wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
- Messages
- 22,681
Tuesday 29th October
As soon as we had booked this cruise and Gary saw the itinerary, he had decided that we had to do the excursion to the Chacchoben Ruins at Costa Maya. I have to say, this kind of thing is not my idea of fun but I figure as Gary humours me and my Disney obsession, the least I could do was tag along with him.
We booked the adult only tour since neither of the kids were interested in going and I was more than happy to leave them on board together. We werent due to dock until lunchtime so we spent the morning by the pool. It was a tad grey and overcast but still warm enough to swim.
We all did the Aquaduck a couple of times, which was a lot of fun. Then the kids and Gary got in the pool while I sat nearby and read my Kindle (actually, in reality I didnt read much but spent most of the time chatting to a lady who was on her first cruise and giving her some pointers).
I dont know what it is with my son and his goofy faces but he has got into a real habit of doing this stupid smile which ruined practically all of our holiday pictures.
Gary and I opted to have an early lunch from Fillmores Favorites.
Todays Panini of the day was bacon, brie and tomato. The sign said they were made fresh to order so I requested one without tomato. Apparently, they were all pre-made and so this meant they had to make me one from scratch. I waited about 15 minutes for it but it was well worth it. Because they had made it fresh, I got the whole thing 4 sandwich halves! And fries!!!
It was absolutely delicious and so much better for having been made fresh the pre-made ones were actually already cooked and just covered over with tin (or al-oo-min-um, if youre from the US) foil. Sadly, I could only manage half of the sandwich (Gary helped himself to the fries). He also had a pulled pork sandwich but, for some reason, I dont have a picture.
After lunch, we popped up to Satellite Falls to watch us coming in to port. A little pilot boat was coming out to meet us.
After saying goodbye to Sian and Daniel, we went back to the room to get ready for our excursion. The weather wasnt looking great and I suspected we might be getting wet on our tour. I would have worn my pumps if Id brought them but, sadly, that was one of the pairs of shoes Id had to leave behind due to lack of luggage space. So I donned my Crocs sandals and hoped for the best.
We were meeting for our excursion in the Buena Vista Theater. I dont know why but I got confused and thought it was the Walt Disney Theater so we were running a little late. We definitely werent the last to arrive but the place was packed. We spotted a few familiar faces and one of the couples wed been on the Grand Cayman Island Tour with the previous day waved us over and moved up to make room. We sat for a while before being told that we were just waiting for clearance to go ashore. I cannot remember the guys name who was keeping everyone occupied but he was one of the adult entertainment team and he was a hoot. Absolutely hilarious.
After about 10 minutes, we were told we would be leaving and were led out, in groups, to the dock. We had been split into groups and were led through the little market area to several coaches ready and waiting.
On board our coach, we were joined by our guide and driver and we were soon on our way to Chacchoben (which we were told is pronounced Chak-cho-ben, in case you were wondering).
It was a fairly long journey of about an hour but our guide (sorry, I cant remember his name) told us some of the history of Chacchoben and gave us some pictures of wildlife and other things we might see there (and en route). Once we were there, we were given ten minutes for a rest room break before we walked the trail out to the ruins.
I am ashamed to say I didnt pay a lot of attention to the information we were given on the way round. It was desperately hot and sticky but the grey clouds were looking particularly threatening. We had bought a large bottle of water but I was somewhat concerned about drinking too much as there are no facilities on the way round. Since I didnt take too much notice of the guide, I will just post some pictures (a picture is worth a thousand words anyway).
At one of the sites, we spotted this huge grasshopper-type thing (maybe a cicada?) It was seriously massive.
Is it wrong that I was more impressed by some of the massive trees than the actual ruins?
So we get to the final site. For anyone who knows anything about Chacchoben, this is the one which you have to climb up a bunch of steep, stone steps to get to. Just as we arrive it starts to rain. I am not talking a light shower; I am talking a complete downpour. We tried to take shelter but there really wasnt much cover. As the rain eased off slightly, the guide told us we wouldnt be able to go up to the final site as we didn't have time. He said we could either follow the path round and back to the coach, or we could go back the way we came. Either way we were to be back at the coach in 15 minutes. Gary and I looked at each other and I knew we were both thinking the same no way were we going to have come all this way and not make the climb to the final site.
So off we went .
Before we left for the cruise, I had read a few reviews where people had mentioned the steps at Chacchoben and how steep they were. Every time I had seen the photos, I had thought that I couldnt see how hard it could be. Boy, was I wrong. Those steps are STEEP! And very hard to climb, particularly as they were incredibly slippery due to the rain.
We did make it to the top though and Im incredibly glad we did as it was worth seeing. There was literally nobody up there.
It was time to head back to the coach so we did that. We just had enough time to buy a fridge magnet, use the restrooms and rinse my filthy dirty feet off with the last of our water.
We were soon on the coach, although we were last to leave as we had an extra passenger. It took a while to figure out that an oriental lady had got on our coach by mistake and didnt know where she was supposed to be. She didnt speak much English but they managed to ascertain that she was a passenger on the Fantasy so decided she could stay on the coach. I cant believe that whichever coach she should have been on had left without her though.
It was a long, boring drive back to port. We were given a feedback form to fill in and were basically told that we had to complete it. Our guide also mentioned tips. I cant really remember what the spiel was but I do remember being annoyed by it. We had intended to tip both the guide and the driver so didnt need to be told. I actually reduced the guides tip after his little speech. All in all, I am glad we visited the ruins but, similar to Sian and Daniel's experience the previous day, the whole thing felt very rushed. I appreciate that, with less time in port, Disney are pushed for time but I figure, if you don't have enough time to give people what they pay for then don't run the excursion. I was peeved that we almost missed the best part of the tour due to a shortage of time (and most of the people in our group had as we were the only ones who had gone up the steps to the final area).
It was pretty late by now and we had to rush to get back on the ship. We did bump into Jen, Rob and Logan in the little market place so we figured we wouldnt be the last ones back on the ship.
As soon as we had booked this cruise and Gary saw the itinerary, he had decided that we had to do the excursion to the Chacchoben Ruins at Costa Maya. I have to say, this kind of thing is not my idea of fun but I figure as Gary humours me and my Disney obsession, the least I could do was tag along with him.
We booked the adult only tour since neither of the kids were interested in going and I was more than happy to leave them on board together. We werent due to dock until lunchtime so we spent the morning by the pool. It was a tad grey and overcast but still warm enough to swim.
We all did the Aquaduck a couple of times, which was a lot of fun. Then the kids and Gary got in the pool while I sat nearby and read my Kindle (actually, in reality I didnt read much but spent most of the time chatting to a lady who was on her first cruise and giving her some pointers).
I dont know what it is with my son and his goofy faces but he has got into a real habit of doing this stupid smile which ruined practically all of our holiday pictures.
Gary and I opted to have an early lunch from Fillmores Favorites.
Todays Panini of the day was bacon, brie and tomato. The sign said they were made fresh to order so I requested one without tomato. Apparently, they were all pre-made and so this meant they had to make me one from scratch. I waited about 15 minutes for it but it was well worth it. Because they had made it fresh, I got the whole thing 4 sandwich halves! And fries!!!
It was absolutely delicious and so much better for having been made fresh the pre-made ones were actually already cooked and just covered over with tin (or al-oo-min-um, if youre from the US) foil. Sadly, I could only manage half of the sandwich (Gary helped himself to the fries). He also had a pulled pork sandwich but, for some reason, I dont have a picture.
After lunch, we popped up to Satellite Falls to watch us coming in to port. A little pilot boat was coming out to meet us.
After saying goodbye to Sian and Daniel, we went back to the room to get ready for our excursion. The weather wasnt looking great and I suspected we might be getting wet on our tour. I would have worn my pumps if Id brought them but, sadly, that was one of the pairs of shoes Id had to leave behind due to lack of luggage space. So I donned my Crocs sandals and hoped for the best.
We were meeting for our excursion in the Buena Vista Theater. I dont know why but I got confused and thought it was the Walt Disney Theater so we were running a little late. We definitely werent the last to arrive but the place was packed. We spotted a few familiar faces and one of the couples wed been on the Grand Cayman Island Tour with the previous day waved us over and moved up to make room. We sat for a while before being told that we were just waiting for clearance to go ashore. I cannot remember the guys name who was keeping everyone occupied but he was one of the adult entertainment team and he was a hoot. Absolutely hilarious.
After about 10 minutes, we were told we would be leaving and were led out, in groups, to the dock. We had been split into groups and were led through the little market area to several coaches ready and waiting.
On board our coach, we were joined by our guide and driver and we were soon on our way to Chacchoben (which we were told is pronounced Chak-cho-ben, in case you were wondering).
It was a fairly long journey of about an hour but our guide (sorry, I cant remember his name) told us some of the history of Chacchoben and gave us some pictures of wildlife and other things we might see there (and en route). Once we were there, we were given ten minutes for a rest room break before we walked the trail out to the ruins.
I am ashamed to say I didnt pay a lot of attention to the information we were given on the way round. It was desperately hot and sticky but the grey clouds were looking particularly threatening. We had bought a large bottle of water but I was somewhat concerned about drinking too much as there are no facilities on the way round. Since I didnt take too much notice of the guide, I will just post some pictures (a picture is worth a thousand words anyway).
At one of the sites, we spotted this huge grasshopper-type thing (maybe a cicada?) It was seriously massive.
Is it wrong that I was more impressed by some of the massive trees than the actual ruins?
So we get to the final site. For anyone who knows anything about Chacchoben, this is the one which you have to climb up a bunch of steep, stone steps to get to. Just as we arrive it starts to rain. I am not talking a light shower; I am talking a complete downpour. We tried to take shelter but there really wasnt much cover. As the rain eased off slightly, the guide told us we wouldnt be able to go up to the final site as we didn't have time. He said we could either follow the path round and back to the coach, or we could go back the way we came. Either way we were to be back at the coach in 15 minutes. Gary and I looked at each other and I knew we were both thinking the same no way were we going to have come all this way and not make the climb to the final site.
So off we went .
Before we left for the cruise, I had read a few reviews where people had mentioned the steps at Chacchoben and how steep they were. Every time I had seen the photos, I had thought that I couldnt see how hard it could be. Boy, was I wrong. Those steps are STEEP! And very hard to climb, particularly as they were incredibly slippery due to the rain.
We did make it to the top though and Im incredibly glad we did as it was worth seeing. There was literally nobody up there.
It was time to head back to the coach so we did that. We just had enough time to buy a fridge magnet, use the restrooms and rinse my filthy dirty feet off with the last of our water.
We were soon on the coach, although we were last to leave as we had an extra passenger. It took a while to figure out that an oriental lady had got on our coach by mistake and didnt know where she was supposed to be. She didnt speak much English but they managed to ascertain that she was a passenger on the Fantasy so decided she could stay on the coach. I cant believe that whichever coach she should have been on had left without her though.
It was a long, boring drive back to port. We were given a feedback form to fill in and were basically told that we had to complete it. Our guide also mentioned tips. I cant really remember what the spiel was but I do remember being annoyed by it. We had intended to tip both the guide and the driver so didnt need to be told. I actually reduced the guides tip after his little speech. All in all, I am glad we visited the ruins but, similar to Sian and Daniel's experience the previous day, the whole thing felt very rushed. I appreciate that, with less time in port, Disney are pushed for time but I figure, if you don't have enough time to give people what they pay for then don't run the excursion. I was peeved that we almost missed the best part of the tour due to a shortage of time (and most of the people in our group had as we were the only ones who had gone up the steps to the final area).
It was pretty late by now and we had to rush to get back on the ship. We did bump into Jen, Rob and Logan in the little market place so we figured we wouldnt be the last ones back on the ship.
Apologies for that, but your photos were fab 
