Hello Costa Maya!
Hello Thursday... We are on the back half now! It is always a little sad to be on the tail end of a vacation!
One of the two donut selection areas. There is a crew member helping you get the donuts!
Our morning breakfast- It was yummy!
After breakfast, we went back to the room for Chris to take his medications and for us to get all of our belongings to get off the ship in Costa Maya. It was about 8AM and they were allowing passengers to get off so we opted to go ahead and get off while it was still not too hot. TIP- The walk from the ship to the port is VERY long. The port does offer a shuttle that will take passengers from the to the port FOR FREE but we always walk to try to get in our steps.
We have loved our time on the Allure of the Seas.
She is gorgeous but she is truly a BEAST! SO HUGE!
The Costa Maya port entrance! There are LOTS of little photo prop areas if you have never been!
We have made it to Costa Maya- It's time for our massages!
Another view of the long pier to get to the port area.
Once inside the Costa Maya port area, we immediately walked to the Mayan Ritual Spa. TIP- This is a favorite of ours and we have visited this spa about 4-5 times in the last few cruises. It offers incredibly CHEAP massage that are near full service and right on the beach. We both got the 50 minute Swedish massage for $55/ each. Our massage therapists were great and we should have just asked for the double the time becasue we did not want to leave. The entire excursion PLUS tip was $140 and our winnings at the Casino a few days prior paid for the entire thing.
The Mayan Ritual Healing Spa menu prices.
After our massages, we went to the center of the port area to try and get Wi-Fi and call our kids who were at Chris's parents house in Lubbock. The Wi-Fi didn't work but we were able to use our International calling plan with AT&T to get ahold of Chris's Dad and ask about the kids. They were doing well and having fun on the farm with Gigi, Grandpa and cousins. (Once again, thank you Dan, Jackie and John and Leeanna for hosting them). We then started to make the trek back to the ship as it was brutally hot!
Another view of our home away from home!
The light house in Costa Maya is just gorgeous and makes me feel at home!
Literally the ONLY OTHER SHIP we saw in port at ALL of our ports was Grandeur of the Seas.
She came in from Tampa. We usually see ships and try to guess when we will sail on them... NOT THIS TIME! This is a very old and run down ship in the Royal fleet and I do not see us cruising on her in the future. (near or far)
I am loving the Allure of the Seas!
Once back on board we got changed into our swimsuits and went to the Sports Pool in the Aft of Deck 15. This pool offered shade at this time of the day, which really helped with my sunburn. We stayed in this pool for about 2 hours before going to the Windjammer for another light lunch since we had reservations at Giovanni's for dinner.
We had a great game going... Until the rain hit!
The rain had arrived and it was... well, fun!
We won this game... Maybe I will win next time.
He has won the last 4-5 times.
After our game of mini golf, we ventured into the Infinity Hot Tub on the outskirts of the Solarium. This HUGE hot tub was one of my favorite things on the Liberty of the Seas and I enjoyed it on this cruise as well. However, I believe the placement of this hot tub is TERRIBLE on the Allure of the Seas. This type of amenity was BUILT for adults and on Allure of the Seas it is OUTSIDE of the Solarium and 9 times out of 10, there are MANY kids in these hot tubs. Allure really missed the mark with this one. We enjoyed our time in this hot tub and spent most of the afternoon enjoying the warm temps with minimal kids involved.
Another view of the Boardwalk on the Allure of the Seas.
I really enjoyed this AFT area of Deck 15 overlooking the Boardwalk.
It offers the mini golf, teen hangout area, basketball courts, the Flowrider and so much more!
We are ready to CHILL OUT in the infinity hot-tub before the crowd comes back.
We went to Wipe Out Café around 2:30PM and got just a small plate of nachos and quesadillas to hold us over until our 8:30PM reservation at Giovanni's. TIP- I mentioned it before, but this is one of the best FREE dining venues on the ship and at the top of all our cruise ship experiences. They are open daily with shortened hours while in port! Do not sleep on this one... I'm sure it will impress you like it did us!
We then went back to the room to take showers since we were still drenched from the rain and our hot-tub session. We then took some brief naps before I got up and went to Friends Trivia in the Schooner Bar. This trivia was scheduled at 4PM and I arrived at 3:45PM and there were no seats available. Since Chris was asleep I had to do this one solo and I lost my streak of winning Friends Trivia. I only missed one question but it was enough to lose. (What is the name of the "girl at the copy place" that Ross sleeps with while they were ON A BREAK?- I said Amanda but the answer is KHLOE). I won't miss that one again! I grabbed a drink and then went back to the room before we went to watch sail-away from Deck 5.
As I type this blog, I seriously miss this! I love the calmness of it all. I feel like during the school year it is just "go-go-GO" all the time. I love the casual entrance into dinner time.
I guess I will have to wait for this until February 2024 for our next cruise.
The Blades- Ice Show in Studio B (Deck 3)
Seriously... GO SEE THIS! It is AWESOME!
After the Blades Ice Show we strolled around Central Park and listened to the live music before going to Giovanni's for dinner. TIP- Giovanni's is a classic Italian restaurant featuring very bougie dishes and sides It is offered for lunch and dinner and can be a part of a dining package. Once again, we tried to eat light all day and Chris was still not feeling 100% but we made the most of it.
Giovanni's in Central Park (Midship)
The Giovanni's Menu
One of the only Specialty Dining pictures we took all week.
The Beef Carpaccio- 4.0
This was really good and so very tender!
Crispy Calamari- 5.0
WOW... This was SO GOOD. It tasted SO FRESH and just melted in your mouth.
The Ossobucco- 4.0
This was good but I didn't come here for this dish. In fact, we both kinda just ordered it as a "funny" from The Office.
The meat was very tender and just fell off the bone. It was seasoned very well but the polenta side dish had a very weird texture.
The SPECIAL Pasta made by our waiter- 5.0+
WOW... HOLY MOLY, this was INCREDIBLE! It was similar to a Vodka sauce but so much better. The flavor was just amazing!
Mushroom Risotto- 5.0+
THIS is why I came to Giovanni's. This dish is heavenly and melts in your mouth.
It is easily one of my favorite dishes OF ALL TIME and I just HAVE to get it when on RCCL.
Tiramisu and Cappucinno-4.5
This was a great ending to our meal but I was so stuffed from everything I didn't even finish it!
This dinner was nothing short of spectacular and delicious. Each course that came was even better than the one before. We had met a waiter of Giovanni's on our first night in Vintages and he promised if we came and sat with him he would make us a "one of a kind" pasta dish. Agru came through and delivered a specially made pasta like no other and we devoured it.
After dinner we came back to the room to take Chris's meds and we laid down before going to our 11:30PM comedy show reservations. This comedy show was good but not near as good as ones we have seen in the past, especially on Carnival. TIP- This is really one of the biggest differences in RCCL and Carnival and one of the only categories (in my opinion) that Carnival wins.
After the Comedy Show we went to- take a guess... Schooner Bar to see Iputu and Matthew. Once again, we stayed late and shut the bar down after 1AM. And then despite being stuffed from dinner, we went to get a very late night snack at Sorrento's before they closed at 2AM. It's always fun to eat greasy pizza in the middle of the night!
It was a great day of rest, relaxation and Mayan Massages. We always love Costa Maya and this time was much of the same. Tomorrow is our last port day and a stop in our Caribbean Home- Cozumel, Mexico!
Up Next- Cozumel Mexico
God is Good... ALL THE TIME!
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
