Family Cruise 2019--Day 5, Cozumel

Cozumel. You either love it or hate it. We had been on our second cruise and weren't too excited by the port area then. I wrote that I thought we were at the International Pier. This time we were, and it didn't seem familiar at all. Looking at the satellite map of Cozumel, I think we were docked at the south most pier last time (seems to be called Puerta Maya Pirs).  This time we were at the one just to the north of it, which is called Terminal de Cruceros on Google. On the current satellite image, it looks like it's still under construction which would explain why it felt so bare compared to what I remembered. 

                          

The day got off to a rough start. At dinner one night, Mom mentioned to the Head Waiter (Waitress) that she wasn't impressed with the breakfast in the dining room--the cold Eggs Benedict. She gave Mom a card and said to come to the Solarium Bistro and if there's a line up, present the card. We decided this would be the day. We got there around 9:20. Lucy was being very emotional but couldn't explain why. I know she was upset by not getting any wifi all trip, and by not going to a beach, but she said it wasn't that. She was visibly upset and silently crying in the line. Our Head Waitress saw and pulled us out of the line and to a really large table in the centre, surrounded by pillars and had these huge wicker chairs. Check it out: https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/symphony-of-the-seas-984/solarium-bistro-412073/solarium-bistro--v18418936/  

Rob was getting fed up with Lucy, and she didn't want to eat, so Mom and I checked out the buffet. I put in an order for a custom omelet, got the rest of my food and headed back to the table. Rob was still sitting there, pouting. Then my omelet came. After a few more minutes, he went up to order one.

He came back, upset. They stopped taking orders. It was 9:35 and the buffet was open till 9:30.  There was a long list of orders already in so they weren't taking more. Still plenty of food though. I don't think Lucy ate anything. The food was pretty good, still love the hash brown patties! It was a quieter (somewhat) spot than the Windjammer. I guess quieter, as in the number of people. It was still rather noisy. 

As we were heading out of the Bistro, a woman sitting at a table near the entrance grabbed Lucy's arm. What?! She asked Lucy what was wrong, could she help, she's a mom and she can tell she needs a hug, we all do sometimes, did she want a hug? Lucy is pretty shy. I can only imagine how mortified she was. She politely declined the hug and rejoined us. She was a little shook up. We hadn't met a lot of overly friendly people (Mom seemed to though, LOL). 

I'm not sure what we did for the rest of the morning, but we decided to meet at El Loco Fresh at 12:15 for lunch. I think Lucy went back to her cabin. I know I showed up at El Loco Fresh with Mom, and we were the first ones there. It has pretty good food, but the lines are a little crazy at times. Especially if you only want to grab one thing off the line--it felt rude to jump in at the chip section to get just a bowl of chips. Lucy still wasn't feeling great. After lunch we were heading to the Schooner Bar to play Scattergories, at 1pm. This is a game we have played as a family for years, only at Grandma's though. So we thought it was awesome we could do it together on the cruise. 

We got to the bar and there was nothing set up. We sat down and a few more people came in. Lucy decided to not stay and play, and went back to her cabin. She must have been feeling really terrible! Finally, the host came in and got us going. It was surprisingly a very small group. A few didn't actually know what Scattergories was. We had a lot of fun, especially when the letter C was used and we could add "Canada/Canadian" to many of the topics. We ended up winning! Received some lovely Royal Caribbean "medals". Megan is so proud to now have two.

After Scattergories, it was time to go ashore. Megan thought the sandy area to the right of the pier looked like a place we could go swimming. I explained that if it was suitable for swimming, it would already be used for swimming. There appeared to be a fence separating it from the port area.
We popped into the duty free store you get funneled into. We picked up the liquor we needed for our dog sitters. Then headed into the shopping area. I saw a sign for wifi at Tiki Hut #2 (it may have been #3). We tried to follow it, found "the beach" (don't get excited, more on that later), but no Tiki Hut #2. Then suddenly there was a sign for Tiki Hut #3 (or #2...). This one we did find. It was a round open shelter with benches around the edge. And indeed, wifi.

Have you seen happier girls? I loved that Mom was on the phone too. 

And I....I didn't take my phone. I have no idea why.

It was sooooo hot, this was the only shade, there was no breeze. I drank all my water. Megan was taking forever at the Ron John store. Everytime you walked anywhere, there were hawkers at every store trying to get you to come in. We did see the same vanilla as what we got in Costa Maya, for cheaper. 

For some reason we had to split up and we said we'd meet back at the Cozumel sign by the "beach". We couldn't get to it though! We tried retracing our steps but there only seemed to be entrances, not an exit. Finally, we found it.  Apparently the other half of our family also had a hard time, but were able to go out through an entrance and get to it. It was so weird.

The "beach". You walk down a slippery wet wooden dock and climb some steps down to a beach. It was very wavy, the caution flag was up, but we were determined to "go to a beach". We got soaked.

Lucy at the Bubba Gump restaurant.

The security leaving the port was terrible. You funnel into a room, the workers don't speak much English and were hard to understand. It was slow. Hot. Because we had alcohol, we were told we had to leave it outside and were funneled through doors on the left. The line to leave the alcohol was really long! Grandma and the girls decided to go ahead to the ship and Rob and I stayed to deal with the alcohol. As we moved up a bit, I noticed there was another door from the security room, with another table and ship staff to take alcohol. But there was NO line! The workers were just sitting there chit chatting, helping the odd person that came out. Why was this line different? It made no sense.  As we were waiting in line, I heard someone mention about making sure to get a receipt. We finally got up to the table and they took our info, we were pretty cranky by then. We asked for a receipt.

They didn't have any!!! So we held up the line while they found something to write on saying we gave them our two bottle of alcohol. They didn't even write what the alcohol was or it's value. Imagine if the bottles got lost?! There was a LOT of alcohol waiting!!

We headed back to the ship and went to the girls' cabin. They weren't there! We walked around and got a snack and still didn't see them! We went to Guest Services and they were able to tell us that they had indeed gotten on the ship. I'm not sure if it was this port, but at one, you went to different gangways depending on your muster station. This could be a challenge for a group like us, or other family groups who need to stick together. 

We finally found them and we got ready for dinner. 

This was one appetizer I wasn't too thrilled with.  I think it was the Seafood Vol au Vent. 

Even when other appatizers disappoint, the Caesar salad is dependable!

Looks like someone had a plain piece of chicken?

Lucy got the horseradish crusted salamon. I was surprised! She said it was good. The drink in the foreground is Rob's Sexy Ocean. He really enjoyed them!

Trifle for Lucy, Grand Marnier souffle for me! They even poke the hole for you and pour the sauce on. 

Chillin' for a bit after dinner. They discovered that the sofa actually had a trundle! However, you couldn't get into the drawers,  or the fridge ("the cooler"). You had to walk across it to get to the balcony. I can't imagine a 4th person in this room! That would really suck. At least in most cabins, with a Pullman bed, you can leave it down.

The kids wanted to go to another showing of "Hiro". I agreed to  go and sit in the front, with the waterproof camera. It was fun!

It was a little harder to see the overhead acts from the front row. So, if you get to see the show more than once, do sit somewhere different each time.

After, we went swimming. It was so nice but breezy.

Lucy found a quarter in the pool

Mom loved her night swims. So much calmer than in the day

When we walked around we noticed a pair of Crocs with some other things, on a chair. Then, the Croc showed up in the pool! It was windy! Not too long after, a couple came around and seemed to be looking for something. We pointed out the Croc and made his night

We walked around the deck, enjoying the lights.  We wanted to go in the hot tub, but the overhang ones were closed so we went to the Solarium. We were SO disappointed to find it filled with a bunch of young kids (3-10) and a couple adults. There are signs saying it's adults only! They weren't speaking English and there was no staff around. It was after 10pm! 

We parted ways and Rob and I went to the elevators. The Piano Man zoomed by! We quickly ran over to the elevators and pressed the buttons. He just kept zooming by! From deck 2 to 15 (or 16?). He never stopped!! How fair was that?! We gave up and left. 

I'm not sure if it was this day, but I think so. We kept having issues with Spanish speaking people in the elevator not moving over for others to get in, or letting people get out! Once there was a young dad at the back calling out "We want out! Excuse me!" and no one moved, they just stared straight ahead (I was waiting to get on). Finally, I gestured for them to move aside.  Then Mom and I were in the elevator, and she got trapped behind a woman and a stroller. I got out and held the door open, but no one listened to her "Excuse me". I finally yelled "Perdon!" I couldn't remember any more Spanish than that! I had just learned "door" but I couldn't remember it! "Mi momma necesita la puerta" might have worked. If you're travelling somewhere that speaks a different language (especially English), wouldn't it make sense to learn some simple words? Excuse me, please, no, thank you, yes. That would cover so many situations.