Caribbean Cruise - Cozumel, Mexico

Our last cruise port before arriving back in Miami was Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is located on the southeasternmost point of Mexico, and is in fact, a small island. We have been to Cozumel twice before, and it is one of my favorite cruise stops. But I’m not the only one, this destination is quite popular with tourists. When we docked it looked like we had arrived in a giant parking lot for cruise ships. We had signed up for a tequila tasting excursion, and this turned out to be our favorite onshore experience. We did so much more than just taste tequila!

We walked off the ship and onto the pier where we met our guide, Martin, who tried really hard to get us all to roll our r’s every time we said his name. Mar-rrr-tin! He also referred to our group as “family”, and every time he had to get our attention, to reconvene or move to our next spot, he would call out, “Come, family, we’re going over here now!” We had a small group, only 19 of us, and we were shuttled in vans two miles to the Discover Mexico Park where the activities were scheduled.

Upon arrival at the park, Martin gave us all a miniature margarita to get things started, to get everyone in the mood for the rest of the day.  During the presentation we learned all about tequila, Jose Cuervo in particular, how and where it is made, the different varieties, how it is aged, and lots of fun and entertaining tequila trivia. We were provided with three full shots to sample, which Martin walked us through, giving us instructions on how to smell the vapors, swirl it in our mouth, cleanse our palate, sniff coffee beans in between, nibble on chocolate, smell a twist of lime or a piece of cinnamon.  I couldn’t drink three full shots, but I did sample all of them. We must have looked a sight to the people walking past us, as Martin had us waving our arms to disperse the aromas, pushing down on our noses as we took sips, and doing funny breathing exercises to enhance the vapor effect.

Following the tasting we visited a gift shop with a very nice selection of trinkets, t-shirts, tequila, and glassware. Of course, everyone felt pretty good after the tasting, and likely more in the mood to spend money. We ended up buying a t-shirt and a bottle of tequila to take home. From here we went to the small Museum of Popular Arts, long enough to take a few pictures, and then to a setting filled with scaled down replicas of numerous ruins sites and Mexican landmarks. Some of the pictures we took are extreme close-ups of these replicas, and it might look like the real deal, but they are just models.

Next to this model village was a real cabaña. Here we were treated to blended margaritas where the glasses were rimmed not with salt, but with Tajín (a spicy blend used to sprinkle on Mexican fruit salads – it was so good!), and more stories, including the proper way to make a blended margarita. Then, we were ushered to a courtyard to watch the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers) acrobats perform. 

This is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony/ritual still performed today, in modified form, in isolated pockets in Mexico. This very entertaining performance consists of dance, music, and the climbing of a 100-foot pole from which four of the five dancers launch themselves, tied with ropes, to descend to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, dancing and playing a flute and drum. According to one myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought.

And finally, we were treated to an unexpected delicious Mexican food vegan buffet, which consisted of warm corn tortillas, beans, rice, various pickled veggies, salsas, and chips. It also  included beer, soda, or water. It was such a fun day, and so nice to have this delightful excursion as our last one for this cruise.

Caribbean Cruise - Costa Maya, Mexico

Next stop on our cruise was the port city Costa Maya, Mexico, a stretch of Caribbean coast on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. We signed up for a lengthy excursion to see the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins; Costa Maya is the closest port of access to many of the lesser-known and substantially less excavated ruins, including Chacchoben. The port itself is a fun, festive, and very colorful tourist area sporting saltwater pools with swim-up style bars, small shops, restaurants, and souvenirs galore, and I had almost as much fun just hanging out in the plaza as I did taking the tour.

Our guide for our tour was Alexandre and he was very knowledgeable, as all our guides were. I was quite impressed that our local guides were all so fluent in multiple languages. This trip involved a long bus ride to the ruins, where ancient native populations lived, worshipped, and gathered for celebrations. Chacchoben flourished around 360 A.D., and incredibly, the main pyramid type structure was built to capture the light during the spring and autumn solstices in such a way that the light coming down the side of the structure created the image of a giant snake. I wonder how people had the knowledge, skill sets, and tools to do such a thing so many centuries ago. One might think that “ruins” would be out in the middle of nowhere, an ancient and neglected pile of rubble with no other forms of civilization around it. Not so! This site was in the middle of a busy tourist area that accommodated several tourist buses at a time with a small shop set up to sell souvenirs and snacks.

This was a very, very long day. We left at 11:30 a.m. and didn’t get back to the ship until 6:30 p.m. It was a really long drive out to the ruins, then after we toured there, another very long drive to a beach club where a vegan buffet and open bar was set up for us. But, we got there later than all the other tours going there that day and the food line was very long, and we only had 30 minutes at this stop, so we never got to the food. We had a couple of beers and a shot of tequila, and it was time to go.  We were both very frustrated, as we paid a lot of money for the excursion, and it didn’t deliver what it promised. We were supposed to have a long time at the beach club, which really was on a beach, and told to bring our bathing suits and be prepared to relax, eat, and drink. We were both cranky (and hungry) by the time we got back to the ship.

But, we did get to see a part of Mexico we hadn’t seen before, and the history of the ruins was interesting, as was actually being there at this ancient site. These are the pictures from the tourist plaza in the port, and the ruins. We didn’t take pictures at the beach club, we were too miffed. I wish we had now, it was a rather lovely setting.