cruise part 1: cruising and cozumel!

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Don’t say I didn’t warn you that this is a lot of pictures! I’ve decided to break this up into a few parts.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We flew into Tampa on Saturday the 24th of September. It was an exhausting day of travel. When we got to our hotel, we expected to go find some local eats. But, instead, we ordered Papa Johns because it was the only place that would deliver and we didn’t feel like moving from our comfy king-size bed! 🙂

On Sunday, we took a bus to Tampa Port Authority. Luckily, we got there early; which meant we were able to get on our ship nice and early!

We met a lovely couple who became our cruise BFFs for the entire trip! We spent the first day walking around the ship, checking out our awesome balcony room {upgraded a few weeks prior to the trip — SO grateful we did!}, and meeting new people on the top deck as we made our 2-hour trip out of Tampa Bay!

We had an fun {and yummy dinner} with our new BFFs, Tommy and David, and then decided to get some sleep! I’ve gotta say; we slept incredibly well!

Monday was our first at-sea day; so we did some exploring and sun-bathing; and met up with David and Tommy again.

Tuesday we were at port in Cozumel. We got off the ship early and met a non-English speaking cab driver to take us to a non-Carnival booked excursion. {… yep, I decided to book my own excursion; which means find our own transportation!}

Here’s what you need to know about our trip to Nachi Cocom private beach:


1. You will take a cab with a guy who will drive 70MPH and almost hit a gazillion people;
2. The driver will drop you off {after a terrifying 15-minute drive} at a Jurassic Park-like entrance and will say something in Spanglish that sounds like “15 minutes” and laugh.
3. You will stand there, stranded, alone, hoping that someone will show up and not murder you.
4. Turns out they are on central time and not on ship time {eastern}. Super.


But when they open, it’s paradise:

{what a view! Cozumel, Mexico.}

{Swimming in the beautiful, clear waters of Mexico!}

{Corona and Pina Colada!}

{our little bit of paradise in Cozumel}

{Post-Cozumel beach glow!}

The next day, Tuesday, we were in Belize. We didn’t have anything planned at this port, but decided to get off the boat anyways. It was a mistake. Belize was creepy. That is all.

Tomorrow = Isla Roatan, Honduras! This means monkeys and zip lining!