MITSUGIRLY'S birthday cruise on the JADE review/pictorialDay
Day 4: Cozumel
DAY 3 on the ship. Our first port day COZUMEL!!!
We weren't due in Cozumel until late today so I decided to set my alarm for 9am. However, this sleeping in thing never works out for me and I was up by 8am and excited to be in Cozumel. Cozumel is one of my favorite ports. I have been there so many times and always find some place new to go. There's just so many different beach clubs to go to and this time would be no different.
I headed outside to check out the weather and found it to be a sunny and a beautiful day. We were moving super slow by this point, so I knew we were close and the Captain was just taking his time since we had a few hours before it was time to dock.
I got the family up and we headed up to the buffet to grab some breakfast. NOW TODAY....IT WAS CROWDED! Like super crowded. I guess everyone was at the buffet trying to get a good meal in before they headed into port. There was absolutely no place to sit. It was crazy. After getting our plates, we had to stand around watching people eat, glaring at them hoping they would hurry and leave so we could have their spot. Even the kids dining area was full...WITH ADULTS because there wasn't any place to sit.
After eventually finding a table we were able to sit. I do have to say that today the eggs were super runny. Like not cooked runny and gross. I have started to notice things like this on port days. There's probably just so many people at the buffet on these days and they are trying to get food out as quickly as possible that they don't cook them long enough. I searched several different areas to find the "most cooked" eggs I could and then made sure I scraped it from the outside where it has a tendency to be a little more well done. The inside was still runny and I couldn't stomach it. It always provides to be a challenge finding cooked bacon that doesn't present itself as if it could walk off your tray on these mornings too. But I managed.
The hubby had went to get an omelet and told me how I could avoid this issue had I done that. Yea yea yea I know.
I decided to just get a waffle, smother it is syrup and whipped cream and call it a day. I fricken LOVE their whipped cream!!
We headed back down to our room to change into our bathing suits and cover ups and grab our bags. It was almost time to get off the ship.
When we arrived at our room, Rasfah the room steward was inside cleaning. We walked in, he turned around and looked at us (no acknowledgment or words were spoken) and continued cleaning. He had moved our bags, but thank goodness it's a small room and we could easily find them. I grabbed my bathing suit and told him we needed to change real quick so that we could get off the ship. He continued to work. I went to the bathroom to change and Sakari had to wait on me. When I came out, I was like...wait a minute. This is going to take us all of 2 minutes tops to do and he acts like he can't stop working for a second...I told him "We are trying to get changed and get off the ship. Can we have just a few minutes so that we can do this privately and then you can have the room????" He finally paused for a moment, turned around and said "You need to take the Pepsi out of the refrigerator. One of them is ours" :eek: I stood there in total shock. He said, "We also have a diet Pepsi in the refrigerator and you take it all out but the diet Pepsi and you need replace!" I'm still in shock. Like how do you know that I was not going to run out of my own and BUY that one??? That's not for you to judge until the final day gets here and you do a count of everything in there and charge for what's missing. Like WHAT THE HELLO??? I can't even imagine what my face looked like at this point. I pointed at the floor and said "Do you see those cartons of diet Pepsi? Well there's PLENTY in there for me to replace your ONE diet Pepsi missing! Don't worry about it"
He finally walked out, we were done in probably 1 minute, grabbed our bags, then out the door we went. Yes, I gave him the stink eye as I left the room and mumbled..."It's all yours!" Like seriously. We have walked in on room stewards before and they instantly scramble with the "I sorry, I sorry, I come back" even though most of the time we are just walking in to grab something and tell them "It's ok" and we get what we needed and walk back out. Not this time. Geesh. Rasfah= the suck!
We headed down and off the ship we went. We'd take the long hike to the shopping mall, which is just ridiculous that you have to walk up and across and then back down, forcing you to pass by each shop as they call out "Senorita, you want jewelry?" They always make sure that the escalator is going the opposite direction that you need to go so that you can't take it. It takes forever to get out of this port and I hate it. I much rather be docked at the Carnival/RC dock in town.
We finally made it out to the taxi area and told them where we wanted to go. I had researched that it would cost $25 for 3 people to head to our destination, but the sign said $26. Either prices went up or the $25 was for one of the closer piers.
We were put in a taxi van and it was only the 3 of us. Somehow I thought that they would at least wait for others that were headed that direction so they could make more money off people and drop them off along the way, but they didn't. Shocking.
So back to the review. I have about an hour before picking up Sakari from the bus stop and heading to my hair appointment.
Cozumel is one of those ports that there's just so many places you can go and experience something different each time (beach-wise).
With all my research in the past and going here so many times, I had always wanted to head over to Paradise. It seems like a lot of people like this place and it seems perfect for us. We knew we didn't want anything that had an admission price OR an AI this time around.
HOWEVER, there was also another place that I had checked out a long time ago...Playa Palancar. I had it saved in a folder, with pictures, on my computer. I have to admit, the MAIN reason I have always wanted to go there was the pictures of the peacocks I have seen people post online before. I KNEW Sakari would just love this. She has a feddish for Peacocks and has me buy Peacock feathers for her when we go to the craft store. So this is where we decided to head this time around. I will save Paradise for our next visit.
After our bags were checked "for fruit" by the port, we made it out of the port compound and off we went in the taxi van with just the 3 of us.
It took 30 minutes to get there from Punta Langosta. I watched us pass all the beach clubs and the hubby and I was joking all the way there. Chankanaab-been there. Playa Mia-been there, Mr Sanchos-been there, Nachi Cocom-been there LOL "Do you see any we haven't been to yet?" LOL
We turned off the main road and onto a bumpy dirt road headed toward the beach.
We arrived and headed in. This place is like Mr Sanchos. Someone slaps a sombreo on your head and has you pose multiple ways and takes your picture.
At the beach, someone greeted us and tried to give us a table and chairs as we walk in. No thanks. I don't want to be in the most crowded area and it was an area that was back away from the water...which makes it hard to get to Sakari if needed. We walked on down and he followed...probably to his "line" and then another person took over. We picked out our spot that was first in line with the water and that's where we would stay all day.
Everyone knows what the first thing Sakari does...head to the beach. We can't even get our things put down before she's stripped and running to the water. It would be the very first time she would get to try out her Mermaid tail and she was ready. I was not.
I told her she HAD to wait on me. That meant me settling in first and then getting use to the water.
Once I was use to the water, I had her try out just the monofin. She did really well. So, it was time for the full blown morph into a mermaid time.
She put her outfit on and posed for daddy where he would post on his social media site that we found the happiest little mermaid in Cozumel.
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This is where she would remain the ENTIRE day. Swimming back and forth all day. We would have to drag her out. She's such a fish...I mean Mermaid.
So now I will give you a tour of this place.
The water was so pretty and pretty shallow too for the most part.
There are people that do massages here as well.
I have to tell you, this area right behind the beach is so beautiful. It would be the place I would have hung out at if I didn't have a kid that won't get out of the water. Simply beautiful. It was kind of weird that there wasn't really many people back in there. I think maybe 3 people with chairs??
It wasn't the best, but it would do. There's one thing I have noticed while in the Caribbean, you can't expect super clean perfect restrooms. You will find broken tiles, sometimes a mess, broken doors and so on it seems where ever I go. Just the feeling of walking in a restroom and sand being on the floor reminds me of some beach here at home at the park. Icky. So, I really don't pay attention anymore. If there's a place to potty, I'm fine with that. This place was decent.
Walking out of the restroom and toward the main building (which is what you'll see when you first come in).
They do have a place to rent water stuff...I didn't get any pricing since I bring my own
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This is the area when you first come in. It's the area they wanted to find us a table at. I don't want to have to play superman and fly over that wall to watch my kid in the water.
Looking down the beach
This area had a sign saying only people doing water sports could go in it. They had jet skiis for rent, but I seen the guys that worked there riding people around and just in this square area. Not my kind fun if I can't drive it myself and go more than just a beach area.
Headed more toward the area we were staying at
As I was walking to the bathroom, I ran across this guy. He obviously lost a battle in his day.
It's a shell tree (I actually think this was located on the property next door. I don't know, maybe because it said Private Property Do Not Enter or something like that...No hablo Ingles)
They do have some lounge chairs that have thick cushions on them with the umbrella over top lined along the beach. However, if you want to use those, they are $10. We decided the table and chairs was just fine for us.
Immediately after getting there, they handed us a menu. I felt like I had just ate breakfast and wasn't even the slightest bit hungry. The hubby said he was going to order a drink so that they didn't think we were just sitting there for free. He ordered a Modelo and I had a Coke Light. They had a LARGE Modelo for $6.00 and the regular is $3.50. So hubby said he wanted the large and save $1.00. They told him they were out. So small it was for him (and it was a can). My pop was 2.50. If I was a beer drinker, I would have opted for a beer for the extra $1 I guess.
Sakari the mermaid was out swimming and man, I have to tell you, she is DARN GOOD at swimming like a mermaid. She has been practicing this move for 2 years now and she has it right! She did so well.
Quite honestly, I think this mono fin helped her swim even better. She's a good swimmer and can swim with regular fins, but she just knows how to put her legs together and move the flowing way to make herself go really fast. I went out with her and she actually took off from me! I didn't have my fins with me and thought I could keep up with her...not.
This is the view I got most of the time from her passing me up. LOL
She was wearing me out. This newly turned 50 year old had to take a break and get another ice cold drink. Sakari continued to swim.
I decided to head to the bathroom and along the way I found some interesting things. I had to go back and drag Sakari out of the water.
Now before we went to this beach, I had told her we are going to a beach with a huge surprise. I told her I wasn't allowed to tell her what it was.
So, by telling her I found the surprise and jumping up and down like a fool to get her all excited to come out of the water, she came out, morphed into a human and ran with me.
PEACOCKS!!!
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"Now mommy, you know these are the girl peacocks. You can tell by their color and only the boy peacocks have the really long green and blue feathers."
They were everywhere around the entrance at this point. But no boy peacocks. :(
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She was so excited that she got to see peacocks and AT THE BEACH!!! She said she wished they had a boy one, but she was still happy.
We came back to the table and decided we had worked up an appetite and checked out the menu.
I just noticed it said "WE DON'T ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS, CASH ONLY" so if you ever plan on going here, keep this in mind.
The waiter kept pointing out "Dis US, Dis Peso" over and over throughout the day. I'm not sure why. I can read...LOL But he would continue to say it every time.
Sakari got her a cheeseburger and fries. The hubby ordered fajitas and I always opt for something that has a little bit of everything on it. I'm having an issue finding a picture of it and will have to check my computer again. I always take a picture of our food. I'll look for it later.
I was unable to find any pictures of our food. I can't believe it. I always take a picture. Weird. I do know that I ran out of space on my disc, so maybe I deleted by mistake. Oh well. Just know that the food was definitely yummy and I ate it all and so did the hubby. Sakari ate about half of her cheeseburger and had to get back to the water before she turned into a human.
I have to say, she was drawing quite a crowd by now. Everyone was talking and coming down to see the mermaid. Several people took pictures and had their kids take pictures with her. Now normally I would think twice about allowing people to take a picture of my child. However, she's already plastered all over here, so...I guess no harm. She is recognized every where she goes already. LOL
I wish I could figure out a way to get these videos to embed in the review and you can just click on it and view it on here. For some reason, I think my Smugmug changes the links and settings and it's now taking you to their site to view the video. Sigh
Anyhow, here's one of the videos I took of her swimming in her mermaid outfit.
We took a picture of us, since it doesn't happen often and I honestly hate having my picture taken.
***I have to talk about something else here first before I go on*** For Christmas Kendra's finance got me the absolute BEST present a mother in law could ask for...like seriously. He knows me so well and he ended up getting me a snorkeling mask with a built in camera. I could not wait to try this thing out. Prior to leaving, my son Kolin, read over the directions and found that the camera had 4 settings. For each setting, it would flash a certain color from red, blue, green and purple. The color of the light indicates what setting you have it on. Now he went over this with me and explained to me what each color did. I have to admit, I was busy putting the batteries in the camera and trying to figure out how to turn it on that I didn't pay as close attention as I should have. I couldn't even figure out how to turn this thing on...how was I going to learn to operate it? He took it from me and looked around, hitting buttons, then figured out how to turn it on. Sigh. In my defense, it wasn't a button that it took to turn it on and also I didn't have the manual in my hand either...even though he said he didn't read anything about how to turn it on in the manual. He was busy learning the colors. LOL
I was excited to be able to try this new set of goggles out on this cruise. Sakari got to try her mermaid tail here at Palancar and I got to try my goggles here for the first time.
Since I had decided to not pay attention, I turned the camera on and headed out to the water. Honestly, there's not much snorkeling here at all. There's a spot out just a little ways that had a bunch of fish hanging out but it was nothing more than some concrete and steel in the water that they had made a home out of.
So the following VIDEO is what you will see here snorkeling...
I really wanted to see more than this snorkeling, but I guess you had to head out on a boat or tour. It was really hard fighting the waves all the way out toward the buoys they had set up. It would pull you on down the beach. So, I decided to walk down the beach to the end (by the rental center) and go out then drift back down. This provided to be a waste of time and there wasn't anything to see.
However, it provided to be a learning experience. I thought I was taking pictures the entire time. When I would get back to our room and insert the disc to convert on my computer, I found that they were ALL vidoes. LOL Oops. I guess I need more practice. No worries, there's another beach port day coming up tomorrow.
Now there is something I do have to mention about this place. There are some drawbacks to the water. I would say about the first 15 feet out, it's nothing but rocks, crushed coral and shells. It's VERY hard to get out in the water unless you have shoes on and even then, it can be tricky. Like this stuff seriously hurt your feet. I accidentally took a video of Sakari and I "shell hunting" right at the surface. I didn't even know the camera was one, but it provides a perfect look at what you'll see along the shoreline when trying to get into the water. Ouchie!
Sakari ended up finding a friend, who couldn't speak English, and Sakari would end up calling this little girl "Amigo" then entire time. They were cute playing, trying to communicate and swimming together. She always managed to pick someone that speaks Spanish...once again, another reason I need to learn Spanish more fluently and teach her. I do constantly speak what I do know to her and teach her things. Other things she has managed to learn off watching Dora. LOL
We decided to pack up around 4:30pm. Our all aboard wasn't until 6:30pm, however Palancar closed at 5pm. So, we flagged down our waiter and ask for our bill. I had been keeping track (using my "notes" on my phone) of everything we spent.
The lady that had taken our picture when we first arrived had came around twice asking if we wanted to buy it. She was charging $12 for the picture and they turned out quite cute. Had I known that this place does this, I would factored in the cost for this. However, I didn't and didn't have the "extra" money with me to buy them. She, of course, reduced the price to $10 and told us she was leaving. I really wish I could have bought them. But, if I did, I don't think either our waiter or our cabbie would have been too happy with us.
Our waiter brought our bill to us. Once again he kept pointing out (several times) US dollars versus Pesos. Now our drinks and food for the day totaled $42.50. When he presented our bill it said $51. The hubby ask him several times if this was for the food and drinks total or if it included a tip. He replied both times that tip included. This totally confused me, but ok, whatever.
We gathered our things and headed toward the front to find a cab but got distracted by this sound. Sakari yells "It's a male peacock calling sound". Um ok, I know she watches a lot of Animal Planet and Netflix with animals movies (she's currently watching one now) but ok. If she says it's a male peacock, then it probably is. We went hunting.
We found this...
He was beautiful and hanging out with his girls.
Sakari was so excited to finally see the male peacock, in the wild, at the beach. What are the chances???
It was now 5pm and I don't think there was anyone left here. Oops. I told the fam we needed to go before we got left behind.
We started walking out and the peacock did too. LOL
We made it to the entrance and there were 4 other people that were getting in a van and they told us to come on and share the ride. They were Spanish speaking (of course...just my luck) and the cab driver spoke Spanish with them all the way to their pier. After dropping them off, I think he came to the conclusion that we did not speak Spanish since we didn't join in on the conversation. LOL
So he was real informative and we talked all the way to our port. He told us that when you are growing up in Cozumel, at school it is mandatory to learn both Spanish and English. I thought that was pretty neat and didn't realize that. He did tell us that he dropped out of school in Jr high and minimum wage is $4/hr. He stated that a nurse is employed by the government and they only work 8 hours a day and make good money since it was not subject to minimum wage and was paid by the government. Then he stated that a lot of the nurses would do private nursing after hours and make a lot of money. I also ask him about the rumor that I have read several times about the 3 strikes you're out on Cozumel. This rumor is that the locals have to respect the visitors and not do anything wrong or you will get a strike. After the 3rd strike, you are put on a boat and shipped off the island...forever. I also ask about (Southwest) flying into Cancun and how to get to Cozumel to stay for a week. He stated it was 1 hour ride to Playa Del Carmen to catch the ferry over to Cozumel. Then it was a 1 hour ferry ride from Playa Del Carmen to Cozumel. He was a great conversationalist and we enjoyed our ride.
Once we arrived at the pier, we were once again faced with an escalator that was now going the OPPOSITE direction than the way we needed to go (which was up) and was forced to walk ALL the way around again and go by each shopping place. Ugh! We were back on the ship around 5:30pm.
We headed back to the room to shower and we were hungry again. I first wanted to take some pictures of the sun going down.
The dock was getting pretty clear and you could tell they were still waiting on people to return to the ship...and it was after the 6:30pm all aboard time.
I seen the Carnival ship pulling out in the distance.
A few late arrivals...coming in by bike transport.
Our picture from Cozumel today as we got off the ship.
We made it to the buffet and wouldntyaknowit...they had Mexican. Well, ok I'm game. Why not. I can guarantee that it will NOT compare to what we had in Mexico...and compare it did not.
After food came kid free time and it was Pirate night. Sakari FOUGHT US the entire way once she found out it was pirate night. She did NOT want to go at all. I just didn't understand this. She has always liked the pirate night, getting her face painted and doing the "treasure hunt" around the entire ship. They walk around looking for clues and singing songs. It has always been a good time. Not this time. We had to beg her. She only agreed to go if we picked her up before they did the pirate parade. However, she changed her mind right before checking her in. She told us the real reason she didn't want to go (she was afraid). She whispered to us "I'm a mermaid. Pirates don't like mermaids. They hunt and kill mermaids. I will die if they find out. Seriously, they will kill me. You have to promise not to tell them I'm really a mermaid. Please!!!!" Like seriously...she believes she is a mermaid. She had tears in her eyes because she was afraid they would find out about her being a mermaid. Sigh...the life she lives. Such a fairy tale.
Kid free at last...let's head to the casino and hope we get lucky. And lucky we did.
YEA BOY!!!! Big win tonight...and another win
Yep, I'll take that too!
That was satisfying enough and we noticed the time. It was time for the pirate parade. We rushed out of the casino and caught them coming down to the atrium. Now if you are a child hater (lol) this particular night will drive you nuts if you run into the kids. They are loud and shouting and singing a song but that's what they are supposed to do. The counselors are even louder. Just saying...
After that, we headed to the show tonight. It was a magician and we had seen him and his wife before on another ship. So, they had been rotated from a previous ship. I would know that long hair and evil looking eyes anywhere. LOL He's good and it really makes you wonder how things are done.
I don't think I have ever noticed that the seats actually have cup holders down below. I watched the hubby put his drink in one and I can't believe I haven't noticed it before. It is in a crappy place though. People will constantly want to go by you and you'll have to stand up to let them go by. They have about a 90% chance of hitting this as they walk by. Just saying...
After picking up Sakari from the kids club, it was time to eat again (of course). We headed to the Blue Lagoon. Sakari was extremely happy that she found the treasure from the pirate parade (she claims that we have always picked her up before she got to the treasure and has never been able to share in the treasure. She got her coin tonight).
I attempted getting another cheesecake and ordered it PLAIN and this is what showed up
We headed back to the room and got a notice to set our clocks back a hour tonight. Well great. We get an extra hour of sleep. We watched the last episode of the Fast and the Furious and I wanted to tear up at the end were Paul Walkers brother had to fill in for him after he got killed and they dedicated the movie to him. So sad. I loved Paul Walker.
Sakari had a "koala bear" towel animal ??
Once again, I notice she's in the same pose as the towel animal. LOL
Tonight Sakari's bed was not put down. Thanks Rasfah. We also would not have any beach towels for tomorrow. Thanks again Rasfah. Jerk! I also notice red feathers all over the room and bathroom. Did Rasfah get in a fight with a red bird???