pirate4me2

Tonight’s dinner menu. Unfortunately I had chicken parm last night at Cucina, so the MDR tonight is a no go. Any guesses where we are heading?

Have no fears!! That was my biggest worry prior to sailing MG last November. I despise crowds, ever since my TBI I get anxious in crowded situations. The first day can and will be hectic as everyone figures out “their” spot, but by day 2, the crowds have dispersed and are not at all like what you think they will be. As for showing up for shows…20 minutes will probably be ok for comedy (on this sailing at least) and theater, but the Center Stage (aka atrium) ones are a bit crazy to get seats for…so I just haven’t tried. They are more like an hr and people start camping out to reserve seats.

If you do the $5 chat feature thru the Hub app and they are your “friends” on there, then yes, you can all request to go to dinner together

The Mexican side of Chibang’s apps, didn’t load in my last post

Chibang menu

Cucina menu

Hub app info

Onboard MG now. First visit to each is free, the subsequent visits are $8/pp. reserve thru the Hub app onboard when they open. I’ll post menus in a sec

I didn’t want to go too far for lunch, so Guy’s it is. I’m not usually a fan of the burgers, but this one was GOOD. Hot and cheese was super melty. And maybe I’m in the minority, but the new fries rock…they’re crispy and I like the seasoning.

Absolutely!!! Got my book, clamshell, drinks…I’m not moving!

Today (Wednesday) Chris has a scuba dive excursion at Anthony Key, and had to meet them at 9 on the pier. He rolled out of bed at 8:30 and wasn’t really human. Poor guy, that’s what you get staying out late! Me, I rolled back over and snored some more until 9:30, then went in search of breakfast. I settled on Shaq’s, and the chicken was fresh and delicious. I am now camped out in the shade in a clamshell on Serenity. Score! I stole it from a CHOG. Can you believe the nerve of all these chair AND table hogs today?!

We had great plans for after dinner, wanted to go to the Love & Marriage Show, the Tim Young comedy set, and the Pirate deck party. However, we walked into the 7:45 L&M show and it was PACKED. We went to check out the comedy situation for Tim Young, and people were already lining up. Standing in line is really not my thing on vacation, and there were 2 empty seats at Alchemy next to friends we had made yesterday, so guess how our evening ended? Yep…drinks and laughter, and shutting down Alchemy. Tim Young has shows today, so I figured we could try again. Drazen wants us to bring him expresso tonight, he has drinks in mind for both me and Chris that need that. He also pulled out the bar book last night to get ideas for me that include absinthe, my weakness. YAY!!! At midnight we hit up the late night snacks at Pig & Anchor to get something. I tried the meatball sub (meh) and chicken tenders (good). We grabbed a bottle of water to go from the bar, and crashed around 1. At least I could sleep in today, I had no plans to get off the ship!

I got the arancini and the caprese as starters, I couldn’t decide. The arancini won, hands down. The caprese was good and fresh, but was missing something. For the main I got the chicken parm with a side of spinach, and that spinach yall…it was garlicky and DELICIOUS! The chicken parm was tender and good, but nothing special. Chris and I both agreed it was missing something, kinda like my caprese was. For dessert I got the tiramisu, and all I can say is YUMM!!

Cucina menu

We got back onboard the ship at about 2:30, and promptly took a nap after showering. That sun took it out of us! We sailed away from Costa Maya about 5:45, and we headed to Alchemy. Yeah I know, we are so predictable! Carolina made me a mojito-ish drink, and we headed to Cucina for dinner. The MDR menu was ok, but not thrilling either of us. Pics of it below.

We were welcomed with a rum punch, chips, guacamole and salsa. Yum! We ditched our stuff at our area (little shaded day bed, 2 recline chairs and a table), and got in the ocean with floaty chairs until noon. The water situation was just like last November, it’s not pretty water, but it’ll do. There is some seaweed in it, but i had fears with the giant seaweed problem this year it would be terrible…it wasn’t. At noon they said lunch was being served, and I needed some carbs to soak up the Oreo mudslides I had drank in the ocean. Lunch was PHENOMENAL y’all. All you can eat taco bar with homemade flour or corn tortillas, steak, chicken, fish, pork, beans, rice, fresh made pico, fresh made guac, cheese, onions, and 3 hot sauces. I tried the chicken and the pork, both were delicious, I can’t decide a winner. The medium hot sauce was good, but the HOT sauce…oh yeah, that was my jam! After lunch we returned back to the water, and stayed there until 1:30. When we got out of the water I got to see my friend Sheba, the calico kitty who hangs out by the pool area. I didn’t get a pic of her, but when we went to the bar area to wait for our 2:00 taxi ride back to the ship I saw the “bar manager”, Stella, who wasn’t impressed with the noise of the blender disturbing her slumber. There were also 3 dogs I saw, but this one is my favorite. He’s an old boy who reminds me of our old family Rottie who passed away earlier this year, he just laid around like a speed bump and barked to greet the new arrivals.

Yesterday’s shenanigans (Costa Maya): The ship was cleared earlier than planned, at 7:30 am. Chris and I got up and readied ourselves, and headed ashore at 8. We reached the meeting point outside the port for our excursion, Maya Chan, at 9:00 ship time (8 their time), so we had to wait a little bit for the representative to arrive. Once she did, my heart sunk…they said we had no reservation with them, it had been canceled! I know when I booked they had the wrong date on the invoice ( they had it for Thursday, not Tuesday) but I emailed and they said they’d fix it, then when I swapped my November cruise to another date I had to cancel that booking with them, so maybe they got confused and canceled the wrong one? Who knows. Luckily they said they had room, and we could come on, so my despair was short lived. After a bumpy 20-ish minute can ride, we reached Maya Chan. It was the same excellent service I remember from last time, and they have been doing a lot of work to the beach and water area. I didn’t take many pics because I was in the water most of our time there, but here are a few.

I think the menu did not specify hard or regular, and we didn’t see them mix it, so I couldn’t tell you which. Sorry! Had a good day in Costa Maya, just stayed out laaaate last night so couldn’t post before bed. I’ll be catching y’all up in a few! I’m not a huge sweets at breakfast person…unless it’s MSC’s sticky buns. Those were my exception! The bartenders can definitely make or break a bar I think. They contribute to the vibe and whether or not you want to hang out. I’m loving it!!

I hate to admit that after dinner I was a bit of a weenie, and called it a day after just a few more drinks at Alchemy. The sun wore me out, and tomorrow is a fairly early port day…8 am arrival. However, it’s my last port day this cruise (I have no plans in Roatan, but Chris does), so I can start being a night owl tomorrow! Whoo hoo! I’ll probably still pass out early tho…I’m getting old. coming up tomorrow: Costa Maya!!

We stayed at Paradise until 4:00, our back on board time was 5:30. It was a great day. The line to get back on the ships at the port was long, but moved fairly quickly. We changed and showered, then hit up Alchemy for a pre dinner drink. Angel made me “something spicy” again, yum! We went to dinner at about 6:08, and there was barely a wait for a table. Dinner tonight was really good. I got the shrimp and crab cake starter, which was so darn yummy! Chris and I were both curious about the chicken roulade, so we got that to split, as well as the stuffed portobello mushroom for me. I thought the chicken was just ok, nothing to write home about, but the mushroom dish was really good…very, very flavorful! I got a cheese plate to end my meal.

The next crazy long line we encountered was the taxi stand. It was backed up all the way outside the tiki hut-ish area, and snaked around several times. We stood there for probably 30ish minutes, the longest we have ever spent getting a taxi. I have to wonder, with just MG and Breeze in port, if it’s that bad, what’s it like with 4-6 ships in port? I don’t think I wanna know… Anyway, taxi cost to Paradise was $15 each way for a taxi of 1-4 peeps. Going to Mr Sanchos? That’ll be $19. We got our taxi, and the driver got us safely to Paradise Beach, which wasn’t crowded at all today. It was a perfect relaxing day, with Luis serving us. Sorry for the lack of pics…I was too busy enjoying myself. I can say, the volcano nachos were disappointing (the chips were soggy-ish and glued together by melted cheese..the other toppings were good tho), the spicy garlic shrimp tacos were not really spicy but were delicious, and the blackened Mahi tacos had more spice than the shrimp and were DELICIOUS!

We headed off the ship at about 10:15, and holy moly…it was a madhouse to leave the pier. It was just us and Breeze in port, but the line to get off the pier was long and slooooow…apparently they check everyone’s bags now leaving the pier? I don’t remember my cruise on MSC doing this a few weeks ago. I had a small purse with me, which I thought may qualify as a bag, but at the encouragement of passengers beside me and my husband, I jumped into the “no bag, use this line” express lane and whizzed thru. Nobody grabbed me and threw me into a Mexican jail, so I guess I was ok doing that. Whew. Note to self: on future trips to Coz, wait an hour after the ship clears to get off, and don’t take a bag.

No reservations, last night we walked into the 7:45 show at about 7:30 and still lots of seats left. Sea Day brunch, reserve a spot thru the Hubb app Have a great cruise!

Hello from Cozumel! I woke up about 8, and we took our time getting ready. We headed to Lido about 8:25 to grab breakfast, and I opted for Blue Iguana. I lucked out and they had arepas! I had to get one, along with my egg, chicken sausage, and guac burrito. Mmmmm, perfect port day breakfast!

I finished out my night at Alchemy. Angel (working on his black coat) remembered I like spicy stuff, and there is still some hot pepper infused vodka left. Lord, please help my poor stomach…by the end of this week my bottle of Tums will be gone! He made me 2 more “spicy” drinks, and at #13 (my lucky number, by the way), I called it. No way can I reach 15, unless I start at 6 am with spiked coffee. Maybe tomorrow? No wait, tomorrow is Cozumel, no way is that happening. Ohhh Cozumel…tacos…tacos sound good right now. Yum. Are we there yet? I need carbs. Corn tortillas, with shrimps, cilantro, cheese, and spicy sauce! No tacos? Really? Fine…Chris, go fetch me Big Chicken. Chicken tenders with honey mustard. Crud Big Chicken closed at 5. Sigh. Pizza isn’t cutting my craving. Guess it’s bedtime. Tomorrow…Cozumel! And TACOS!!!!!