Imagination review 4/9/12-4/13/12

[jackdis]

So sorry that I have been MIA for a few days. This time of year has me on the softball field for what seems like hours each night after work!!! Great games, but not conducive to trip report writing. Here's a little more. I will try to write some more tonight too!!!! Thanks for hanging in there with me!!!!

[jackdis]

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - COZUMEL!!!!

We got up the next morning, after sleeping in a bit, since we wouldn't be docking in Cozumel until about noon. The great news was we would be there until 10:00, so we did not feel rushed at all. For this trip, we decided to go back to Paradise Beach to just relax, sit by the ocean and the pool, get some sun and, of course, some drinks!!! We got off the ship and really took our time walking through the shops and looked around a little bit, as opposed to the usual race to the taxi lines!! Paradise Beach and Downtown were our only plans for the day, with Senor Frogs being the destination Downtown, because the six year old at home (yes, six!!!) *really, really, please mommy and daddy" wanted a stuffed animal frog from Senor Frogs!!!!

So we set off to the beach for some rest and relaxation. Or so I thought!!! Now, for a little backstory……I am the person who usually meets someone and gets their life story in a few short minutes. Case in point was at the wine stop on our way to the Port a few days before. While the husband ran into the liquor store (for a total of 6 minutes!!!!!) I became close friends with Fred, our driver. He was married, had two kids, four grandkids, used to live in NY, worked at one of the city airports for the airlines, still had a mother in law in Queens, lived very close to where my parents used to have a condo in Florida, etc, etc. I'm sure you get the point!!! And remember, this was all in 6 short minutes!!

Well, on the way to Paradise Beach, I was totally taking in all the scenery during the short ride. We have been to Cozumel several times in recent years, and I am always amazed at how much it has built up since our last visit. I also enjoy seeing various places we have been to, and reminisce about when we were there and what we did. Needless to say, the short ride seemed even shorter, and this ONE time, I did not even get the driver's name.

Before I knew it, we pulled up to Paradise Beach and I was on that beautiful walkway towards the beach. I love the little gift shops as you enter. I love the more recent addition of the pool and bar area. I absolutely LOVE the bar that is on the way to the beach. And when I am close enough to start seeing the loungers on the sand, I am pretty close to heaven, in my opinion. At this point, I took out my cell phone and started taking some pictures of the walk towards my heaven, and I think my husband had the same idea.

Except then, I saw the look on his face…….It was a look that I had seen a few years before when we realized we did not have our camera AND camcorder when we got off the plane from a long flight home from Hawaii!!! (More about that later.)

He DID NOT have his cell phone!!! We knew for certain that it was on the seat of the cab, because the one slight interaction I did have with the cab driver on this short ride was when I said something like "Oh no!" as I thought the driver was going to rear end a police pick up truck in front of us before the right turn into Paradise Beach. As we came pretty close to that vehicle, I grabbed the seat to brace myself and remember my hand touching his cell phone on the seat.

At this point, we were just getting close enough to the loungers and my husband turned around to go back towards where the taxi dropped us off. Ok, it was more of a run. Trying to stay calm, and positive, I got two loungers in a perfect spot ($2 per person to use the chairs at Paradise Beach, with the understanding that you will buy some food and drinks.) I explained to the server what just happened and he said he would help and ran back towards my husband. (I later found out that other people employees were already trying to help him, so the server came back to me to see if I wanted something to drink.) I told him my husband had the money and I wasn't sure what was happening. He was most gracious with telling me not to worry and that he would still bring me something, but I was a good wifey and waited.

And waited and waited and waited. I finally walked up front to see what was going on. Clearly, the phone had not been found. Did I know the driver's name??? The ONE time in my life that I didn't pay attention to the cab number, the driver's name, or even really what he looked like…..I had no idea!!!! I couldn't even tell you what kind of car we were in. I just knew it wasn't a van. Things were not looking too good for the missing cell phone.

This is where I should begin to compliment the staff at Paradise Beach. Apparently, they write down the cab numbers of every taxi that drops off people and how many passengers were in it. Only two taxis had dropped off two passengers right around the time that we arrived. They had it narrowed down to two cabs, and of course, it would be the two cabs without radios in their cars!!! (I'm still staying very positive at this point. I was so proud of myself!! Not a complaint or a mean word to my husband. I knew how bad he was feeling. I didn't need to add to that.)

One cab was still in the lot. Nope, not our driver. That would have been too easy. So they had it narrowed down to the cab that the phone was left in. But where was he???? And was the phone still there on the backseat?????????

[re-re]

Oh you gotta let us know if you got the phone back, nail biter.

[baylovesduke]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue][B]I'm anxiously awaiting the rest of the story...

PS- We loved Paradise Beach! We spent half of our time on the inflatables in the water and the other half in the pool on a chair. Beautiful place[/B][/COLOR]
[/FONT][/SIZE]

[jackdis]

[quote name='re-re']Oh you gotta let us know if you got the phone back, nail biter.[/QUOTE]

Posting in a few minutes.....thanks!

[jackdis]

[quote name='baylovesduke'][SIZE=3][FONT=Arial][COLOR=DeepSkyBlue][B]I'm anxiously awaiting the rest of the story...

PS- We loved Paradise Beach! We spent half of our time on the inflatables in the water and the other half in the pool on a chair. Beautiful place[/B][/COLOR]
[/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

On its way......
Wish we were sitting right there right now!!!!!!!

[jackdis]

DID WE FIND IT???

Short answer……….YES!!!!!

Slightly longer version: A supervisor/manager told my husband to go for a ride with him to see if they could locate the missing cab (and cell phone!) at one of the neighboring resort properties. When I got back to my seat and was filling in a couple I had met while waiting, I told them what was happening. (As I hear myself telling them that my husband had left he property in another vehicle with an employee, I had to laugh, because it really sounded bad…..husband in Mexico driving around with stranger, no cell phone. Wife alone at beach, no money and no identification at all!)

They were back in a little while. They couldn't find the taxi, but the employee who was helping my husband had received a phone call that my husband's cell phone was waiting for them back at Paradise Beach!!! Happy ending!!! Just some advice: Make a mental note of the cab number you get into, because sightseeing and nice scenery does not help you get your phone back!!!

Just a quick mention about the Hawaii lost camera and camcorder incident……Sure, my husband felt bad about the possibility of losing his Droid in Mexico, but it was really the pictures on his smart phone that he was concerned about. You can always cancel the cell phone and replace it. But pictures are so special, so hard to replace. So imagine how sad we were when we realized we had lost all our pictures and video of our trip to Hawaii, a few years back. (After a 9.5 hour flight with two kids, albeit well behaved, they were left on the seat in a fanny pack….the cameras, not the kids!) My husband tried with no success to contact Continental, to go back to the airport, to deal with their lost items dept., etc. but we were not meant to have those items back. We even went so far as to see if anyone was selling them somewhere on the Internet, just to get those memory cards.

Anyway, I was devastated, as you can imagine, and then we got some heart breaking news…. During our vacation, the father of one of our daughter's elementary school mates was innocently killed in a car accident. That put everything into perspective. Here I was crying about lost pictures form a family trip to Hawaii, when a family we had known had lost a father and husband. That moment really changed me. Life is so special and it can all change in a second. We had our memories, and most importantly, each other, and that was all that mattered. Did this moment help me 5 years later, on a beach in Cozumel, over the possible loss of a cell phone???? Absolutely!!! It helped me keep my calm, think positive, and still look forward to the day ahead, no matter what the outcome of the cell phone situation might have been.

I think I'm going to end this installment right here, because it seems trivial to immediately start writing about our day at the beach. Thank you to the staff at Paradise Beach and the taxi drivers for helping us.

Please take sometime to enjoy your families, and give your loved ones a big hug and tell them they are special to you!!

More to follow very soon!

[jackdis]

So now it was beach time. Finally! We immediately order a bucket of beer and some nachos. Hit the spot! It was reasonably priced (about $15 for 5 cervezas) , and oh so good! We swam in the water a bit, and just relaxed in the sun. This is how we pretty much spent the next few hours. We have been coming to Paradise Beach for a few years now, and it has gotten busier over the years as more people heard about it, but we didn't feel crowded at all. It was perfect.

Then we decided to move over to the pool area for a last swim before heading Downtown to Senor Frogs. As we approached the pool area and threw our things on some loungers there, we discovered something that had been missing from our lives the last few days………FREE WIFI!!!! (I had tried by the beach bar area and it wasn't working there.) We did not move for the next half hour. We just stood there with our smart phones, checking in on reality. I know I am addicted, but this showed me how much. LOL…..

Since we had completely dried off at by this point….standing in the sun checking out FB, email, etc. will do that to you…..we decided to skip the dip in the pool and went back to the taxi area, with a quick stop in the gift shop. I must say, they have really nice local things in the two stores, and the items are also reasonably priced. Last year I got the girls beautiful little hand painted boxes for a few dollars each. This year we got them (amongst other things!!) those little hand painted turtles with the moving heads that they have always admired when they have been with us. I was eyeing some beautiful hand painted plates, but decided against them, for fear of them breaking on the return home.

The taxi took us right to Senor Frogs. We went to the store first. For the record, there were no little frog stuffed animals at Senor Frogs!! We settled for a Frog pillow for the younger daughter and got them each some tank tops. I would love to say that these purchases were also reasonably priced, but I can't!! ($75 bucks for a pillow, two girls tank tops and one men's shirt.) We then went into Senor Frogs for our yards. He had a margarita and I had some sort of banana alcoholic drink. Mmmmmmm……..

After this we went back to the port area, did a little more shopping and headed back on board. It was nice not having to rush to get ready for dinner. We got ready and arrived at the dining room later than we did on previous nights. I think this might have been the only time we were given a pager, but honestly, it beeped as soon as I walked out of the dining room into the atrium area. When we were leaving the dining room, since it was later than normal, the line to get in was pretty long. I'm guessing that it might have been around 9:30 at this time. We went to the show that night, we went up to the deck party by the pool, we passed on the Mexican buffet because we were still full from dinner, and then had some drinks with some friends we had made on board. Before we knew it, it was past 2am!!!! Time to head back to the room and call it a night! All in all, it was a great Cozumel day!!!!

Up next: Our last day at sea, or all good things must come to an end!

[jackdis]

Day at Sea - Thursday, April 12 - That dreaded last day!!!!

Hello again. I must admit that I have nothing to add about the morning of our last day at sea, except that Mama can't party the night before like she used to!!!! Actually, partying was not a problem. And I was fine the next day, but it went something like this:

Dear Husband wakes me to ask me if I want to get breakfast in the dining room. I am soooo tired so I say no, but tell him to go ahead without me.

I awaken to him making a little noise in the bathroom…..nothing intentional….not at all, really…..and tell him to wait for me and that I will join him for breakfast in the dining room. I am really hungry at this point! It honestly felt to me like I had dozed back off for just a few minutes since he originally had asked me to go to breakfast. Nope!! At this point it was closer to noon, and breakfast was over!!! So needless to say, we headed to the dining room for lunch and to enjoy the day ahead!!!

Bellies full, we went to the slot tournament (I think!), relaxed and tanned at the Serenity area, and to the Love and Marriage show. CD James Dunn did a great job with this. No matter how many times we have gone to it, it always makes us laugh, and he threw in a few questions that I hadn't heard before, making it even more enjoyable. Good times!

We really just took it easy that last day and enjoyed our time together. Nothing eventful…just a nice ending to our great vacation.

Up next: Farewell Day, some final thoughts and the return home

[jackdis]

Apologies to everyone, if anyone is still out there reading this. Things have been so busy, and clearly, the ending of this trip report got pushed to the back, back burner.

As always, when looking back on a recently completed trip, it feels like it was a lifetime ago!!! This is no exception. The fact of the matter is that this trip was only a month and a half ago, but it feels like such a long time since we were on board. Departure went off seamlessly. We took our time that last morning, had breakfast in the dining room, grabbed our things and headed to the taxi stand. No problems, easy to do. We go to Miami airport quickly. I want to say we had lunch at the airport and were on our plane, headed home.

The flight went well, and as always, we were glad to see the girls. We missed them so much, but were really happy that we were able to get away for a few days and have some adult time.

Softball started the day after we got home and that's been a large chunk of our time since our return.

The Imagination was once again wonderful. THe ship, the crew, the ports…..it all contributed to our great time. We look forward to our next cruise. We have an end of summer cruise tradition. God willing, we will be able to do that again. That will be #10….Platinum time! Yay!!!

Thank you for reading and thank you for letting me share some of our cruise with you. I look back fondly at all my trip reports and love to have the record of the details of the trips that might have otherwise slipped my mind.

Until next time……

[cruiseclues]

Your review was very good..thank you :)

[jackdis]

You're welcome!!!
Thank you for your comment. It made me go back and reread my trip report. It made me smile to relive our little vacation.
:)

[Cruiser 2 too]

Enjoyed reading your review, missed seeing photos though. Sounds like you had lots of fun!