Thursday April 5th

That was one nasty night night of no sleep. Up at 6 and alarm at 7. Room service didn't arrive because it wasn't ordered properly so a quick trip to the Windjammer to grab some muffins and fruit.

As the ship docked into port we discovered that Cozumel was one hour behind and our day resort wouldn't be open for another hour so we had a bit more time. A trip for morning coffees and more snacks before heading off the ship. Cozumel was a good sized port and there were 5 ships in port including 3 Carnivals and a Princess. Outmra towered over them all like the beast that is the Harmony of the Seas.

We found our way to the taxis and grabbed an 8 seater to Playa Mia for $34 one way but cheaper than the $10/pp offered by the ship. We headed down the highway at breakneck speed passing slow moving scooters by mere inches. Some things in Mexico never change.

We were the first to arrive at the resort and got our wristbands and headed on to the beach. We rented a cabana for the day in case we needed to get out of the heat. Surprisingly much of the day was overcast and quite breezy but when the sun came out and the wind slowed it was incredibly hot.

Everyone but Rick swam out into the ocean with our mandatory life jackets on and tried out all the inflatable climbing apparatus and slides for about half an hour before paddling back and going for lunch.

Buffet was traditional Mexican food but mass produced somewhat lacking in flavour but still some very delicious foods including some wonderful refried beans and yummy fish and chicken.

Rick decided to take advantage of the pedicure fish for 20 minutes and we all got a good laugh at his enthusiastic response to having his feet swarmed and devoured by 50 mini fish simultaneously.

We headed back to the beach to take advantage of our numerous beverages offered in our all.day package. Some were delicious and some were disasters.

A lot of soaking up sun and reading our books before 3pm arrived and we headed back to the entrance.

We were fortunate enough to find some free wifi for a bit to catch up with our families to report we were all fine and good.

We grabbed another large taxivan back to the port and did some shopping. Everyone but Darren made their way promptly to the ship but I had some haggling to do. An hour later I had a multitude of hats, shirts and trinkets at 25 to 75% off and made my way back to the ship. I bought 2 Corona for $3 and enjoyed them profusely while wandering around. The customs people refused to let me take the sand from the beach back to the ship. Very disappointing.

Once back on the ship, changing out of swimsuits and into shorts and tee and off to the Windjammer for Mexican night. The food never ceases to amaze as not only did they have enough to feed multiple armies but also dozens of decadent desserts as far as the eye can see. We pulled away from the dock and bus farewell to the Caribbean as we headed north and east back to Fort Lauderdale arriving early Saturday morning.

We watched the sunset before heading to the Ice Skating show. That's right. They had an 80 by 40ft skating rink with 12 professional ice dancers that put on an amazing show with insane costuming and music from classical to pop and heavy metal. It was really incredibly well done.

We went back to our room to defrost a bit and grab my earplugs to go listen to the 80s cover band Music Vision with 6 incredibly talented Asian/Filipino musicians that ripped it up with everything from Eye in the Sky to You Give Love a Bad Name!

We left after their first set and wandered down to deck 4 to Studio B - also the ice skating rink - now covered with flooring for the Battle of the Sexes competition. This was the all ages show where 6 men and 6 women competed against each other in trivia, relay races, continuous karaoke etc where eventually the men prevailed!

The next hour was an 18 and over show called the Quest where the auditorium was divided into 15 sections and each section required a Male and female team leader. Each leader was responsible for going into their section to retrieve different items to bring to the emcee in order to get points. Bonus points were awardawarde for creativity and you can well imagine how creative some people can be after a whole day of drinking.

Several of the last events included bringing 3 pairs of men's pants, 3 brassieres, showing off a thong, showing a hidden tattoo and ended up with the team leaders switching as many clothes as possible. It was extremely entertaining and we laughed uncontrollably numerous times.

Midnight approached and it was time to call it a day. Only one full day at sea remaining tomorrow.

What an adventure!