Cruise–Day 4

The Best Day!

Why?  Because of the port and the excursion that we chose.

First of all the port.

Cozumel.

This is our 3rd or 4th time to visit Cozumel (I’m losing count).  It is soooooooo much nicer than Progresso.  The ships are able to dock closer to the land here, and the town is a lot more tourist friendly.  Also, the sea seems to be a lot prettier here.  I’m talking a whole new level of “blueness.”

There were a total of four ships docked in Cozumel this day.  Two Carnival vessels, one Celebrity ship, and one from the Royal Caribbean fleet.  I’m curious about those Royal Caribbean ships.  They look super nice.  And BIG.  I think I might need to get a closer look one of these days…….

If you’ve eaten too much on board and can’t make the short walk to shore you, can hitch a ride in one of these Fred-Flintstone-like-mobiles and have someone peddle you to town.

A cruise ship sandwich!

The Tool Man forgot to bring a hat on this trip so he bought this lovely, expensive model in Progresso.  A whopping $4.  Duty free!

O.K. Now for the really fun stuff…

The crème-de-la-crème of the whole vacation…

Drumroll, please.

DOLPHINS!!!

Yes!  Not only did we get to swim with dolphins, we got ride them!

How cool is that?

The facility we went to was called Dolphinaris.  It was a very neat and clean place and very well organized.  They even take pictures for you since cameras and swimming pools don’t really mix.  However, since they know you are gonna  want to have the pictures, they charge an arm and a leg for them.  Yikes!  So y’all better really enjoy these pictures.

The facility had 3 large pools with several groups of swimmers in each pool.  Each group of swimmers had a couple of dolphins working with them.  We had two female dolphins with our group.  One of them was named Troya, but I can’t remember the other one.  They were both about 7 years old which is young for dolphins since they can live at least 50 years.  The group across the pool from us had a large male dolphin that weighed 800 lbs.  He made our girls look tiny.

After a life jacket fitting and a quick briefing from our trainer, we were off to the pool.  COLD!  Eighty degree water is a lot cooler than eighty degree air.

Here’s our group in the water.  We were actually working with the two dolphins in the pool on the left side of this picture.  We were giving them the signal to twirl in the water.  The Tool Man and I are last two in line on the right side of this picture.

Have you ever touched a dolphin?  This was the first time for me, and I have to say they felt exactly like I imagined they would – smooth and rubbery.  Our trainer told us that dolphins shed their skin every two hours.

It was so much fun interacting with these creatures.  The dolphins seemed to be so full of emotion and very affectionate.  Maybe that’s just part of being a mammal.  They are really smart too.  It’s amazing how many commands and hand signals they know.  They did whatever the trainers asked of them.  They sort of reminded me of dogs.  I guess you could say they’re kind of like fish-dogs!

I’ve been making so many “boyfriends” on this trip, the Tool Man finally got jealous and found him a girl…

See our hands on the necks of our life jackets?  That’s the signal for “kiss.”

It’s amazing to watch these animals hurl themselves out of the water 10 or 15 feet into the air.  Wow!

We didn’t get any pictures of us riding the dolphins, but it was so cool.  I was the first in our group to ride.  Eek!  The trainer sent us out one at a time to the far side of the pool.  When he gave the signal to the dolphin, she would swim down to us, around behind us, and as she would come around on our other side, we would reach out and grab her flippers so she could pull us back to the group.  Hold on tight ‘cause those girls can move!  The trainer actually had them race across the pool once, and boy, could they swim fast.  I think he told us that they can swim approximately 25 miles per hour.

After all that swimming we worked up an appetite.  This excursion included a Mexican lunch served at the poolside restaurant.  The Tool Man finally got his Diet Coke!  (Actually, in Mexico, it’s Coca-Cola Light.)

With his belly full, the Tool Man took some video of the dolphins swimming in the pools.  Come to find out, he had forgotten to push “Record,” so he had to do it all over again.

Another sunset on the high seas.  This is what we absolutely love about having a room on the back of the ship.  Look at the trail the ship leaves behind in the water.  Oh, how I love cruising!  I’ve already been searching online for another cruise to take, and I’ve got my eye on one.  I will not wait another 4 years before I go again!!!  After my honeymoon, my best friend gave me a “Cruise Fund” jar, and I’m working on filling it up.

We just love coming back to our stateroom after dinner to find the sheets turned down, chocolate mints on our pillows, and a mystery creature on our bed.  You think I could train my monkeys to do this for me at home?

I would have said this guy was a swan, but he’s got arms.

Got to get my kiss!