This cruise had only 2 ports of call. The first was Grand Cayman. This was our second trip to this island. Paula and I had stopped here on our first cruise 17 years ago. On that cruise we did the island tour. This time we took a tender from the cruise ship anchored off shore to the island. We were only in this port from around 10 am until 3 pm.
We only did one excursion, the Pirate encounter. It's geared toward the kids, with some rum punch for the adults. (they did tie up two moms to the mast of the ship, funny stuff) The pirate ship was about the size of a tug boat, but it looked like a pirate ship should. The captain and his crew, dressed and played the parts of pirates, to the point where they made one little boy cry. It was all in fun, they made all of the kids take an oath to be a pirate and made them scrub the deck. The captain anchored the ship just off shore after circling around the cruise ships and firing their miniature cannon a few times. The cannon was pretty authentic looking and took a shotgun shell with a loud bang that made everyone jump 3 feet every time they fired.
The pirate encounter only lasted a couple of hours. We swam for a an hour after the kids scubbed the deck. The rum punch didn't seem like it had much rum, I drank about 6 to get my money's worth. On the way back to the dock, I went for one more refill as the pirates were mixing the batch for the next trip. He was filling the container with 2 fifth's of rum. He fulled my cup with straight rum. Needless to say the rest of the day I was one happy tourist. The rest of the time on the island was spent shopping. Not me, the girls mostly. I smoked a cigar and watched the boys.
Cozumel was the second port of call. Paula and I had been to this port on the last cruise as well. The ship docked directly at the pier at Cozumel and we were able to walk off the ship. Longer day in port, from 8 am until 7:30 pm. But the ship actually left the dock at 7:20. Way to much shopping, Paula and her sister had to look in every shop. Tim and I entertained ourselves with 2 Corona's for $3 and me with another cigar. Boys bought some wrestling masks and the locals seemed to get a kick out of them.
We took a taxi from the pier to Paradise Beach. It was about 10 kilometers away. We spent the rest of the afternoon, swimming, climbing a inflatable rock wall, kayaking and snorkeling. They also had a coconut tree to climb, the boys did that as well. Nice way to spend the afternoon. Paula got way to much sun, even though she did put on some sunscreen. Regret not bringing a disposable underwater camera for the snorkeling. This is my idea of the way to spend vacation, hanging out at the beach taking it easy.
No run today, slept in until 6 am.
Boys scrubbin' the deck
Boys climbing the coconut trees at Paradise Beach
Dylan and me kayaking at Paradise Beach
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