Deb Travels the World

I walked into Cozumel by myself and wandered along the road next to the beaches - mostly filled with bars, restaurants and kiosks selling all manner of excursions.

The following day, we strolled around the Costa Maya port area, with its diamond and tourist trinket shops and dolphin encounters and bars. What a difference from our first time at this port! Several years ago, we decided to see the Tulum on our own, avoiding the $100 per person shore excursion fee. We walked out of the port and flagged down the collectivo (local bus) to Tulum and then back again to the port. It was fantastically cheap - a total of $11 - $5 for the bus and $3 each for the entry to the ruins. But (and there’s always a but), when we got back to the port, they would not let us walk in and forced a taxi driver to take us along with the existing fare. So we thought we’d just give the other taxi patrons 1/2 the fare cost. It turned out - we learned this much too late - the two women in the cab had been robbed and the cabbie was taking them back to the ship for free. Had we known, we would have paid the driver, of course. Anyway, it was an interesting experience. This time we just took a few pics in the port area, enjoying the walk around.

Finished yesterday with a great meal in the Izumi specialty restaurant.

Today is a lazy day at sea. We’re getting a few things done we’d missed so far, like a milkshake at Johnny Rockets and our free pulls at the casino - Steve won $27! Which partially paid for the pub beer we had afterwards. They don’t have good beer in our free lounge, so it was nice to have a good stout.

We’ll be walking off the ship early to catch an 11am flight back home. It’s been a great vacay and nice to visit with Steve’s family. Also, we had great table mates at dinner and in the lounge, with whom we’ve also chatted around the ship. This is our favourite ship and brother-in-law Jim said the same.

From our balcony, this afternoon. Another beautiful day in paradise

Well, a bit of a misnomer. We are docked near Cozumel, but we probably won’t get off the ship. It’s a cab ride anywhere and I’m not a fan of Cozumel anyway, having been here many times.

Tuesday afternoon, we strolled around Nassau and ended up having a decent IPA at the Irish pub. We had a great dinner in the specialty restaurant, Chops. I had a 16oz rib-eye that was perfect. Fantastic. The other three all had the 9oz filet, which was done to each of their specifications. The sides and the dessert were also great and we asked for a slower meal so the service was not at all rushed.

Yesterday was a lazy day at sea and this morning we’ve pulled into Cozumel. Currently, sitting on the balcony with my tablet.

This is day two in the Bahamas. We left Ft Lauderdale on Allure of the Seas on Sunday after a less than satisfactory night at an Airbnb. The beds were comfortable, but there were some cleanliness issues with the kitchen, leftover garbage and the sheets on one of the beds. Luckily we were 4 (travelling with Steve’s Mom and brother) and there were 5 beds, so we were able to avoid the less clean option.

A nice walk around the park next door to the airbnb, which is one of the most efficiently organized sports parks I've seen. Lots of walking and cycling trails, but also fields for all manner of sports and even a dog obstacle course. I ran around the bases of the largest baseball diamond. My first home run

Fastest boarding process ever on Sunday. We had no line up at all and breezed right on board at about noon. The first full day was at Royal Caribbean’s newly established island which they like to call Perfect Day at Coco Cay. It’s been open less than a year, with some areas not yet finished. We were the only ship that day - I don’t know if that is the norm, but it made for a great experience. There were more than enough deck chairs / umbrellas and minimal lines for food and drink. The last pic shows the cabanas you could rent for $350 or so a day. We declined and just used the free loungers and umbrellas.

This morning we’ve arrived in Nassau and we’ll be here until 2. We haven’t decided if we’ll go into town, having been here several times and since Mom and Jim seem to be planning to stay on board. So far we are loving the ship, as always - this is our favourite class of ship, with Central Park right around the corner from our cabin. Mamma Mia was well done and we enjoyed the diving/water show Ocean Aria last night. Adding a few pics...

The view from our balcony right now, with Navigator of the Seas pulled up along side, slightly dwarfed by us. And you can't see the Carnival Sunshine behind it, but lots of people streaming out to go on shore.

Took a nice 10k walk today, round trip to the market for some fruit. The leaf colours are so vibrant this year. It's been amazing, so I took a few shots to show you'all. You might notice the fire hydrant flags set up so they'll still be visible in a month or so when the fall colours become several feet of white snow.

And pumpkins at the market.

We spent the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Garden, just south of Scottsdale. Hit a bit of the forecast rain, but not enough to curtail our stroll around the gardens.

Then, we are dinner at Tap and Bowl, which has excellent fresh food and decent beer with good prices. Steve had the fried chicken Mac and cheese and I had the salmon with cauliflower rice and veggies. Really yummy.

We hung around for a while watching the thunder and lightning show.

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