Review: Legend of Seas - 3/11/06 - COZUMEL & BELIZE

[OliverTheCat]

DAY 5 – COZUMEL MEXICO: We got in Cozumel at 7am, but we slept in and got off boat at 9am. We walked right on a tender with no waiting. There is a man selling jewelry while tendering over, and that was sorta annoying. Just don’t give him eye contact or he will sit down next to you and show you his stash, and pressure you to by his $20 chains. Right away, the Wilma devastation is very apparent. Brought a tear to my eye when I saw what was once the docks. Just very sad. The trees are all dead and no green landscape remains, really. The buildings were pretty ravaged, and there were a few stray dogs roaming about. Once we were over to Cozumel, we caught a cab and headed to Paradise Beach ($14 for the two of us total). On the way, I noticed that the horses here in Cozumel really looked skinny and sad. I don’t think they take very good care of them there and that really was hard to see as an animal lover. Once at Paradise Beach, we opted to not get the $8 water toys wristband, and just wanted to have a chair and umbrella for the day, which are free. We ordered lunch and 2 drinks, and the meal was $24 total with the drinks. Not bad at all. The food was very good. We then went into the water, which I think myself for bringing water shoes. BOY IS IT ROCKY THERE NOW!!! Wow! I feel bad for anyone that had to step on that stuff barefoot. The water there is murky and full of seaweed too. I couldn’t see through it, so I am sure snorkeling isn’t good right there at beach. The water felt nice and was a good temperature. Swam awhile and then laid out a bit. Ran into the two families from Cruise Critic party and said our hellos. Loved the music they play here and the laid back atmosphere. Bathrooms were a bit messy and needed to be better kept. But, hope to go here again in future. Taxi ride back to Punta Lagosta Mall was $15 total for 2 of us. Lots of traffic on way back. We did a bit of shopping and noticed the prices were a lot higher than past trips. They blamed it on the hurricane destroying merchandise and they had to up prices to meet demands and rebuilding. We didn’t buy much and felt bad for the damaged shops. Hard Rock Café gift shop was open, but eatery was to reopen the following week we were there. It was really damaged they said. The salespeople on streets are just as pushy as ever and try to lure you into shops, especially for jewelry. Sidewalks are so tiny you cant help but get close to them. We walked the rest of way to tender station on the taxi side of the street. Less fuss over there. Our tender trip back was full of the college spring breakers on my cruise, all drunk as skunks, and rowdy. They treated ride back as if they were still at Carlos and Charlies and danced around tender to music, got little kids up on seats while tender was moving (little kids parents didn’t care!!) and the whole rowdy scene was just a huge headache. College kids puking on tender as well, which was just disgusting to encounter. There were just too many drunk kids. I am just over the whole scene. I know its neat to have fun, but too much rowdy fun can be annoying at same time. We attended dinner once back on ship, but skipped The Production show “Swing City” because husband wasn’t feeling so well. There was also a 50s/60s party, but we skipped that as well. We did go back down for the Adult Quest. Funny Funny Funny, as always, but I did see a lot of people brought along “props” and had them ready and on hand before quests were even done being asked. Lots of women in strapless bras which takes away from the whole scene of them stripping off a bra to give a guy to take up to front…straplesses are no fun, but get you up there faster. I hope to see lots of new questions asked in future so that we can see new and fun surprises. That is what makes Quest so fun!!! Husband still not feeling well, so we went back to the room to turn in early.

DAY 6 – BELIZE CITY, BELIZE: Well, luckily, husband was feeling great this morning when we woke up at 10:30 AM. He said must have ate too much food in Cozumel, and he was fine and ready to start day. We hadn’t planned to get off boat here because we didn’t plan a tour, and knew there wasn’t much to see. But since we didn’t stop in Costa Maya, we wanted to go ahead and get off boat and go have lunch in Belize at the Wet Lizard. The tender over was on a speed type boat and it took about 30 minutes. We were so far away from port!! Could barely see Belize in distance! Once there, I was surprised at how clean it looked. It looked way different than I thought. Pleasantly surprised at lack of pushy vendors and overall relaxing atmosphere. We did end up buying a few Belize trinkets, and had a very very tasty lunch at Wet Lizard. Best food of my trip!! The server we had was non-existent though, and she was slow with our food and rude with her tone. So we didn’t tip her too well. I wish I could have tipped the chef though, cause the food was just very very good. Husband got wings, and the meat fell right off the bone. My burrito had very tasty ground beef and salsa. Loved it and prices were cheap. The beer of Belize (Belikin) was a bit strong for my taste and had a strong smell. I like mild beers. Husband loved it. Overall a peaceful day in Belize. I do understand what people say about not thinking much of it if you don’t book a tour, but those that booked tours on my ship said it was time of their life! Tonight was the second formal night, and again, didn’t see much dressing up by guests. Some, but not a lot. People that think polo shirts, khaki pants, tropical dresses and shirts, and shorts are formal are really kidding themselves. It’s a shame. A real treat after dinner was that Herb Reed and The Platters were performing on the ship tonight. We got to see them on Navigator when we sailed and they are still great. Friendship Parade (staff and crew parade) was at 8:10 PM, but we missed it because we were in casino and forgot about it. My husband and I did the casino a good part of the night, and then checked out Majority Rules game show. Sorta lame crowd, so we moved on to the Karaoke in Viking Crowne, where my husband was gonna do his ‘act’ for the crowd. He actually made it into the little Karaoke Idol finals they had on last day, which was funny. We then stayed in Viking Crowne til’ wee hours listening to music. It was getting sad that we were approaching last day of cruise tomorrow. L