Cozumel

March 2^nd – Cozumel

Our sixth visit to Cozumel…and the fourth time going to the Dzul Ha…or as it is known now…the Money Bar. Maybe we should try someplace new, but this place has all of the ingredients for an easy, fun day.

It is interesting to see how the location has evolved in the ten years since our first visit in 2005. Here is what it looked like then. Although already showing some hurricane damage in this photo, the whole structure was wiped away a month later when Hurricane Wilma hit Cozumel.

Our next visit was in 2009 after the Money Bar had been built. Our ship, the Carnival Freedom, was the first cruise ship docking in Cozumel after the swine flu scare kept ships away for an extended time period. We pretty much had the place to ourselves that day.

The third visit was in 2010. Still not busy and we saw the high rise condos being built across the street.

Word has gotten out about the Money Bar. With multiple ships in port, the place was hopping. The few shaded lounge chairs under the trees were already claimed by the time we got there this time.

Being one of the closer beaches to Puerta Maya (Carnival’s dock), the cab ride was short and only cost $9 for all four of us. Once settled into our spots for the day, we carefully maneuvered our way through the rocky coastline and into the water to snorkel. With the wind and choppy water, I was glad I had my noodle!

The snorkeling isn't necessarily the best at the Money Bar, but it is convenient and cheap...meaning FREE. I had done a lot of underwater photography on past visits, so this time I just enjoyed. I was a bit sorry I didn't have my camera when I spotted a starfish! Just for those of you who are curious...here are a couple of photos from our last visit.

All four of us took advantage of one of the day packages offered by the Money Bar…a 30 minute massage, regular beverage, cocktail and lunch for $45 each. The perfect way to begin a vacation!

The burrito I ordered for lunch was massive! (Bob ordered tacos.) And I highly recommend the slushy, mint lemonade as well.

On the way back to the ship, the only stops we made as we walked through the shopping area around the pier were to take some silly photos. The heavy bags of snorkel gear made us anxious to get back onboard quickly.

Our next door neighbor for the day was the Carnival Magic...bigger and newer than the Glory.

Just as Dzul Ha has changed since our first visit, so has the pier. When Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005, the dock was TOTALLY destroyed...along with the shops. Now the shops have been rebuilt and the dock is being extended into a "Y" shape to make room for more ships.

Back on the Glory, our dining problems seemed to be resolved, but a new issue popped up…the cards we were using to open the cabin safe quit working. It happened twice and both times it required calling maintenance to come to our cabin to open the safe. Bob finally figured out the issue…the purse I was using had a magnetic clasp and it was “demagnetizing” the strip on the card. Now that we have that figured out we decided to just hide the card in the cabin instead of putting it in my purse (which sort of defeats the purpose of having a safe). Princess has a better system…number pads on their safes.

The only entertainment scheduled in the theater was the Hasbro game show so instead we roamed around the ship enjoying the full moon. A deck party was scheduled, but our old, tired bodies opted for bed instead.

Having a cabin at the back of the ship often required a REALLY long walk.

Carnival Legend - Cozumel

Cozumel - Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Legend docked at Puerta Maya in Cozumel…yea!...no tenders! And…it didn't dock until 10 am so once again there was time for breakfast in the main dining room. It was raining that morning while we ate…but cleared up by the time we got off the ship.

The dock in Cozumel used to have shops running the entire length of the pier. To get to shore you walked THROUGH the shops (aaahhh…air-conditioning!). Here is an old photo of what the dock looked like in 2005.

Dock in 2005

Right after we visited Cozumel in 2005 the island took a direct hit from Hurricane Wilma and all of the shops AND the concrete pier were gone. Last year we stopped at Cozumel on our Carnival Freedom cruise and it looked so strange to see this extremely long pier…with no shops. Here is what it looked like in July 2009.

I didn’t get a photo this year, but there was some construction going on and I wonder if perhaps they are rebuilding these shops?

With no more air conditioned shops to go through, the hike to shore is a long, hot walk. Jane has a little trouble walking so she took one of the bicycle taxis and met us in the shopping area.

Carnival has built this little shopping center and it has many of the same shops that you will find downtown. We didn’t take time to do any shopping in the morning…that could come later. Instead we made a bee-line for the cabs on the other side of the shops.

Our plan for the day was to take a cab to the Money Bar at Dzul Ha…a relatively short cab ride from Puerta Maya.

Our first trip to Dzul Ha was in 2005 and what we saw that day nowhere near resembles the area today. At that point there was a small snack bar type place that had damage from Hurricane Emily just a couple of weeks before we arrived. Shortly after we left it was destroyed completely by Hurricane Wilma. Here is what we saw in 2005…

Beach in 2005

Today the Money Bar stands on the beach at Dzul Ha in the same place…what a contrast!

Bob and I spent a day here last summer and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Dzul Ha is known as a good place to snorkel from shore so I wondered if word had gotten out and we would be sharing the beach with massive crowds.

Since it is so close to Puerta Maya a cab ride is only $8 for a car taxi. The van price was listed at $18 but we were able to get them to agree to $16 so that we could all ride together. There were only a few people there when we arrived and that was pretty much how things stayed all day…very UNcrowded!

There were 8 lounge chairs in the shade of some trees so that became home base for the day. The Carnival ship in the background is the Imagination coming into port to join the Legend.

The girls alternated between the shade, the water and the sun but it wasn’t a problem since there were many open chairs.

Our day was spent snorkeling, relaxing and enjoying some food and beverages from the Money Bar. Before the cruise Erica's only request was that she get to have a beach day…and a massage. A half hour massage at the Money Bar is $30, but they have a package for $35 that includes a massage plus lunch and a beverage and a cocktail! I had emailed before we left and asked if the package needed to be booked in advance and was told we could just request it when we arrived.

Zach, Marji and Erica all did the massage package. The rest of us just ordered off the menu. The portions are pretty large and the prices were decent. You could eat at one of the tables in the open air restaurant or they would take your order and deliver right to your beach chair.

These photos make it look like we spent a really lazy day but actually we did spend a lot of time in the water!

Dzul Ha is not what most people consider a “beach”. There is sand around the lounge chairs, but the shoreline is very rocky.

There were a couple of places where you could enter the water. It took a bit of caution but not a big deal.

Before our cruise I had read a report that someone said they had encountered lots of jellyfish while they were snorkeling in Cozumel. The kids saw a few very small jellyfish (almost invisible) and got a couple of bites…but nothing too bad. (And certainly not enough to make them get out of the water!)

When you swam out a ways from shore you could see the Legend and the Imagination at the pier. (This was taken using the zoom so they look a little closer than they actually were.)

When it was time to leave I was going to ask if someone could call us a cab, but when I walked up to the bar a van taxi was just dropping off some other folks. We were able to get right in and were back at the pier in a short time.

Our first cruise was in 2002 and since then we have cruised often enough that I have been able to keep a supply of Mexican vanilla on hand. I joke with Bob that when the bottle starts to run low it is time to book a cruise! This time I had used the last little bit the week before our cruise so buying vanilla was on my to-do list for Cozumel.

When we got back to the port I was hot and not in a shopping mood so I headed for Los Cinco Soles since I knew I could get vanilla there. I bought a liter bottle for $14.95. The kids stopped in one of the shops to buy some bottled water and I noticed that their vanilla was a bit cheaper. The lady in the shop showed me that the bottles also contained the vanilla beans. If I wasn’t so worried about the weight of the bottles in my luggage I would have bought a bottle just to try. A few last photos around the shopping area and then we headed back to the ship.