Welcome to day 6 in my Cruise Snapshots & Stories week! Today is the lovely Cozumel, Mexico story, with its beautiful beaches, rich culture and shopping opportunities galore!

Remember at the beginning of the week I told you how we went to jewelry shows and seminars while at sea? Well, today is the day all of that knowledge pays off. When we were done with our fabulous day of relaxation at the beach, it was time to shop til we dropped, run around and redeem all of our coupons for jewelry freebies, and more.

“The Conquistadors first saw Mexico from the shores of Cozumel while searching for gold. Today, visitors to the island continue to seek out gold and silver jewelry in the shops of San Miguel while having a great time in its many local bars and restaurants.”

My mind was on the beach excursion and how different it would be from the first time I went to Cozumel, and I was not about to “miss the boat” so to speak. This time, we were not tendered, and decided to go into town before our excursion, to get the freebies we were promised. Diamonds International gave us our bracelet and second tiny pair of Tanzanite earrings, which I’m wearing today. I was so nervous we would miss our excursion, yet I should have relaxed because they were a bit late to the party themselves. After we gathered up all of our freebies, we were treated to a traditional fire dance, which I took a video of. If I can’t figure out how to get it on here, I’ll post it to Facebook, or take stills and put them here.

Part of the fire dance ritual

Part of the fire dance ritual

After that was over, our tour guide showed up and off we went to another bus to take us to the glorious Playa Mia Beach Resort, an all-inclusive beach where we could relax, drink free, have lunch provided, and bask in the warm sunshine and cool, clear waters of Mexico. (remember, it’s October after all) I wanted to snorkel again, yet at the same time, relaxing with a drink sounded just as good. So we did just that, not worrying about the time and going with the flow. (In all honesty, I think I was starting to get tired ;))

Entrance to Playa Mia Beach Resort

Pictures can’t describe the beauty of the water

My “drink in the hand, toes in the sand” pic

Back on the bus later, we could relax in the knowledge that we had done all the crazy part of our shopping and now could shop for souvenirs and/or ourselves at a leisurely pace. The local shops had so many deals and lured us in with the promise that their merchandise was the best. Once I had my peeps taken care of, I wandered in a local jewelry store and ogled the shiny, colorful gemstones on display. Tequila may have been involved in what happened next, all I know is I ended up with a beautiful (yet expensive) set of color-changing earrings and necklace! Haha, I told myself it was an investment and of course the proprietor told me I was worth it. Unfortunately, I was not at any of the places we were instructed to go by our jewelry expert on the ship (Wes), so I worried later if I got the real deal. I liked it, so I bought it. There it is. I will be getting an appraisal at some point, bet your bottom dollar on that!

Proof we visited Senior Frogs, albeit very briefly

Before returning to the ship, I had wanted to see the famous Senior Frogs. We were “treated” to the two shot special, 2for $5 shots, complete with a handsy, whistle blowing waitress and that’s all I’m gonna say about that, lol!

Later on, it was our second chance at wearing our formal duds, but dinner wasn’t til 8pm so we had lots of time back on the ship to go to the pool or hot tub, once we dropped our towels off and our bags of goodies back at the room. I honestly cannot remember what we did between the excursion and dinner…it’s all ablur. I do wish I would have let them take my picture in my dress, or had Kaye do it, alas, I did not.

We knew we wanted to see The Beatles Experience-a tribute band called Britain’s Finest was playing two shows that evening, yet that was after dinner. They had been flown in to replace the show by an Eagles tribute band that had been scheduled, yet suffered a tragedy of some kind and had to leave the ship. I managed to walk to that show in my heels and no brace, but after that, I headed back to change before any more partying was to be done.

I had a moment of panic when, after checking my account I realized that I was out of funds, but Kaye reassured me all was well since the next day at sea was free and I would need no more money off my card. I still had a little cash, so I relaxed…somewhat. Have you guessed by now that 1) I’m a worrier, and 2) I suck at math??? Oh well, I got the souvenirs for my family and that makes me happy. 🙂