Just to prove we didn't fall overboard

I recently heard that people think we are dead. Is that what happens when you move to Millville? No one knows you exist anymore. Well, at least I know we were loved. Since we went on a cruise since everyone last head from us...this is of course what that post is about. First of all, we had a lot of fun. Don't let people tell you we hated it. But also, don't let people convince you it will be the best vacation you ever had. And lastly, don't, under any circumstances let the cruise company book your flights. They can't handle it.

First, we told them to take care of it, paid for it and didn't hear from them for like two months. We found out what our flights were going to be about a week before we were scheduled to leave. And after much discussion with the nice lady on the phone who assured us that we would be flown into Miami (the port we were leaving from) so that we could have the day before we left to visit the campus of the University of Miami (one on the list of school's being applied to for Law School), we were flown into Fort Lauderdale anyway. Which we could have done all on our own and spent far less money, we just couldn't figure out how to get from there to Miami in enough time to get to the school. Needless to say we were annoyed. Fine. We got over it.

We got to Fort Lauderdale and took the airport shuttle to the hotel listed on our travel information papers. We hadn't gotten the name of this hotel until about 2 days before we left, and only because we kept checking the Carnival website everyday, not because someone called and told us the info was there. So we get the hotel, which is pretty nice I'll give them that, and they have absolutely no record of reservation for Saturday for the two of us. But after calling Carnival and being on hold for a while, we found a reservation number to find they did have a reservation at the hotel for us for Sunday night. When we were supposed to leave on Sunday from Miami at 4 p.m. Awesome.

We did get this worked out and made it to the boat just fine. After waiting in a long line to get on the boat, we finally got on the boat and finally set sail. Our room was great, if a little low and forward on the boat, but who really wants to pay more for a balcony I'll probably never sit on? The turn-down service made animals out of towels every night. Obviously everyone on the boat was fascinated to try and figure out what we would find everyday. Here's an example...

Super cool right? I know.

After a day on board to get to our first destination (which actually wasn't as bad as I thought. I was worried I would puke my guts out, great image. Sorry.) we were so excited to get to Cozumel, Mexico. It is beautiful! The water is so clear and blue. It was amazing. And then we hurry to get on a boat to go across the water to the mainland to get to the Mayan ruins in Playa del Carmen. Didn't really spend much time on the actual island of Cozumel. Twenty minutes tops. Oops. But I'm a history nerd, so what did you really think we'd do? Shop? Ha! The ruins it is!

 This is the door to the city, which was surrounded by a wall, all the way around, with the ocean making up the fourth wall. There was a door on each side that looked just like this, and this was the only way in or out.

 They were pretty amazing with their math, and being able to follow the sun and stars to figure everything out. It's also how they built their buildings. It was amazing. Our tour guide knew a lot of stuff about them to tell us, but that was his job so...

 Best part. The bay the city sits in is surrounded by tall coral reef that protect it. It's almost impossible to enter unless you know where it is. When the Spanish came and tried to invade the city, they of course didn't know it, and standing where I am you can see 3 dark boat shapes in the water where the boats sank after hitting the reef. There are something like 300 more ships of enemies and the Spanish surrounding the city in the water because of the barrier. Great place to build a city! I found it fascinating, made want to dive to look at the boats, not the fish. Sorry. I'm nerdy. If you are getting bored with me spouting out random facts you can just skip down to the bottom...

This reef also creates a great little private beach that we spent a lot of time at as well. The water was warm, even though the day was only in the low 80s, which was by FAR the warmest day of the week. This was probably my favorite stop of the week. It was amazing. I learned and had fun. Who knew?! I would easily want to go back and spend a week just in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. Awesome!

 This is our boat. The closest one behind us. Yes. That's how many boats were there that day. And this is literally how long we spent on Cozumel.

After this day we headed down to Belize, but I haven't gotten those picture developed from the waterproof camera yet, so you'll just have to wait. 

See? Not dead!