Costa Maya, Mexico

            Tuesday, 5 Dec 2023 – At about 8:00 AM or so, the ship’s captain announced over the intercom that we had been instructed to set our watches and clocks by one hour on the night of 3 Dec 2023, in error.  So, we moved our watches and clocks forward by one hour.  The ship was scheduled to dock at Costa Maya at 9:00 AM, which is located on the Caribbean coast of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, not far from the little fishing village of Majahual.  Puerto Costa Maya is an exclusive facility specifically built to accommodate cruise ship passengers.  Visitors who venture out would learn about the mysterious Mayan civilization.  The ancient Mayan kings, priests and astronomers, using only two wooden sticks and extended time, produced celestial observations and mathematical calculations with accuracy that staggers the imagination of modern astronomers with their massive telescopes and banks of computers.  These truly amazing people built remarkable cities using little more than stone tools and bare hands.  But tragically, the Mayans were also known for their ritual human sacrifice and zealous bishops, priests and monks who were charged with the earthly task of converting the Mayans.  From the Mayans, we get Mayan chilies, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squash, black beans and avocados, but most famously, chocolate.  The Aztecs gave chocolate to the Spanish, but it was the Mayans who introduced chocolate to the Aztecs.

We made it to breakfast at 9:50 AM, but the buffet was staying open later than usual.  We added waffles with maple syrup to our breakfast menu!  Today would have been Sally’s son Mark’s 64th birthday, so she spent a lot of time thinking about him.

After breakfast, we went ashore.  It was a very long walk to the end of the pier, which tired Sally out.  So, when we reached the shopping area, she found a seat and waited while Jesse went through the shops looking for a sewing kit and a replacement mouse for his computer, which had stopped working right before we left home.  It started raining while Jesse was on his 20-minute walk through the shops, but luckily, Sally had managed to find a seat out of the rain.  There was a shuttle that ran along the pier back to the ship, so we waited for it for our return trip.  It started raining during the return trip, so those sitting near the sides of the shuttle got a little drenched!

After we reboarded the ship, Sally lay down for a nap, while Jesse did a load of laundry in one of the ship’s “complimentary” laundromats.  Afterwards, we went to the library and picked up books to read during the cruise.  Being a big fan of Game of Thrones, Jesse chose Fire & Blood by George R. R. Martin.  Sally checked out four large-print books, none of which she thought were very interesting.

Then at 4:00 PM, Jesse went to the Beauty Salon/Spa for a Fire & Ice Pedicure.  The pedicurist, Stephanie, suggested that he needed at least two appointments to get rid of all of the crust on the bottoms of his feet, which she removed with something resembling a cheese grater, after soaking them in warm water for several minutes.  His feet were much smoother afterwards, but after trimming and buffing his nails, they didn’t look much different. Then she warmed his feet with some preheated rocks.  After that, she rubbed a gritty ointment on his feet and legs.   (Fire & Ice?)  Stephanie is from the Philippines. At 4:00 PM, Jesse went to the Beauty Salon/Spa for a Fire & Ice Pedicure.  The pedicurist was Stephanie, from the Philippines.

From 6:45 to 7:30 PM, we danced to the 4 Corners Band in the Horizons.  That seemed to be the only place to dance on the ship, other than the pool deck on special occasions.  The band consists of a drummer, a base guitar player, a keyboard player, and a singer.  The keyboard and base players also sing.  Only one other couple danced.  When Sally tired, Jesse asked the other woman to dance the Cha Cha.  The audience applauded afterwards, but Jesse said that the woman really didn’t know how to do the Cha Cha.  There were two single women there.  Jesse asked one of them to dance and they both got up.  So, Jesse danced with two women at once!  Sally really wasn’t too happy with the band’s song selection, but Jesse thought they were okay.  They would probably have played whatever we would have asked!

After dancing, we went to the Terrace Café buffet for dinner again.  Sally preferred to eat there because she doesn’t like spending two hours eating in the dining room or one of the specialty restaurants.  So, we had our usual soup, salad, lobster (for Sally), mixed vegetables, dessert and decaf cappuccino.  For Jesse’s entre, he picked whatever looked tasty!  Tonight was a special “Chef’s Market” buffet, so Jesse had choice of additional tasty items.  Surely, we would be eating at the other restaurants a few times during the cruise.  Jesse was looking forward to enjoying the Polo Grill’s Surf & Turf (lobster tail & filet mignon)!

We’ve been mostly skipping lunch during the cruise so far, in order to keep our weight down.  We’ve been walking, dancing and swimming more than we do at home, so it’s possible that we could actually lose a little weight!

Before retiring, we set our clocks and watches back by one hour.  That moved us to CST, again.  Also, surprisingly, we’ve been getting texts and phone calls on our mobile phone.  After researching the subject, we found out that our mobile phone service provider would be charging us for phone calls and text messages, directly, based on our usage.  Since we had no idea how much the charges might be, we would be using the services sparingly.