have aol. Good thing! The caps work different. I couldnt even find a question mark. I cant log on the board because I cant find the underscore in my JiminyC_fan name.
Watched an HBO movie and went to bed. Renting the jeep at 9 tomorrow.