Today was another hugely fun day, thankfully a bit more relaxing. Well...maybe I shouldn't say that; it's not over yet. And I had forgotten to mention something yesterday that I need to remedy today. But first, I'll cover our activities of the day, so I can get to the really important stuff.
Our port today was Costa Maya, Mexico. If it appeared on a map, it would be in the Southern Yucatan peninsula just north of the country of Belize. But it doesn't appear on a map...it's a purpose-built port just north of the tiny (and I mean tiny) town of Mahajual, Mexico that exists only to entertain cruise passengers. That it exists at all is due to its pier with easy, deep water access and its relative proximity to the Mayan ruins of the Yucatan peninsula. Once ashore, it is a cruise port much like Grand Turk, with lots of shopping and bars and even a pool and (sort of) beach area. They make a point to offer cultural activities throughout the day, but most passengers either head out on excursions to see ruins or go to the town of Majahual, with its beach that runs the entire length of its one road.
After breakfast, we chose to go ashore and simply stay in the cruise port area, where we found two loungers in the shade and had margaritas. The sun was intense today, bright and hot in a clear blue sky, and I tried to remember what was going on at home any time I felt a little too warm. It was certainly a far cry from what we had last Friday in Nassau, Bahamas. We were back on the ship by 3pm, a bit hungry, but we decided to stay that way so as to have an appetite for dinner.
The dinner menu tonight featured several regional cuisine items from Puerto Rico, and I enjoyed three of them. I can't say enough how much we're enjoying these new menu items. Many of the old favorites are still there, but I love trying the regional cuisine. I mean, I can have broccoli and salmon anytime in the future; these items might not stay around (though we were told by the Hotel General Manager that the rights to the Chocolate Journeys desserts were purchased by Princess and might be used after the 50th anniversary year).
Puerto Rican Asapao Soup
The Most Traveled Passengers cocktail party was held starting at 7:15pm in Skywalkers. I kept it simple tonight, and had just Baileys on the rocks and therefore feel well enough to go back out later for the Mardi Gras party in the Piazza at 9:30pm and Stargazing on the open decks at 10pm.
Now, on to the important stuff...
Captain Pomata announced yesterday (during early dinner, how pleasant) that we are under Code Red for norovirus. Oh joy. In fact, he read a bulletin that specifically mentioned vomiting and diarrhea (not just the term 'intestinal symptoms'). Now, we've known Captain Pomata for years, and G felt comfortable enough with him at last night's Captains Circle party to say, "Gee, Captain P, that was a little graphic to hear over the pasta at dinner". Captain P apologized and said that he has to read the bulletin every day exactly as written until we are no longer under Code Red. Something tells me Captain P is not sorry to be starting his vacation on Thursday. I don't expect that's what he was counting on when he decided on a maritime career. For whatever the reason, he read the bulletin earlier tonight, before the early diners had started dinner, a change for which we were grateful.
So, here we are once again, on a Code Red ship. Some might say it doesn't affect their cruise, but we disagree. Of course it does, but we try to minimize its effecs on us by sticking to dining room meals as much as possible. Everything food related must be served to us, but in the dining room the most noticeable impact is that G is served his dinner rolls, butter and salt, even with us sitting at a table for two! Code Red is most cumbersome in the buffet, where things totally bog down. At least we still had food offerings in the Elite Lounge and at the MTP party today. We've seen it so bad in the past where all of that was eliminated, too.
We've always said that, faced with another Code Red situation on back to back cruises, we would just go home on turnaround day, but home is buried under snow right now, which definitely makes the precautions on the ship seem not as onerous. No, we'll stick it out, at least until March 2, and then re-assess. Somehow, last winter, when noro went through the crew (but not the passengers) on the Emerald Princess, and both our assistant waiter and cabin steward had it, we managed to avoid it. I simply wash my hands ad nauseum (perhaps that's not the best way to say that...), use Wet Ones wipes and don't eat any food with my fingers, which I will keep crossed and sanitized until this passes. We came on board with FOUR boxes of Wet Ones wipes, but will pick up more in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. My hands are sooooo dry right now.
On another public service note, we were coming back on board today when we encountered a man helping his wife up the gangway. She was holding her ribs and her knees were skinned; she had fallen in the port area. Oh no! Then we were in an elevator when a lady was wheeled in by her hsuband, her knees skinned and bandaged and her leg in a cast. She had fallen on the pier yesterday and broken her leg. These were not white haired little old ladies, but women in their 40s and 50s who had encountered, as I did in St. Thomas, the caution of walking over uneven sidewalks in sandals. Let's be careful out there!!
And, finally, to end on a more humorous tone...
G and I were stopping by the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers to watch a beautiful sailaway from Costa Maya before we went to dinner tonight. He took a detour, returning a dirty glass from our cabin to the Horizon Court Buffet (he never leaves a single dirty dish/glass for our steward to remove, a habit he seems to forget when he's at home). I got into an almost full elevator to go up to Deck 18, and when it stopped on Deck 15, G stepped in, not seeing me. I waited a few seconds and said, "I've never done this before, but I have to tell you that you're the sexiest man I have ever seen'. The jaws of ten passengers immediately dropped to the floor, but I couldn't suppress a giggle for long. One lady asked "Do you know him?" and G answered, "Only for nearly 35 years". It provided a fun topic of conversation in Skywalkers, but it was made possible only by the matchless timing of our mutual elevator ride up to Deck 18.
Life isn't perfect, but at least ours is warm, sunny and sanitized. And full of fun moments. :-)
