Cozumel, Mexico (Tuesday, February 13)

I was able to stay remarkably calm when I saw this through our cabin door.

It was less about having an inner peace that soothed a worried mind and more about knowing there was a pier between the two ships.

After a relaxing morning aboard, Pam & I disembarked together; she for shopping and me for today's tour.

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Today's Tour:  ATV ADVENTURE

Leaving the pier, you will transfer to the Welcome Station where you will receive a safety briefing, instructions on how to operate the ATV and practice on a short driving course.  Following that, you will climb aboard your ATV and set off on a course that has you winding your way through the off-road paths. During your approximate 1 hour traversing the jungle of Cozumel, you will experience this island's lush vegetation plus the tropical birds, iguanas and creatures that live within in it. Your ATV ride will have you visiting replicas of important statues and altars from the ancient Mayan Civilization, you'll stop by a small Mayan house where you will be given a sample of the Mayan food and you'll visit a life-sized model of a chewing gum extraction camp, all important parts of the history and culture of the area.

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Delete all the mumbo-jumbo that made the trip sound intellectually significant and you have what it was, an amusement park ride.

After signing and initialing a two-sided indemnity form and watching a breathtakingly boring 'training' video, we donned our helmet and goggles and mounted our ATV.  Off we went.  We zipped, bumped and thumped along a network of trails.  We stopped twice at displays that were presented as being the educational component of our tour, but were really more about a few minutes rest and having some water.  

The only wildlife we saw were iguanas, and yes, I checked to be sure I used the correct plural of iguana.

If I have given you the impression that this tour was boring, au contraire, it was great fun, especially since I had never driven an ATV.

Following some stirring remarks from our guide about a tip that would be shared by the whole team, a bus ride back to the pier and a suggestion by our guide that we tip the driver who apparently was not part of the aforementioned team, I rendezvoused with Pam.  

We wandered around for a while passing liquor stores, souvenir shops, jewelry stores, restaurants and other businesses collectively intended to separate tourists from as much of their money as possible.   

If you think that I am going to insert a humorous caption here,
you clearly underestimate my instinct for self-preservation.

We eventually wandered back to the ship to await the evening's parade.  SIRENA is the smaller ship, accommodating 684 passengers and 400 crew versus NCL's PEARL with 2,394 passengers and 1,099 crew.

Today was the last day of Carnival/Mardi Gras. From a high deck on our ship, we watched the Fat Tuesday parade before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  The distance from that action was not ideal for seeing everything clearly, but it was great not to be caught in the crowd.  The parade had a nice small city flavor to it, Cozumel having a population about the same as New Bedford, MA - 100,000 people.

As the parade moved away and Pam & I were enjoying dinner outdoors on the stern, SIRENA got underway for our next port of call.