LadyLt
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2002
- Messages
- 266
Day 5 Cozumel
Cast of Characters .
Bianca Your author, 51 year old retired cop, lover of Disney, part-time WDW CM
Christi .. My 20 year old daughter/ light of my life, also a lover of all things Disney
Neil . Christis boyfriend, 26 yrs old, cast member at WDW for last eight years
Many, many more people all wonderful friends from DDL
Cozumel . What can I say. I would say it was the best day of the cruise, but I also loved Grand Cayman. I have a degree in Archaeology with a specialty in Mexican pre-Columbian. But all my trips to Mexico as a student were near Mexico City and into Oaxaca. I had never been to the Yucatan. So I really wanted to go to Tulum. I had read some bad reviews of the excursion on the DIS boards and other places. But I wanted to go and I didnt care that it was $90.00. Neil wanted to go almost as much as me, and where ever we went Christi would go. Margaret decided at the last minute on the very day to go with us. We found that Kelli and Keith were also signed up for this excursion. So off we all went together. Six DDL adventurers in search of Mayan ruins.
It is about a 45 minutes boat ride across to Playa del Carmen. The tender is large, holds approx. 100-150 people, and fast. It was clean and had a snack bar on board that also sold t-shirts. We then had a ride of approx. an hour on an air conditioned bus to the actual ruins. We had to take the obligatory potty stop which just has to be associated with a tourist trap shopping area. But we found a nice onyx chess set for $24.00 to bring home to my nephews who are also Christis roommates. And I bought myself a string of amethyst stones to wear as a necklace and several postcards that were views from the air of Tulum.. Then on to the ruins.
Our tour guide is a Mayan Indian. His English was wonderful and he told great stories. I loved the ruins. They are magnificent. Between the film camera and the digital camera, I took about 200 photos here. Tulum was a post-Classic Mayan city probably built between 400 AD and 1200 AD. It would have been abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquering the native Indians of Mexico in the late 1600s. Tulum is a walled city with walls on three sides and the fourth side on a cliff above the Caribbean sea. Supplies for the city would have been brought in by sea. Tulum was probably only occupied by priests and high officials with other Mayan citizens living outside the city walls. The actual tour took approx. one hour walking with the guide and listening to his explanations. We then had another hour or so to do whatever we wanted. Kelli and Keith had brought their swimming suits and towels. There is a beautiful little white sand beach the is actually a part of Tulum. So off they went to swim and enjoy the water. Margaret went back to the bus to rest. Neil, Christi, and I kept walking the ruins. I just didnt want to leave them and I used every minute that I had to explore and take photos.
We then walked back to the little shopping area there. Of course, the keepers of the different shops were trying to catch all the tourists and stab each other in the back at the same time. It was traditional Mexican mercale haggling. After visiting about six different stalls, I bought a Mexican pleated cotton shirt for Neil and a Tulum guidebook. I ended up paying $28.00 for both. The original asked prices at different shops would have cost me $47.00. I probably could have finally gotten them cheaper, but it was time to return to the bus for the return trip. Our lunch was provided by the tour company. It was Subway sandwiches in the same paper and bags we use here in the states. There was Pepsi or beer and Mexican chips. I had bottled water that I had brought from the ship. I couldnt tell any difference between that sandwich and one from my local Subway shop here. I also ordered and bought three Mayan books from the tour company. You order them before you go on the tour and they are ready when you get back two and a half hours later. Each is personalized based on you name and date of birth, It is like a personalized Mayan horoscope for that person. There is information in them on the Mayan calendar and culture. We were told that the proceeds go to keep the Mayan language alive. I need to sit down one day with mine, Christis, and Neils and see how different they really are. But they are very cool looking and stored inside handmade mesh bags. I think I paid $30.00 each for them.
We took the tender back to Cozumel and then went shopping. I bought several pair of silver earrings for Christi and I. Neil bought an onyx chess set for himself. He had regretted not getting one when Christi and I bought the other one early. Then we went to several different store looking for gifts for his roommates. He finally ended up buying a third chess set for one roommate and some hand painted Mexican plates for the other. We stopped by Carlos and Charlies bar on the way back to the ship. I bought Christi a t-shirt, a magnet, a sticker for her car, and a shot glass. Who should we run into but Catherine, Lori, and Amy!! They were really enjoying that place. We stayed a few minutes with them and Christi drank one drink. We then headed back to the ship. By this time we were really loaded down. three onyx chess sets, four or five new t-shirts, our three Mayan books in their mesh bags, Neils Mexican shirt, etc . but we stopped at a duty free shop and purchased six bottles of booze to take home. I got a one litre bottle of 15 year old Scotch for me and we got banana rum, regular rum, Kalua, and something else for the kids to take to Neils house. It only cost me $87.00 for all of that. But the ship was still about a city block away. By the time we got there, we thought we were dying from carrying it all. We had to stop and rest a couple of times. LOL
That night was Mexicallifragilistic night on the Magic. I had purchased new Mexican dresses for Christi and me from e-bay before the cruise. At the last minutes, she hated her dress and insisted on trading with me. I am a lot bigger, but thank goodness for elastic waistbands. My dress was a simple shift with no waist and it looked beautiful on Christi. I was less beautiful. But I did look Mexican. Neil had the white cotton pleated shirt that I bought him earlier that day. And we did all look pretty good together. The dinner was great fun with dancing conga lines and limbo poles in the dining room. The servers were all wearing bright tropical shirts and at least pretending to have a great time along with the guests. Desert that night was flaming Baked Alaska brought out in the dark by the waiters in their bright shirts. Lot of fun. Later that night there was a full Mexican buffet on Deck 9 along with dancing music. But who could eat at midnight after a late dinner which ended about 10:00 pm. Not us.
Cast of Characters .
Bianca Your author, 51 year old retired cop, lover of Disney, part-time WDW CM
Christi .. My 20 year old daughter/ light of my life, also a lover of all things Disney
Neil . Christis boyfriend, 26 yrs old, cast member at WDW for last eight years
Many, many more people all wonderful friends from DDL
Cozumel . What can I say. I would say it was the best day of the cruise, but I also loved Grand Cayman. I have a degree in Archaeology with a specialty in Mexican pre-Columbian. But all my trips to Mexico as a student were near Mexico City and into Oaxaca. I had never been to the Yucatan. So I really wanted to go to Tulum. I had read some bad reviews of the excursion on the DIS boards and other places. But I wanted to go and I didnt care that it was $90.00. Neil wanted to go almost as much as me, and where ever we went Christi would go. Margaret decided at the last minute on the very day to go with us. We found that Kelli and Keith were also signed up for this excursion. So off we all went together. Six DDL adventurers in search of Mayan ruins.
It is about a 45 minutes boat ride across to Playa del Carmen. The tender is large, holds approx. 100-150 people, and fast. It was clean and had a snack bar on board that also sold t-shirts. We then had a ride of approx. an hour on an air conditioned bus to the actual ruins. We had to take the obligatory potty stop which just has to be associated with a tourist trap shopping area. But we found a nice onyx chess set for $24.00 to bring home to my nephews who are also Christis roommates. And I bought myself a string of amethyst stones to wear as a necklace and several postcards that were views from the air of Tulum.. Then on to the ruins.
Our tour guide is a Mayan Indian. His English was wonderful and he told great stories. I loved the ruins. They are magnificent. Between the film camera and the digital camera, I took about 200 photos here. Tulum was a post-Classic Mayan city probably built between 400 AD and 1200 AD. It would have been abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquering the native Indians of Mexico in the late 1600s. Tulum is a walled city with walls on three sides and the fourth side on a cliff above the Caribbean sea. Supplies for the city would have been brought in by sea. Tulum was probably only occupied by priests and high officials with other Mayan citizens living outside the city walls. The actual tour took approx. one hour walking with the guide and listening to his explanations. We then had another hour or so to do whatever we wanted. Kelli and Keith had brought their swimming suits and towels. There is a beautiful little white sand beach the is actually a part of Tulum. So off they went to swim and enjoy the water. Margaret went back to the bus to rest. Neil, Christi, and I kept walking the ruins. I just didnt want to leave them and I used every minute that I had to explore and take photos.
We then walked back to the little shopping area there. Of course, the keepers of the different shops were trying to catch all the tourists and stab each other in the back at the same time. It was traditional Mexican mercale haggling. After visiting about six different stalls, I bought a Mexican pleated cotton shirt for Neil and a Tulum guidebook. I ended up paying $28.00 for both. The original asked prices at different shops would have cost me $47.00. I probably could have finally gotten them cheaper, but it was time to return to the bus for the return trip. Our lunch was provided by the tour company. It was Subway sandwiches in the same paper and bags we use here in the states. There was Pepsi or beer and Mexican chips. I had bottled water that I had brought from the ship. I couldnt tell any difference between that sandwich and one from my local Subway shop here. I also ordered and bought three Mayan books from the tour company. You order them before you go on the tour and they are ready when you get back two and a half hours later. Each is personalized based on you name and date of birth, It is like a personalized Mayan horoscope for that person. There is information in them on the Mayan calendar and culture. We were told that the proceeds go to keep the Mayan language alive. I need to sit down one day with mine, Christis, and Neils and see how different they really are. But they are very cool looking and stored inside handmade mesh bags. I think I paid $30.00 each for them.
We took the tender back to Cozumel and then went shopping. I bought several pair of silver earrings for Christi and I. Neil bought an onyx chess set for himself. He had regretted not getting one when Christi and I bought the other one early. Then we went to several different store looking for gifts for his roommates. He finally ended up buying a third chess set for one roommate and some hand painted Mexican plates for the other. We stopped by Carlos and Charlies bar on the way back to the ship. I bought Christi a t-shirt, a magnet, a sticker for her car, and a shot glass. Who should we run into but Catherine, Lori, and Amy!! They were really enjoying that place. We stayed a few minutes with them and Christi drank one drink. We then headed back to the ship. By this time we were really loaded down. three onyx chess sets, four or five new t-shirts, our three Mayan books in their mesh bags, Neils Mexican shirt, etc . but we stopped at a duty free shop and purchased six bottles of booze to take home. I got a one litre bottle of 15 year old Scotch for me and we got banana rum, regular rum, Kalua, and something else for the kids to take to Neils house. It only cost me $87.00 for all of that. But the ship was still about a city block away. By the time we got there, we thought we were dying from carrying it all. We had to stop and rest a couple of times. LOL
That night was Mexicallifragilistic night on the Magic. I had purchased new Mexican dresses for Christi and me from e-bay before the cruise. At the last minutes, she hated her dress and insisted on trading with me. I am a lot bigger, but thank goodness for elastic waistbands. My dress was a simple shift with no waist and it looked beautiful on Christi. I was less beautiful. But I did look Mexican. Neil had the white cotton pleated shirt that I bought him earlier that day. And we did all look pretty good together. The dinner was great fun with dancing conga lines and limbo poles in the dining room. The servers were all wearing bright tropical shirts and at least pretending to have a great time along with the guests. Desert that night was flaming Baked Alaska brought out in the dark by the waiters in their bright shirts. Lot of fun. Later that night there was a full Mexican buffet on Deck 9 along with dancing music. But who could eat at midnight after a late dinner which ended about 10:00 pm. Not us.
