Here, there and everywhere – December Part IV

Costa Maya, Mexico

The last few days of our Christmas cruise aboard the Rhapsody of the seas was highlighted by a great deal of relaxation, enjoying a lovely afternoon in Costa Maya, Mexico and yet another delicious meal with an officer.

In the early morning hours of arriving at our next port-of-call, Costa Maya, Mexico we encountered turbulent seas.  I awoke and stepped out onto the balcony to watch a scene that can only be described as dangerous to the gentlemen trying to tie up the ship.

I watched as time after time, the ropes were lifted from the water with attempts to secure them to the dock only to see them fall away or snap off.  The turbulent water was making it very difficult.  I started to wonder if we would actually be able to dock this day. 

Docked along side of us was the Liberty of the seas

After numerous times, the ropes were finally secured, however, the ship was rocking quite a bit because of high winds.  Fortunately, another Royal ship arrived and blocked the wind from battering our ship and all was well. 

I love visiting Costa Maya.  Over the years we spent quite a bit of time exploring the port area and watched it develop into a major destination of fun, good food, entertainment and, of course, shopping.

In 2012 we had a wonderful time visiting the Kohunlich Mayan ruins. 

However, our favorite activity is to catch one of the tourist vehicles to Mahahual Beach. This lovely beach area is lined with restaurants , bars and shops with access to swimming, snorkeling and other water activities and is only a short distance from the cruise port. 

After a quick breakfast, we made our way along the pier, around the cruise port and and purchased our tickets for the ride to the beach.  These funny looking sculptures are perched near the ticket office.  They are really quite interesting and colorful.

It is only a short distance to the beach.  We are dropped off quite a way up the beach which is great as it gives a nice opportunity to walk along stopping here and there to see what is new in the shops. 

In the end we always end up at the same place, the Krazy Lobster.  This lovely restaurant is right on the beach with tables and chairs under cooling palm trees.  We ordered a bucket of beer and lunch and settled in for a wonderful afternoon of soft breezes through the palms and lively music.

Our last day on board we enjoyed a lovely “Diamond Plus Meal with an Officer” in the dining room.  I really enjoy this lunch as it gives us an opportunity to share some time with some of the wonderful men and women on board who work so hard to make our vacation a memorable one.

We were excited to be seated today with our very nice loyalty ambassador, Peter Ngene.  Peter is always gracious and eager to help and is quite funny. I ordered the Beef Fillet Wellington with creamy mashed potatoes, buttered broccoli, carrots and Béarnaise sauce.  It was all delicious!

This last week had been festive and just plain wonderful.  I am so glad we decided to spend the Christmas holiday on the Rhapsody.  We spent the rest of the day just walking around the ship looking at all the decorations once again.

After we finished packing, we spent a quiet evening on the balcony.  As we sat quietly in the dark, we talked quietly about our week and agreed that we would definitely have to do this again in the future.

Enjoy,

Mary