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Friday, December 1st – Costa Maya Morning finally dawned again, as it usually does, and I immediately sensed a change. I was feeling much better! Finally! Thank you, doctor, for saving the rest of my cruise! I was moving a little slower than usual and I got tired more quickly but that was acceptable. I will take it! I jumped in the shower, and we headed up to Lido for a quick breakfast. We stopped by the cabin for my backpack and headed off the ship. Let’s do this! Today I had booked a snorkeling/catamaran excursion through a private company. I was pretty excited about this one. It was a private experience, and the captain was going to give us a sailing lesson in addition to taking us to a good snorkeling site. I had really been looking forward to this! We headed off the ship, down the gangway and started the long walk down the pier. It IS a rather long pier. Normally I might not have noticed it, but I was moving just a little slower than normal. We got all the way to just inside the port area when I realized something. I had forgotten my snorkel gear. Really?!?! I had a quick internal debate about whether or not to go back and decided that I would. I have a very small head. It’s weird. It doesn’t look abnormally small or anything, but I can wear the child sized Dora the Explorer bike helmet, so snorkel gear has always been challenging for me to the point where I usually just take my own. Most operators don’t have a lot of child sized gear. It's a long pier! I turned and made the long trek back to the ship and up twelve decks. I grabbed the forgotten snorkel gear, ditched my hat (which wouldn't stay on my head due to wind) and headed back out. We had plenty of time since our excursion wasn’t until 11 and it wasn’t even 9am at that point. Still, this was a new port for me, and I wanted time to look around. We did the whole pier thing again and that time it “stuck”. We began to explore the port area. The port at Costa Maya is very nice. There are lots of little shops. They are all clean and have all of the normal things you expect….t-shirt shops, jewelry, alcohol, food, etc. The most aggressive vendors seemed to be the ones selling facial lotions and Botox treatments. Definitely not! I’ve gotten this far without Botox and I’m going to finish it out without Botox! I haven't even dyed my hair yet! I plan to just go ahead and grow old without fighting the "look" too much. I typically don’t like spa type things…..I don’t like massages, I don’t like pedicures or manicures, I endure regular haircuts. I just don’t like it! The whole facial thing held absolutely no appeal for me. I would walk by as quickly as possible, not making eye contact, saying, "No, thank you. No, thank you." Entering the port area Photo ops More photo ops Lots of small shops We wandered through several shops and got our t-shirts and magnets. We heard that the Papantla Flyers were getting ready to start their show so we headed to that area to find a spot where we could see. I have read about the Mayan Flyers, which we learned were more properly known as Papantla Flyers. There are four men who perform a ceremony which involves climbing a very tall pole, attaching a rope to their ankle and spinning in a circle as they slowly circle to the ground while hanging upside down. One of the most interesting things is that some of them played a small horn and a drum the entire time. It was very interesting! They seem to do this ceremony pretty often in the port area. It’s free although they do appreciate donations. If you have a chance to see them, I highly recommend it! They're pretty easy to find because you can see them over the rest of the buildings and hear their music. Climbing the pole They pull these ropes up to attach to their feet They "fly" in circles, playing music all the way to the ground It was time to find a cab and go to Nohoch Kay where we’d meet our shore excursion. Just outside the port area is the taxi area. There were plenty of people available and it wasn’t necessary to wait at all. The cab ride was short and only cost $4 each. When we arrived at Nohoch Kay, we checked in and were informed that the water was too rough to sail the catamaran that day but they were still planning to take us out for snorkeling. We agreed that was fine. I had originally found the excursion on Viator and when I booked it, it was through Costa Maya Excursions. We had paid half of the money up front and the other half was due when we arrived. We paid for the snorkel excursion, which was the same price as the catamaran, and we were then shown to two beach loungers and an umbrella. It even had our name on it! The whole process was very well organized and pleasant. We settled in to wait the 20 minutes until it was time to snorkel. The beach is very pretty although there are some “things” out in the water that stick up. I have no idea what they are. I didn’t walk out to them. It appeared to be very shallow for quite a distance from the shore because someone was wading and fishing out in the distance. You could see where the water was very choppy beyond the shallow area. There must be a sharp drop off in that area. Check-in area and restaurant Bike path Looking out into the water What are these things?!? Our reserved area Beach area This was SUPPOSED to be our ride for the day After just a little while, the gentleman who had checked us in came to our chair and told us that the water was too rough to snorkel as well. He offered us the all day all-inclusive beach package or a full refund. We opted for the refund. The all-inclusive package included alcohol and since we don’t drink, it seemed a little high for a shallow beach, two chairs and lunch. We walked back up to the desk where he processed our refund. He was apologizing profusely but we assured him that we had still had a very pleasant experience and would definitely be coming back to Nohoch Kay when we returned to Costa Maya in September. At that point, he gave me his card and asked me to book directly through him. Apparently, Costa Maya Excursions takes a portion of the fee for exactly the same experience. Good to know! In addition to the catamaran and snorkeling private experience, which was only $60 for a PRIVATE excursion of up to four people, they also offered the Beach Break, a private ruins tour for $69 per person and their premier excursion, which was a private fishing charter for four for $399. ($100 each). I’ve never seen a private charter for 4 for that cheap! They will add up to two additional people for an additional $100 each. The tour includes cooking whatever you catch. The prices were great, the facilities were nice, the people were fantastic…..It’s a great value if you want to do any of those things. The name of the establishment is Nohoch Kay Tours. I’m not sure I can share a website here but you can PM me if you want the website, email address or phone number. We’re planning to go back next September on our Mardi Gras cruise! Since we weren’t going to get to do any of our planned water activities that day, we took our refund, and the staff called a cab for us. They took us back to the port area, and again it was $4 per person. Back at the port area, we weren’t quite ready to get back onboard so we decided to walk the bridges over the port area. It’s an interesting walk. You go through multiple bird houses (watch your head for bird bombs!), across the pool, across the dolphin area and out to a viewpoint where you have a great view of the ship and the ocean. I really enjoyed it. I believe the cost to walk the bridges was $14 per person. Be aware, the bridges are “springy” and do bounce a little and there is no way to avoid the bird houses in case you aren't a fan of birds. Part of walkway over port area These guys were so cute! This one is just posing for the camera because he knows how cute he is The perfect flamingo pose The pool....and a really great pic of my fingers Pool deck Dolphin shore excursion More dolphins Great view of the ship You can see how choppy the water was in this pic On the walkway So many pretty flowers Birdhouse and walkway over dolphins It seemed a shame to leave Costa Maya without going swimming, so we spent some time in the pool. This is a very nice pool. It has a swim up bar and an area where the water sprays out from overhead. It’s pretty large and meanders a bit. I think it was about four feet deep. It was pretty crowded, probably partly because a lot of the water activities had been cancelled due to the choppy water conditions. Three ports….three cancelled shore excursions….and I STILL didn’t get to do any swimming in the ocean! On our February cruise the first port was cancelled, and the second port was too cold to swim. That part is disappointing to me. I love to swim. I love to snorkel. I guess the only thing to do is to book another cruise! Back to the ship! We were hungry and decided to stop at Deco Deli on the way up to our room. We opted to eat outside since we were both still drippy from the pool. Ron ordered a Cubano and I had the grilled ham and cheese. Ron also had a hot dog. We very much enjoyed it. Grilled ham and cheese Cubano Hot dog We observed that we were already wet and already wearing our bathing suits. What to do? Seems like an excellent time to try out the water slides! Celebration has three water slides. The blue slide requires you to lie headfirst on a mat. The yellow is a regular type of body slide and the orange has the floor that drops out from underneath. That sounds terrifying, so of course, Ron had to do that one. We climbed the stairs. We had already climbed all the way up the interior stairs to Lido deck. By the time I got to the top of the water slide, I was worn out. I opted for the blue slide. Important to know…you get your mat at the BOTTOM of the stairs BEFORE you climb or else you have to climb back down and back up again. I learned this the hard way on Mardi Gras, having made that mistake once! We both did the blue slide. Like I said earlier, Ron went back up to try the orange slide. When he was being sealed in for the “Drop of Doom” he asked the crew member if there was an age limit. He, however, meant an upper age limit. They laughed and assured him that 60 wasn’t too old to do it. I got a picture at the bottom, but you really couldn’t tell much about it. I looked at the stairs and decided that I didn’t to climb back up to do the yellow slide. I was ready to relax a little. Water Works Orange slide was conquered At this point we were STILL wet and STILL drippy, so we opted to do something that we’d never done before….get into a swimming pool on the ship. The Lido pool, Tides pool and Serenity pool were all pretty full, so we went to the Summer Landing pool on Deck 8. It was fairly “peoply” but not quite as bad as the others, so we got in for a bit. There were too many people to actually swim, and the water was relatively cold, so we didn’t stay long. We got out, grabbed our Kindles and headed to our super-secret spot on Deck 8 to relax and dry off a bit. I was ready for a break! A couple of hours went by, and it was time for sail away. It was also time to go get cleaned up for dinner. This was our second Elegant Night, so we were going to the main dining room, Festivale, again. Ron checked us in on the app. It was about a 15-minute wait. Not bad at all. Question…..is it pronounced “Festi-vale” or “Festival”? Also, is the other restaurant pronounced “Carni-vale” or “Carnival”? For that matter, is the Tropicale bar pronounced “Tropi-cale” or “Tropical”? I honestly don’t know but I’d love to know the official answer! How do you pronounce this? After dinner, I was ready to listen to some music. We went to the Golden Jubilee where the violin trio was playing. They were playing disco tunes! I really enjoyed them. One performer in particular seemed to really be enjoying himself. We had decided that we wanted to go watch “Color My World” in the Grand Spectrum Theatre. I made a quick restroom stop on the way and found a cell phone. Oops! I’ll bet someone is missing that! I took it to Guest Services immediately. I was just a few minutes late for the start of “Color My World” but it was worth it. I later learned in our Facebook group that someone had claimed the phone. Excellent news! Losing a phone can be pretty devastating! Violin trio....they were excellent and I enjoyed the disco tunes! Golden Jubilee Color My World was pretty good! I don’t think I’ve seen this particular show before. It had a bit of a story line which I won’t spoil for you. The lead Playlist singer, Cody, is amazing! This was in the Grand Spectrum Theatre which was a much better setting, in my opinion. Color My World Still in a musical mood, we headed to the piano bar to sing along with Misso for a while. We were there most evenings of the cruise. This is probably the most time I’ve ever spent in the piano bar. We usually go a time or two, but this time we were regulars. After an hour or so I wanted to get an ice cream, so we dropped by Hero’s Lounge and then walked out onto Deck 8 for a few minutes. The temperature was very nice but it had been raining a little again, so we didn’t stay. I was tired. It had been a full day. Time for bed!

You’ve got it!

Thursday, November 30th – Roatan (There are no pictures for the first part of this segment. Sorry!) As morning dawned, I was SO ready to go to the doctor and get this fixed. Can you please fix me quickly, doc? We must have had breakfast as we usually do. To be honest, I don't remember going and didn't have anything unusual in my notes, so I guess it was fine. We had scheduled a Discover Scuba class on this day, but it was readily apparent that I would not be able to dive. I could barely walk. One thing I've learned about scuba diving is that it takes concentration. For someone who is experienced and proficient that might not be the case. For me, I have to work at it. I wasn't even sad to miss it at that point. All I wanted to do was to go to the doctor and get something to stop the pain. The medical center didn’t open until 8am but the shore excursion desk opened at 7am and that needed to be our first stop anyway. We went to Carnival Adventures on our way down to the medical center. Ron explained the circumstances and they immediately agreed to refund our Discover Scuba. They made it very easy, and I appreciated that so much! This shore excursion sold out pretty quickly, so I imagine they were able to resale it. I hope so at least! While we were talking to the crew member at the shore excursion desk another couple came in to cancel their excursion. The gentleman had apparently booked a two-tank certified dive but had never been diving before and, of course, was not certified. (Prior diving experience WHILE becoming certified is required!) Now I'm very impressed with the level of confidence that it takes to plan a certified dive when you've never tried it before AND still be angry when they won't let you dive! Ron offered him our spots in the Discover Scuba class because it was sold out and he wouldn't be able to dive otherwise, but he wasn't having it. He was going to dive in the certified group, or he wasn't going to dive at all! I have only managed one successful dive in three tries. Ron did it all three times. I loved it but it's somewhat terrifying to me. It is complicated.....and rightfully so! If you don't get it right, there's a real possibility of drowning. I have a healthy respect for learning to do it correctly! I will try it again in the future for sure. After that, we went down to Deck 3 to the Medical Center and were there when they opened at 8am. The Medical Center looked exactly like any doctor’s office or ER that one would visit on land. It was very neat and modern. I signed in at the front desk and was greeted by a nurse who asked why I was there. I explained my symptoms and history and she agreed that I needed to see a doctor immediately. I was given paperwork to fill out. As soon as I finished the paperwork, another nurse came and took me into what looked like a small ER. I followed the second nurse into an examination room. She started getting my vitals when the first nurse came back in and said, "Hey, you stole my patient!" The current nurse just smiled and continued what she was doing. I guess they don't stay very busy and may get bored, which is a very good thing! There were four hospital beds with a variety of machines and monitors. She took my blood pressure, which was surprisingly good given the circumstances, and took a sample to be tested. She instructed me to get into one of the beds and told me that the doctor would be in shortly. She was right. He was there almost immediately after she left. He did an examination, asked a lot of questions, especially about my history, and looked at the test results. He concluded that I was correct. I had a very bad UTI, and it was necessary to begin treatment immediately. He said he had two antibiotics on hand that he could give me and felt that it was best to use the strongest option. He gave me an antibiotic, prescription strength Tylenol and another OTC (Azo Standard) to alleviate the symptoms. He gave me instructions about coming back if certain symptoms occurred. After about 30 minutes, it was finished, and I was headed back to my room. The entire staff and facilities were totally professional, and I appreciated them so very much. I had always heard how expensive onboard medical services were but in this case, my entire visit was less than $250 and that included all of my medications. That was much cheaper than I expected! (I'm self-employed and have to buy my own medical insurance so I am used to things being very expensive.) I was also able to submit the bill to my insurance company when I got home. Although I don't wish a visit to the doctor on anyone, I can certainly say that if you need it, they will make it as easy and pleasant as possible, given the circumstances. My first duck find occurred on the way to the medical center. It was a cute little duck with a cowboy hat. I sent a picture to Liz who immediately named it Woody because Toy Story is her favorite movie and Woody is her favorite character. It wasn’t labeled so I have no idea who had hidden it. It was in a stairwell. God knew I needed a little "pick-me-up" on this morning. A duck named Woody I was exhausted from that little bit of effort....and from being up all night. We went back up to the room and I took my medicines. After just a little while, the pain started to ease. Azo is good stuff and I use it on land anytime I have a need. I laid down in the cabin and took a long nap. When I awakened, I was already feeling much better. Ron never left my side the entire time. He's such a good guy! I woke up and was feeling much better already. The sharp pain had subsided some. By that time, it was late morning. I told Ron I wanted to get off the ship and at least visit the port area. I can’t be docked at a port and NOT get off the ship for at least a little while! He didn't love the idea but agreed to go with me, so we headed down and went into the port area. I had to stop and rest several times. I underestimated how sick and tired I was because after only a little bit, I was ready to go back. We were able to pick up our magnet and t-shirts, but that was it. We started back toward the ship. Spirit was also docked on this day. We will sail Spirit to Alaska in 2025 for our 40th anniversay Proof of life...and gumption! Port Area Port Area Port Area Port Area The further we went the more I struggled to keep going. Ron helped me along. Finally, I made it back onboard and up to Deck 8. I had to stop at that point. He got us a piece of pizza and something to drink while I was gaining some strength to keep going. After that rest, I made it back to the cabin and eventually to a deck chair. I spent the rest of the day in that deck chair. I read some and often napped. I kept falling asleep pretty much every few minutes. I love to read in a deck chair, although I usually don't fall asleep. There are too many interesting things happening around me. Ron never left me unless it was to get me water or something to eat. He’s definitely a keeper. This was certainly not the day we had planned but it may have been a day that we needed. I tried to have a good attitude and not bog us down too badly. Hopefully it will never happen again. Resting a bit I'll never ever get tired of that view! One of the things I had heard about on this cruise and wanted to see was the Time Journey in the windows at Latitude bar. It was neat! I like that area of the ship a lot. It has such attractive decor...all travel themed. This was a perfect way to rest for a few minutes but still be able to do something I wanted to do. Latitudes and the windows where the "show" would appear I love the decor of the Latitudes area! Let the show begin They start back in time....way back in time! The marquee over the bar tells the year....sometimes See??? We successfully arrived in 2165! Shortly after sailing away from Roatan, I was beginning to feel MUCH better. We decided to go to Guy’s Pig and Anchor for dinner. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I still enjoyed dinner. My dessert, however, left much to be desired. I had the Mississippi Mud Pie. It simply wasn’t good. I took one bite and decided I’d get some ice cream later, but I wasn’t finishing that pie. I’ve had it before and really liked it. Not this time! Ron had the apple pie and declared that it was the best dessert he’d had on the cruise. I think it trumped the lemon torte from the night before. When dinner was finished and I was still feeling OK, we went to watch Deal or No Deal. I got a card and found a good seat on the main floor on Deck 6. Ron went to get a milkshake and I stayed put to save our seats. There were three chairs and our small table. While I was there, a lady came by and asked me if she could have the third chair. I told her “Of course, please join us!” and we proceeded to begin a conversation. She asked where we were from, as one does, and I told her. She immediately made a comment about my accent. I DO have an accent. Not as heavy as some people, heavier than others, but I firmly believe that EVERYONE has an accent. She was from LA. To me, SHE had an accent. Before I had a chance to state that opinion, Ron came back with his milkshake. I introduced him and when he spoke, she immediately went with “his accent is worse than yours”. It really isn’t. We’re about the same. He gave her a strange look and informed her that he believed everyone had an accent…..exactly what I had been getting ready to say earlier. She countered that she absolutely did NOT have an accent and then said that he also sounded like a “senator”. Where did THAT come from??? What does that even mean?? I’m not exactly sure how one can identify a senator simply by listening to them talk. Anyway, we both sort of shrugged, chuckled and settled in for the game. I don’t know why but it seems that there are a lot of West Virginia haters on this cruise. Two, at least! That did NOT stop some of the musicians from playing "County Roads", including Misso. Looking down into Celebration Central. I would snag a couple of chairs down there My view for the game. Very acceptable! My card...not as acceptable. Pretty terrible, actually! Waiting for the game to start As the game started, it became clear that our tablemate didn’t understand how to play her cards. I explained as the game progressed. She was doing pretty well, actually. She had three cards and won three Bingo packages and a casino package. I, on the other hand, did terrible. I couldn’t make a single match, much less win anything! I would say the law of averages should dictate that I make at least one match on something over the course of two games, but that was not the case. Oh, well! When the game was finished, I wanted dessert. I hadn’t had anything with dinner, and I guarantee that I will splurge with my calorie count on cruises and not pass up dessert, so we headed up to Lido to see what was available. I think the dessert options on Carnival is one area where they are really lacking. I’ve already mentioned that I really missed the Lido lunch cakes. I wish there were more options in the dining rooms, too. Surely it wouldn’t be that complicated to have a couple more options! I'm glad they have a sugar free option finally. That's a good addition to the menu. Anyway, we found some cookies on Lido so that satisfied my sweet tooth. We went on deck for just a little while, but I was quickly wearing down again. I felt completely drained by this point. All I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. Ron suggested that we go back to our room. I really appreciated that. He is so understanding and always looking out for me. We did go back to our room, and I pretty immediately fell asleep again. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better. I know, I know….I’m pretty boring on this cruise! I'll make up for it tomorrow if I can!

Thanks so much! I hope to get another installment up tomorrow.

It’s good to know they were available. I think emergency services would have to be available with that many people on board.

My youngest son moved to the Nashville area over the summer. I’ll be visiting for the first time in January or February. Can’t wait! Great review! Thanks for doing it!

That’s hysterical! lol. I suggested to Ron once that we give blood. He agreed to it. When we got there we were told they would be taking our blood pressure and it had to be under a certain amount. I struggle with high blood pressure. Unfortunately mine was too high and they wouldn’t take my blood. Ron was safe, however, and they did take his. As we left he wanted to know if I had any other “fun couple’s activities” planned. Lol

Oh I can imagine that would be terrifying!

I'll bet he's the most popular person at the blood drive!

Wow! That's terrifying! I hope that person made a full recovery. Very scary! I think they would almost have to be flexible with emergency situations. I know the one person that a ship can't sail without is the ship's doctor....not the captain...the doctor.

That's so true! Probably a really good policy! He's a good sport and I know he'd just laugh about it!

You know, I really hadn't thought of that before but you're absolutely right. I wonder if there was an actual emergency if they would open for that particular instance? I'd think they'd almost have to be available. I seem to remember seeing a number on the phone for emergency service when I called to get info on what I needed to do. Hopefully that is the case.

I promise I won't be leaving home without it from now on!

I was glad it didn't take longer than that and I didn't have further to go! I've always felt so sorry for people who have to go to the hospital while on vacation. I can't say enjoy nice things about the ships medical center. They were fantastic!

Thank you so much! Now I need to find a little downtime to read this! Ron will probably die of embarrassment if he'd featured. That is, unless he's still "owning it" this much later. LOL

Exactly! That will now be in our little first aid kit every time. I never occurred to me before....I will never forget it again!

I just finished writing about that! Part of my last post....the most important part....somehow disappeared so I just got the details posted. I appreciate that. It's never fun to be sick on vacation!

Aww...thank you and yes, that was Ron! He wasn't exactly WANTING to be part of the Welcome Aboard Show but he decided to "own it" and I think he did a great job! I'd love to read your blog! Is it posted here on Cruise Critic?

I am so so sorry that part of this story disappeared again! Cruise Critic won't let me edit so here is the part that "fell out this time. Hopefully, I won't have this problem going forward. Thanks so much for your patience with me! We sat down and Misso started. Suddenly, I did not feel well at all. I excused myself for a minute. I thought my problems would pass quickly but they instead started getting worse very quickly. I knew pretty immediately what was wrong. I had a UTI. I have them pretty often, but I’d never had one come on this fast and this hard before.

Thank you so much and thanks for taking time to read along! Sitting on the floor? They need to move that into the theatre!! Bingo is always so popular it just seems like Celebration Central is a terrible venue for that! Not only for the lack of seating and poor sight lines but it's often really hard to hear.

Thank you so much and thanks for reading along! I hope you have a great vacation, too!

They are the best!!

Thanks! Nothing too bad but I’ll tell fix it when I’m able to go back home.

Definitely not! Not on a cruise! I’ll get it fixed asap!

For reasons unknown to me parts of some of my paragraphs are disappearing! Ugh! I’ll fix it as soon as I get home. At the moment Ron and I are at church cooking pasta for 200. Lol