Day 6 - Costa Maya
Thursday, May 3, 2012

Costa Maya is another destination that was developed strictly as a port of call for cruises. In fact it is the first such port in the Western Caribbean. Some people complain, There is nothing around there. That is true, it's just a little fishing village nearby (Majual). But given that years ago there were so few ports on a Western Caribbean itinerary, I'm all for these developments. If you don't like them, that's fine, then I guess you pick a different itinerary. But for what we are looking for... weather, some swimming, maybe some snorkeling, light shopping, it's great. I like the cleanliness, the feeling of safety. Critics would say it's not authentic. True. It just depends what you are after. They do bring in the local culture with costumes and dances in the plaza, so they are trying! And don't call Costa Maya an island! It's just a port on the coast of Mexico! I should mention there are a LOT of shore excursions available too, although we did not book one.

We have been here many times and we just want to relax, walk around on shore a little and then enjoy the ship again like we did on Monday with everyone else off!. We got off the ship and walked around the shops a little near the pier. I had not bought any souvenirs yet and I was willing to buy a low priced necklace if I saw something I liked. I ended up buying two necklaces from a guy, and thanks to my bartering skills, paid less for the two than he was charging for one originally. (I'm sure the joke is on me, but don't tell me that quite yet!) As we walked around we realized that there was a dolphin pen there and with some dolphins in there swimming around. I do not remember that from last year but it's possible we didn't walk up this way. They were selling dolphin encounters and "swimming with the dolphins'.

We headed back to the ship to enjoy the pool, hot tub and deck chairs without the crowds, and then we found a shady spot to read our books. Not very exciting but very relaxing!

EARLY SAILAWAY
We sailed away at 3:00, which is much earlier than is typical, but in order to get back to Port Canaveral on time, we have to get going! From the Promenade deck we watched the last minute stragglers return to the ship. So this would be a good time to talk about how different the promenade deck is on this ship! This deck is very strange to me since the Promenade decks on the RCCL ships are completely covered. On this ship there is only a very slight overhang from the balconies above, but it is generally an open air deck, with lots of sun, and sometimes lots of wind. Nice if you are looking for sun, but for shade lovers you might be out of luck, depending on the position of the sun. Simply switching sides of the ship is not an option if smoking areas matter to you. Smoking is permitted on the starboard side of the ship in all outdoor areas, so we will be sticking to the port side. Passengers are allowed to smoke on their balconies, whatever the side, and I would be so bummed out to spend the extra money on a balcony and have smoke from the Promenade deck or another balcony wafting into my balcony.

Tonight was the second formal night - oops I mean "Elegant Night", so we got all decked out again and posed for some more "elegant photos". They have WAY MORE backdrops and photo ops on this ship than we have EVER seen before. Some people hate posing for the pictures, and complain about, like it's some sort of scam or something. Yes, the photos are not cheap, I agree. On RCCL we would have a coupon for one free portrait because of our Diamond status, but no such luck on this cruise! Here's how we look at it: It's an activity! Taking the pictures, and then finding the pictures! You never know! You might just hit one you want, and if you do, maybe it's worth it! We did hit one nice one and decided to update the 8x10 frame in our Dining Room at home. That picture is 4 years old. After dinner we went to the show, another singing and dancing production show. It was good, but we have noticed a lack of variety in the shows. On other cruises we have seen magicians, comedians, lots of different things, but all these shows seem to be singing and dancing. The first night we had a few minutes of comedy but it was just sort of a teaser to go see the comedy shows which are completely separate. I never really thought about it because I thought more variety was coming later in the week, but no! So we give the points to Royal Caribbean on the shows. To clarify, the talent on this ship was good, but the variety of the entertainment was lacking.

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