Caribbean Cruise – Day 7
Today we are in Cozumel. I awoke at 8am, feeling ravenous. Karyn woke shortly after, so I asked her if she wanted to go with me to sit-down dining for breakfast (rather than the cafe). We had plenty of time since my excursion wasn’t meeting until 11:15.
After breakfast, I decided to go on shore a hour early so I could shop before it got too hot and before my excursion. I found a place that sold my favored Mayan honeyed rum, though in a different bottle and by a different company. The price was good at only $12 per bottle, so I got two. Then I discovered that I had a coupon for a free bottle if I spent more than $50. I knew I had enough since I was also buying Cuban cigars for daddy, several bottles of vanilla, and some coffee. The only drawback was carrying the heavy parcel around until I went back to the ship.
Our tour guide led us to taxis to go to the park where the dolphins were located. There were free lockers at the park, so I was able to lock up my backpack and heavy bag of liquor. We were then given life vests and goggles and then headed to the dolphin cove.
Our dolphin’s name was Louis. We we able to rub his belly, get a kiss, hold him, shake his flippers, get pushed on a a boogey board, and then pulled while over his belly and holding his flippers. There were also a lot of little, striped fish following the trainer because he had a pouch of food and they knew it.
After swimming with the dolphin, we were take to another pool that had a juvenile manatee. This gentle creature was so adorable and I was able to feed it and rub its better and back many times. Did you know that algae grows on the skin of a manatee because they move so slow? It also protects their skin from the sun.
After all that, I changed clothes and got some tacos to eat before heading back to the pier. I also bought pictures of me with the dolphin…they wre really expensive at $20 each, but I wanted one. We were actually lucky compared to the people who did the dolphin tour in Grand Cayman…they couldn’t take their cameras in with the, but in Cozumel, I was able to since my camera was waterproof. I didn’t buy the video, but it was only $50 compared to $100 for one in Grand Cayman…so keep that in mind if you do a tour and not sure which dolphin tour you want to do.
It was so hot (the UV index was at a 10 for severe), I thought I was going to pass out before making it back along the long pier to the ship’s entrance on deck one. Back in the room, I showered and settled back to relax a bit…might even take a nap.
Tomorrow is a day at sea and we’ll be back in Florida on Sunday morning. I have to get up really early on Sunday since my tour group has to check out and go through customs starting at 6:30 so we’re done in time for our 8:30 tour of the Kennedy Space Center.
