Thursday was our stop in Cozumel. Sadly, it was the last stop before we head back to Nassau. We had considered going to one of the local beaches but after 2 days at Coco Cay, there really wasn’t much need or desire. We decided to just walk around the port and possibly explore just a bit outside of the port walls.
We watched the Carnival Vista pull in while we were sitting in the Diamond Lounge having breakfast. We had heard that they were trying to keep the excursions split so as not to mix passengers from the two ships. As we got off the ship, we noticed the signs on the pier telling everyone to keep to the right so that passengers would not becoming face to face with each other in passing. After the dog sniffed my bag to make sure I wasn’t carrying anything off the ship that I shouldn’t, we went to the left to see which shops were open. We saw that Margaritaville was open but Bubba Gumps was not. We walked around the port shops trying to ignore all the shopkeepers who were trying to drag us in with “free gifts” or “free tequila tasting” or whatever else they could offer. I really wanted to buy vanilla but knowing that we couldn’t carry the extra weight in our suitcases, really limited what we could buy during this trip.
After making our way around the port, we decided to head outside the port walls to explore a bit. There wasn’t terribly much to see that was open. Between COVID and the fact that it was early morning by their time, it was hard to tell whic places might open and which had met their doom during the closure. Since there wasn’t much to explore we went back into the port. Again, the shopkeepers were all trying to get us to come into their shops. I had forgotten that I wanted to find a cross necklace for my granddaughter. The one I had bought her for her birthday was rather large so I wanted to see if I could find something smaller. That rabbit hole took me to 4 stores, 3 of which were owned by the same shopkeeper who was very determined to find me what I was looking for. By the time we got to his third shop, I had given up on finding a cross that met my needs but decided instead to find a pair of earrings for my daughter’s upcoming birthday. That was still quite the feat as the shopkeeper, Adrian, was running back and forth bringing me different versions of the pair I had been looking at. After finally settling on the pair we liked the best and paying in cash, he was still determined to sell me more. I thanked him for his patience, as I know that I am not an easy sale when it comes to jewelry.
After escaping the shop area where everyone wanted to sell me a cross (word sure travels quickly), we decided that rather than heading back to the ship we would stop into Senor Frogs. I don’t think we had been in one in about 10 years. We had to wait til they opened (they were an hour behind our time) so we wandered around the Ron Jon shop next door while we waited. It was safer than being out in the open with the other shops. I understand how difficult things have been for these people but I also know that I can’t be the sole source of income either.
At Senor Frogs, we were quickly seated, after our temperature check, right next to the water. We decided to each order a drink and a plate of chicken nachos. That plate was heaping and quickly filled us up. As we sat there, we saw a medical transport van and a passenger van drive down the pier towards the ship. We watched as they turned around and backed up to a separate opening on the ship and a gangway was put in place. Sadly, one family was taken off the ship after testing positive for COVID we suspect. Crew was in full PPE gear and luggage was also removed and everything sanitized as they left.
When we got back on the ship, we went to our cabin only to find that our steward had not even gotten to it to clean yet. We decided to head up to the Blue Moon (formerly Viking Crown Lounge) to read. While we were up there, one of the couples that we have chatted with many times since the airport in Miami came up to read as well. We ended up chatting with them for quite some time. We decided we would head back to the room to get ready for dinner and try to get a seat in the Diamond Lounge before they were all gone.
Dinner reservations were for Izumi. We had never eaten at Izumi’s before so we thought we would give it a try. I am not a seafood lover so sushi is definitely not my thing but there were a couple other options. Hubby loved the sushi that he ordered. The service was great as it is everywhere on the ship. We enjoyed our meal and then decided to go order our pictures from the formal night photos in the photo gallery. We had a little while til our show, Impact, so we hung out briefly at the Schooner Lounge during trivia before going out on the deck to FaceTime with our grand baby and daughter.
Our show was great! It was kind of a cross between Stomp and Lord of the Dance, if they both took place in Argentina. After the show we stopped at our cabin to change before heading up to the party on the pool deck. The band playing out there was great. The female vocalist covered a lot of popular songs quite well. When they finished, we went back down to the promenade to check out the sales and stopped briefly at the Duck and Dog Pub to hear their male singer, Kieron before heading back to the room for the night. Sad to think this vacation is almost over.