This morning I made reservations at the Wake for breakfast at 8:00 AM (they open at 8:00 AM). I arrived a bit early, but they obviously weren’t ready to seat anyone until 8:00 AM. The food was very good, I had steak and eggs and I tried the eggs benedict, although it isn’t really something I enjoyed. I also managed to get a delicious donut.
The ship arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico today. I booked a tour of the Mayan ruins through the ship. Normally I book through other suppliers, but I wanted to see how they handled the excursions as they were supposed to be smaller groups (fine print says ‘when possible’). It was a short walk along the pier to the meeting location for the tour.
As you can see it was not a smaller group, it was a nearly full 50 passenger bus, and I was in the back with very little air conditioning.
After a bus ride of more than an hour to the Chacchoben ruins we were finally free of the bus and the tour guide pointed us in the direction of the ruins. We were given some time to roam around, but were warned about the fire ants. Luckily for me I was wearing shoes to protect me from them, but other people had sandals.
The ruins that are easy to see have been renovated. Below are some pictures of some ruins as they were actually found (looks like a forest)
I also took a picture of this interesting tree.
While viewing part of the ruins our group was also welcomed by a native – monkey. The monkey didn’t get too close, but we could see him or her.
After we were done checking out the ruins the bus took us back almost all the way to the ship. If you’ve ever been to a theme park you know you have to walk through the gift shop to get to the exit. Well the bus dropped us off at the entrance of the gift shops and it took about 15 minutes to find my way back to the ship.
I got some lunch at the galley – pork tacos.
I took a couple of pictures from outside, including some of the Royal Caribbean ship docked next to the Scarlet Lady. Many people were watching the football game that the Royal Caribbean ship had on it’s big screen. Apparently Virgin Voyages doesn’t yet understand the US market as they not only do not have an outdoor TV screen (to be used for any purpose), but they also do not have a sports bar. That is one of the many things that Virgin Voyages is missing on their ship.
I went stayed on the ship and relaxed at the pool area. I didn’t see a need to go back onshore to visit any of the shops in the port, and because drones are not allowed on the ship I couldn’t take any aerial videos while in port.
I had dinner reservations at Gunbae, which is a traditional Korean barbeque restaurant. This was intended that you would cook the food yourself, but we had someone cook the food for us, which is more convenient. They first gave us a free glass of soju and taught us to play a game. The loser has to drink. The soju was good, it was a little sweet and not harsh. To start I had the JAPCHAE, DAKGANGJEONG (chicken), and for my main I ordered the Chef’s combo with short ribs, pork belly and shrimp.
JAPCHAE DAKGANGJEONG Pork Belly and Prawns Beef short rib soft serve ice cream
This was my most enjoyable dinner. The food was delicious and I really enjoyed the chicken in addition to the grilled beef, pork and shrimp.
After dinner I participated in one of the few activities they had – Dodgeball. It was a brief game, best of five and my team actually won. The prize for winning – a free beer.
Today’s timeline:
