Day 3 of Cruise (11/28/2011): Cozumel, Mexico
Because the room was so dark yesterday morning, we decided to leave the television on while we slept. There’s a radio channel that wasn’t playing intrusive music so we figured it wouldn’t bother us while we were sleeping. Unfortunately, at 5:45 this morning, the TV reset itself and started blaring.
After several failed attempts to fall back asleep, we decided to get ready to go to Cozumel, Mexico. Up until this cruise, my international travels have been limited to a trip to Canada, a cruise to the Bahamas, and a church group trip to the Dominican Republic. We decided to watch the ship dock before heading done to breakfast. When we got up to the Serenity Retreat, our ship was already docked but we did get to watch another cruise ship arrive in the port.
Before we were allowed off the ship, we decided to grab breakfast from the Scarlet Dining Room. We were a little disappointed that it was the same menu as yesterday but the food was still delicious. Instead of the eggs benedict, I tried the French toast with turkey bacon. I also had another half of a red grapefruit. After we ate, we went back to the room to grab our things and get ready to leave the ship.
At 10 AM, we headed down to the gangway on Deck 0 to get in line to get off the ship. We didn’t have any shore excursions planned so we decided to just walk around Cozumel to see what we saw. The shop owners in the port were very unusual and I was not used to their selling tactics at all. I did end up finding a really cute sun dress that I am excited to where next summer. After we wandered around the shops in Puerta Maya, we decided to walk along the main road for awhile. It was a really windy day so we spent most our walk trying not to blown into the road.
After about 2 miles of walking, we reached the downtown area called Punta Lagosta. As we approached the area, I saw something that I never imagined I would see while on vacation. I saw a Starbucks sign!
Of course, my boyfriend and I had to try the coffee just to see what if any were the differences. Our friends were also interested in getting a delicious and refreshing beverages. Surprisingly, the coffee was SO much stronger than we were used. The coffee shop offered different holiday drinks and different pastries than I have ever seen in any Starbucks. After wandering around the shops in this area, we grabbed a taxi that took us back to the ship. We were getting hungry and didn’t really see any place to eat that interested us.
My boyfriend and I both thought it was a bit strange to see a Christmas tree in the port until we remembered that it was almost December! Before getting pack on the ship, we checked out a few more shops.
Once we got back on the ship, it was time for lunch. Our options were limited though because the crew was busy setting up for the dinner service. We still had almost 5 hours before dinner so decided to try the Pizzeria on the Lido Deck. I decided to try the goat cheese, roasted garlic and mushroom pizza. Let’s just say it was as delicious as it sounds!
After lunch, my boyfriend and I decided to head up to the Serenity Retreat to watch the sunset and to watch the ship leave the port. We missed it on the first night and didn’t want to miss it again. It was still really windy outside so the ship didn’t leave when it was supposed to. We ended up leaving Cozumel a little over an hour after we were scheduled to. The extra time waiting for the ship leave meant that I ended up missing the chance to run but we still managed to go to the spa. 
Dinner tonight was all about eating light. Even though we had walked almost 2 miles around Cozumel, I wasn’t very hungry when we got down to the Scarlet Dining Room. For my appetizer, I went with the chilled cucumber soup. I chose the vegetarian option for dinner (baked polenta with a mushroom ragout), which was tasty but I thought the soup was better. My boyfriend and I decided to share the fresh fruit plate and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.
After dinner, we went up to the Burgundy Lounge to see if we could catch the comedy show at 11:00. It was standing room only so we went to the Casino until it was time for the midnight show. The midnight show was being headlined by the other comedian for the first half of the cruise, Joe Bronzi.
Once the show was over, we headed back to our room to go to sleep. It was a long day and we were exhausted! Not to mention tomorrow’s celebration!
Duck or Platypus Towel Animal
