Hey there princess!
On this third day of our cruise, we docked in Cozumel, Mexico to beautiful weather in the mid-70's with an incredible breeze coming off of the water.
After a quick breakfast, we met the rest of our excursion group so that we could depart the ship together to go on our tour of the Mayan ruins and a chocolate factory. There weren't too many people in our group, and we were all able to fit into two air-conditioned passenger vans together. I think it is worth noting that our tour lasted from about 10am to 2:30pm, and we were provided with bottled water by our tour guides and a tortilla with mole on it at around 1:00 at the chocolate factory. There was not stopping for lunch along the way, and by the time we were back on the boat, Niles and I were both super hungry. If you're going on a tour like this, I would pack a snack to eat on the bus.
The first stop on our trip was the Mayan Bee Sanctuary. We didn't actually tour this location, but we could purchase honey if we wanted to, and it was the largest available public restroom that we could use, so everyone got in line! The weather was gorgeous, and I loved getting to see the beautiful tropical plants all around us.
The first tour spot on our journey was the Mayan ruins. Now, this isn't exactly the type of ruins that you might imagine, with huge pyramids. Instead the site they took us to is one that was covered by the jungle for thousands of years, until locals re-discovered it and a large-scale preservation effort began in the 1970's. The name of the location is San Gervasio, and our guide told us that it is thought that the purpose of this particular area was for women seeking pregnancy, or women who were pregnant to come and pay homage to the goddess Ix Chel who would bless both childbirth and fertility. I thought this was very fitting, since I was 6 months pregnant during this visit!
What a beautiful area! Our guide said that the roads were paved with limestone so that they would glow at night so that people could see where they were traveling. I am so thankful that we got to see this beautiful place. It made me want to visit more of the world!
Next, we visited the Mayan Cacao Company, where we were able to see how a modern-day chocolate factory works. This area was also incredibly beautiful, and was located at a cacao farm where all of the beans for the chocolate we ate that day were grown. We were able to take a tour of the area, and our guide even gave us handmade corn tortillas with mole (a chocolate sauce) inside. It was piping hot and so delicious... I could've eaten like 10 of them!
The owner of the factory gave us a history lesson on Mayan chocolate production over the years, and then let us sample chocolate using original production methods. Everything was delicious! I loved that I got to learn something, and eat - two of my most favorite things!
I am so grateful that we chose to go on this tour! Our guides were kind, thoughtful, and made sure that all of our questions were answered and needs were met. We had an absolute blast, and I know that I made memories I will treasure forever. If you're thinking of going on a tour like this as opposed to something like... swimming with dolphins or driving golf carts down the beach... this for sure was fun! It wasn't boring, and I felt really safe with our guide and tour group.
Before you knew it, it was time to get back onboard the ship! Here is a view of it from the dock.
This evening, the theme for dinner was "Pirate Night." Our towels were folded to look like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, with fun gold medallions for eyes - as if we needed more chocolate that day! For dinner we were back at Triton's and we couldn't wait to dig in!
Dinner was insane! The pirate theme extended to both the food and the floorshow. My husband ordered the steak for his main meal, and we both dug into crab cakes, grilled shrimp, jerk chicken, and red beans and rice. Everything was delicious, and I so appreciated having such a filling meal after such a long day. I will say - Disney takes care of you here. Our wait staff were so incredible and let us try literally everything we could eat. Not pictured is the macadamia nut cheesecake. It was so good they gave me one to-go so that I could have it as a midnight snack! I absolutely did eat it later that night, and it was just as divine the second time around.
This was our last meal at Triton's for the trip, and I had to get a photo of the mural on the wall. The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney animated film and I was so happy in this room!
We got to enjoy fireworks outside on the high seas for our last event of the evening. What a treat! The fireworks were so fun, and they were the perfect thing to send me off to bed!
