Imaginationsetfree
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2009
- Messages
- 129
Tuesday, February 23rd - Cozumel and a surprise!
Today I woke up bright and early - too early, from the feel of it! I've got to say - the Mickey wake up call is cute and all, but the high pitched Mickey voice is rather annoying at 6:00 in the morning. I had to fight the urge to throw the phone across the room (have I mentioned I'm not very good at waking up?). It's a good thing I didn't throw the phone though, because soon after, I got a call from room service telling me my coffee was on the way. Don't want to miss that!!
I showered and got ready for my day in Mexico, then went up to Deck 9 to get some fruit from Goofy's. I walked out the door and was greeted with...clouds everywhere.
It was a disappointing sight, but I held onto the hope that it would clear up later.
At 8am, I went to the Buena Vista theater to meet up with my excursion group. After turning in my ticket, I was given an Ariel sticker that identified me as part of the Xcaret group, and signed a release form. After a short wait we were all on our way.
It took awhile to get to Xcaret, since it's on the mainland. The first leg of the trip was a ferry ride to Playa del Carmen. It was kind of a rough ride - VERY bumpy. I had brought my sea bands with me, so I didn't feel sick. I also met and chatted with a very nice family from Vermont. They'd been on a few cruises before, and had traveled all over the world. It was so interesting to hear all about their adventures! (Ps...that's another one of my favorite parts of solo traveling - I talk to people so much more when I don't have friends/family around. I've gotten to meet many interesting people and hear all about their lives and stories.)
Once we arrived on the mainland, we had a short walk through Playa del Carmen, and then boarded the bus to Xcaret.
Once we got to the park, the first thing they did was check our sunscreen. Since most sunscreen has chemicals and is not biodegradable, they take it at check in (you can pick it up on the way out), and we were given small sample packets of biodegradable sunscreen.
Once we went inside the park, we were led to the underground rivers. We were given huge waterproof bags to put our stuff in (which were then locked and brought to the end of the river), put on life jackets, and entered the river. It took almost an hour to float down the river, but it was amazing. We literally floated through caves, and the rocks on the cave walls were beautiful! The water was also crystal clear - you could see straight through to the bottom. It was such a relaxing experience - totally the highlight of the day!
Views from above the river:
There were also places like this throughout the river to let some natural light in. (Once you got into the caves it got pretty dark!)
Once I got out of the river, I went to the beach to turn in my meal ticket. Lunch is paid for with the excursion - you get a choice of a cheeseburger, hot dog, or salad and a non-alcoholic drink. You also get another ticket for a free popsicle. The restaurant also had some Mexican food for purchase, but I opted for my "free" meal. To my delight, the sun had come out and it had turned into a beautiful day! I relaxed in the sun for awhile, then went over to the stadium to watch the dolphins. They are such beautiful creatures, and I was really starting to get excited for my swim the next day!
I spent the rest of the time walking around the park. It was really an incredible place! I saw all sorts of animals from flamingos to jaguars. They also had some Mayan ruins, an old Mayan church and cemetery, and caves to walk through. I loved the park so much and was really glad I'd made the decision to go.
Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to head back to the bus. I fell asleep on the ferry ride home, so we were back to the ship in no time at all! I was getting hungry again, so I went to Pinnochio's for some pizza. I've never been a fan of Disney (park) pizza, so I wasn't sure what to expect here, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was good!
I wanted to soak up all the sun I could, but the pools were getting really crowded, so I went to check out the "secret" deck 7. It turned out to be a perfect choice - there was only one other person out there, and plenty of deck chairs and space to choose from! I also got there just in time to watch us sail out of Cozumel!
An empty deck:
Cozumel's beautiful blue water!
View of Cozumel from deck 7 aft:
Once we were back at sea, we got an announcement from the ship's captain - weather conditions in Grand Cayman were not good. Lots of wind was creating high waves, and since Grand Cayman is a tender port, the tender boats were unable to get to the ships. Apparently four ships had tried to go to Grand Cayman that day, and none of them ended up being able to. Since the forecast was looking the same for the next day, they had decided to cancel our stop in Grand Cayman.
WHAT?!?!?!?
No dolphin swim? If you remember correctly, the only reason I booked Xcaret was because I was sure I could get the dolphin swim in Grand Cayman. I was absolutely crushed. However, before I could get too upset, Captain John continued with his announcement. The reason they'd decided to cancel the stop rather than try to dock and see what happened, was that they didn't want to be forced into another sea day. Instead, we were going to spend the next day at sea...on our way to Nassau!
This made me pretty excited. I'd never been to Nassau before, and it's a place I've always wanted to see. I was also impressed with how proactive DCL was about the weather conditions. So many ships were stopped at sea just staring at Grand Cayman and unable to go. We were on our way to another port instead! I was even more impressed when I got back to my stateroom and had a message from the shore excursion desk. Since the dolphin swims tend to book fast, and I'd already had one booked for Grand Cayman, they were holding a swim for me to book in Nassau. YAY! I went down to the shore excursion desk and looked at the options, and decided on the dolphin encounter instead of the swim. While the swim looked like fun, there was a $75 difference between the 2, and the encounter included everything but the swim. I was relieved and once again so excited about the encounter!
All caught up and loving the report. Makes me want to go on a cruise. We loved 
No fireworks? I know the weather couldn't be helped and tried not to dwell on it too much, but it was disappointing. I decided to make to best of it and headed to the Atrium, where I was greeted with mass chaos. Although the party could be viewed on decks three, four, and five, it was way too small a space to squeeze in 2500 people. I managed to find a spot on the floor on Deck 3 where I actually could get some decent pictures if I lifted my camera up high. Even with the chaos, the party was still a lot of fun - the cast members were all decked out in their pirate gear, and there was a lot of dancing and interacting with characters. Captain Hook and Mr. Smee tried to crash the party, but not to worry - Pirate Mickey showed up to save the day!
