Itinerary:
10/9/21 Miami
10/10/21 At Sea
10/11/21 Cozumel, Mexico
10/12/21 Costa Maya, Mexico
10/13/21 At Sea
10/14/21 Miami
We are cruising with Dave’s brother Steve, and Steve’s wife, Pat on Celebrity Summit. We are in Concierge Class and our stateroom’s are next to each other, 8100 and 8102, on the starboard side. When originally booking the cruise, Dave and I are elite, so by booking Dave and Steve in one stateroom, and Pat and I in another, we were able to get one category upgrade on balcony staterooms. However, at one point the prices dropped, and we were able to upgrade to Concierge Class, and actually got a $6 refund.
10/7/2021 – Thursday – One requirement to cruise in these times of COVID-19 is that you have to present a negative COVID test taken within 2 days of boarding. This was a stressful concern, because we were having difficulty booking an appointment for the test, and getting the results in time. Our only option was driving to Sarasota, but again, no guarantee we would get in, and get our result on time. Dave took a rapid test in Sarasota, early on during the pandemic, and they lost his retest, so he had to drive back to Sarasota and take the test again. For these reasons, we decided to order the home tests, that are taken with a proctor. Our two days before was on October 7, a Thursday, to board two days later on October 9. Dave and I had ordered the tests, and they arrived overnight. We got a better deal on ordering a 6 test bundle. I went to Walmart and bought a tripod to hold our phones when we took the test, as the proctor has to be able to see you and the test which is lying on the table. The test cannot be touched or moved for 15 minutes, in order to get an approved test. We were all kind of nervous about this process, but the good news is that we all took the test, one after another, and we all tested negative. Each of us took about 30 to 40 minutes, start to finish. So, in about 2 1/2 hours, we were done.
10/9/2021- Saturday – It is Saturday, and we drove from Englewood to the port in Miami. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive. Our check in time was 12:30, which is about what time it was by the time we dropped off our luggage to the porters, parked the car and entered the terminal. Unfortunately, it took us awhile to actually get our boarding passes because Pat and Steve do not have passports, but are traveling with their drivers license and birth certificates. Celebrity’s app did not allow for Real ID drivers license’s, only Enhanced drivers license’s when registering online, even though it is legal to travel with the Real ID drivers licenses. The app would only allow me to pick a state that has Enhanced Drivers license, so I chose Michigan, just to be able to register them. I called Celebrity and asked what I should do, and was told they could change it at the port. Well, yes they could, but not without a lot of waiting so the staff could figure out how to fix it. So what should have only taken about 15 minutes, took about an hour. We arrived at our staterooms about 1:30PM, and Dave and I were very disappointed with our balcony. It was very small and angled. We went to customer service and changed the occupants so I was with Dave, and Pat was with Steve. We were also able to change our stateroom to the other side of Pat and Steve, and got a regular size balcony. Fortunately, stateroom 8098 was not booked.
We went to lunch in the buffet, and Pat and Steve were impressed with the options. We did not eat much, but 3 of us had Salmon Pattie’s and Pat had pork cutlet (I think).The sommelier convinced us to upgrade our drink package. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship, unpacking, and having a few drinks. Steve taught the bartender at the martini bar to make butterfingers! We got a coupon for free play in the casino. Apparently everyone who got a scratch off ticket from the casino in the afternoon, got $5 of free play when you returned in the evening after the ship left port.
Our dinner time is 6:00, and we have a nice table for 4 next to a window on Port side. For dinner, I had my favorite, escargot and a martini, and prime rib. Guava sorbet for dessert. Dave had spring rolls and shrimp cocktail, Salmon for dinner, and apple pie ala. mode. Steve had mushroom soup, escargot, and prime rib and cherry brandy ice cream. Pat had chilled coconut soup (which she didn’t like because it also had ginger in it), pork chop and blueberry crumble for dessert. After dinner we went to the casino for our free plays, which took about 5 minutes to spend. The we went to the martini bar for drinks and a little music before the show. Dave and I wandered into Etsy, the jewelry store for a bit where they tried to convince us to buy a $7,200 diamond necklace. No, thanks. We went to the show in the theatre which was a comedian, Tom Grueter. He was pretty good and I think we all enjoyed the show. After the show, it was back to the martini bar for an after dinner drink!
10/10/2012 – Sunday – We had agreed to meet at 8:30 am to go to breakfast. We ate in the dining room.I tried the apple pancakes and chicken turkey sausage, which I won’t have again. Did not really care for either. We went to a destination presentation, where the excursions for Cozumel and Costa Maya are discussed. We have booked “The Best of Cozumel” for tomorrow, which has a meeting time of 8:45am….early, but doable. But, our excursion for Tuesday at Costa Maya has a meeting time of 7:45am. We have decided that is just too early for us. So after the destinations presentation, we went to the shore excursions desk to see if there was something else we could do. One excursion had an age limit that excluded us, so we are a bit limited. Fabio, the shore excursions guy, is working on options for us. We will see what he comes up with.
We had lunch in the dining room. Steve and I had teriyaki duck breasts, Dave had a BBQ pork knuckle and Fontana cheese panini, and Pat had turkey medallions. After lunch, we decided we’d go back to our rooms and rest for a bit. Dave can watch the Bucs game.
After lunch, Dave watched the Buc’s game and I napped. We went to some entertainment. First was a game called Celebrity Heads. The contestants are suppose to guess the name of a celebrity that is on a video behind them. They ask questions which get a yes, no, or maybe. Then there was trivia – first was music, and we did not do very well. Then general knowledge trivia. And we did much better, but didn’t win. The activity person running the trivia was Carlos. He was a dynamo, full of energy, but made the games fun.
Back to the martini bar, where we enjoyed a show by the bartender.
Took a little rest before dinner. For dinner, Pat had beef ragout, steak and cherries jubilee. Steve had a pomegranate mojito, escargot, trout and cherries jubilee. Dave had shrimp cocktail, trout and cherries jubilee. I had escargot, seafood orzo, and lava cake. After dinner we went to a game where passengers were playing against officers. Then in the grand foyer, all the officers were presented. The captain said we had 348 passengers and 750 (or so) crew. I don’t remember the exact number of crew. We went to the show which was a very talented performer, Tom Franck. He played the piano and sang, but not in a traditional way.
10/11/2021 – We had to be up early for our ship excursion in Cozumel, so we had room service deliver our breakfast. We met in the theater about 8:45am for our tour. I think there were 14 people and we had a big bus, so plenty of room to spread out. The tour was “Best of Cozumel” and our tour guides were two ladies, Mimi and Margarita. We were taken to our first stop was the Mayan Cacao Company.
Mimi gave us a lesson on the Mayas, their culture, how they counted, and their calendar. We saw the recreation of a traditional Mayan house, with two doors. Entry was always one door and exit was always the other door. The house had an altar for deceased loved ones, which is very important in the Mayan culture. We tasted a mini tortilla with a smear of mole, which none of us liked. Then we moved to a building where we were given a small tasting of (grainy) chocolate and learned about the history of chocolate, its manufacturing process, and watched a demonstration of the making of chocolate. When leaving that building, the vendor making chocolate drinks is located. He makes chocolate margaritas, chocolate mudslides, chocolate martinis, and others. I like the chocolate margarita, which is a frozen drink, for $5. The last time I had it, the bartender made a much better drink, but this one was OK. Next, on the same property, we went up the stairs of another building to visit the Tequila Appreciation Seminar for an educational sampling of the authentic Tequila from Guadalajara, Jalisco, with brands you will not find at any other store. After the tequila tasting, we went back downstairs into a shop that sells chocolate bars, Mexican ceramics, and other souvenirs. We reboarded the bus for a drive along the rugged East Coast with its black ironshore and the crashing waves to the Mayan Bee Sanctuary. We participated in a Mayan ceremony.
We learned about the history behind the sacred, stingless Melipona Bee and its importance to the Mayan Culture, and saw some cenotes which are sinkholes. We got a bit of a rain shower, but we’re able to take refuge in the tent of a stone carver. This person carves replicas of Mayan statues and such out of stone, much as the Mayans did. Then we entered another building to sample some honey. The last building had honey and souvenirs for purchase.
We were pretty tired and hungry when we got back to the ship, but managed some lunch and wine in the buffet. We cleaned up in our rooms and rested for a bit. Then the captain made an announcement that the whole ship was invited to the helipad on the front of the ship for sail away. Sail away was suppose to be at 6:00PM, but we were still waiting for the ropes to be released at 6:00PM. Almost exactly 6:00PM, a black car came speeding down the pier and dropped off somebody…we could not see the occupants of the car. Almost immediately after that, the tops got released and we were sailing away from Cozumel. Our adventure on the helipad made us a little late for dinner, but we got plenty of food anyway. Steve, Pat and I had beef short ribs. Dave had a New York Strip steak. Pat had broccoli soup for an appetizer and Dave had a shrimp cocktail. Steve and I had escargot. Steve also got a “Mexican Firing Squad” cocktail, and I had my usual martini. The cocktail server Pubo, brings me blue cheese olives every night. After dinner, we went to the theater for the evening show, which was a “production” show, meaning, music, singing, dancing, and many costume changes. The name of the show was “Life” and the message was that we are only here a short time – you need to make the most of it. The finale song was “I’ve done it all”. It was a long day, we have an early day tomorrow, so we were off to bed after the show.
10/12/2021 – Another shore excursion today and we need to meet in the theatre at 8:30AM. The time was changed from meeting at 7:30AM basically because we told them we wanted to cancel because we could not get ready by 7:30AM. The shore excursions person, Fabio, said he would work on it and ended up changing the time! We had room service for breakfast again, and made our way to the theatre at 8:30AM. There are 3 ships in port today, our Celebrity Summit, Virgin Scarlet Lady, and an MSC ship – Merivalla (?).
Our tour is Chacchoben Mayan Ruins Experience. It is going to be a hot day. We leave the ship and walk the very long Costa Maya pier to get to our meeting place with our guide. There are about 14 people from the ship, and they split us into two groups of 7. Our transportation is one of the mini buses that hold about 15 passengers. So 7 passengers, our guide and bus driver, are not too crowded on the bus. Our guides name is Pedro, and I believe the bus driver was Jimen.
We drive about 1 hour away from the port, which is not surprising. On our previous trips here we learned that Costa Maya was basically a “town” built to house cruise ship visits. There is a small Mexican town nearby, Mahuhual, with small mom and pop shops and groceries for the residents. Of course there are lots of shops, bars and restaurants right at the port, primarily to take cruise passengers money. On the hour long drive, Pedro talks about the local area, the Mayans, the ruins we are going to see, and of course, gives us a sales pitch on cartouches, which we passed on.
The ruins are deep into the jungle and are billed as one of Mexico’s most astounding Mayan sites. The ruins at Chacchoben cover nearly 10 acres and remain virtually unexcavated to this day. Pedro leads us through its temples and gardens. First we see the massive main pyramid, which archeologists have determined is solid. The equinoxes line up with the corners of the pyramid. Prior to Mexico obtaining this property, our guide said the land was farmed and also the owner had cows which roamed the area. We had to watch out for fire ants! We also saw an animal in the rodent family that looked half like a giant rat and half like a rabbit. Pedro said the animal was something like an “aschutto”. I’ll have to look that up.
We walked around the site and saw a big plaza which were stores on one side and tax collectors on the other (according to Pedro). We walked further and climbed some steep stairs to another large plateau where we could see two more pyramids. One pyramid had a “roof” structure of palm fronds. Pedro said the archeologists discovered stone when excavating this area that was still the original white color, and the archeologists built the frond roof to protect those stones.
After exploring the plateau area, it was time for our one hour ride back to the ship.
We had lunch in the buffet, went back to our rooms to shower and rest. Dave and I went to a presentation on the Galapagos, which we are thinking about for a future trip.
Tonight is dress up night, which means Lobster for dinner. Pat and Steve had lobster and beef Wellington for dinner. I had lobster with a side of wild mushroom risotto. Dave had lobster and haddock. For appetizers, Dave had scallops Rockefeller, Steve had gumbo and escargot, Pat had French onion soup and I had blue cheese soufflé. The waitstaff and kitchen staff did their parade and everyone cheered them on. For dessert, Steve and I had baked Alaska, Dave and Pat had ice cream.
After dinner, we decided to skip the singer in the theatre, and (unfortunately) spent the evening in the martini bar, where there seems to be a parade of other sorts, like a guy wearing red high heels! I think we sampled most of the available martinis, with a nut and berry martini, which none of us had before, ending up being one of our favorites. After draining the martini bar of most of its alcohol, we all headed to bed.
10/13/2021 – We lost an hour overnight, and with our escapades at the martini bar, we slept in. Pat and Steve ordered room service, and Dave and I went to the buffet for breakfast. Then back to the room to rest up a bit and pack most of our stuff. Pretty uneventful day..just eating and drinking and packing, except for a visit to Essy. We had lunch in the buffet, and dinner in the dining room.
Pat tried eggplant caviar, but hated it, so she got a spinach turnover, roast turkey dinner. Steve had escargot, spinach turnover, Steak Diane with a New York sirloin, Dave had a spinach turnover and a New York sirloin . I had escargot, and New York sirloin. We all had a grand mariner soufflé for dessert. After dinner we went to the martini bar. Dave and I went back to the jewelry store and browsed some more. Then we went back to the martini bar to consider our purchase. Dave went back to the jewelry store to negotiate some more, and came back to the martini bar with the purchase he made. Pat lost the back of her earring, so we crawled around on the floor for awhile, but could not find it. After some martini tastings, we headed to our staterooms to finish packing and put out our luggage for the porters to pick up and have ready for us tomorrow morning in the port terminal.
10/14/2021 – We are up fairly early and desert our staterooms by 8:00am. We went to breakfast in the Ocean View cafe (buffet), and had a nice leisurely breakfast. While eating, an announcement was made that you could leave the ship when ready, which is unusual because you are usually called by number. We cleared customs with the face recognition machine. No agent, no questions, just look into the machine.