By: Jenna Barnes
Cozumel, Mexico was our very last port! The ship arrived in Cozumel around 10am, and we
were some of the first people off the ship since we had an excursion at 10:30 am. We went to
Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park for an all-inclusive time with snorkeling, beach access, food, and drinks!
We got off the cruise ship and made our way down the dock, which was through a very long shopping center with great AC and so much merchandise, alcohol, cigarettes, and candy. At the end of the dock, there were hundreds of shops around with excursion starting points everywhere. We headed to our excursion point, number 9, and met our tour guide.
As our tour guide introduced himself and gave us a lowdown on how the day would go, we headed to the taxis to go to the Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park. The line was so long to get on a taxi, but when we finally got on a taxi we were surprised with how clean they were and had great AC! Yes, I am mentioning the AC again...it's essential. Our tour guide spoke to us throughout our drive. He stated that he has been a guide for 10 years and he absolutely loves it!
When we arrived at the Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park and entered a giant cabana. It was filled with shops and a beautiful fountain. We walked towards a waterfall feature and took a picture with people in costumes. Then, we took a tour of the park with our tour guide. There was a building that we went to for free food and drinks. The other side was a Mayan
monument replica, further down had carts with souvenirs, to the right was a seal show, and below was the beach where we would go snorkeling.We stopped at the shops for a second to look for some goodies, then headed towards the snorkeling area to get our gear. As we put on our googles, lifejackets, and fins, we waddled over to the water and carefully walked down the slippery step to the water after our safety meeting. I looked down and I immediately saw so many fish! They swam up to us and they weren’t afraid at all. They were whipping around me, almost like they were playing a game of whocould get closest before getting touched. I don’t know what it is about humans, but we just want to pet everything, so you know all of us were trying to touch the fish! No one succeeded, but the fish definitely made you think we could!
Our guide took us further out where the coral reef was, and we looked around there for a
while until a man appeared in the water with a camera and fish food and took our picture
under the water with the fish all around us. After exploring for a little bit longer, we
headed back to land for the tequila testing!
As we walked into this room, there was tequila everywhere. A man handed us a little cup and said that it would be our tasting cup, so we shouldn't t throw it away. We took our seats, and then the tequila expert and maker told us about each of the tequilas we were trying. The first one was a tequila that had been aging for 7 years. He poured a little bit in each of our cups and told us exactly how to drink tequila ... “Drink it, breathe in from your nose then out of your mouth as you taste the flavor." I couldn’t comprehend how to drink and breathe at the same time, but after some practice breaths, I finally understood what he said. I took a big sip of the tequila, breathed in through my nose, then breathed out of my mouth. I already knew I didn’t like tequila, but I was willing to try the authentic stuff, and man did that make my nose squish up. I assume that it was a good flavor though, I just couldn’t get over the strong taste.
The next one was a tequila that had been aged for 12 years. He explained how this one
would be a lot smoother, and we should be able to taste the difference from the 7 year tequila. I reluctantly let him put just a tiny bit in my cup, but I was in Mexico, so I was going to try that tequila! I took a sip and breathed the same as before. I tasted a difference for sure, but it definitely was not a better one! Lastly, we tried the flavored tequilas. I was dedicated to trying as much as I could, so I asked him to put an even smaller amount in my cup. This tequila was coconut flavored. I love coconut so I thought I could handle this, and you could say I did! My face may have said otherwise. It was finally the last tequila and this time it was almond flavored. I put on a brave face to try the very last tequila, and when I took a sip, I was actually okay! It tasted amazing actually! It tasted just like the cookies my boyfriend’s mom makes back home! I actually finished what was left in my cup, and then we went back outside where we stumbled across a man making margaritas. He was offering fresh margaritas in a custom cup he painted himself! We picked out our cup and me made the drink from scratch right in front of us.He had a manual juicer where he put the cup right under it, squeezed an orange then a lime, filled with what I assumed was the Mexican version of Sprite or Club Soda.... I couldn’t really tell. Then, he topped it off with A LOT of tequila. For the cup with the drink inside was only $10! We tasted it and it was actually the freshest and best margarita I have ever tased! Plus, the cups were great souvenirs!
Then, we walked down to the building with the free food and drinks and got a plate of nachos, pasta, chimichangas, ceviche, and tuna salad. Everything was so amazing; especially the tuna salad (which I was very surprised about). We finished our plates and headed back to the taxi area where we rode back to the little port town. We shopped some more and then headed back to the cruise ship. It was so crowded, but with the super long shipping center on the dock to the boat, it helped with the heat!
Once we got on the ship, we headed to the Lido deck to lay out for a bit before we
we got ready for dinner. We weren’t out there long because it started raining again.Once we got changed, we went down to dinner. Apparently, it was Louisiana night because almost everything on the menu was a Louisiana dish! I ordered the alligator beignets, the chicken stuffed with spinach and cream cheese, and for dessert I ordered the praline cake. My appetizer and dessert were super great! The chicken on the other hand was very bland so I ate off my mom’s plate. She ordered the Cajun shrimp with jambalaya. It was pretty good and had a lot of flavor! When we finished with dinner, we headed to the Limelight Lounge which is where we thought the comedy show was, but it was karaoke! We listened to some friends we met sing to the best of their ability, then put our name down for one more song! It ended up being a 57-minute wait until our turn, so we went to the actual comedy show in the Liquid Lounge before we came back to rock out to “International Harvester”. We got the few people still left in the room dancing with us! It was a great time!
After that, we were all so tired from the full day we had that we went to our rooms early
and watched another movie before we passed out. We have one more day left on the ship.
I hope I get to do everything that I haven’t done yet.
Email Jenna@icantwaittotravel.com to answer questions about Carnival Vista or to book your next trip.