Celebration Day 3: Cozumel

When booking a cruise of course we look at cruise stops. When we booked the Celebration we knew this cruise was strictly for relaxing so we were not upset when all of our ports we had been to on a previous cruise with Royal Caribbean. So for our first port day, we decided to get off the boat in Cozumel, Mexico but kept it relaxing as possible with no excursions.

We have found that port days are the best sleep in days. And on day 3 that is exactly what we did! Our sleeping in isn't very late even with day drinking the day before and staying out in the piano bar the night prior. We had a slow morning, and were able to enjoy breakfast on the back of the boat at Shaq’s Big Chicken for a delicious chicken and biscuit breakfast!

Shaq's is absolutely delicious and worth having for breakfast, lunch or any snack during your cruise. The biscuits melt in your mouth and fall apart easily which makes eating a sandwich a little challenging. For breakfast there is an option to dip your chicken in spicy honey, I always opt for this to be left off but Cory enjoys the extra flavor!

Slow mornings are my favorite, I don't have to rush anywhere and I can enjoy the balcony! Any chance to read and enjoy the sunshine, I will take immediately. While on the balcony, Cory and I noticed there are three different cruise ports in Cozumel. All ports are close together but completely different. When we were on the Royal Caribbean cruise a few years ago we were at an old port with little to do. You could only just shop and it felt dirty. The port we were lucky enough to dock at this time was beautiful and bright and we were excited to see what the port had to offer!

When we finally got our act together and decided to get off the ship to wander, we knew we should grab cold water from the bar. We always grab a water bottle from Carnival since that is what is allowed back on ship when returning. We also bring our sunscreen. This seems silly if you can just apply it before getting off the boat BUT after a few port day sunburns we learned our lesson. We loaded our small bag (ladies, a Kavu sling bag is perfect for a port day)! We also never get off the ship without our licenses, passports, our marriage license (because after 2.5 years I have not legally changed my name on my passport) cash, a credit card and of course our room keys. This may seem extra to bring all our legal documents off ship but I am beyond paranoid and am always prepared for the worst case scenario.

Getting off ship at port was super simple! Take you

r room key! To get off ship you just need to scan your room key, they will verify it is you and you are on your way to fun, sun and whatever you may be looking for. For Cozumel we had little expectations based on our last visit to this port. When we got off the boat we did have to walk through a gate with drug sniffing dogs, which made sense since we had to do the same to get off the boat.

We were surprised how different this port was, it was lively, dance performances took place and lots of photo opportunities. We were (okay, let's be real… I was) on a mission to find a t-shirt that was not a ridiculous amount of money and to wander the shops. We found a decently priced shop early on and found a bright colored shirt so we continued to explore. We found picture stations with the ship in the background, there was a wildlife area said to have lizards but we didn't see any… we did see a turtle though! A local dance group came in and performed in their bright colored costumes, right in the middle of the port area! We love seeing local culture without exploring off port (we’ll share our thoughts about this in another post).

Now that it was time to go back to the boat for lunch and a pool day, we started the journey back. We were shocked we did not have to walk through drug sniffing dogs this time. We were confused by this since it was such a big deal with Carnival about no drugs on board and anyone could have found something outside of port. Back on ship it was time for bathing suits, a pool and lunch! We decided to go to Guy’s Burger Joint for our favorite lunch. My go to burger on this cruise was a plain jane BUT I would ask to add an onion ring. It was absolutely delicious! And the french fries dipped in ranch dressing was another favorite. We never eat this much junk but when on vacation!

We decided to go to deck 8, our quiet pool with comfy pillows to relax and catch some rays. Finding a seat at a pool on port days is fairly easy until mid afternoon since most people are off ship with excursions or exploring the local area. Pool time is the best time, I get to be outside and with a book, two of my favorite things! I could probably write blog posts just on the books I have read on a cruise ship but don’t think you are here for that kind of post!

After a few hours of sun and a nap for Cory it was time to head back to the room to keep reading and enjoy some air conditioning. I said I was going to go to the room to read but I knew there would probably be a mid day alcohol induced nap involved as well. While I spent an hour or so in the room Cory found himself wandering the ship checking out new places. When he came back to the room I was passed out! He woke me up to let me know he was the creepy guy playing mini golf all alone with all the families on ship. (Editor’s note: By the way, playing mini golf with a drink in hand is a lot more difficult than you think)

To be honest, the real reason he woke me up was to watch for pier runners! Have you heard of pier runners? Pier runners are those people who think the ship will just wait for them to come back at their own leisure, which is not the case at all. If you are not back when told, you will have someone from port telling you to run back to the ship or you may see someone from port letting you know you are now staying the night in your current location because your boat left without you! On this cruise, we did see some families running, we saw some walking slowly but no real pier runners unfortunately. We were quite disappointed there were none on this cruise since the Fun Squad was yelling from below asking us on lookers if we were ready for pier runners! Cozumel is known to be great for pier runners since the pier is so long! Our neighbor was ready to start singing “Born to Run!”

Something we tried more on this cruise was to have dinner at different places than our assigned dining room. On this night we decided to try BBQ from Guy’s Pig & Anchor Brewhouse! We tried this on the Mardi Gras and were less than impressed. but we were pleasantly surprised with the food and how absolutely delicious each item we ordered was. I am typically gluten free but decided on this cruise to give up that diet (because again, when on vacation). I LOVED the mac and cheese and green beans! Cory loved the smoked sausage. Looking back on the entire cruise, Cory was all about the smoked drinks and smoked dinners.

The real reason we ate at Pig & Anchor was to go to Family Feud Live. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties they had to cancel. The best thing about when Carnival cancels a show or activity they always replace it. They always give you something else to do instead. They replaced this show with Guess that Groove on the small stage and a show featuring the best Circus songs (think Greatest Showman and Pippin).

We knew that Guess that Groove was a no brainer since we loved it on the Mardi Gras last year. Guess that Grove is an audience involved show where two teams of five members from the audience guess a song name with just the music, finish the lyrics and participate in ridiculous activities with songs from different genres. One of the games has the contestants wearing noise canceling headphones and the audience has to act out the songs for them to guess. Cory was very excited for this game and was more than ready to participate. Our team (right side of the auditorium) had to act out Billy Jean by Michael Jackson and Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. Cory was very into this game with his moon walking, he was so into it that he broke his whiskey glass which made us laugh quite uncontrollably. Then things got pretty wild, they played Wrecking Ball for us to act out… Cory took this quite literally, went into the aisle and took me out like a wrecking ball. I fell hard into the gentleman behind me and could barely stand up because I was laughing uncontrollably. If you know Cory, this is not his usual demeanor. So the unexpected dramatic participation and dancing surprised me.

After being audience members in Guess That Groove we decided it was time to head to the piano bar for another drink and to calm Cory down from all his dancing. If you like to people watch like I do, the piano bar is the place to go since after 10 pm it is no longer G-rated. We did not stay out too late since day 4 was another port day and another day of exploring but we of course grabbed our water before bed!

Are you interested in cruising yet? Have we sold you on how great cruises really are? If we have, reach out and let us help you book your next big vacation! If not, come back for Day 4 and our crazy day at port in Costa Maya, Mexico! It has a first for both of us so be sure to read so you can find out what to expect!