My LONG Mardi Gras Story - Take Two! (with FunTimes)

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1 hour ago, pcvtmom said:

My daughter and her Hokie husband did the same entrance, with all of us jumping!  (Not a small feat, in heels 😁!)

Oh dear.......LOL

 

1 hour ago, erstreet2017 said:

Michelle just doesn’t “get” it but she knows that if I’m grumpy, there’s a really solid chance the Hokies have made me mad! Aaron and I actually had a big Hokie colored wedding 7 years ago. Walked into the reception to Enter Sandman! 

I'm not a sports fan and, as Sherri of "Bob and Sherri" says, "Sports confuse me."

[mlshum]

22 minutes ago, TrqoisWtrs said:

Love your reviews!  Have a New Moon for me at my favorite, Fortune Teller.😊

Thanks so much for your kind words and for reading along!  Fortune Teller is a neat area...I like the entire French Quarter theme.  I'll have a Diet Pepsi and raise a glass to your New Moon...although I'm not entirely certain what that actually is!  LOL  A couple of our group got whatever drink it was where the blew the bubble on top.  That was pretty neat!

[mlshum]

 

Sept. 15th – Sea Day

 

There’s nothing like waking up, walking up on deck and seeing water in every direction.  That really “gets” me every time.  I can’t fully express how the vastness of the ocean makes me feel.  I love it!

 

Fun Times for today

 

Fun Times

 

We woke up a little after 8am and were anxious to start the day.  First order of business was to grab a bite to eat on the Lido deck.  Ron and I are not big breakfast eaters, so a nice, big breakfast is typically wasted on us.  Some of our friends went to the Sea Day Brunch since they do enjoy breakfast.

 

Emory provided a picture from Sea Day Brunch

 

 

After we ate, we found a deck chair and settled in to read for a little while.  I didn’t read as much on this cruise but that is one of the really relaxing things that I typically enjoy a lot. On this cruise, I found so many other things to do that I just didn’t want to read as much.   Still, it was a really nice way to start our first Sea Day.

 

Perfect view!

 

There's relaxed and then there's "cruise relaxed"

 

Everyone in our group was scheduled for the Carnival Kitchen pasta class later that morning.  Ron and I had done a couple of Carnival Kitchen

classes and had really enjoyed them.  We were anxious to do it again!

 

 

As we passed Grand Central they were setting up for Celestial Strings

 

 

We all met outside the door and were checked in.  Everyone went inside and found a seat.  It was a full class.  Sometimes, if the class is not full, each person will have their own station.  When the class IS full, you must share stations.  Since everyone in the class was there with another person, it was much more comfortable that if you were sharing a station with a stranger.

 

Waiting for class to start

 

We were assigned stations and then sent to wash hands

 

Pasta cutter and tablet

 

Ingredients

 

Looking out into the kitchen

 

 

 

The chef teaching the class was Steph.  She was fantastic!  Definitely the best teacher we’ve had in a class yet!  She introduced herself and her assistants, gave us a brief overview of what we were going to do and then sent everyone to wash their hands and go to their various stations. The room is arranged in sort of a “U” shape with Steph in the middle.   Ron and I were on one end.  Kim and Bobby were beside us, Liz and Aaron were beside them.  Emory and Cami were on the side facing Steph and Sarah and Steven were on the side facing Liz and Aaron.  All the ingredients were pre-measured and laid out on the station.  There was a tablet with a close up view of Steph’s station and what she was doing so you could follow along.

 

Chef Steph

 

She began the class with an explanation of how to use the stove top controls and the various kitchen tools we’d be using.  She then immediately started into the class.

 

First step was to mix the pasta.  It was a pretty simple recipe without a lot of ingredients.  Perfect for me!   The first thing was flour.  You put the flour in a bowl and make sort of a “hole” in the middle.  Then we put in the eggs in the hole and started mixing the dough.  At first it was very sticky and would stick to your hands.  Over time it gradually stopped sticking to hands and the dough that was on our hands became part of the dough ball.  You could tell when it was correctly kneaded because the dough was no longer on your hands and there was very little residue in the bowl.  When it was the correct consistency, she told us to form a ball and set aside, under a damp cloth, to rest.

 

Steph had a station in the center of the room and taught from there.  She also made the dish as the class progressed.

 

Looking across the kitchen.  Ron and I were station 1.

 

 

Ron starts mixing the dough

 

It's starting to come together

 

Liz and Aaron

 

 

 She then instructed us to take out a skillet and told us which setting to use on the stove.  She showed us through the specific ingredients to add in the specific order.  As each ingredient was used, we put the dirty dish in a pan.  The assistants were constantly circling the room checking on us and picking up dirty dishes.

 

Liz and Aaron

 

Kim and Bobby

 

Ron and I

 

Emory and Cami

 

 

 

Who knew Bobby was a cook?!?!

 

Steven seems to be letting Sarah do most of the work!

 

 

Steven and Sarah

 

Look at the people in the window behind us.  It was like that anytime a class was in session.

 

Proof that Liz DOES cook.....occasionally.....

 

Emory...feeling sassy!

 

 

After the sauce was mixed, it sat on the stove to cook down and we again turned our attention to the pasta.  Each of us started a pan of salted water on the stovetop so it would reach a boil when the pasta was ready to cook.  Each station had a manual pasta maker attached.   We divided the dough into smaller balls and patted into a “rectangle” that would fit through the pasta maker.  The pasta maker has a knob on the side.  When you start running the pasta through the machine, you start on a wider setting.  Then you gradually reduce the width until the pasta is a usable width for cutting.  Finally, when it was the right width, we ran it through the linguini cutter setting.  The pasta was immediately put into the water, which was boiling by that point.  It is surprising to me how quickly the fresh pasta cooks in comparison to boxed pasta.  It only took a couple of minutes!

 

When the pasta was finished, we mixed the pasta and the sauce, placed it in the provided bowls and sat down to eat.  It was delicious!  Each of us was presented with our own Carnival Kitchen spatula.  Steph assured us she would be sending the recipes later.  It was a very enjoyable class, and I would highly recommend the class to anyone.

 

Lunch is served

 

It was delicious

 

Lis and Aaron enjoyed the class so much they bought the picture!

 

 

Ron was immediately making plans for Derrick and Lucinda to come to our house to make pasta and have dinner.

[LatinaInTexas]

Great review/story, appreciate all the details and pics.

And here I thought I was the only one crazy enough to fly Frontier lol.

[mlshum]

10 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Great review/story, appreciate all the details and pics.

And here I thought I was the only one crazy enough to fly Frontier lol.

lol. That’s funny!  I’m a total cheapskate when it comes to flying.  Given the recent problems with so many planes, that’s probably a very bad thing!

 

Thanks for reading!

[travelinjess85]

Loving your trip recap! Making me so excited to go on Mardi Gras for the first time in March! Thanks for all the details 😊

[Crusin Karen]

That’s a big ship! Love all your photos. Looks like a fun class. I think I’d like cooking a lot more if I had assistants constantly picking up dirty dishes lol! 👍👏😉

[mlshum]

2 hours ago, travelinjess85 said:

Loving your trip recap! Making me so excited to go on Mardi Gras for the first time in March! Thanks for all the details 😊

Thank you!  I hope you have a much fun on Mardi Gras as we have had.  It's an awesome ship!

1 hour ago, Crusin Karen said:

That’s a big ship! Love all your photos. Looks like a fun class. I think I’d like cooking a lot more if I had assistants constantly picking up dirty dishes lol! 👍👏😉

Yes, it is a whopper!  My understanding (mentioned later on, too) is that bigger ships are incoming.  Those should be interesting.  I'm with you!  I'm not a great cook and I only enjoy doing it if I can take my time.  Usually when I get off work every day, I just sort of throw things together and "fix something to eat" rather than "cook".  I'm trying to do better but I'm apparently (according to my kids!!) an old girl and set in my ways!  LOL  (I'm 57).  Funny thing....I don't mind cleaning up.   

[mlshum]

On our way back to our room we stopped in Pixels for our pins and called to schedule our Platinum gift “Chocolate Delight” delivery.  It was pretty good.  I think I like it better than Ron because I tend to like darker chocolate than him.  There was a lot there, so we planned out second delivery of that particular gift for Aaron and Liz.

 

Chocolate Delight - the truffles were my favorites.

 

 

 Liz suggested we go to Serenity and get in the pool.  The weather was really warm during our entire cruise, so the pool sounded like a great idea.  Ron and I went to change and immediately went up to Serenity deck.

 

Here's our towel animal for the day....maybe a stingray?

 

Serenity on the first Sea Day is pretty busy, especially when it’s hot outside.  I doubted we would find a seat anywhere near the pool but lo and behold, a couple were getting up from their lounger just as we were walking in.  The gentleman waved to us and stayed with the lounger until we got there.  Talk about luck!  I really appreciated his thoughtfulness!  We dropped our things, put on sunscreen and headed for the pool.  The water was surprisingly cold but I got used to is pretty quickly.   It wasn’t long until we were joined by Steven and shortly afterwards, Liz and Aaron.  Kim and Sarah took a little time to work on tans and Cami, Emory and Bobby relaxed in the shade.

 

Some kind soul gave us their lounger.

 

 

The pool was relatively full so you couldn’t exactly “swim”.  It was more of a “bob up and down in the water” type of swim.   The depth of the pool was 5 ft 2 in if I remember correctly.  I am 5 ft 5 in. The water was up to my nose so there was more “bobbing” for me than for others.  I didn’t realize the pool on Serenity was that deep!  We spent a very enjoyable hour in the water before getting out.  I dropped off a duck on the way.

 

 

I had originally made pirate ducks for this cruise but they got a little squashed in my suitcase so not all of them retained their pirate gear.  I saved one that was still intact for "Talk Like a Pirate Day".

 

  Swimming makes me hungry and relaxing sometimes makes me sleepy.  (I’m ashamed, but it’s the truth!)  I stopped at Time Fries for the fries of the day, which was Philly Cheesesteak.  My favorite!!  A couple of shaded loungers and a good book rounded out a perfect afternoon.  After an hour or so, Liz wandered by, and we agreed to go get dessert.  I was hoping for some flavor of gelato that I loved but alas, mango (again!) and hazelnut.  I got the hazelnut.  It was OK…nothing special.  I abandoned the gelato and got a small piece of German chocolate cake.  After that, I was ready for a nap. 

 

This night would be the first elegant night.  We had agreed to meet at the mirrored staircase before dinner to have a group picture taken.  We met around 5:30 at the appointed location.  The photographer worked with us to get everyone in the picture.  I think they turned out great!  This was definitely a picture I wanted to buy.  Liz also suggested we do sort of a “mother/daughter” picture while we were dressed up.  While I didn’t actually give birth to Liz, I love her like one of my own, so I loved this suggestion.  We went in search of a backdrop that we both liked and came out with pictures we both loved.

 

This was Liz's favorite...

 

...and this was my favorite.

 

We got our group photo on the "shiny staircase" and I think it turned out great!

 

Liz and Aaron

 

Ron and I

 

As would become our custom, we met across from Fortune Teller bar every night after checking in while we waited for a table to be ready.  It didn’t take long.  Our table was again ready almost immediately and off to the dining room we went.

 

I had the steak, and Ron had the short rib.  We both had a linguini starter.  Ron opted for the Grand Mariner souffle, and I tried the no sugar added panna cotta.  It was OK but definitely not my favorite.  I doubt I will order it again but I’m glad I tried.  I am terrible to forget to take pictures of food but I remembered a couple of times...

 

Linguini

 

Steak

 

We all enjoyed the dinner and the night was still young!

 

 

To be continued later this evening.

 

 

[fla33023]

Everyone looks so nice in their fancy clothes!

[ninjacat123]

Great pics with you all dressed up❣️

[mlshum]

34 minutes ago, fla33023 said:

Everyone looks so nice in their fancy clothes!

 

19 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Great pics with you all dressed up❣️

Thanks so much!  In my normal job I got into attics and crawlspaces…..and occasionally some really awful houses.  I enjoy getting dressed up from time to time!

[mlshum]

You may remember that I mentioned that Kim had never actually seen a show and I felt bad about that.  This night was Celestial Strings in Grand Central.  Of all the regular Carnival production shows, I think this one is the most visually beautiful and I really wanted Kim to be able to see it.  We left immediately after dinner to get seats and were rewarded with some a couple rows back on a bench seat on Deck 6 for some of us and floor seats for the rest of us.  This would work!

 

There were a few heads in front of us but I'm also short.  LOL  It wasn't too bad.

 

I think Grand Central is a confusing space.  Some of the best big production shows are held in this venue but there are very few good seats.  Some are too close.  Some are under an overhang that makes it very difficult to see anything.  There are just a few really good seats on decks 7 and 8 but most seem to have something blocking the line of sight.  The seats we got on deck 6 were about as good as we could have hoped for, and I was grateful to have them.  They were a little awkward, but that’s fine.  Fortunately, Kim got one of the floor seats.

 

The show was beautiful, as always.  It seemed longer than normal to me but maybe I am just misremembering.  At any rate, we very much enjoyed it, and Kim was ready to come back for the second showing to see if she could get a different angle to potentially see things she might have missed.

 

I think it's such a pretty show!  This is my favorite part, I think.

 

 

I can't imagine being that talented!

 

 

The night was STILL young!  Steven and Sarah decided to run back to their room to call their children.  They are the only ones in our group who have younger children.  We all adore Emma and Waylon.  I’m not kidding when I say they are miniatures of their parents!  They’re the cutest family ever!

 

The rest of us headed to Punchliner to see R.T. Steckel.  We were fortunate to find seats together again.  This has to be some kind of record!  He was pretty funny, and we enjoyed the set. 

 

Punchliner ALWAYS fills up quickly.

 

Liz, Kim and Cami

 

R.T Steckel - He was pretty funny!

 

 

Afterwards we met Steven and Sarah in the main theatre to see M Theory.

 

In the main theater, waiting for the show to start

 

It's a very interesting show.  If I were choosing, I'd hold all of the shows in the main theatre.  It's much more comfortable and easier to see than in Grand Central.

 

 

 

 

I have seen M Theory before.  It is fascinating.  It’s a combination of magic, mentalism and theatrics.  I have no idea how they do what they do.  I know there is some perfectly logical explanation, but it is simply beyond my imagination as to what it might be.  After that, it was time for the White Hot party.

 

Steven, Sarah, Liz, Aaron, Ron and I ran to our rooms to change into something white and went up on deck for dancing.  It was so much fun!  I didn’t know all of the dances, but it didn’t stop me from laughing hysterically and making a fool of myself.  I am a terrible dancer, but I really don’t care.  I can provide comic relief for someone else who might need a good laugh and I’m amused in the process.  (Apologies in advance because these pics aren't great and are very dark.)

 

This guy knew how to break dance!

 

Liz, Aaron, Sarah and Steven in the background

 

Liz and Aaron

 

We had to buy the picture!

 

 

The party lasted for about 30 – 45 minutes.  After it was over, we all went to Summer Landing for an ice cream.  By this time, it was almost midnight.  That is way past my bedtime!  Ron and I excused ourselves to go back to our room and turn in for the night.  It had been a good day but we were tired.  Tomorrow was our first stop…..Cozumel!!

 

I'll be back tomorrow to write some more!

 

[mlshum]

Sept 16th – Cozumel

 

Cozumel is one of my favorite ports.  I know some people don’t like it, but we do.  Cozumel has never let us down!  Some of our best activities and excursions have been there.  This was our 5th trip to Cozumel, I think, and we were super excited for what was a “do over” for us.

 

The Fun Times for the Day...

 

 

 

Back in Sept of 2014, Ron and I ran (and won!) the Amazing Cozumel Race.  To this day if someone asks us about things we’d done while cruising, this one always was mentioned. 

 

We won the race in 2014!

 

Ten years had gone by since our last run and we were ready to run it again.  If you read my Celebration Story from November, you will know that we tried to run it again in November, but it was raining so hard the race was cancelled.  Boo!!  We were ready to correct that and try it again!

 

This was last November.  It was raining so hard the race was cancelled. Celebration is in the background.

 

Although we weren’t supposed to dock until around 10am, I bounded out of bed at the normal time and was ready to get this show on the road.  We grabbed a quick breakfast and went out on deck to check the weather.  It was perfect!  A little warm but nice and sunshiny!  Just what we needed for a great run!  We stayed up on deck for a little while watching Mardi Gras maneuver to the dock and begin the process of tying up.  Although the projected time off board was 10, it looked like we’d be off before that time.  Our race didn’t start until 11am so we had some time.

 

Everyone else in our group was going to a private beach club for the day and were meeting at Java Blue around 9:45. We were the only ones who weren’t going to the beach club, so after saying goodbye, we all headed off the ship and parted ways for the day.

 

The Breeze joined us in Cozumel

 

We are READY!!

 

 

Ron and I went in search of our obligatory magnet.  This is something we have done for years now.  Every place we go, we get a magnet.  We have magnet boards attached to our kitchen wall with the collection divided by years. 

 

Magnet board

 

 

The most recent year’s magnets reside on the refrigerator until the year ends and it’s time to move them to the wall. 

 

2024 magnets

 

I use my Cricut to cut out year numbers and I have them all labeled.  It’s one of our favorite little traditions!  We don’t usually buy much in port, but we are required to buy that!  I already have a couple of Cozumel t-shirts, so I didn’t need one of those.  We wandered around a while to see what was new, wandered over to the Mardi Gras “statue” (effigy?  Not sure of the correct term here!) where people were taking photos and found a beach chair where we could relax for a while.  It was such a nice morning!

 

What do you call this??  Cartoon ship?  Definitely photo op!

 

Cozumel port area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This looks like a good place to wait!

 

 

 

 

I'll be back after while to tell you about the race!

 

 

 

[Drazil65]

We also ran the "Amazing Race" excursion when DS was 10 (so almost 12 years ago!), it was a blast!  Although we did not win (there were 16 teams that day) we also did not lose!  Its one of our most cherished and memorable  excursions, DS still talks about it every time we do a cruise that includes Coz.  So much fun...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6 by Drazil65

[mlshum]

A few minutes before 11am, we headed to Three Amigos to begin the race. We met Ada, Martin (who we’d met back in November) and Naomi.  There was a total of twelve teams.  Of the twelve, only four of the teams had someone over 50.  We were the ONLY team where both of us were over 50!   We might be at a disadvantage here!  One gentleman was 72 and he was awesome!  He later told us he had been an alternate for Survivor Marquesas.  How cool is that!!  I would totally go back and watch it again if he’d actually competed on the show.  This group looked very fit and ready to run.  We knew our chances of winning were slim.  We honestly didn’t care.  We were going to try our hardest to win, of course, but we were there to have fun and enjoy the experience.  We would definitely do that….win or lose!

 

All the teams were filling out paperwork

 

 

Ada was getting ready to start

 

We were given a plastic bag with a map, a card with a listing of the Mayan number system, a Sharpie and a cell phone.  The phone was only necessary if we got lost or got in trouble during the race.  The map had the names of the streets.  The streets in Cozumel are very well organized.  All of the streets (Calle) went one way, and the avenues (Avenida) went the other direction.  Each of these were numbered.  It was easy to follow.  The map also contained circled numbers.  These were the locations of various points of interest where we might possibly need to travel.   We were supposed to keep all our clues along the way in our plastic bag.  We would have to present all the clues at the end of the race as evidence that everything was completed.  It was the same system as the last time we’d ran although the puzzles and places on the race were different.

 

 

We were gathered together, and each team was given a number and introduced to the other teams.  We had been told in advance that we needed a team name.  We opted to use the same name we’d used in 2014…Dos Tortugas Viejas…..translated is “Two Old Turtles”.  I even made shirts for us!  LOL  We’re committed, if nothing else!  After the introduction and race briefing, we were all taken by two vans to an open air restaurant in downtown Cozumel.  That is where the race would start.  We were given our first clue, the whistle blew, and we were off!

 

Here's our "proof of life" pic from the beginning.  We weren't drenched with sweat at this point.

 

I won’t tell you anything about the puzzles or much about the locations because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who might want to do this during a visit to Cozumel.  There was a local market, statues, a plaza, local businesses, etc.  The local people were aware of the race and enjoyed being involved.  Several times they helped us by pointing us in the right direction or translating a clue.  I’m told that some of the locals have a lot of fun with the tourists by sending them in the wrong direction.   We didn’t run into any of THOSE on our run.

 

We ran all over town and the locals were very helpful.  They knew exactly what was happening.

 

 

 The market was especially different and interesting.  Several of the vendors were selling meat.  Most of the offerings were simply lying on counters or hanging.  There didn’t appear to be much refrigeration.  It was a world away from a market where we live!  Very interesting!  Since we were out of the tourist area a good portion of the time, we got to see parts of Cozumel that most tourists had never seen before. 

 

Fresh fish

 

 

Fruit vendor on the left

 

I believe that is a goat hanging up

 

Chicken vendor

 

After solving our first couple of clues, we had to travel several blocks for our next clue.  At that point we were both walking down the sidewalk.  Ron turned to me and said, “Let’s pick it up!”   OK!  I’m in!  Let’s do it!! Considering that I'm the one who does the 5K's I was impressed and proud that he was outrunning me.  Way to go!!  We both started jogging and didn’t stop until we’d reached our next clue location.  (Did I mention that it was 93 degrees?)  We raced through streets and back alleys.  We ran into the tourist areas.  We ran to the water and then back into town again.  It was crazy and so much fun!  There was a mandatory 30-minute rest period in a plaza that we had visited before at about the midway point of the race.  We were sweating like crazy, so we downed our water that we’d brought and went in search of more liquid.  We got a couple of Diet Pepsi’s at a local store and sat down to rest.  Upon our arrival at the rest point, we were in first place!  Yay!  Go us!

 

Plaza and our rest point

 

We were ready for a break

 

We found a bench to enjoy our drinks when suddenly a guy with a guitar showed up and started playing songs.  It was just out of the blue and completely unexpected.  One lady started dancing.  Ron immediately joined her.  Then a young man showed up and joined the two of them.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do (or when in Mexico do as the Mexicans do), so I joined in as well.  After a few minutes of laughing and dancing, I had the presence of mind to snap a couple of pictures.

 

Ron joined in the dancing

 

These folks were so incredibly nice!

 

 

We retreated to our bench to rest for the rest of our rest period.  (Lots of rest in that sentence.)  At the end of the 30 minutes, Naomi started us all out again in groups of four in the order we arrived.  The scoring was by time, not by who arrived at the final location first.  Not all teams did the clues in the same order so you couldn’t just follow the team in front of you and you really couldn’t tell where you were in the race with regard to placement. 

 

Putting the clue in our bag.

 

 

We headed to our next clue.  This was the one point where we encountered a problem.  Again, I won’t explain WHAT the problem was, but we did not understand the clue and spent a lot of time trying to figure it out.  By the time we have finally sorted ourselves out, we had slipped into 4th place.  We crossed the finish line and pretty much collapsed into our chairs.  We had done it!  Almost four miles behind us and, win or lose, we were feeling pretty good about finishing.

 

The finish line at last!

 

Each of us were given two bottles of water and another drink of our choice.  Ron took a Diet Coke and I had lemonade.  At the end of the race, I was starting to feel shaky and a little dizzy so drinking water and liquids in general was probably the best thing I could do.  Considering the heat and the energy expended, I’m sure all of us were a little dehydrated.

 

Naomi and Martin

 

This

Pretty sure this guy was the oldest racer.  He was AMAZING!

 

Some of the teams were there when we got in and some came afterwards.  We all were sweaty, tired and feeling pretty good about ourselves.  Martin, Ada and Naomi were calculating times when suddenly one of the racers fell out of his chair and into the floor.  He completely blacked out and hit the concrete floor really HARD.  He was out for a few minutes.  He finally came to and got back up into a chair.  We all thought at that point that he was going to be fine but just then he started to black out again.  That time several people, including Ron, managed to catch him as he fell and carefully lowered him to the ground.  An ambulance was called.  It was obvious that he was truly sick.  Ron kept talking to him to keep him from going into shock.  The restaurant owners turned all of their fans on him to cool him down.  One of the racers was an nurse practitioner.  She instructed the restaurant owners to bring ice, and she was treating him until the ambulance arrived.  Thank God she was there!  He was taken to a local hospital and for several days we didn’t know how he was doing.  He was on our minds and in our prayers throughout the rest of the cruise. 

 

At the Platinum/Diamond gathering, we ran into one of the racers who had heard that the gentleman was in the hospital with a cardiac event.  After we returned home, we got an email from the race coordinators telling us that he had been released from the hospital after some “minor” cardiac surgery (is that EVER minor???), had returned home and was expected to make a full recovery.  Thank God he was going to be OK!

 

After the ambulance had left and things had calmed back down, Ada was ready to announce the winners.  We came in 4th overall and 1st in the “senior citizen’s division”. (We made that up but thought it easily could have been a thing!  LOL)   It wasn’t our winning score from 10 years ago but I felt pretty good about it!  We were given the option of staying downtown and making our own way back to the ship or taking the bus that was provided back to the ship.  We decided to go on back to the ship.  We were exhausted, drenched and badly in need of a shower.

 

 

See you tomorrow to finish out Cozumel!

 

 

[mlshum]

20 minutes ago, Drazil65 said:

We also ran the "Amazing Race" excursion when DS was 10 (so almost 12 years ago!), it was a blast!  Although we did not win (there were 16 teams that day) we also did not lose!  Its one of our most cherished and memorable  excursions, DS still talks about it every time we do a cruise that includes Coz.  So much fun...

 

 

 

 

 

That's awesome!  We have really, really enjoyed it both times and I'd be happy to do it again!  Thanks for reading and writing with me!

[Jamman54]

If the race went from Husband Daycare to Husband Daycare, we might give it a shot! 

[mlshum]

10 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

If the race went from Husband Daycare to Husband Daycare, we might give it a shot! 

So you’re saying you would have been grand champ?  😛

 

I think your “husband day care” is hysterical.

[Jamman54]

11 minutes ago, mlshum said:

So you’re saying you would have been grand champ?  😛

 

I think your “husband day care” is hysterical.

Yes, if it was a drinking race. Not so much if I had to run! 

[#Bluesea]

Really enjoying your review! You do such a nice job! The race sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for all the details and congratulations on your placement! It was very thoughtful that they sent everyone an update on the mans condition. Thank goodness it had a positive outcome. 

[pe4all]

We have always wanted to do the "real" amazing race.  DH always says "how could they turn down a CPA and retired Phys. Ed. teacher."   I told him "no way.  1.  you get lost in our neighborhood - and we have lived here 40+ years   2.  You need to stop at a bathroom every 30 minutes.

Maybe we will try the one you did next time we are in Cozumel- senior 65+ division!

[mlshum]

14 hours ago, #Bluesea said:

Really enjoying your review! You do such a nice job! The race sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for all the details and congratulations on your placement! It was very thoughtful that they sent everyone an update on the mans condition. Thank goodness it had a positive outcome. 

Yes!  We were so glad to learn he was going to be OK.  I felt terrible for him.  I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for both him and his partner.  Hopefully they'll be able to do another cruise that is uneventful and enjoyable.

 

Thanks so much for your kind words and for reading along!

[mlshum]

3 hours ago, pe4all said:

We have always wanted to do the "real" amazing race.  DH always says "how could they turn down a CPA and retired Phys. Ed. teacher."   I told him "no way.  1.  you get lost in our neighborhood - and we have lived here 40+ years   2.  You need to stop at a bathroom every 30 minutes.

Maybe we will try the one you did next time we are in Cozumel- senior 65+ division!

That's awesome!  You should definitely go for it!  I can attest to the fact that it felt a little more challenging than it seems on TV.  LOL  At least it was for me.  I love the TV show, and my son has wanted me to apply with him to do it, but I know I would embarrass both of us and slow him down.  I think this "tourist tuned" version is perfect for me.  😁

[mlshum]

So at the end of my last post, I said I would finish up Cozumel in the next post.  Well, it seems I may have over promised!  Here is the NEXT INSTALLMENT of Cozumel and I promise to wrap up this port in the NEXT post!  I apologize in advance that I don't have a lot of pictures for this section.

 

So....where was I??  Ah yes, Ron and I had finished the race, but all of our other people were elsewhere on the island....

 

 

 

MEANWHILE….the rest of our group were being reasonable and comfortable on another part of the island.  (This info provided by Liz)

 

Liz had coordinated the visit to the Nachi-Cocom Beach Club.  She and Aaron had previously visited the beach club and really enjoyed it.  It seemed like a natural choice to go again.  The beach club is only about a 10-minute cab ride from the port area.  The taxi stand in Cozumel is easy to find.  Just walk all the way through the port area to the pavilion just past the shops and turn right.  There’s an almost constant supply of taxis available and all of them are familiar with Nachi.  The cab ride is about $5 to $10 per person.  The beach club only takes 130 reservations daily so if you want to visit, it’s very important to book as early as possible.  There is a $25 charge when you make the reservation and the rest is payable upon arrival.  Cash and cards are accepted.  The entrance fee also covers an appetizer, entrée and dessert off the menu as part of the reservation.  Drinks, including water, alcohol and soda, are also included and unlimited.  Extra and additional food items are available.  The menu is in pesos so the prices may look shocking but American dollars are accepted and the prices weren’t horrible after the conversion.

 

 

 

Due to the limited number of people, the beach club maintains its exclusive feel.  There is no loud music, just some gentle music at the beach bar.  Nothing overwhelming or intrusive.  There are plenty of loungers and chairs along the beach as well as around the pool.  There’s a swim up bar.  Waiters circulate to keep drinks full.  You can pay extra for other activities such as snorkel gear and massages.  Liz’s cousin Jennifer (who we all love!) says the massages are great, especially for the price.  Some of our group had gotten massages on the ship so I don’t think anyone had one on the beach.

 

 

 

 

Once our group arrived, Liz, Aaron, Steven and Sarah got drinks and headed for the beach. (Aaron said the unlimited drinks were the best part of the day and he took full advantage of it!)  The others caught up in a little while.  The water was crystal clear and the sand was clean and powdery.    It was absolutely everything you could ask for in a private beach!  There was only one small problem with the sand; it behaves a little like quicksand when wet and you can get stuck.  This would prove to be interesting for Bobby as the day wore on.

 

The slant of the beach is rather steep going into the water.  Everyone except Emory and Cami were in the water simply floating around and enjoying themselves.  Glasses and bottles were empty so Bobby volunteered to go back and get refills for everyone.  Empty glasses and bottles in hand, he trudged up the beach toward the bar.  The only problem was he kept sinking into the sand.  All of our group was cheering him on.  Some random guy in the water joined in the cheering.  Then a nearby group of people joined in the cheering.  You could almost hear “Chariots of Fire” playing in the background!  The only problem with all of this is that Bobby had no idea any of this was happening.  He wears hearing aids and since he didn’t want them to get wet, he wasn’t wearing them.  Luckily a waiter saved him.  The waiter told Bobby to wait, and he would bring drinks to him.  The day was saved and the bobbing in the water with drink in hand resumed.

 

 

Before too long, it was time for lunch.  The group gathered in the open-air restaurant.  For appetizers, they had nachos and cheese sticks.  Liz said both the cheese and breading was not exactly what they were accustomed to but were still tasty.  Some had “Chicken Supreme au Champagne” (chicken, rice, and cheesy champagne sauce), some had quesadillas or tacos.  Emory, our resident “foodie” ordered a cheeseburger.  Liz was so upset!   Are you kidding!?!  Usually if there’s something odd on the menu, Emory will be the first to try it.  I guess when the urge hits for a cheeseburger, it must be satisfied!   The worst part about this is that he didn’t love his cheeseburger.  Aaron would have advised they get chicken tenders (his favorite and, according to Steven, properly pronounced “chicken tendies”) but alas, it didn’t happen and he had to suffer through his cheeseburger.  Steven ordered chicken fingers,  which HE apparently pronounced  “chick OWN fingers”.  Liz suggested that his Spanish needs a little more work!  All of the food was good apparently….except Emory’s cheeseburger.   They then turned their attention to dessert and Emory ordered the coconut ice cream, which he said was really good.  Most of the rest had a cheesecake with some sort of “coffee essence”.  They all loved it and were well fed.

 

These are apparently strange mozzarella sticks

 

After lunch, most of the group went back into the ocean.  Liz found a nice shady hammock and spent some time relaxing with a good book. 

 

I'm guessing this might be Aaron's leg?  No idea really! 

 

About half the group stayed until an hour before our “back on-board time”, which was 4:30, and some left a little earlier to some shopping before boarding.  This is where Ron and I caught up with some of our peeps.

 

 

NOW I will be back to finish Cozumel later this evening!