Thursday, July 21, 2022

Vacation, Vaccination, Vista-Nation- Cozumel

 Pier Runners
Cozumel, Mexico 
Thursday, July 7, 2022 

Morning
Our bodies were tired and we woke up much later, shortly after 8AM. As we got up and got ready we heard the announcement that the ship had been all cleared from Mexico customs and we knew everyone would be heading down to the gangway to get off the ship. We checked in on the Hub App for our Port Breakfast and by the time we got to the MDR, our table was ready! This proved to be the BEST change post-pandemic in our opinion. 

This is what we woke up to... The beautiful Allure of the Seas! 


The Carnival Vista was parked in spot #3 from the Puerta Maya terminal. 

Once again Port Breakfast did not disappoint with the variety in the menu and while the service was slower, it is still better than fighting 1K+ people at the Lido Buffet, in our opinion. After breakfast we went back to the Tides Bar and Pool in the aft to enjoy some more pool and hot tub time. There were a few more people but so much better than a day at sea. 


As each day of the cruise passes, I realize I am going to lose having these amazing omelets at home and that makes me so sad! 

We stayed at the Tides Bar and Pool area until about 11AM and then we decided to get off the ship earlier than we planned to explore the port, do some shopping and contact the kids via WiFi. This proved to be a good idea as we didn't need too much time in port and this allowed us to get off and back on before any of the crowds since the Vista was in port from 8AM-4PM. 

Once in Cozumel, we did some shopping at the duty free shops and then found WIFI and contacted the kids as much as we could. We were also able to see the Allure of the Seas parked at the International Terminal, next door to ours. This was a sign as we love to try and guess which ship we will be on next. I am thinking we need to book the Allure for our Spring Break #1 in February 2023! 


Hello Cozumel Puerta Maya terminal! 


The Carnival Horizon (Vista class) parked in spot #2


We will be on her soon... Just don't know how soon! 
The Allure of the Seas comes to Galveston in November 2022 when the Port of Galveston opens up terminal #3 (The Royal Caribbean terminal). That will completely change the Galveston cruising scene! 


There she is... Our beautiful ship and home away from home, the Carnival Vista! 

We were only in port for about an hour before we got back on the ship and went and got lunch on this ship. It was SO VERY HOT and we were just dying!  

Cozumel is becoming our Caribbean home away from home... This will have been our 14 or 15th trip!


I seriously LOVE the marketing the Mexico stores and government have taken here! 
You cannot say we didn't warn you... 


Our actually balcony cabin #2349. This was the BEST location! 

Afternoon
For lunch I tried the Blue Iguana burritos as they have been a favorite of mine in the past and Chris went to, wait for it... Mongolian Wok! After lunch we changed and then got back in the pool one last time as we knew the next day would be packed as we made our way back to Galveston. We stayed in the pool for about 2 more hours before it just became TOO CROWDED for us. We then went back to the room and showered and then took a brief nap before watching sail away form our balcony. 

The sail away proved to be the most entertaining we have seen in a while. I mentioned in previous posts that Carnival will wait for excursions sponsored by Carnival but they will only wait a short time for passengers not with Carnival. The all-aboard time was 3:30PM and around 3PM, Kyndall Fire and her FunSquad crew came out to the pier and had a party and the hoards of people got in line to board the ship. TIP- Kyndall Fire and her crew were just incredible. They were so personable with everyone and SO MUCH FUN! I loved watching it all from our 2nd deck cove balcony! 


Kyndall Fire and the FunSquad having FUN on the pier! 


It's almost time for sailaway! 

At 3:35PM, Kyndall yelled on her portable speaker microphone "You are late. Let's go" and then packed up her stuff and got back on the ship. There was still about 200-300 people in line to get on board. Little did we know that we will were waiting on 30-40 more passengers beyond those 200+ in line. The officers got off the ship and started to walk to the port entrance to tell the Mexican authorities about the missing passengers. All of the sudden a group of about 8 came running down the pier. We thought that was it... NOPE! 


Kyndall and her crew packing up and getting on the ship at 3:30pm! 

That same thing happened about 3 more times. Around 4:05PM we finally heard an officer say there were still 6 more people out there we were waiting on. The workers had already pulled up the gangway and we really wanted to see us push off the dock, when here came yet another group of pier runners. We later learned that about 16 of the 30 we were waiting on were on a CARNIVAL excursion but the rest were just drunk and stupid. Some running with kids in tow as well. C'mon parents... Get back to the ship on time! It was so aggravating but entertaining at the same time!


This was the most entertaining sail away (all aboard) we have ever experienced! I am so glad we got to see it all from our cove balcony! 

The Carnival Vista finally pushed off the dock back towards Texas at 4:21PM. It was a beautiful sail away and I am so very grateful we had the cove balcony to see it all! We showered and got ready for the evening and then went to Red Frog Pub for more wings and sliders. TIP- The other guest we spoke to earlier in the cruise was right... THESE WINGS ARE AWESOME! 


A view of the Puerta Maya and International cruise terminals in Cozumel as we pushed back off the pier. 


The Allure of the Seas
TIP- The Oasis class ships of Royal Caribbean offer the BOARDWALK which has ocean view AND boardwalk (or central park) balcony cabins. These cabins pictured above are wrap around Aqua suite cabins and run about $6K+ per person, per cruise... And that is during OFF SEASON! #GOALS

Allure of the Seas in Cozumel


The sliders from the Red Frog Pub 

After our afternoon snack we went and got a coffee and then did some on board shopping for ourselves and our kiddos before meeting up in the Atrium Bar. We enjoyed the live music in the Atrium before going to the comedy show in the Liquid Lounge. 


Passing by Cancun about an hour after sail away! 

Evening
There was not a main show on this night but the entertainment focused on comedy and there was a large show in the Liquid Lounge. As we arrived we saw our same raised seats in front of the bar open so we sat down. In fact, we sat down right beside one of the comedians. Chris was able to talk to him for about 10 minutes before he left to get ready for his opening show. Chris left to use the restroom and as he came back, he began to sit down in the same wobbly barstool we had sat on all week... AND IT BROKE! He fell backwards and the bar stool broke. The whole auditorium turned around and Kyndall Fire and many other workers came to check on Chris. Within 2 minutes there was a safety officer there to inspect it all and check on Chris. It was WILD. Chris wasn't even embarrassed by it all until he realized every single comedian on the ship was at the bar and watched it all. We ended up moving to a booth nearby for the show but I am sure Chris was a joke (or two) on the following cruise! Like I have said many times before...Never a dull moment with Chris Davis! 

After our excitement in the Liquid Lounge, we made our way to our late seating dinner in the MDR. Once again, our drinks and special requests were waiting for us and before we could even get seated, Ricky was taking our order and his staff was working hard to get us in and out of the MDR. WE LOVED THIS WAIT STAFF... perhaps one of our best ever! 

After dinner we went back to the Liquid Lounge for the adult comedy show with the same 2 comedians. These shows are always hit or miss... You can have a really funny comedian but very vulgar or worse. These two were not vulgar but also just not funny. The comedy shows were definitely a "Miss" for this cruise. Maybe the next set on the Breeze will be better. 

Then we went to the 80s Mega Deck party on the Lido deck with Kyndall Fire. We opted to be in the balcony section on Deck 11 overlooking all the dancing since last time it was a little too crowded for our comfort. This was a GREAT option as we were still able to see it all and sing along but not get too hot, sweaty and crowded. Kyndall Fire, the Cruise Director, and her FunSquad did a GREAT job with this party and had a GREAT time. 


The 80s party view from our Deck 11 standing room. 


Kyndall and her team were SO MUCH FUN! 


Kyndall did the traditional Dirty Dancing production in a slightly different way but we absolutely LOVED it! 

The 80s Deck Party ended with the most epic sing along ever! 

We ended the evening at the Red Frog Pub. The waitstaff here was great and we loved getting to talk to them about their contracts and their families at home. Unfortunately, many of the workers on the cruise ships are having their contracts go well beyond the typical 7 months due to being short staffed. One of the waiters in RFP was in his 10th month on the ship... I do not care who you are, THAT IS TOO LONG! Thank you so much for your service! We shut the bar down around 12:30PM and went back to our room. 

We love Cozumel and even though we didn't go to the beach this time, we loved getting to explore the port and enjoy more time onboard. 

Up next... Our LAST sea day! 

 Thanks again for following along! 

God is Good... ALL THE TIME!  

Click on a link to see our past cruising adventures:
Enchantment of the Seas- February 2020


 



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