Jessica Johnson - 2006

Today we woke up docked in Cozumel. Our plans for this port were to go to Paradise Beach, a place Pam and Steve had visited on a previous trip. So, we packed up our normal beach stuff, I put on some sunblock, and then we headed out to meet up with the others. Everyone was doing the same excursion, so there were 10 of us total, and soon we were scanned off the ship, and on our way to the pier.

The pier at Cozumel is much shorter, and when you reach the end, you are at a sort of shopping mall. We headed into the area, to find a cab driver, and we did find one who could take all of us, and he offered us a $20 per person rate, and that would include the activities at Paradise Beach. When we explained that most of the stuff was free, and that not everyone wanted to pay the fee (It's $9 to give you access to all the recreation stuff they have), he agreed to take us for $15 per person, and he would wait for us there, until we wanted to come back. So- we followed him up an escalator, through the top floor of the open air mall, then down some steps and out into the parking lot where he had his van parked. After we all loaded in, we set off to the beach.

Cozumel was hit pretty hard with the hurricanes the last few years, and it's fairly obvious as you drive around. They are in the process of rebuilding, and many areas have done so fairly well, but there is still evidence, and some remaining issues. While at the beach, the owner came around and explained that the beach itself has some issues, the water is more shallow in some spots, etc, following the storms.

The ride was about 20-30 minutes long, and soon we were piling out of the van, and heading up the stairs, and out onto the beach. We were met by a staff member, who guided us out onto the beach and took us to a group of chairs. There were lounge chairs under umbrellas, the small beach chairs, tables, and even floats laid out for us. We were a row or two back from the ocean, and the water was perfect for snorkeling. There was a long pier, and a variety of water activities, from parasailing to jet skies. Floating offshore there was a big trampoline, and a large climbing iceberg.

After getting settled, one of the staff members came along with some menus, and Chris and I each got a drink. Since it was still pretty early, I ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie, and it was incredible. Chris got a Diet Coke. I spent the bulk of the day in my chair, under my umbrella, trying to hide from the sun. I really hadn't gotten sunburned so far on the trip, and I was determined to avoid it today too.

Hanna and Vincent spent most of the day out in the water- Vincent climbed to the top of the iceberg fairly quickly. It took Hanna a little longer to find her footing- but soon she mastered it as well. Chris went out snorkeling for a while, and when he came back, I set off to explore things a bit. There was a full service restaurant, and a bar, in addition to the servers who would bring whatever you wanted out to your chair. They had bathrooms and showers, some shops, and you could even get a massage on the beach, or a henna tattoo.

As the day wore on, Chris and I decided to order lunch. We each got a burger and fries, and Chris and Steve decided to split a bucket of beer. The food came quickly, and was quite good. The beer literally was in a bucket full of ice.

Our original plan was to leave around 3 pm, but we decided to call it a day around 1 or 2. It was pretty hot, and there really wasn't any way to escape the sun. Chris took a walk down the beach with Vince and Steve, to check out some totally un-OSHA approved construction going on at a nearby beach, and while he was wandering back, our server brought over our check. I handed him a credit card, and then called Chris over to sign the check, because it was his card. He was a bit confused at first, as it read 660.00, but it was in pesos and not dollars. In the end, with tax and a tip, the total was about $66, so not bad at all for our day at the beach.

After a quick bathroom break, we piled back into the van, and made our way back to the pier. We wandered around, checking out some of the shops before heading back to the ship. Back on the ship, we headed to our stateroom to shower and get cleaned up from the morning at the beach.

At 4:30, Chris and I headed up to Deck 10, to the Palo lobby, where we were joining the Art of the Theme Ship Tour. We quickly found our group- it was about 5 people, and a Cast Member, and our tour began. We started in the elevator lobby, and we talked a bit about the start of Disney Cruise Line, and then went through Palo. Here we learned that the restaurant was designed by the same person who designed the California Grill. The mosaic tiles on the floor were Venetian, to honor the heritage of the ship. The name itself is the Italian word for the poles used to propel gondolas. We also learned that there are 5 different types of wood used in just Palo.

From there we headed back outside, and walked down a few flights of stairs to Deck 5. We were instructed to count the number of different carpets we saw on our the way down. When we got to the elevator lobby, we learned that there are more than 100 different carpets on the ship. All of them are custom made in the Philippines, and if they need to be replaced, the entire section has to be removed, shipped back to the Philippines to be redone. We also learned that there are more than 27,000 signs on the ship- to help guests figure out where they are. The carpets themselves are sometimes used as signs- there is an anchor on the floor in the corridors, and the red side points to the Aft of the ship, the blue points Forward. When exiting the elevator, if you are on a floor with entertainment, there will be an anchor in the carpet. If there's no entertainment, there are starfish or dolphins.

Then we moved forward to discuss the various kids options there are on the cruise. We walked by Flounder's Reef, which was originally a pantry. Then we headed towards the atrium, and discussed the Oceaneer Lab and the Oceaneer Club. We were told that this deck was devoted to children, and that if you look, the portholes are smaller and closer to the floor. The ceiling isn't as high as on other decks, either. We were also shown where the "secret passage" is between the two clubs.

From there, we moved down to Deck 4, where we visited Animator's Palette. The restaurant itself cost over $1,000,000 to build. They explained the secret of the changing colors, and we also learned that none of the tiles on the floor are the same size. And, the paintbrushes in the restaurant are all #6 brushes, because that is the perfect brush used in animation.

We moved forward to the lobby atrium, and discussed the chandelier. Here we learned that there are more than 500 trumped shaped cones in the chandelier. It was designed by Dale Chilully, and all of the cones are acrylic. The chandelier also has it's own suspension system, so that it moves with the ship. Next we moved out to the Promenade, where we learned that the ship is not actually black. Maritime laws do not allow the ships to be black, so they are a very dark blue. We also learned about the color of the lifeboats- how Disney had to get special permission to have the lifeboats be more of a "Mickey" color. Finally, we were taken to the spot where the ship was joined (the Magic was built in two parts, and "sailed" together).

When the tour was over, Chris and I asked if we could go into the secret passage. The Cast Member said yes, and after swearing us to secrecy, took us up there. While passing it earlier, I'd noticed that there was a large Pirate Mr. Potato head in it that I wanted to get a picture of. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures in the passage, as it's considered backstage, but we were able to get some through one of the portholes.

We ran into Robin and Vince while still up on that Deck, so we decided to head down to the Promenade Lounge to get some drinks before dinner. I introduced Chris and Robin to the wonders of a Cosmo Cookie, while Robin introduced Vince to the Trentino Muscat we'd had in our dessert sample earlier in the week. We hung out here for a while until it was time to get ready for dinner, so we split up and headed back to our staterooms.

Chris and I got dressed, and then headed back up to wait for the others outside Animator's Palate. I found a spot in one of the portholes, and the others soon caught up with us, and we headed in for dinner. Tonight was Pirates IN the Caribbean night, so the tables all had colorful cloths and napkins, and there were bandanas laid out at each place setting. After we got settled at the table, our servers came along with our special keepsake menu. They were printed to look like a treasure map, rolled up and tied with some twine. They also let us know that the Pirate's Nest drink was a two for one special, so Robin and I decided to each get one and split the cost.

After checking out the menu, I decided to get The Buccaneer's Sun-Ripened Pineapple- fresh island Pineapple with a Coconut covered Banana and Orange Glaze. The fruit on the ship was always amazingly fresh. They were offering a cold soup- Chilled-to-the-Bone Honeydew Melon and Mango Soup, so I ordered a cup of that as well. I'm not a huge fan of honeydew though, so I didn't care that much for it. Chris opted for Black Beard's Jumbo Crab Cake- with a Fruit Salsa and Honey-Lime Tropical Coleslaw as his appetizer, and it was pretty good. I tried his coleslaw, and it was great.

For a main course, I decided to get The Black Pearl's Oven Roasted Beef Tenderloin- with Sour Cream Chive Mashed Potatoes and Sugar-baked Carrots with a deep red Wine Glaze. As usual, it was wonderful- perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes were some of the best I'd ever had. Chris went for the Treasure-of-the-Seas Grilled Shrimp and Seared Scallops- served on strings of Pasta and fresh Creamy Tomato Sauce. He ate most of the shrimp and scallops but skipped the pasta.

Because it was pirate night, and we had the late seating for dinner, we decided to skip dessert so we could get up on deck to see the fireworks. Generally speaking, we tend to skip most of the party stuff, and just see the fireworks, but when we got on deck, we discovered that we hadn't left port yet. They were paging some people, so we think they hadn't gotten back to the ship yet. We decided to head back to the deck above the adult pool, where Chris and I usually sit to watch the fireworks.

The guys decided to hang out by the railing and watch the ship complete the circle it was working on, so Robin, Pam and I found a spot to hop up on a raised table. It turns out that the guy from the Promenade Lounge the night before was playing on the stage by the Quiet Cove Pool, so we got a repeat of the experience from the previous night. We had fun, singing along, and coming up with our own choreography while the guys all pretended they didn't know who we were. Eventually they did the fireworks, and it was great to see them.

After they ended, we waited a bit for the crowd to clear some, and then made our way downstairs to the buffet area. There were two lines set up, one for real food and one for dessert, and of course we headed right for the dessert line. After grabbing a spoonful of a bunch of different stuff, we made our way back up to deck 10, and headed over to a spot where they had the sunbeds piled up. We dismantled a few of the stack, and used them as tables while we ate the desserts. Some were wonderful- some not so good. It was so dark down on the lower deck, and the signs had gotten all turned around, so it was sort of a guessing game as to what you were getting. I was kind of sad though, that there weren't any chocolate covered strawberries.

In keeping with the pirate theme, they were showing the first Pirates movie on the big screen over the family pool. We hung out and watched some of the movie before we decided to call it a night, and we split up and headed back to our staterooms.

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