Day Four: What Happens When the Weather Doesn't Cooperate

You know you're a beach bum when all of your iPhone pictures are your sandy toes on some beach somewhere. 

I'm going to be really, really honest with you. What I did in Cozumel was sit on an unbelievably beautiful beach and drink mixed drinks with my best friend. 

But let's back up. Before the drinking, the relaxing and the shopping, there was the docking. 

It was 9:00 a.m. when I woke up, ready to hit the beach. Though we'd had a full day the day before in Progreso, Shannon and I were scheduled to go snorkeling with an all-inclusive resort pass at Playa Uvas, after which we planned to lay out, margaritas in hand, until it was time to leave. 

I first noticed that something was wrong after collecting my arepas and huevos rancheros from Joseph, the nice man who made my breakfast. Shannon and I found a table next to the windows on the lido deck so we could look out at the blue water. 

I was expecting to see another cruise terminal, but the ship hadn't stopped moving. "We were scheduled to dock and hour and thirty minutes ago," I thought, "So what's up?"

It turns out that while I was on a boat bound for sandy, sunny places, America was experiencing the Polar Vortex, some of which trickled down our way. The water was really, really rough the morning we woke up expecting to debark in Cozumel. 

We were entirely unable to dock at our original location, Riviera Maya, so he turned our ship toward Punta Langosta instead. There was a less than 10% chance he would be able to dock the boat, and if he was unsuccessful, we would have to turn around and go home without seeing Cozumel. 

For over 45 minutes, he tried to dock the ship. Finally, he succeeded. We would have our day in the sun. 

Except it wasn't very sunny as we exited the ship. 

We debarked, entering what looked like a mall. The shops all sold souvenirs: Mexican blankets, woven garments like backpacks and hoodies and embroidered shirts and dresses. 

Oh, and tequila. 

A kiosk selling souvenirs at Punta Langosta

Vowing to return, we grabbed a cab and headed to our resort. It was sprinkling and windy. Unfortunately, Shannon warned me, the water looked too rough for snorkeling. I was a bit disappointed — I had never been snorkeling — but hey, I was in Mexico with one of my favorite people on the planet, and we were going to have a great time anyway.

Which we did. The pass included any and all drinks or food we might want, and we took full advantage of it, laughing, sticking our toes in the water, and enjoying drinks made by the bar staff, who treated us like princesses.  

Playa Uvas Resort, the view from my deck chair.

While I was there, I bought a bottle of tequila. Why not, I figured. The gift shop guy offered it to me for $50, and I said no, that was too much. After some good-natured haggling, I agreed to pay $35. We celebrated with free shots of a coffee-flavored tequila that wasn't available in the bar, gratis. My biggest regret is not picking up a bottle of that to bring home. I don't even know what it was called, but it was delicious, and my family would have loved it. I couldn't even find anything similar in the mall later. 

You live and you learn. 


We cabbed it back to the mall an hour before we were scheduled to depart; I was paranoid about being left behind by the ship. While we were there, we bought matching white dresses and bottles of tequila to commemorate our trip, and I picked up a few other trinkets for my family at home.

I also saw the same bottle of tequila I bought for $35 for $25 in a shop. Again: live and learn. I should have done my research.  

In spite of the weather, we had a great time. But all good things must end. Hungry and soaked by the sprinkling rain, we made our way back to the boat.