One really nice thing about this cruise itinerary is that after three straight days of excursions we were able to have a full day at sea before returning to port Sunday morning. That last day at sea was a great way to relax, eat, and enjoy our favorite things on the ship one last time before saying goodbye.
Here are a few last pictures to share!
Cade got these giant pass the pigs for Christmas and we had fun playing out on our balcony!
On our last night the dining staff sang and danced for us!
More delicious food pictures! Why won't the boys eat like this at home???
There was a Ben and Jerry's on the Promenade deck, and even though it cost extra, we went a few times! Yum!
Our last picture together!
Back in port
Goodbye Liberty of the Seas! You were awesome!
And my aboslute favorite treasure from the trip is this picture of my boys! The photographer actually captured what they're really like! No fake smiles or grumpy faces, this is what my boys look like when they're actually happy. Yay! What a keepsake.
After two days of excursions, and one of them spent sweating and hiking, we were really looking forward to our time in Cozumel.
Unfortunately, this is what we found when we arrived!
The choppy waters had been causing trouble our whole cruise. Check out this video cade got of the swimming pool one of the evenings.
Some ships didn't even dock in a few of our locations, so we considered ourselves lucky we got to be at our ports at all.
Still, when we found out that all water activities were cancelled for the whole island, it meant we could only do half of our planned excursion. The boys, and the rest of us honestly, were sad that we couldn't snorkel or even sit at a beach and go in the water!!
We decided to go ahead with the other part of our excursion, which was to ride 4-seater Polaris dune buggies through the city and the jungle.
This excursion we booked through Royal Caribbean. We did have a fun time, but we definitely felt rushed and like we were being babysat everywhere we went. One time we had parked for a lunch stop and I left something on the buggy, and when I went to go get it they asked me where I was going, and then followed me to the buggy while I retrieved my item and then walked back with me to the lunch. Not sure what they thought I might do! We were going to complain to the cruise line about the water activities being cancelled, mostly because we didn't find out until we went to check in for our excursion. You would think they would have some way to let us know beforehand. However, they did feed us lunch for free and we still made some memories. Wet and muddy memories!
We got pretty dirty, but the mud is light, so it's hard to tell.
This is where we stopped for lunch. You can see how brown the water was and how much debris was on the beach from strong currents. Snorkeling would've been a bust anyways.
Here are some pictures from around cozumel. Our excursion was later in the morning so we did our exploring and shopping beforehand.
View of the waters from the ship
Parked next to the Harmony of the Seas, another Royal Caribbean ship, much larger than ours, and ours was huge! Look at those water slides!
Too good not to share!
That's one big dragonfly!
While we were shopping, Dan rented a little motorcycle and rode around the island! He even got himself a little coconut for breakfast :)
After three long days of excursions, we were all pretty wiped out. It was time to relax and make our way back home. I'll do one more post with some miscellaneous pictures and thoughts, and then that will be the end of our cruise vacation!!
This was by far our best excursion of the whole cruise. If you're cruising, book through The Native Choice directly and you won't be disappointed. I think the only possible negative is that you did have to walk a ways to get to their office, but after that we were extremely well taken care of.
In Costa Maya we decided that a mayan ruin visit was essential, so we booked a tour that gave us a guided tour and an authentic mayan lunch afterwards.
After a walk through the shops and the city we arrived at The Native Choice office where they had bathrooms and water for us! There were a lot of people waiting for various tours, but it turns out that the rest of our group was from another ship that couldn't dock (the seas were choppy all week!). That meant we got the tour guide, and van all to ourselves. This time it wasn't awkward, it was an added bonus!
As we drove he pointed out various parts of the city and described how much tourism has changed the island. He even had us pull over to the side of the road to get some locally grown pineapple.
Being from San Antonio we were familiar with this, but lots of people put this slightly spicy pepper spice on sweet things, Tajin.
Are your cemeteries this colorful? Think Coco!
Our first stop was at the site of the Chacchoben Ruins. I was surprised with how many ruins there were in one spot! There were a lot of tourists there for the same thing, but our guide did a great job at keeping us apart from larger groups and allowing for some awesome pictures. Alex was particularly excited about seeing something he had studied in elementary school. Very neat.
These trees were literally being strangled by another. They eventually lose the battle.
Steps up to another Mayan Ruin
Banana chips. They tasted like potato chips!
Those spikes will keep my kids from climbing! :)
After hiking around in the heat, we were hungry! It's hard to say which part of the excursion was our favorite- seeing something ancient like that, or eating a meal handmade just for us!
A local Mayan family works with A Native Choice to give us a unique glimpse into their way of life and cooking. When we arrived at their house we were given a tour of the grounds which had a nice garden.
Pineapples!
The boys had apparently never had a plantain before
Cotton!
Afterwards we did our best at making our own tortillas while our guide made a filling that he made fresh with a mortar and pestle right in front of us. It was fun attempting to make tortillas!They had the dough portioned for us and we flattened it out, and then the lady fixed them for us so they'd be edible, lol.
That was just a snack! Then it was time to eat the lunch that the staff of ladies had prepared for us. Every single bit of it was delicious, and there was plenty for everyone. My favorite were the tamales that had been wrapped in banana leaves, and the empanadas with these delicious onions on top.
Look at all that food!
Table set just for us
And I just had to keep documenting Cade eating food that he wouldn't normally eat! His lunch plate is mostly empty and he's eating the delicious flan dessert!
Here's a better look at what they served. Chicken, tamales, rice and beans, emapanadas and veggies!
And don't forget your dessert flan!
After lunch we made the drive back to the port, and most of us fell asleep. We had plenty of time to explore and shop a bit before boarding the ship. Unfortunately right when the boys and I decided to head back to the ship we got caught in a downpour. The rest of the group could run into a shop to stay dry, but we were out on the pier with the rain going sideways! Good thing we were about to shower and change anyways!
Half of him is wet!
Right in the shopping area there was apparently some wildlife present. I totally missed this, but Kevin and the boys didn't!
The ports are always busy trying to take your money!
