COSTA MAYA: 7-2PM

We knew that during the entire cruise it had been calling for sunshine in Costa Maya and we were looking forward to a nice sunny port day finally. I just hated that Carnival only stays here until 2pm. I have never really understood why Carnival does this. I mean they are no different than NCL and have the same distance to "drive back" to the port so what gives??? It's such a waste. I love this port.

Arriving at 7am meant we would be getting up early if we wanted to make the most of the day here. However, we really didn't have anything planned. We (Kendra and I) looked for something interesting to do here and I attempted to find a new place to visit, but wasn't getting the response I was looking for. Someone had mentioned a fairly new place called Shipwreck'd and I was going to check them out. My only concern was the water (looked like most of the other beach clubs with murky brown water and lots of seaweed) and that I had read their snorkeling was a little ways out. I emailed them with no answer. I finally messaged them on the social media site. I finally received a generic answer, which really didn't answer my questions. After messaging them back and telling them who I was and about my reviews (and the possibility of bringing more cruisers there for business with a review because I haven't seen anyone here yet or a review) they messaged me back with...............another generic response. Well, I like someone that answers my questions with a personal response. Let me know that you read it! Let me know you want my business! Show your potential customers you care! I didn't get that.

So...back to Blue Kay we would go. Blue Kay was pretty much unknown to the cruisers when we first went there and although it is located on the Malecon, it is so different than the other little beach clubs around there. It feels more secluded, it's a huge beach, the snorkeling is actually pretty good and in fairly shallow water, the water isn't murky brown even though there is sea grass in the area here and there. The service was friendly and the food was good. We just really enjoyed our day there last time that I knew I wanted to return again.

I set the alarm for 6am and went outside to check things out. It was still dark. It's always weird when this happens and I feel like I should still be in bed!

I remember last time we were here with Carnival and it was 7am, we actually got off the ship and it was still dark out. It was very weird to do this and honestly I don't like it much.

We all headed to the buffet for breakfast and I got my usual.

We were just a few days away from returning home and for some reason I decided to check the weather back home. I guess I wanted to remind myself that even though we had rain and "some" crappy weather on the cruise, it was still better than being home.

It started to lighten up a bit.

Once again, Kendra told us to meet her in the casino. When we arrived, I didn't see her. Is this going to be another mixed up day? Could she be waiting on deck 6 again? Nope, she was just being her normal slow self.

She told me that I needed to see the pool deck and we slipped off without everyone else noticing. There were towel animals on every chair and around the pool. I love when Carnival does this. I guess the chair hogs are out in full force this morning.

Kendra has found a new love:

Once again, there was no announcement that the ship has cleared and we were able to get off.

Hmmm, something looks different ?????

There's a lot of brown...why do I not remember it looking like this in the past?

My notes say we got off the ship at 9am. Did we really wait that long to get off? I'm not really sure.

We were able to get our port pictures done-in the daylight, so I guess that's a good thing.

Coming down the port dock, it was still looking really weird to me. My husband actually said "are you sure we have been here before?" He just didn't remember any of it and then ask "Are we at a different port in Costa Maya?" There are no other ports in Costa Maya I assured him.

Yea, I'm thinking things have changed since we were here last. None of this is familiar to us.

None of this was here last time

There's the people dressed up that Kendra likes to get her pictures taken with.

We waited our turn and decided all to get in the pictures together. They take your camera and take pictures for you with it and you just tip them.

I had no idea Sakari did this...

I really like what they have done with the place. It looks so different.

You are going to get comparisons from here on out because the change in this port just blew me away! I could not believe the difference since we were here last in 2013.

This used to be the entrance. None of the props, bar and so on was here last time. The color scheme was different too. Before it was like stucco at the entrance and now it's like metal.

Before:

Now:

The "streets" looked a little fuller than it did before and more lush.

Last time we were here, everything was so colorful from bright yellows to reds to blue and pink. Now everything was more rustic looking.

Here is what the tower used to look like:

Now it looks like this:

What a big difference!

Eeevvveryyy thing had changed. It didn't even look like the same port anymore. When did they do this renovation? Why did they do it? Did a hurricane destroy it or something? I would never get a straight answer from anyone. When I asked people there, the taxi driver and even the people at Blue Kay, they told me 2007. LOL...not. I wasn't even cruising in 2007 and the last time I was there was 2014 and it looked way different. I have pictures to prove it...trust me. Then at one point someone said they redid it around 2012. Nope, try again. I DID NOT look like this the last time I was here in 2014. How can the people that live there not know when the change occurred?

It was absolutely gorgeous. The only way to describe it is that it reminded me of something you would see at a place like Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. I felt like I was walking onto a movie scene and some dinosaurs were going to come out at any given moment.

Then there were these wooden swinging type bridges everywhere. What they heck was that? Where did it go? What was it for? It looked like we were in the jungle. Where are the raptors?

I noticed they kept the alligator head and used it a different way as a prop.

We always get a picture of the alligator head eating Sakari.

They have added a fish spa. Oh how I really want to do that. I have only seen one in Cozumel at Mr Sanchos before. But there just wasn't enough time today.

More buildings that looked like cages above. I wonder what is in there.

Circling around to the pool area. Even it had changed. They now had some type of waterfall in the pool.

The building used to be red. There was no water fall.

There was now a huge bridge going directly over top of the pool.

No bridge before.

There were old trucks sitting everywhere as props.

Before, there was a sidewalk from shop to shop. There was only a small area around the pool that had some packed sand and beach chairs.

Before:

Now sand was what you walked in around the stores.

This used to be the exit out of the port compound. But now it was closed off and has a truck there. I started wondering if they have locked us in and we were now trapped under their spell.

What is used to look like:

Then we came across this...flamingos? At the port?

And birds too.

Ah ha! This is what all of the bridges and buildings on top of the buildings was.

I believe I over heard someone say you had to pay to go up and it was $10pp. That's pretty expensive if you think about it. We were a family of 7, so $70 for us to walk up and play chutes and ladders just to see birds and stuff? Although I would have loved to take Sakari because she's such a bird lover, we were on a mission to get to Blue Kay.

This was the bird house and entrance.

Ok, so how the heck you get out of here now? The entrances/exit that was right there is no longer there. Everything was blocked off. Then I found a sign. "Shuttle to Town". Great. It was actually going in the wrong direction. It was taking us toward the water area, which is opposite of where we needed to go. This is weird.

This area is along the water. They have a wooden sidewalk and shops along there. I have no idea if there was anything back there before because I never walked back in that area other than to view the dolphin swimming area.

There were shops up and down this area. Of course every cruise compound you are forced to walk by every shop along the way while you just try to get out of there.

Outside the restroom...these are the wash sinks. How cute.

Everything was so pretty here now.

We circled around and we were almost out of the compound.

WE MADE IT! We finally escaped Jurassic Park. The shuttles were lined up to take people to the Malecon but we knew from reading the boards that they will take you where they want to take you and probably where they get a kick back from the beach/restaurant owners to bring people there. We were going down the street to get our own cab and go directly where we wanted to.

Outside the compound there is a sidewalk that is right down the middle of the street.

There's even area's with some shade, which makes it nice on a hot day.

We didn't have to walk as far as we did last time we caught a taxi outside the compound. I was glad for that.

We found some taxi's on the side of the road and told them where we were going and piled in.

Off we went.

Ok, so maybe my timing was off about the time we got off the ship because I just found a picture I took of my watch when we got arrived at Blue Kay and it was 9:05am. So maybe we got off the ship at 8am.

It was a 6 minute ride to Blue Kay. Super easy. Super quick. They pulled all the way into the parking lot and dropped us off.

To read my full review of beautiful Blue Kay, click the following link:

We had a great day at Blue Kay and the snorkeling was amazing.

We were in the taxi at 12:55pm and on our way back to the port. During our 6 minute ride back...when encountered this...

They were coming up from our side of the road off a beaten path. This path would require them to go up a slight hill and onto the street. They did it individually and sort of shaky as well. Then they would line up in the middle of the road. We waited and waited for each one to get up the hill, cross the road and assume their position in line.

Our 6 minute ride back to the port was a little longer this time to say the least. You know how everyone always says to allow plenty of time to return to port in other ports because you never know if there's construction or an accident or something? No one told me to leave early in this particular port because what could possibly hold you up here? Well, now we know!

Back to this beautiful port again...

They do have an area with lockers:

This port is just gorgeous now!

I'm telling ya, it has a Jurassic park feel to it.

I really would like to spend some time here at the port some time in the future. It really does look like a great place to hang out. Maybe next time we come it will be with NCL and they will stay longer and we can spend a half a day here and check out the bird aviary and bridges and everything else there. I know it's a tourist trap and probably pretty expensive, but they have done a really good job at enticing someone to come here and stay.

For some reason, they had the orange dividers up and down the walk way this time. I guess to help direct traffic? Do they not have the people movers that they used to have here that was like a train on wheels? I did not see them at all today.

We were back on the ship at 1:20pm and decided to head straight to the water slides for some more fun...since we were already wet and this day was still early.

Oh yea, it was time for some water park fun! We even managed to get Billy out there on the slides.

The hubby hung out in the shade most of the day. He claimed he had had enough water for the day. Psshh, there's no such thing in my book.

Kendra and Billy headed up to the top. We would all rotate going down each slide over and over while the other would watch Kam.

When we first took B on his first cruise, it would be the last sea day that he finally decided to go down the little munchkin slide. I made a comment that it would probably be the same way for Kam. Well, she beat his record and went today FINALLY! Then you couldn't get her off of them! Over and over and over.

She no longer cared about the water in her eyes. Big girl status!

Sakari easily adapts to any situation, big or small, any age. She obviously can hang with the big kids and do everything they do and also with the little kids. She don't care and she's easy to please and more than willing to play with a 3 year old if that makes her happy and not cry for Kendra.

I ran down stairs to get a pop from the bar, but some how ended up with these. I'm not sure how I ended up with a plate in my hand from the opposite side of the pool deck. wink wink

B decided to join in on the fun, only Kam really only wanted to go down the slides racing Sakari. You know, that brother sister sibling love-hate relationship.

The sun was starting to set.

We stayed at the water park until 5:25pm and decided to pack up and head back to the room for showers and dinner.

I wanted to go to the MDR again. I'm trying to get the hang of this, but I knew from our previous experience that we would need at least a party of 3 right? I ask Sakari if she wanted to go to the kids dinner or with us and to my surprise, she wanted to go with us. Great! Perfect!

Kendra had other ideas. She wanted to get family pictures and had brought dress clothes for everyone. So, that's what she would be doing.

However, Kam was not having it. She didn't want her picture taken and Kendra said that they were trying to get pictures of just Kam and B and remember that love-hate relationship? Well the photographer tried to get her to sit on B's leg and then again to hug. She wasn't having it. AT ALL!

Kendra had to jump in and try to save the photo...she still wasn't impressed. Kendra went back and forth about whether or not she wanted to even buy this one and only picture she got with Kam in it. I told her to do it...years later she would be able to look back on it and show Kam how their first picture session turned out and laugh.

So it would be a night of just the guys getting 2 pictures taken.

Meanwhile...we arrived at the MDR at 6:15pm and was seated. I must have been so hungry that I completely forgot to take pictures of the menu.

We ordered at 6:33 and our starters came out at 6:37.

Our main dish arrived 7:03

The waiters came out and started dancing. I have heard about the dancing waiters on every cruise but have never seen them. I can honestly say that they looked like they were having a good time during the song, there was really no routine and the guys on the tables...well I'm sure their previous life involved a stage and possibly a pole.

After the "show" there was a magician that walked up to the table and I thought they were going to show Sakari some magic tricks. Instead they went to the table next to us to an "older" couple who seemed less than enthused about the card "tricks" he was doing. They couldn't even remember the card they picked. I sighed like really? You know a kid would have enjoyed that more!

At 7:26pm I ordered desert and decided to get the chocolate melting cake and hubby got the cheese platter.

After eating, Sakari agreed to go to the kids club. She knew that since she didn't have to eat with the kids, then she wouldn't get stuck going to the "baby" club with Kam. However, she didn't realize that Kam wasn't even there to begin with.

On the way to the kids club, there was a couple that was wearing an outfit that had Carnival pins all over it. I inquired about the pins and he proudly announced that he was a "diamond" member, which I'm not even sure how many cruises that means but I do know diamonds are a girls best friend so therefore it sounded pretty darn impressive to me from the get-go, and that he had over 300 days of cruising with Carnival. I did mention to him that I was staying down the hall from a couple that had a sign that said over 60 cruises. He was impressed with that. So, I started immediately calculating a cruise of 7 days and he had done 300 days...that's about 40+ cruises under his belt...or suspenders I should say. Very nice. I have about 20 to go to catch up. (Of course not with Carnival but just in general). Actually Sakari has about 22 or so to catch up. I think she'll be able to achieve that goal in about 7-8 years at the age of 16 or 17 years old. #lifegoals #iwanttobemychild

We headed to the comedy club after dropping the munchkin off. Tonight was a guy that they said was on t.v. in the past...possibly desperate housewives, but I was a dedicated viewer of that show and I don't remember him at all.

After the show, we headed to the casino for about 30 minutes to donate some money and I just wasn't feeling it so we left and picked up Sakari early.

We headed to pixels to find our photos to put in our file and then off for a little bit of shopping. I managed to buy a tee shirt with Carnival Magic on it (as I do with ever ship we sail) and some magnets that that said Cozumel on them and was a Christmas ornament. I desperately tried to find something to buy in Costa Maya to bring home for some of my patients, but nothing really struck me. So, I figured I would buy these and just fake it that they were "bought in Cozumel where I hand picked the sand dollar and had a lady on the beach paint them and make them into an ornament for me while I frolicked in the ocean while waiting". Good one yes? They believe it, trust me.

They were also setting up tables and putting out other tee shirts on them and when we went to go look, they told us NO because they were shirts that would be for sale the following night. It was the discount clearance gotta make room for the same tee shirts for next weeks discount clearance shirts sale.

I ended up buying two of them I really liked the following night. 2 for $10. I'll go ahead and show you the picks now since I decided to take a picture of all 3 shirts together for this review.

When we returned to our suite, Sakari had a dinosaur with a flower butt.

I showered because I was a little cold for some reason and we watched a movie and went to bed. 💤