Jason and I finally went on our honeymoon. We decided on a cruise for value and price. It was awesome, and we would both definitely cruise again.
I still have some school debt, plus the expenses from Jason's neck surgery, so we had an interior cabin, but that's fine. We didn't spend a lot of time in there anyway. To be honest, I'm not even sure I would even want one of the cabins with the balcony, because I'm afraid of heights. I'm okay behind glass/a window, but I don't like even standing out in the open at a railing.
We departed from Tampa, where my sister still loves, and we got into town a few days early to chill and spend time with her.
Our first night at sea was chill, but when I woke in the morning, the boat was rockin'! Luckily, neither Jason nor I got seasick. The first day was super chill, with us primarily posting up at the adults only deck because it was quiet and neither of us care for children. We also went to a harry potter trivia event. There were some difficult questions, and we got 14/20.
Our first port was Cozumel, but we signed up for a shore excursion on the mainland.
It was a very rough 45 minute ferry ride with me as well as several other people just trying to hold it down! The water was gorgeous, though, a beautiful blue.
Once we got to the mainland, we met up with our tour group and boarded a bus to take us to Tulum. It was about an hour ride, with an excellent guide named Pamela telling us about the area.
We arrived at Tulum, which is a historic park, and there were shops and restaurants owned by Mayans. Most of the women and several men were wearing traditional clothing.
After a short walk down a road, we entered the ruins. Tulum was a Mayan port city, surrounded by a wall, to separate the educated academics inside, and the uneducated folks out. Pamela took us to three different structures then turned us loose for three hours to explore on our own.
The city was magnificent! And the grounds are still well-maintained. We could not enter any of the structures, and in hindsight, I think most modern people are too tall. The Mayan are a people of short stature, and some of those doors looked barely four feet tall!
There is also a beautiful beach at Tulum. The cliffs are steep, but there was a staircase down to a small sandy area. Jason and I both cooled off on the water. It was Jason's first time in the ocean. He really loved it!
After swimming, we went back to the shops at the entrance and sat down to eat at a restaurant. It was named Frosty's, and came highly recommended. It did not disappoint! We shared an order of fish tacos. Homemade tortillas with fresh fish caught just that day! And homemade chips with homemade guac. I don't usually care for guac, but this tasted like nothing I've had in the States. It was real!
Tulum was really hot, and I actually got sick, but was luckily able to fall asleep on the bus ride back and felt much better. Overall, an excellent excursion, and I recommend it.
Second port was Costa Maya, which was a detour from Grand Cayman. One of our engines was not working at 100%, so we had a change to the iteniry. No sweat. Costa Maya is the tourist name of the port, the locals call it Mahahual, which means surrounded by water. We learned from our guide that the area was annexed by Mexico in 1974, but the port didn't open until 2004. Prior to 2004, there were no roads or electricity, and it was an 8 hour boat ride to a doctor.
For our shore excursion this day, we signed up for the Jaguar bus tour. We took an open air trailer pulled by a tractor trailer to a ranch to ride tandem fixed gear bikes through the jungle. We were shaky at first, but got the hang of it. We pedaled to a cenote, which is a sinkhole. There is a lot of limestone in the area. The sinkholes are filled with water. It is so deep, they don't even know how deep. There were bats inside, too, and I could smell the mineral-rich water.
Mayans believe the cenote are the entrances to spirit world's, and will go inside to the water to communicate with the deceased.
We had the option of climbing down into the sinkhole, and using a rope, pull ourselves along to the exit, maybe 20 ft away. Both of us did it, because we were here for adventure, right? The water was not as cold as I was expecting, but I was nervous about the deep deep water; just a fear I have when I can't see or feel the bottom. I pulled myself across in like four strokes and hurried up the ladder on the other side!
We got back on our bikes and were taken to a private beach area. There were boogie boards, paddle boards, other floats. We both rode some waves and I tried the paddle board. I was pretty good at it! Even stood up!
While we were swimming, our guides were cooking lunch...Chicken fajitas, cheese quesadillas, fresh chips, grilled pineapple. It was excellent! Again, it just tasted fresh and unlike food in the States. I asked one of our guides, and he said the pineapple is grown locally, and it is called honey pineapple because it is so sweet and a darker yellow, like honey. We also ate mini bananas. Like they were fully ripe bananas, and only three inches long! It was adorable, and everyone chuckled at their small size. Sweet, though.
Friday was another day at sea, which was relaxing.
We ate dinner everynight at 8:15. I was so full the whole time; food was available 24/7. Our waitress was a rock star and very concerned that I had enough to eat each night. Jason tried some new things that he would otherwise never eat, like escargot.
There were lots of other fun activities on the boat, like comedy shows, musicians, a casino, an arcade.
Oh my gosh! We went to the arcade and spent like $30 on playing Jurassic Park, and we finally beat the game. Totally worth it.
Also, our room steward made animals our of the towels, which I loved.
All said and done, the cruise was very enjoyable. I actually felt rested when we got home; usually I feel like I need a vacation after vacation.
