We arrived on the western side of the island of San Miguel de Cozumel about 7 AM. The Mayans believed Cozumel to be a spiritual sanctuary, a sacred shrine while the Spanish Conquistadors believed it to be a gold mine, literally. Sitting due west of Cuba, and forming the western edge of a narrow pass connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico, 17th century pirates used it as a base of operations. Today, it is considered a diver’s dream, a shopper’s paradise, an archeologist’s playground, and a vacationer’s dream.

After breakfast, we went ashore, and caught a taxi to the shopping district, while Ron and Kaden opted to spend the day at an adventure park, complete with zip lines, ATVs, cave swimming, and kayaking.  Kay and I shopped watched people, both locals and those from the cruise ships docked nearby. We really enjoy watching people, and particularly observing people from cultures different than our own.  It makes the world seem both smaller and larger at the same time, and we realize that the US is but a cog in the world wheel, albeit a large cog. 

We made the 5+ mile walk back to the ship, stopping for Kay to wade in the turquoise Cozumel Channel while I photographed an iguana nearby.

We then stopped at a bar with “free” Wi-Fi to read email, check news and weather from home, and download a book from the Baxter County online library. 

Back at the Navigator of the Seas, we had lunch and enjoyed some quiet time in the sun at the pool and spa. Dinner was pretty blasé, except for the flourless chocolate cake which was great; in fact, it was the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten. The entertainment tonight was comedian John Joseph and keyboard player Johnny B.  The stand-up comedian was quite funny, and for all practical purposes could have done without his partner, the keyboardist.

Thank goodness for the free Wi-Fi; I finished another book tonight and had only a couple left before downloading another one.  As an aside, the sinus infection that has plagued me for two weeks now has fully disappeared.

We continued sailing today New Orleans towards Cozumel in Mexico—no ports of call today.

After a non-eventful morning, we attended the ship’s “Ice Dancin’ Spectacular”, featuring a hula hoop act, Ekaterina.  The skaters were from all over the world, and were good, perhaps just below Olympic level, except for the star, Katerina, who was exceptional.

With plenty of afternoon left, we enjoyed some sun time.  The hot tubs were packed with pre-teens and teens, leaving little room for anyone else.

There are lots of kids on this cruise, from toddlers to teens; after all, it is spring break time and we have to remember this cruise is mainly for Kaden, and he’s in “heaven” with all the cute teenage girls largely outnumbering the boys.

Dinner tonight was just okay.

The entertainment tonight was a tribute to Broadway, “Now and Forever”, complete with a 7-piece orchestra and singers and dancers. The show featured numbers from The Producers, Fosse, Mamma Mia!, and many more. A couple of the singers were just ordinary with little range, making the show just okay.

This is our first cruise on Royal Caribbean. Naturally, we are comparing it to Celebrity and Norwegian, other lines we have used.  The clientele are a bit more affluent than what we observed on Norwegian (interesting, since most are from Arkansas), and there are fewer non-Americans than on either Celebrity or Norwegian. Otherwise, at this early point both the food seems to be about the same and the entertainment seems to be slightly below the level of the others.  Consequently, the verdict is still out on Royal Caribbean.

My intent was to relax on this cruise, and I am succeeding, having finished yet another book.