Wow. I have to say it again...today was the BEST! We had fun both on and off the ship, saw several "old" friends and most likely feel better tonight than most of the young people on this ship (who continue to provide quite a bit of entertainment). Were we ever that young and foolish? Maybe...
We were awake reasonably early today (meaning before 9am), which was commendable, because we had been up late watching the movie The Theory of Everything on MUTS (it was very good). We grabbed a quick and light breakfast (muesli for me) in the International Cafe and then walked off the ship with our only plan being to get to Majahual, the little fishing village just a mile or two south of the cruise port.
While we were having our coffee, I heard passengers at the next table talking about the college kids on their deck coming in at 4am last night and screaming in the corridor. "Are you on Riviera Deck?" I asked. No, on Aloha Deck. Apparently the abundance of college kids in one area is not limited to us. It's not bothering us; G could sleep through anything and I just pop in my ear plugs and take a Benadryl and I'm out for the night. But the Spring Break crowd seemed to be gaining a reputation on the ship before we even arrived at our first port. Little did we know what lay ahead today.
We were so excited to be in port today with our beloved Emerald Princess. We had not seen this ship since we passed it in a taxi on our way to the Fort Lauderdale airport last March 29th. As a ship we've spent over a year of our lives on, it certainly feels like our second home. We walked down the pier looking for any familiar faces, and were thrilled to see Chief Engineer Roddy overseeing a major maintenance project on the pier. We talked for just a couple of minutes and then continued on our way.
The Caribbean Princess on the left and the Emerald Princess on the right.
The Carnival Pride was also in port with us, so there were nearly 10000 cruise passengers descending on Costa Maya and Mahajual today, and a lot of them were college students. It was bound to be an interesting day.
We first walked around the cruise port area of Costa Maya, which, like the Puerta Maya pier in Cozumel, is very well maintained. The weather was sunny and beautiful, though a bit windy today.
We didn't stay in the port area long; we had been there last cruise and wanted to get over to the fishing village of Mahajual today. We took a $3pp shuttle (don't buy a round trip ticket). The shuttle was a trailer with bench seating hauled behind a truck and it was a bumpy ride to the village. My ribs were NOT happy, and we knew we had to find an alternative way back to the ship.
The last time we were in Mahajual was 10 years ago, and the road along the long stretch of beach was just sand back then. It's paved now, and closed off to traffic, but Mahajual hasn't lost its charm that we remembered. The beach is a long stretch of gorgeous white sand lined with beach bars with loungers and umbrellas and massage tables. We walked past the busiest areas until almost the end of the village and chose two loungers under an umbrella. As much as we loved French Polynesia, they did not have beaches like this one!
G has had some back issues ever since he put up with that bad mattress for our first two weeks on board, and in a real "Who is this man?" moment, decided to get a 40-minute massage for $20. The waiter gave me the password for wifi and brought me a Superior beer (the local brew) and happiness reigned.
G returned to me feeling considerably better, and ordered a beer, too. He asked me to check the weather back home, and, when I did, this is what was happening, with snow due to start in 42 minutes ...
...and this is what we were looking at. And we laughed and laughed. (Mas cerveza, anyone?)
The beach in Mahajual was like French Polynesian beaches in one way: there is a barrier reef out about 100 yards on which the waves break, and so the water is very calm and shallow near the shore.
I saw this beach vendor selling hats, with several stacked on his head, and I was immediately reminded of a book my dad read to me over 50 years ago. Hats for Sale? I thought that was it, so I Googled it and discovered it was entitled Caps for Sale.
Another vendor came by selling something I thought would appeal to the kids and, while I might sometimes find the constant pestering by beach vendors annoying, it's really quite handy to be able to enjoy a beach, drink beer AND shop for souvenirs simultaneously. Plus, I like to spend a little money in every port to support the locals. I wanted to get another henna tattoo to replace the one I had gotten in Puerto Vallarta (which lasted perfectly for three weeks), but we didn't have enough money to pay for the massage and the beers and the souvenirs and the transportation and a tattoo, so it will have to wait until tomorrow in Cozumel (something tells me they might sell them there). ;-) Or maybe I should just accept the fact that, after Friday, I won't be wearing shorts again for a month or two and no one would see it anyway.
It was finally time for us to make our way back to the ship, and we started walking back along the beach road through the village when we were approached by a taxi driver offering us a $2pp ride back to the ship. In a comfy cab. That sounded nice (and it was). The funniest thing was seeing this parade of taxis returning to the ship with tanned and toned legs and bodies hanging out of the windows. It was becoming apparent that the college kids on all three ships had had an inebriating day.
Our walk down the pier to the ship further confirmed this. How can I say this...we needed to watch where we walked. Oh my. The security staff at Costa Maya was kept busy using wheelchairs to get the passed out bikinied co-eds back to their respective ships, where they were handed off to the ships' security who needed to sort out who they were and which ship they belonged on (Ship cards? What's a ship card?). Chief Engineer Roddy was still on the pier and said that he had seen this stream of inebriated people returning to the ships all day starting at 10am (except Roddy is a seafaring Scot who might had used some different terminology than "inebriated"). There were going to be some unhappy people later tonight!!
It's madness, I say. Madness!
Once back on the ship, we had to hurry to get cleaned up for tonight's Captains Circle parties. On our way down to Club Fusion, the college kids down the hall were carrying an 8 foot tall plastic giraffe they called Jeffrey down the hall. Seriously. G just had to pose for a photo...I mean, who would believe this on a Princess cruise?
It's madness, but we're having fun with it!
We're #3 MTP this cruise, a nice way to end the winter season. #1 MTP Joyce joined us, and John and Kathy (our first runners up ;-)) and then we saw Marion and Howard from England, who we know from the Emerald Princess last year, and the Jordans, and...well, we had this whole row of Princess cruisers who all previously knew either each other or had one degree of separation, having common friends. It was fun! Captain John Foster is a comedian who commented that all the young people on board were in the Medical Center getting their stomachs pumped (yes, it really is that bad). And we're in Cozumel tomorrow. Pray for THEM!
Dinner was light and fast (salmon and salad for me, and pavlova for dessert). We are heading back out again for this cruise's Love Boat Disco Deck party around the Calypso Pool. We are tired, but there is no rest for the weary until we arrive at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Saturday. We're on a party cruise!!