Thursday in Cozumel,

Wow; there are seven ships in port today. What do the local people feel like when they are invaded by about 40 thousand people? That is hard to imagine.

We began our day with room service breakfast and then we headed ashore to join the group for our day with the sting rays. My first impression was surprise at how clean and modern and bustling this Island is. It is probably one of the few places that can handle this sudden influx.

We were gathered together and lead to taxis. Those taxis took us to the Stingray sanctuary. Once there we were given instructions and lead to the water. It was an amazing event. It was as described and it was so exciting and so much fun. I loved every bit of it. The rays were all around us. They were so soft and so friendly. There were photographers there and they took lots of pictures. When I was about to hold the expecting mother Sting Ray she flaps both of those large fins and I was suddenly covered with salt water.  In spite of that I loved every second of this experience. After the encounter participants were able to snorkel but because I am not at all comfortable in water 25 feet deep I passed on the snorkeling. Ken decided that he would stay with me and I appreciated that.

After we got out of the water we sat in the sandy area and enjoyed some salsa and chips and the wonderful sun shine. The day began in the sixties but it was not long before the temperature was approaching 80. We viewed the many pictures that they had taken during the excursion. There were dozens of pictures and we were really surprised at the quality of those pictures. They were all available on a CD along with a video and post cards was being sold for 40 US dollars. For the first time we had not brought a credit to shore and so we had to do some scrounging but between us we came up with enough money to purchase it. Because my net book cannot play a CD I will not be able to show you the pictures right now.

We took a cab back to the pier and walked to the ship. We made our way through the throngs of people. Again the numbers amazed us. Without a credit card or more cash we did not shop. But we looked a little just in case there was something we couldn’t live without that we had to come back for.

When on board we found out that the dining rooms were not open. Rather than go to the buffet we decided to get room service. We each had a sandwich and iced tea. Tasty and light because tonight is lobster night.

At dinner a lady named Marilyn joined us. She is very interesting and very well travelled. We had a great visit and she is going to join us again tonight.

After dinner we checked out the photos and then proceeded to the Captain’s circle party. It is smart Casual dress which is not the usual .

 We sat next to very nice people from New Jersey and we visited for a while after the party was over. While in the photo department I checked out memory cards. I only brought a 4 G card with me and it is full. I purchased an 8 G so I can continue to record this trip.

Then we headed back to our cabin. A grand day had come to a close and tomorrow is a sea day and the last day of this cruise number three.