Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, jedi bobs said:

This is the day We met Patty and started to get to know her and you. It is always a good thing when you make freinds on a cruise, always happens.  By the way Tyler has been promoted and will be on the Escasy as her final cruise director and we will be on it with him 🙂

 

It was great meeting you and Ann on board. We have some great pictures of you guys that we'll share later in the review. Glad to hear that Tyler was promoted. He's a talented guy. 😎

[purpleally]

On 6/2/2022 at 5:16 PM, blarko said:

I just saw on our local news a family who was on Freedom during the fire. They’re upset because they had plans to visit WDW after the cruise, they had to cancel their trip and think Carnival should reimburse them $4k for the missed Disney visit, hotel and rental car that they didn’t get to use.  It’s so maddening. 

Absolutely not 

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, BasicSailor said:

And we know this, How? 😁 But I agree those tin pans are quite unattractive to my digestive system😝.

I watched Shawshank Redemption.

[Guest BasicSailor]

20 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I watched Shawshank Redemption.

Aha! the secret finally comes out of how you found your secret in paradise for cruising 😉

[Saint Greg]

22 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Aha! the secret finally comes out of how you found your secret in paradise for cruising 😉

No. But it is what got me to try the bohemian beer in Mexico when they’re tarring the roof and drinking “bohemian style beer.”

[Guest BasicSailor]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

No. But it is what got me to try the bohemian beer in Mexico when they’re tarring the roof and drinking “bohemian style beer.”

Thats how I learned about the fifty cents a square for toilet paper deep into ole Mexico 😲. I bought the whole roll.

[Jamman54]

Day # 10  (May 2nd)  -  Cozumel (10am – 7pm). 

 

We were up at 7am to another beautiful, sunny day, with calm seas. We are still a couple of hours away from docking in Cozumel. Here are the views from our balcony looking forward and aft…..

 

 

 

Today we have another beautiful sunrise…..

 

 

 

 

 

Here are today’s “Fun Times”…….

 

 

 

Today we are going to go to Paradise Beach. We normally go to Mr. Sancho’s, but after reading a couple of Willdra’s reviews where she and W had gone to Paradise Beach and loved it, we decided to give it a try. A couple of months ago we went online to book it, and they were running a special for $51 a person, versus the normal $59 a person. Score!!! Patti and I were excited to try Paradise Beach out!

 

We decided to skip breakfast this morning to leave more room in our bellies for the food and drinks we would be consuming today. Around 9am Cozumel and the Puerta Maya Cruise Terminal came into view……

 

 

 

The Grandeur of the Seas is docked at the International Pier…..

 

 

 

To be continued……

Edited June 4, 2022 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

As usual, we will be docking at the Puerta Maya Cruise Terminal……

 

 

The Captain is spinning the Mardi Gras around to back into the pier…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mardi Gras was docked at 9:30am, and we got off the ship at 10. The Grandeur of the Seas was docked across the way at the International Terminal…..

 

 

As we walked off the pier, Patti took these two shots of me and the Mardi Gras…..

 

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

Here is the Mardi Gras docked at Puerta Maya…..

 

 

After leaving the pier, we pass the Three Amigo’s and Fat Tuesday’s…..

 

 

 

Welcome to Puerta Maya, Cozumel…….

 

 

 

We make it over to the taxi stand. There is a bit of a line, but it moves quickly…..

 

 

Here is a Cozumel map and the taxi rates…..

 

 

 

This is our ride. It will cost us $15 plus tip for our ride to Paradise Beach….

 

 

As we leave Puerta Maya, we see excursion vehicles lined up and ready to go…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

After a fifteen minute ride we have arrived at Paradise Beach….

 

 

 

 

After checking in and paying for the balance of our reservation, we were lead out to pick our spot for the day. After checking spots out on the beach, we decided that we would like to be by the pool.  I noticed the cabanas and asked how much to upgrade to one of them. We were told that there would be no extra charge, so that’s what we took! Here are some pictures of the very large heated pool…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a bank of showers right by the pool……

 

 

We meet our servers for today, Alberto and Damian. Here Alberto takes our first drink orders for the day…….

 

 

To be continued…….

[MeganGC1983]

Late to the party, but all caught up. Definitely agree about Chibang. Looks like overall, y’all had a fabulous time. Excited to see what the rest of your cruise entails. Thanks for the fantastic review. 

[Jamman54]

1 hour ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Late to the party, but all caught up. Definitely agree about Chibang. Looks like overall, y’all had a fabulous time. Excited to see what the rest of your cruise entails. Thanks for the fantastic review. 

 

Thanks Megan. I knew you would get here eventually. Welcome aboard! 

[Jamman54]

Patti checks out the ladies room….

 

 

Outside of the bathrooms is this long sink area for the men and women….

 

 

This is the ladies changing room…..

 

 

 

This is the Paradise Beach Gift Shop……..

 

 

This is the pool bar…..

 

 

 

 

Patti is back at our cabana…..

 

 

Damian has brought us chips with salsa and guacamole…..

 

 

They brought my beer and Patti’s water in an ice bucket. Look at the size of the bottle of Dos Equis they brought me. It looks like a quart. I like it!.....

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti and I enjoy our first drinks of the day. She’s drinking a Pina Colada……

 

 

 

Here are the drink and food menus…..

 

 

 

 

 

These are the nearby cabanas and high top tables…..

 

 

 

Patti heads down to the beach. Here is the massage hut…..

 

 

Here is the Beach Bar…..

 

 

They have a Taco Truck on the beach…..

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

Here are some views of Paradise Beach…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you purchase a Fun Pass you can use these floating toys…..

 

 

 

 

 

Patti walks down the beach to the San Francisco Beach Club next door…..

 

 

They also have the floating toys…..

 

 

To be continued…….

[Guest BasicSailor]

If I remember correct, they wouldn't allow Carnival towels there. You had to buy a towel from the gift shop. Is it still the same today ?

[Jamman54]

A little further down the beach is Carlos ‘n Charlies Beach Club…..

 

 

 

 

 

Patti said that she wasn’t impressed with either of those beach clubs. Patti heads out on the Paradise Beach Pier……

 

 

 

Here are some views from the pier…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

5 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

If I remember correct, they wouldn't allow Carnival towels there. You had to buy a towel from the gift shop. Is it still the same today ?

 

We used our Carnival towels without issue. You can see my towel next to me in the first cabana picture. 

[Jamman54]

Patti is looking down the beach the other way towards Playa Mia……

 

 

 

Patti spots some fish in the super clear water…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti heads back to the cabana and Damian takes our food order…..

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Hogladyrider]

Paradise Beach is our "go to" when in Cozumel.

 

We've done Nachi and we still prefer Paradise as our #1 go to....they have made wonderful improvements over the years.  You can have beach and pool and the drinks and food are good!

 

I hope the taxi drivers are better these days, sometimes the ride there can be a little "unsettling on the tummy"....they are pretty agressive drivers.

[Jamman54]

It wasn’t long before our food arrived. Patti had a Caesar salad and chicken fingers…..

 

 

 

I had the Cajun shrimp and a Hawaiian pizza…..

 

 

 

After we finished eating we spotted Willdra over by the pool……

 

 

We went over to say hello, and we wound up spending a good part of the afternoon hanging out and talking. I think W and I knocked down about six quarts of Dos Equis! . Patti got these shots, and even a selfie of herself…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great couple they are. W and I could be brothers with our beer drinking skills, and Willdra is as funny in person as she is online. Our only regret is that we didn’t think to make arrangements to have drinks or dinner together later in the cruise. We looked for them the rest of the cruise, but our paths never crossed. We won’t make that mistake again!

 

To be continued….

[MeganGC1983]

Love it when CCers come together! Thanks for the Playa Mia shots. Will be there in 2.5 weeks. 

[LPut714]

On 5/28/2022 at 9:28 PM, BasicSailor said:

Good eye has my curiosity up as well. Perhaps mini air coolers? Cooled by ice?

Coolers with a safe you can rent

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Look at the size of the bottle of Dos Equis they brought me. It looks like a quart. I like it!.....

 

 

To be continued…..

 

[Knights on the Beach]

On 6/3/2022 at 1:13 PM, Jamman54 said:

 

We were always able to get two seats at the bar at Alchemy. We never had a drink at the Brass Magnolia or Fortune Teller Bar. Don't know why really. 

 

We never really had an issue getting seats at any of those three bars in our three times on Mardi Gras. We ended up going to Fortune Teller more than the other two but Center Stage Bar is usually our go to bar at night, Red Frog Tiki during the day.