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Carnival always offers many different options for shore excursions, all of which are marked up so that Carnival can get their share. One of these was a Jungle Beach Break, which allowed for some time at a beach (with open bar) - at $39/person. With the kids in tow, it just wasn't worth it. Now I had known beforehand that we were going to Costa Maya instead of Grand Cayman, so I had done a little bit of research and had found a different all-inclusive at Pez Quadro for $25/adults and $15/kids. Hmm. $156 to be herded with several hundred other people to a beach, or $80 to strike it out on our own. OK, so the bus we took to "downtown" Costa Maya was in desparate need of a good cleaning, and "downtown" consisted of a sand road and a ton of tourist traps all selling the same things - silver jewelry, blankets, carved bone statues, and snorkeling tours - but Pez Quadro. Ohhhh, Pez Quadro. They barely speak English - had a bit of difficulty trying to find a "changing room" until Chris said "cambio" and worked to bathroom from there (should have asked some variation on "uno ban~o para cambio" and we would have gotten a bit further) and the light dawned on what we were looking for - but the water was warm, clear, and nearly all our own. They had two kayak excursions show up while we were there, and maybe another half dozen people showed up on their own - half from our ship and the other half from the Holland America's Zuiderdam (which had followed us from Cozumel) but that was it. Pez Quadro is near the end of "downtown" so I can understand why there were fewer people. We had ordered two plates of nachos/quesadillas with the package (at a total cost of $10 extra) and we had those very tasty items for lunch. Stephen was happy - he had a Coke. Mommie and Daddy had a bit more than just a Coke. Sorry, can't tell you more - what happens in Pez Quadro stays in Pez Quadro. :^D The pictures Chris posted show how beautiful that beach is. The kids were giving me "spa treatments" all afternoon - taking wet sand off the bottom and scrubbing my back. Unfortunately, the "spa treatments" also washed off my sunscreen, and my back is pretty sunburned today. Pez Quadro is right next to one of the primary schools there, and after school let out two young girls canvassed the beach selling bracelets they had made. Talia and I each bought one - and even today Talia was telling me about the girls that sold them to us "so they could eat food". Now I'm hardly the first person to say that a cruise is an educational experience, but I'm hoping that at the least, the kids will realize that there are people in this world who don't live like we are fortunate enough to be able to. Talia also didn't like that there were stray dogs everywhere, and at one point she wanted to take that one dog home. Chris had bought her a bag of popcorn from a man that was walking down the street, and that's what she's feeding the puppy in that one picture. But anyway, the kids managed to get us to a taxi and back to the ship before she set sail. :^D Today we were (recovering, haha) at sea, and the ship has really been booking to Ocho Rios, Jamacia, and I can really tell. The ship has been rocking back and forth all day and I can NOT wait to get to port! The rocking is annoying, especially when I'm sitting down (like right now). I wouldn't say I've been seasick - except one night earlier when Talia woke me up and I had to crawl into the bathroom to find the ginger tablets - but I can really tell that we're moving. According to what the Captain said earlier in an announcement, we're going at about 19 nautical miles/hour, and I know the ship's top speed is 21, so we're not exactly crawling. Today was the tour of the ship's galley - pics are already up - and really, the tour itself was boring. The tours they show on the Travel Channel give more detail - and no, I didn't ask where the "banana cooler" (ie morgue) is. The highlight was meeting our new Japanese friends, who took a liking to Talia and gave her a monchichi phone charm and an origami crane. Talia was being her usual stubborn self and didn't want to have them take her picture - then she did - then she didn't - then she did. *rolling my eyes* Chris ran upstairs to get Stephen and his postcards and he gave one to them. Later this evening, when Chris and I were wandering around in the casino, we met up with them again and the one lady handed me two tiny cranes - one in pink paper and one in blue. I'l be sure to save these for the kids for when they are older. The kids ate dinner with Camp tonight. Talia loves going to camp - Stephen prefers to stay in the room and play with his Game Boy or his Legos. I've been giving him a bit of freedom to come up here on his own and he's been great. He does, however, like to go with Camp to see the Vegas-style shows, and he's looking forward to the magic show tomorrow night. So Chris and I had dinner alone tonight in our dining room. I think Beatrice (our assistant waitperson) was disappointed that the kids were not there - she likes trying to convince Talia to let her have her dessert. She brings us our bread (and tries to bring us more), fills our water glasses, and gets Chris' double espresso and my cappuccino after dinner. Joshua is our main waiter and he takes good care of us. The Maitre'D has stopped by every night and tonight he mentioned that we were "lonely" 'cause the kids were gone, and I said NOOOOOO, lol. He laughed. :^D We picked up the kids at 10 from Camp and Talia was really mad 'cause she wanted to finish watching whatever movie it was. She finally conked out at about 11 in the room, after she took a shower. Now Stephen is finishing up his burrito from room service and I'm just about ready to try to find a comfortable position to sleep in. That is, if the Captain stops hitting all the bumps on this stupid ocean! Jamacia on Thursday, mon! :^* H. Post a comment in response: |
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