Cruise - Cozumel

We were at sea the first full day of our cruise and it seemed like everything was madness. We didn't get super involved in the on board activities, but I wanted to go to the gym (because I knew I was going to gain so much weight on the trip) and we wanted to lounge at the pool. The gym was so crowded and hot and sticky. Ugh.

Then we changed and headed out to the pool and there was just about no where to sit. We finally found two seats in the shade, but sadly it was just upwind of the smoking section so every now and then the stench got to us. We swam a little, but the water was so cold (since they filter it straight from the ocean) that it wasn't all that enjoyable to swim. So we ended up going to our room and reading books on our balcony. I can't say enough how worth it I think it was to have a balcony. If (when) we go on another cruise we will most definitely have a balcony.

Our first port of call was Cozumel. We decided that we would splurge and do an excursion at each port. In Cozumel we did the excursion that encompasses the entire time we were at port by going out to some ruins, heading to a lunch and time on the beach and then back to the cruise ship. This ended up being our least favorite excursion (and the most expensive).

First, after disembarking from the cruise ship we had to take a ferry and then a bus. I had been warned that a lot of people get sea sick on the ferry and they weren't kidding. Even with Dramamine I felt so ill - I didn't throw up, but it was close.

Check out my handsome hubby

Those of us who chose this excursion had been divided into 2 groups and handed over to 2 different tour guides. We were really put in the wrong group. Our tour guide was a little on the rude side and (having been a tour guide myself years ago), I really felt like he just made up a bunch of crap. Once we got to the ruins, it was a bit of a walk to actually get to where we could see anything and he kept telling us not the separate and he told us stories about some of the different buildings. I personally felt like he dragged out that part of our time and then when he finally gave us our own time and gave us a time to be back on the bus, it was only 15 minutes. But since we were a 5-10 minute walk back to the bus, that wasn't hardly any time to actually look around ourselves.

We ended up getting back to the bus a few minutes late and we weren't alone. However, after waiting and waiting for the last couple to show back up, they finally made the decision to leave that couple and they left someone who would transport directly back to the ferry so that they could get back to the cruise ship.

By the way - these guys were everywhere at the ruins:

Once we made it to the location where we were having lunch we were given only 45 minutes to eat and swim in the Gulf before we needed to be back on the bus. Justin and I both decided that we would just eat lunch and then walk on the beach because that was hardly time to eat, change, dry off and get back on the bus again. 

Overall this excursion was too much travel time (and then add in the extra 20+minutes that we were waiting for the couple back at the ruins) - but ferry ride from the port and back, bus ride to the ruins, bus ride to lunch and then bus ride from lunch back to the ferry. I think we were traveling between 2 - 3 hours of our time.