Operation D.A.T.E. Day 6: Cozumel

On Thursday we made our final stop before heading back to Florida.  Our port of call was Cozumel and we were awake early enough again to watch as the sun made its way up in the sky and we made it to the dock...

Once the ship was docked, we had breakfast and got ready for the day.  We were not sure what we would do for the day so we decided to just get off and have a look around before we made a decision. 

Breakfast!

Day 6 Itinerary

My favorite artwork on the ship, discovered that morning. ;)

We got off the ship and exited the cruise port mall.  Then we walked around the town for a little bit checking out shops and getting some prices for scooter rentals.  We also searched for a drug store for me.  You see, two days prior while climbing the waterfall in Jamaica I got water in my ear that refused to come back out.  I tried everything I could think of and looked for swimmer's ear in all of the shops on the ship, but nothing worked.  I figured I would be able to get some sort of ear drop at our next stop, but didn't really think about the language barrier.  We did find a drug store and the saleswomen seemed to understand what I was looking for.  She handed me some drops and with no phone service to look them up and them costing only $5 I purchased them.  Later when we were back on the ship I sent a photo of it to Eric's mom to see if she knew what it was before I used them.  It turned out that it was not what I needed but rather some sort of antibiotic and pain medication.  So, the water stayed in my ear and I spent the entire second half of our cruise with limited hearing.  It was so bad that I would make Eric walk on my right side so that he would talk into my good ear because everything was so muffled and all of the other voices and noises on the ship made it very difficult to single out the sound I wanted to listen to.  As I type this one month later my hearing is mostly back to normal, but I believe the water is still there because it does seem muffled and the pressure of it is different.

After I got my drops we headed back to the ship where we put our swim suits on under or clothes and packed a backpack for the day.  Then we headed back out to Cozumel where we rented a scooter and spent the rest of the morning and afternoon touring the island... 

We both would have loved to go for a swim in the ocean but despite being a gorgeous day it was really rough seas and all of the beaches had warning signs up.

Eric keeping our tradition alive.

This is as far as I made it into the ocean.

Helmet Heads!

Eric and I rode around the southern half of the island and then headed back into the city in search some more authentic nachos.  It took a little work but we did find what we were looking for and they were tasty!

Nope not that: (McDonald's in Cozumel.)

This is also the first time that we began to realize how sun burnt we had gotten that day.  My shoulders were bright red and Eric's nose and the tops of his hands were as well.

Nachos!!

When we were finished with our afternoon snack we rode around a little while longer, then returned the scooter, purchased some luchador masks for the boys and headed back to the ship.

When we were back on the ship we decided to take advantage of another form of entertainment that the ship offered: Rock Wall Climbing.  The open hours for the day were almost done so Eric and I each made one attempt to climb the wall.  Eric made it to the top to ring the bell.  I did not.  My hands were sweaty and slippery and as I attempted to grab onto one of the notches my hand slipped and I fell.

 

 

After the rock wall we also took a ride down the Ultimate Abyss Slide (which even though I was scared was a lot of fun and I loved it) and I tried the third water slide on the ship to cool down.  Eric had already done that slide, but I had not.  I was a little scared because I had hated the other one so much but this one was open air in some locations so I didn't have to worry about the dark tunnel again.  Like the Ultimate Abyss, this waterslide was actually a lot of fun.  I have no idea why they didn't make the other two slides like this one with open air and clear tubes?

After the water slide and a swim in the pool we headed back to our room to get ready for the evening.  There we got to watch a little bit of the Aqua show from our room and it turned out to be all that we were able to see of that show.  We were supposed to see the second showing of that Aqua Show later that evening but it ended up being canceled due to wind and then canceled again on Friday. :(

That evening we had reservations for dinner at Chops Grille (a tradition of the cruises we've been on).  We got dressed up for dinner and then headed down to Central Park (with a stop at a bar along the way for another Shirley Temple for me). ;)

Our dinner was good but it did not hold up to those in the past.  I think if we could have gone back, skipped it and saved the money we would have.  The food wasn't as good as it had been in the past and the selections were very limited.  It was was still good, just not worth the money when we could have had a decent meal that was already included in our purchase of the cruise.

Salad Course: Crispy Goat Cheese Salad for me, The King Caesar for Eric

For our appetizer we decided to try the Grilled Black Pepper Bacon.  It was disappointing as it was basically just a big slab or boneless ribs. 

For the Main Course, Eric and I both ordered the Fillet Mignon with sides to share including Roasted Mushrooms, Gruyere Cheese Tator Tots, Salted Baked Potato and Mashed Potatoes.

Finally for Dessert I ordered the Liquid Center Chocolate Cake (with vanilla ice cream and berry compote).  It was delicious!

Eric ordered the Mississippi Mud Pie (with Oreo cookie crumb, chocolate & almonds).  It was okay but a little bland.

After dinner we didn't do much.  We retreated to our room to change where we found a plate of thank you treats from Royal Caribbean for choosing to cruise with them (which we were too stuffed to touch).  Then we headed to the Aqua show only to have a very long conversation with a nice lady also hoping to see the show and find out it was canceled.  At that point we just headed back to our room for a good night of sleep to rest up for our last day on the ship.