Thursday, November 19, 2009

Day Five, November 19, 2009: Costa Maya, Mexico

We hadn’t signed up for anything in advance like we had the zipline and when we tried to sign up the night before docking in Costa Maya, everything was booked except Beach Blast.  No thanks.  So we just decided to go ashore and look around.  Some of us were still tired from the day before.  No names, though!

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At 9:30am, I took this picture on our balcony. 106.9 degrees.

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At 9:31am, 107.1.  I decided it was time to go back inside before it rose any higher.

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We mainly goofed off in the morning, resting by the pool, taking pictures, reading our Kindles, and so on.

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The long pier into Costa Maya:

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Finally, we decided to check out Costa Maya and started the long walk down the pier. 

The port of Costa Maya Mexico is located on the southern east tip of Quintana Roo Mexico near the tiny fishing village of Mahahual.

Costa Maya's port has a new and modern tourist shopping mall. The center has a central plaza with a neat-looking pool there with real sand and 'swim-up' style bars.

There are several jewelry stores and many small shops selling ubiquitous souvenir items. It is generally open only to cruise ship passengers. One of those shops was called…Zingara.

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Tom bought a hat and a T-shirt (or 2) and I finally bought something – a swim coverup with embroidery on it.

Costa Maya is the closest port of access to many of the lesser known Mayan ruins in the Yucatan including Chacchoben and Kohunlich. These sites are substantially less excavated than the better known pyramids near Cancún.

The port sustained heavy damage due to Hurricane Dean in August 2007. This included the dock designed for cruise ships. Holland America's Westerdam was the first cruise ship to return to the port since Hurricane Dean on October 31, 2008.

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Bidding fond adieu to Mexico…

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Luckily, they had jitneys for people who couldn’t/didn’t want to make the long walk up that pier.

While walking, we were passed by an ambulance which stopped at our ship.  We wondered what possible event would be dealt with by someone taken off a cruise ship into Mexico for care.  We’ll never know.

The standard onboard sunset pictures for today:

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We decided to eat tonight at the Tsar’s Palace.  Although it has  Russian name and decor, the food was not Russian.  Drat!

Tonight’s entertainment was Jane L. Powell, a singer with a five-octave range.  She sang all types of music and was very humorous and entertaining.  Another great show!

Today's Stats:
Forecast: Mostly Sunny, 84F/29C
Sunrise: 6:01am
Sunset: 5:11pm
Arrival: 8:00am
All aboard: 4:30pm

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