Before I start on today’s blog, let me backtrack to last evening. After dinner there was a special performance by one of the onboard artists in the lounge. The stage was set with dozens of candles with the piano set with a backdrop of the skyline of NYC. The pianist/singer was fantastic. She has an amazing voice and played piano with seeming ease. She told us she played by ear, and had learned with the help of her grandfather who also played by ear. It was a lovely send off for the guests leaving today.
Back in our early cruising days in the late 80s and 90s, we visited Cozumel on a cruise ship, but I’m afraid I remember nothing about it!
I’m back today in the Cruise ship port just outside of town along with hundreds of other passengers. I lost track of the number of ships at 8. The Norwegian Escape and the Queen Elizabeth followed us from Costa Mayo. The Escape is next to us across the pier and it’s like a huge apartment building overlooking a bathtub toy.
The Mexican island of Cozumel is the 4th most visited port in the world based on total number of passengers, which was a surprise to me. The first 3 are Miami, and Everglades and Nassau, Bahamas. It sits just offshore of the Playa del Carmen area on the Yucatan Peninsula. There is a ferry service between the two. It’s a clear day and from the ship we can see all the buildings on the mainland. The island has a population of approximately 100,000 and 2/3 of them live in the city of Cozumel.
Tourism drives the economy and has since the 1970s. Cattle ranching and logging have also contributed but to a much lesser degree. Outside of the city the people primarily live a traditional agricultural way of life.
The cruise port area was chaos this morning with passengers disembarking and others meeting up with their guides for excursions. There were a plethora of excursion opportunities to go snorkeling or visit more Mayan ruins but none offered by Windstar, so we decided to just do a little shopping. (but no one at home ought to get excited as we didn’t pick up anything). Then it was back to the ship to chill by the pool and watch the new passengers finding their way around.
Tomorrow is a day at sea and so won’t post a blog. Back at you from the Cayman Islands.
Lois' Adventures 