Caribbean Cruise - Day 4

Tuesday, Feb 7th

Progreso, Mexico. We didn't book any excursions today, instead Daniel and I enjoyed a relaxing day on the beach. Dan & Ginny went to the Mayan Ruins and we considered joining them since they're different ruins than we saw several years ago, but instead thought a hangout day would be nice.

When we docked, buses were available to take us into town. Once we hopped off the bus, we walked to the beach where we were greeted by a friendly guy offering us two shaded chairs for the whole day for $25. We took the deal and he came by every so often to brings us drinks or anything else. Renting these chairs also gave us access to the restaurant's restroom across from the beach.

 The only downside to this deal was that every few minutes someone new was stopping by to sell us something. Nothing we really wanted and we didn't have cash anyway. This one girl broke my heart. She stopped by several times and the last time she kept saying "please lady, please lady." Goodness. I thought about her for days afterward! We could pay for the chairs and anything from the restaurant with a card. I ordered some nachos for lunch and they were amazing! Best nachos I've ever had. The chips were homemade, the guacamole was amazing and I'm not even a huge fan of guac. Man, I would've eaten several plates of those if I could.

We headed back to the ship a little earlier than we had to, but Daniel likes to beat the crowds coming in at the last minute. This gave him time to nap while I played some afternoon trivia. Then we met up with Dan & Ginny for dinner and enjoyed the evening with them, catching up and of course go to the piano bar. :)

Caribbean Cruise - Day 3

Monday, Feb. 6th

Cozumel, Mexico. We chose to do an excursion this day that was a community with a purpose tour. This included a city tour, lunch and visit to an orphanage who received a portion of the ticket proceeds as a donation. Some may think this is a weird choice, but we visited the ruins in Cozumel years ago on our last trip and thought this was a good way to see the city- the real Cozumel- and give back at the same time. It was Dan & Ginny's idea really and we chose to join them.

 Lunch was pretty good- definitely authentic Mexican (yes, I know that's not surprising). Below is the orphanage. They have a really neat setup where they build houses and have a couple live in each one with several of the orphan children so it feels more like a home setting. This has been very successful for them. It was a holiday in Mexico, so we didn't get to meet very many children. 

 Stopped at Three Amigos on our way back to the ship. See, he looks cute in just about anything. :) 

It was a good day.