Deliverygirlnz's travelogues: Days 16 & 17, 28-29 April. Cozumel Mexico & At Sea (Galley Tour)

Day 16-
We docked in Cozumel Mexico this morning at 7am, the water here is a pretty azure blue colour like Malta's was. We had a small brekky in the cabin, then got ready & off the ship at 8.30am for our 9am tour. We booked the Mayan ruins tour, with stops along the way for tequilla & chocolate! It was super, super humid again today- everyones hair was frizzy, wet & curly by the end lol!

Cozumel, Mexico

Our guide was Tommy & he took us by bus to the ruins about 15 mins from Cozumel port. The road was literally one straight line for about 10 mins of that! The ruins are 1000-1200 AD & the people came by sea from South America & trekked 8 miles inland and built their village in the middle of the bush so they remained undiscovered, as they were a peacef ul people (except for the sacrificing humans, although this was seen as an honour as only the best mayans were chosen). There were only about 500 or so people in the village and fertility was a very important issue for survival of course. They would get married at 12 for the girls & 13- 14 for the boys, then would have between 8-12 chilldren. Old age was considered mid 20's-30! When the Spanish came they brought with them STIs like gonorrhoea, bugs such as the flu & chicken pox, which was responsible for a lot of deaths.

Either a mongoose or a mexican racoon

The Mayan arch & roadway

The ruins of the church

The ruins were really interesting, they used to work to build the stone roads in the evening when it was cooler and crush seashells, leaving them on the roads or tracks to show the way home as they glittered in the moonlight- ancient Hansel & Gretel style!

We saw quite a few iguanas as we were the 1st group there and a mexican racoon visited lol. After the tour we travelled along the coast as the island is only 34 kms long I think and just one long road again, then stopped at a beachside place where people surf a lot. You could buy A Coco Loko drink, which was served in a coconut. It had white rum, vodka & coconut water with ice - it was so smooth we had one each, then on to the organic cocoa chocolate factory, where we had a tour, sampled the chocolates and had a....... chocolate margarita- as you do! The bar had swings at the front! Then we travelled back to the port & were given a standard margarita at the somewhat? Famous Margaritaville! Quite a happening place with music, open air bar, singing, food & drinks. Did well today, we felt fine....must have been the dehydration from all the sweating lol!!!

Love the swing at the bar!

Bought some gifts then wandered back to the ship for a light lunch as it was 2pm by then. A really great tour and worth doing!

After a nice quiet dinner, Bob, Linda, Gray and I went to the 'Come fly wtith me show'. -was pretty amazing 2nd time round even!

Day 17-
Up today and down to the Galley tour we booked as we have seen tv shows on the kichens on big ship and its fascinating. We were taken through one of the kitchens- there are 2 1/2 acres of them onboard can you believe and they put out a staggering 100,000 meals a DAY!! Dont know how they manage in the heat - and that was at 10.30am!

Tv screen that shows the massive orders coming in to the kitchens

The head chef of the busiest restaurant onboard

After the tour we had a sit down meal with canapes and champagne, all very civilised. Talked to an american couple at our table about holidays and that in the States you dont get 4 weeks annual leave and you also cant save it up one year, to take the next for a big trip like ours. You have to use it all each year or lose it, so makes it hard for them to take bigger trips away. We saw a guy at the next table had a Kiwi tattoo, designed out of the silver fern so had to a chat to him and the other 3 who were all from Auckland - first Kiwis we have seen here lol.

After that we went down and walked on the walking track- the seas were a bit more settled today after some good swells last night, we were rolling around in bed haha. We wandered through the casino and watched some people playing blackjack, really interesting but they can smoke in there, so the smell was pretty overpowering after a while. Came back to our cabin and packed our bags as alas- today is our last full day and we are off tomorrow.

Considering Graeme doesnt really like being in massive crowds for long periods of times, we have loved this ship and cruise. 9000 people all up onboard but there are so many places to go and they have been very thoughtful in how they designed the spaces.

At 3pm we went down to the ice skating rink (yes they have one here!) which featured skaters who were all professionals and they did a great job of telling Hans Christian Andersens stories. Then off for the final supper with Bob & Linda and another american couple David & anita who are at our table. They are from Washington DC and experienced travellers.

Thhe snow queen