Day 133: Costa Maya/ Mahahual

Today was one of 10 days in the top 5 best days of the entire winter. ;-)

We have long loved the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, and the southern-most part of it most of all. In fact, every time we come here, we think we should do an extended stay of a few weeks somewhere around Mahahual (Ma-ha-wal) and drink Mexican beers and eat Mexican food and dive ourselves silly, but then we compare the prices to cruising and...we end up just visiting the area on cruise ships. We were very sad to see that, on all these Emerald Princess itineraries we are doing, we get to Costa Maya, the pier near the little town of Mahahual, just one time. We hoped for a nice day (which was quite a pipe dream considering our weather of late), and we certainly had it today.  

We were up before sunrise (not too difficult considering we are so far west on EST right now) and sitting down for breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room before 7:30am. By 9am we were walking off the ship, packed for another beach day. We took a few minutes to walk around the Costa Maya cruise pier area, and watch the Dolphin Discovery already underway. I am not a fan of penned in dolphins but understand that not everyone can see pods of them in the wild as we have been fortunate to do while diving. Of course, the operators always assert that dolphins used in dolphin encounters were born in captivity but, at some point back in time, dolphins had to be captured for the purpose of human amusement. Not good. 

We went out to the taxi stand and caught one of the long trams into 'downtown' Mahahual (that's harious...only recently have the couple of roads in Mahahual been paved) for $3pp. We rode the tram to the far end of the beach that runs the entire length of Mahahual, about a 20 minute ride only because there are three stops before that last one. Specifically, we went to the hotel/bar/restaurant called Playa El Fuerte, and set ourselves up under a palapa a couple of rows back from the water. There were still loungers available closer to the water, but the day was already hot, and it was considerably cooler a few rows back. 

We quickly ordered a bucket of five beers for $10 (we ordered a mix of local brands) and got the password for the marginal WiFi and settled in for the day. 

Downtown Mahahual

The same 'caps for sale' guy from last year was selling his wares

Looking north along the beach to where the Emerald Princess and Norwegian Dawn were docked at Costa Maya

Look south down the beach

The beautiful thing about the beach at Mahahual- well, there are two beautiful things- are the gorgeous water color (a lot like French Polynesia) and the fact that there is a barrier reef just offshore that takes the brunt of the waves and protects the beach, also like French Polynesia. 

We stayed on the beach until a little after 3pm, enjoying frequent swims in the water and ordering quesadillas for lunch and chips and salsa for a snack. I loved every minute of it. I loved the lime wedges and coarse sea salt served with the beers, I loved the Mexican food, I loved the sun (I was well protected) and sand...I didn't even mind the 105 vendors that stopped by, all selling the same stuff (I didn't buy anything this year). It was our first full day of sun in a couple of cruises, and there was a strong wind that, had we brought our floats to use in the water today (we didn't), would have blown us clear to Belize. But it kept us comfortable and mosquito-free, which was not a bad thing at all. 

What's not to love about this view?

A hammock over the water

The sunset part of this is funny; Mahahual is on the east coast of Mexico and only gets sunrises

We walked back just one block from the beach I. Mahahual to catch a small taxi ($2pp) back to the ship. They are not allowed to enter the port of Costa Maya to pick up passengers (hence, the tram) but may enter to drop off. Some people walk outside the port in the morning to catch one of the taxis there to save $1pp but it wasn't worth it to us. This year we were not entertained by college student feet and legs hanging out of taxi windows on the way back to the port. 

We were back on the ship around 4pm and had to wash and rinse and generally put things away after our beach day. We are usually neat people but we're trying to be extra tidy to help out Ambrish right now. All of the cabin stewards are truly suffering with this new bedding. I feel so badly for them. I also feel badly for us. G has awakened tangled in sheets both mornings so far. The linens are too slippery for the duvet to stay tucked in that pocket at the top of the bed cover, and the comforter is too slippery to stay on the top sheet and...well, there is stuff everywhere come morning. I guess it's even worse in the cabins with upper bunks. The linens feel and look great; they were simply designed by a designer who lacked any knowledge about how beds are used on cruise ships (they are used a lot, as chairs and for naps on sea days) and how little floor space space surrounds them for putting all this stuff together twice a day. And it simply doesn't stay looking nice and tucked in for long. 

Dinner was quick and easy. We weren't especially hungry and we needed to be outside Club Fusion at 6:45pm for early entrance into this cruise's Captains Circle party. We were #3 MTP this cruise, and the top three were as follows:

#1 MTP- 1068 Princess days

#2 MTP- 1005 Princess days

#3 MTP- 839 Princess days

We asked #4 MTP Bernard and Lois to join us, and then left the party to go directly to the Princess Theater for the 8:30pm performance of production show Disco:  Blame it on the Boogie. We were able to get seats in the front row (which we don't mind) just before the show started, ad then left after the performance to catch David Pitchfork and the Emerald Princess orchestra playing Dixieland jazz in the Piazza. Guitarist Terry Conlond was also playing in the Explorers Lounge two times tonight.  It was a good entertainment night!

We should be leaving the cabin right now to go up on deck for the Love Boat Disco Deck party but I don't think we're going to make it this cruise. Two days on beaches and two nights of cocktail parties have done us in.

Day 132: Costa Maya/ Mahajual, Mexico

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. 

There are two swim-up bars in the pool at Costa Maya

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. 

I hadn't thought about that book for decades!  And that's just one reason I miss the Internet when we're cruising...I find ten reasons a day to Google something that pops up that I'm curious about.

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?

G and his new friend, a cutie named Jeffrey ;-) (Biggest smile of the entire winter on him!!!)

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!!

Day 124: Costa Maya (Mahajual), Mexico

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). 

Chicharonnes de Pollo

Puerto Rican Asapao Soup

Cuban Lechan Asado

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. :-)