I Belize in MAGIC! MITSUGIRLY revisits the Western Route. My Novel.
Day 7: Costa Maya, Mexico
COSTA MAYA Day 6 on the ship: 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:
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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:
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​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.
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Everything was so pretty here now.
Outside the restroom...these are the wash sinks. How cute.
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.
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​We had arrived and it was beautiful out!
Things had changed a little. I definitely didn't remember these weird looking chairs. Who could sit in them? They are so low to the ground, compared to the table, that you wouldn't be able to reach if you were trying to eat. They would probably make good sunning chairs though. But after going back to look at my old photos, I guess they were there and I didn't notice them.
Along the malecon, there were little cabana's for people to rent (2014):
Now they have like a huge "hotel/apartment" type of building there. He said they had just completed it this year.
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​I think I liked the way they looked before.
The restaurant/bar area is still the same and they still had the swings up at the bar. So it the bathroom.
And once again...no toilet paper in the toilet.
Last time we were there, they had lockers to put your things in and lock up. Now, it has been replaced with a cooler for drinks.
Before: (I'm not sure if they moved these to somewhere else or not).
There used to be a little hut that you rented bicycles at, which looked like this:
Now, they had a place to sell things instead:
The grounds are still gorgeous of course.
I don't recall seeing huge tables and chairs last time. This is nice. Nothing better than eating lunch under a palm tree on the beach while listening to the ocean.
Some of the palm trees looked as if they had seen better days. These chairs are a little nicer.
Now time to take a look around the grounds again. I feel as if there was a storm or hurricane that might have hit at some point recently.
Now maybe it was just me this time...but I swear there were a lot more palm trees everywhere. I remember it being pretty full and lush on the grounds in front of the beach. If you look at the picture above, it doesn't seem too full right?
Here's pictures from 2014 where it appears to have more trees (and bigger):
I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I just swear I remember a lot more trees and a lot more shade the last time.
See how open this appears? Here another shot of the hotel area they just built. Is it possible they were trying to give them a view of the ocean and removed some of the trees?
There was a long palapa type of building built and it had some long tables under it. There was a huge family sitting under there and they had music with speakers playing and a lot of food. Think family reunion type of setting. I didn't want to disturb their area or for it to appear as if I was taking pictures of them so I just snapped as I walked by toward the end of it.
Now, does anyone remember my story about the boat of Cubans that washed up on the shore of Blue Kay right before we had came there in 2014? Well if you don't it was a boat that was built out of various materials, including car parts and it reeked of gasoline. They had built the boat from scratch and escaped Cuba. They were out in the ocean for 9 days and 2 days of that they were just drifting around without food or water. Blue Kay is where they drifted too. The boss gave them food and water (and actually employed 2 of them) after they arrived and were hiding out.
Here's the boat when it arrived at BK:
This is what they decided to do with the boat after cleaning it up. It's now part of the landscaping.
Heading down toward the end of the beach:
It's nice down here and you would probably be about 99% away from the crowd, but I didn't see any chairs down this way except for one that looked like it actually belonged to someone. Maybe people that are staying there? There appears to be a lot more shade here as well.
Our Magic off in the distance.
Such a beautiful place!
These hammocks are new. However, I'm not sure they are for "anyone" to use. I watched these people get in the hammocks and soon after someone that looked like possibly someone who worked there came over and said something to them and they got out and walked away. Maybe they are for rent or possibly only for the guests that stay there.
There's those hard wooden slat chairs that everyone complained about. No worries, they come with cushions now!
Ok, let's talk about this area along the beach.
When we arrived I felt as though something had changed a bit. I didn't remember it being quite like this. We stayed toward the end of the beach and under some palm trees and there were a few "landscaped areas" in front of us but yet we could still see the beach and Sakari playing in the water.
This was our view previously....
Now, this would be our view:
This is the area, tucked behind the trees and a rope looking at it from the beach and the beach
To the right of there, it was pretty open.
When I ask about this area, the ropes, the "different" chairs along the front of the beach, I was told that they had "sold out" or "rented" that area to the beach club next door. GASP! So that now meant that if you are at Blue Kay and in this particular area, you get second row seating and not actually on the beach. I thought that was real crappy. However, no worries, you can always move down more and get beach front property if you need it. Which would be this area...
Both of the areas together:
Who knows, buy renting or selling off that beach front property, that might have gave them the money they needed to build their new hotel area. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
So...let's start with the review of our day there.
When we arrived, we immediately went to the chairs shown in the picture with the rope in front of it. There was a chair for everyone there and it was in the shade and we just came to that place first...so that's where we decided to sit. It was in the area that we had sat in the first time and we had no idea what the rope meant or the chairs in front of it aligned along the beach where. But they guys wanted shade, so it was the perfect place.
Of course we put our things down and the kids headed out to the water. The guys headed up to the bar for some drinks and us girls just sat there relaxing. It wasn't long before a guy, with very poor English, showed up and said $7 pp. So I started attempting to talk to him about their pricing. I explained who I was and being on cc and that there is a lot of confusion about their pricing these days. I told him that when I came here last, it was free and you just had to purchase food & drink. Then people started reporting it was $5 with a free drink. Then I told him how others would report it was $6 and some would come back and say nothing was charged. This is very confusing to people and the inconsistency is a turn off. He was having a bit of difficulty determining what to charge from what I could tell. He said "well, sometimes we charge $6 and sometimes we charge $7". Um ok, so how are people supposed to know the charges? You can't just charge some one amount and others another amount. He said he was going to go get his manager.
A guy came back, named Robert, that was very nice. I explained the situation to him like I had to the other guy. We talked for awhile and he told us it would be no problem to stay there and not to worry about it. I ask if he was the owner and he said no that he actually owned another beach club down the malecon, but it was being remodeled and moved at the moment so he was working here (I believe as a manager or something). He was from Germany and seemed to be an asset to Blue Kay because he spoke different languages, with one of them being English and he could translate to the staff. I did ask him about his beach club and took a picture of his shirt and told him I would look him up the next time we were in Costa Maya and if they were open, we'd check them out (and I wasn't lying...I will).
I did look them up online when I got home and it looks like a very nice place.
Before long, the "owner" (I guess but not 100% sure) came over (it was a lady) and introduced herself. I guess the original guy (server?) went and got her. Once again, I had to explain myself, who I was, where I was from and the confusion on the boards. Yes, I threw in the reviews that I do and that I was one of the originals that came here right after they changed their name from Blue Bay to Blue Kay before anyone knew of this place. I did tell her that I have brought plenty of people here from the boards thanks to my reviews and I was here to check out any changes and get answers for those on the boards and of course do another extensive review.
So, the information that I gathered was cruisers are charged either $6 or $7 depending on the season and how busy they are. That's the difference in price. So, what she told me what the with that $7, you get a $2 mat for the chair. So, that brings you down to the original $5 that people reported awhile back as a price (after it was no longer free). They do not charge for kids. So, then you have $5 left over. She said that is applied to your bill of food or drinks. So, basically it's free people...they just want you to eat and drink there...just like we did the first time when they didn't have a charge. The only thing you are really paying is the $2 for the blue mat for the chairs.
I just want to say that I personally think they are totally justified for this charge. When I first came here in 2014, they didn't charge anything. But they are like any other beach club, they are there to make money to stay in business, keep their beach beautiful, make improvements and so on. They do expect you to spend money there. Why wouldn't they? I remember after I did my original review, a lot of people started talking about going there and getting excited about how beautiful it was. BUT...I also remember people coming back (not a lot but some) that gave their mini-review of their stay there and it went something like this...."loved Blue Kay and it was so beautiful there and loved the beach...blah blah blah and we used their lockers and took a walk down the malecon and then we had lunch at _____________" ARE YOU SERIOUS??? That is just RUDE! You use their facilities at Blue Kay, you're using the beautiful beach and probably used their restrooms and such...then you went down the malecon and ate somewhere else? Like that's totally unacceptable in my book. I don't blame BK for coming up with a "fee" to offset this. It's because of people that probably did exactly what other cruisers posted they did that we now have a fee. The $5 is nothing! Spend your money with this place if you are staying there and using their facilities and beach. Plain and simple. Their service is good, their food is good and they are friendly. Why go somewhere else if you decided to come here? I just don't get it. #rantover
Anyhow, the owner told us not to worry about paying the $7. I wasn't looking for a handout or freebie, I was just looking for answers. They told us about changes, new stuff/building, sell off of the beach front, talked about the Cuban boat and so on. We paid for our beach mats and between the 7 of us...spent a good amount of cash there, which is exactly what they want. I would never go some place for free and not spend some money there. Just like when we went to The Money Bar. Although we didn't plan to eat there, we did drink a lot between the 7 of us (in both alcohol and pop).
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Ok...so back to the review!
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Kendra and I decided that it was time to snorkel. We really didn't have a lot of time here so we needed to get moving.
Sakari decided that she didn't want to go out with us and said she was snorkeling on her own and ran off with her camera in hand. Well then...fine. She's just growing up so quickly.
So here are Sakari's snorkeling pictures she took right up close to the beach.
She always manages to see things I don't....but guess what I would see things she didn't get to see....until I showed her that is.
That was a pretty big lobster!
A lionfish...she was excited. Look a picture of this lionfish...did anyone notice this HUGE fish on the right side of the picture? I just noticed it and Sakari just told me that while she was taking this picture of the lionfish, that big fish swam up and gulped the smaller fish in the picture beside the lionfish, ate it and took off. I didn't even see that fish in the picture until now!
Oh my gosh!! Do you see the candy cane shrimp? I didn't even notice that until looking at the picture right now when posting it. How cool. I have never seen one of those either! Also, look in the hole...there's a lobster poking out. See his antennas?
Off I went after getting tired of waiting on Kendra to come. Of course she was attempting to sneak away from Kam. Ugh. I guess this is where we are different. I don't sneak away from anyone...if I wanna go, I go. I tell my kid I'm going and to stay with daddy. Like it or not and you won't cry about it or follow me. LOL I don't play those games. Maybe that's why Sakari is so well behaved and structured.
Out I went. There was just too much to see to be wasting time on waiting around. I headed to the sea grass area in hopes to find goodies such as a starfish or something.
For those that don't like the sea grass, think again, you never know what goodies you might find in these areas...such as starfish, turtles, lobster, octopus and so on. I always check them out. Sea grass is not a bad thing!
I seen lots of fish along the way and they were a pretty good size too.
Every so often I would check to see if Kendra got away.
Yep, looks like Kendra is sneaking off. Wait, no, false alarm, Kam busted her and she's walking back. Ok, continuing on.
Aww a Goby. I love Gobies. They have the neatest personality and look like they are frowning all the time. I have one in each tank of mine at home and it's funny how I have never noticed them when snorkeling before and this time I would see them.
Of course, just like before...not far from the beach and you can still stand up of course. But...I did spot Kendra coming for sure this time around.
I motioned her to COME!!! I told her there's a stingray down here.
I motioned her to COME!!! I told her there's a stingray down here.
Everywhere you look...stingrays. These are the same type of stingrays that they had at Maya Chan when we went. The are really small and have beautiful markings. I think they are called yellow stingrays, but I'm not sure.
I really couldn't believe how many there was in the area. I had never seen anything like it before.
There were plenty of damsels in the area as well.
Kendra spotted a fireworm...she's really good at spotting things.
Anyone who says there's nothing to see at this place is crazy. Is it Roatan? No. But there is PLENTY here to see...both coral and fish and sea life. I just love snorkeling this place. It is honestly probably one of the easiest places ever to snorkel. The water is very calm because it's protected due to the rocks that run parallel to the beach. It's very shallow and at any time you can stand up. It makes for a great beginner area for kids as well. Great family place to snorkel.
Tons of Slippery Dick Wrasse in the area
I spotted some pretty nice sized banded butterfly fish.
See how shallow the water is? Super easy snorkeling.
Then Kendra motions me over and starts pointing...
Um ok, it's a hole. I see. But what am I looking for? She kept pointing. Every once in awhile you'd see a head pop out. It was an eel. I tried so hard to get a good picture but any time I got close, it would back deeper into the hole. It's right below my name in both pictures. How is it she is just so good at spotting things?
​Blue head wrasse
There seriously is a lot of nice coral here!
Look at how many fish are here in the area. Lots of blue striped grunts.
And then I spotted it...the BIGGEST lionfish I think I have ever seen. I tried and tried to get a good picture of it, but it was just too far in the rocks/hole. Like the pictures don't even begin to show the massive size of this thing. I have seen some really big ones in the fish store before, but this thing takes the cake. I tried pictures with the flash, pictures without the flash, and video and nothing could capture this fish! UGH
The lighthouse off in the distance.
Barracuda lurking in the distance. One thing that I noticed the last time I was here is that there were a lot of barracuda's all the way out by the rocks and this time would be no different.
I think these little "trees" are so cute. I bought a couple for my reef tank and some of them remind me of a broom.
Still, look at the water level. It's not deep at all. We are swimming parallel to the beach and all the way out by the rocks.
Finally! Some Christmas tree feather dusters! I usually see a bunch of these everywhere we go but not so much this time around. They are my favorite!
And it's just not snorkeling unless you find a conch.
Then Kendra starts flagging me down....LQQK! Squid!
I have seen a lot of squid before, but one of these had the longest snout ever. Is that a snout? What would you call it? I guess it's a beak. He must have been a grandpa and starting to sag.
There were only 2 of them. Usually we seen a large group, but not this time. Just a lonely two of them.
At one point the one with the long beak was in the front and going one way and the smaller one turned around and was swimming backwards and watching us. Then it quickly turned around and the zoomed off for a distance.
Well hello there little fella that kept poking out to check us out.
​Then as we started to swim back to the shore...more stingrays (this is a different area, we are now on the opposite end).
Anyone know the name of these wrasse? If not, they are a slippery dick wrasse.
And one last snorkeling photo for now. We headed back to the shore.
A video of our snorkeling adventure:
So as you all can see, this is a pretty decent place to snorkel. There's not much to trying to snorkel in this area because you can just float around, stand up when you need to and have a variety of things to see. I thinks it's pretty good.
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​After returning from our snorkeling, we decided we would get something to eat.
I wanted to try different things and couldn't make up my mind. I went with a chicken quesadilla, and also ordered chips and salsa, but I was also craving guacamole. So I ordered all 3 things. I had no idea they would be huge portions and I wouldn't be able to eat it all...or even come close.
One thing I did notice is that they added the tip to the bill automatically, even though it says "optional".
My bill was $374.00 (pesos), which ended up being close to $25. LOL I believe the hubby had a burrito earlier and he said he spent around $10-$12 with everything he ordered and drinks. Kendra put in her order and was around $325 (pesos). She would decide to post her receipt on her social media site with some type of caption about it being a very expensive burrito (knowing she'd get a reaction from a certain person) and Billys dad blew his stack. He would end up on a rampant rage about them out here on vacation blowing money like it grew on trees and how crazy she was for spending that much on a burrito and....and...and... and she was sitting back and laughing. So, since we like to mess with him, I had to post my receipt as well with a caption of telling her she got off cheaper than me.
We like to mess with him. No worries, he messes with us all the time but we got him good. By the end of the day, Billy had told him the truth and calmed him down. LOL Party pooper!
I went back to our chairs to find that we actually no longer had all of our chairs and a couple to the left of us and a couple to the right of us had taken 4 of the chairs. Um....ok. When we first came, we only ended up getting 2 of the chair mats. One for the hubs and one for Billy because they are the ones that will sit there all day and eat and drink. Us girls and kids will stay out in the water most of the day. So, normally I don't even purchase a chair at places that we go to because it's pointless. However, we knew we were going to eat at some point, so still needed our chairs...we just didn't care if they had the mats on them. Well, I guess the original guy that came over when we arrived decided to put a couple on each side of us and take our chairs we had our things at. Maybe he felt that since we only bought 2 mats that we only needed 2 chairs for the 7 of us. #rollingmyeyes
My food came and I gasp. Wow, that's a lot of food and I had no idea it would be that much.
The quesadillas were great, the salsa and chips were great, but the gauc...um, I have no idea what was in this. I have never seen gauc like that. It had some red stuff in it and some stuff on top and these little black things and it tasted weird. Not weird "bad" but weird-weird. Like I couldn't eat too much of it because it was just weird. Kinda tangy maybe? I don't know. Just weird. No one makes gauc like Mexico and some how I managed to get some that just wasn't what I was expecting. Darnit!
Kendra got a burrito and the kids some fries and chicken.
We had a visitor. She was very friendly and looked like she had recently had puppies.
She was so patient and did not beg and just laid there. We would throw her a piece of chicken or a chip. She was a little picky and if anything landed in the sand, she would not eat it. Ok, making note...no sand on food allowed. But if you allowed her to take it from your hand, she would eat it.
She eventually decided to cross the line (rope) from the other beach club to our beach club. She was officially a member and one of us.
Maybe she belongs to the owners at BK or one of the workers. She was a very smart dog and knew sit and lay and I think one other thing but I can't remember it now. Very cool dog!
Our view from our chairs:
Behind us:
After getting our bellies full (all of us AND the dog) Sakari wanted to show me her snorkeling finds.
She managed to find 2 very small brittle starfish.
We do have a huge brittle star in our smaller clown fish tank and her name is "Katie" and I have no idea why Sakari named her that. Normally Sakari comes up with the simplest names. A starfish would be star. A tang would be banana because of the color. Our goby is sandy because she eats sand. But Katie? How does this relate to her shape, size, what she is, what she does...I don't get it. Sometimes Sakari is odd.
She had to show me her lionfish she found.
​Then I would take her back out to the grassy area and show her all of the stingrays. They were all still there...everywhere actually. She loved it.
We had an amazing day at Blue Kay and although it has changed a bit, it's still an amazing place. We spent every last minute that we could here. But we knew there was an all aboard time of 1:30pm and it was time to pack up and leave.
We headed up to the bar/restaurant area and ask Robert to call us a cab. He made a call and told us to follow him.
Goodbye Blue Kay.
We walked along the malecon to the place next door and on the side of it is where the taxi would pick us up in the parking lot.
The pool that use to be senor frogs and is now something else. Anyone know what it is now?
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!
This port is just gorgeous now!
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.
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​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.
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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.