Our Caribbean Cruise

Our stops were at Costa May and Cozumel. From Costa Maya we toured the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben. Our tour guide was Ivan Cohuo, the youngest of eight Cohuo children who were born at the site. Ivan's father Serviliano had started a farm in the area in the mid-40s. Time passed and over the years the ruins of the ancient city of Chacchoben, then overgrown with trees and other vegetation. became the backyard of Mr. Chohuo and his family.

Ivan described his childhood as follows: "Our life was certainly different, unlike most children our age, we had different toys. We used to play with arrow heads, pieces of pottery and some other artifacts that were once an important part in the daily life of noble and ruling families living in our particular backyard over 1500 years before us. We played with treasures full of history, but to our innocent eyes these pieces found all over the area had no special meaning."

The land, as essentially a national historic site, was re-claimed by the Mexican government, and now Ivan works as a tour guide. You can imagine the insights and information he brought to the tour. (Duing the tour he bent down and found a stone earring, probably off a Mayan sculpture - something at least 400 years old.)

In Cozumel we took a taxi to the far end of the town's shopping area and walked back towards the ship, ending up at Margaritaville, where we had snacks and did some snorkeling off the pier.

Shipboard activities were fun, including line dance and hip hop classes, rock climbing (Jay), BlackJack and slots in moderation, a Make-a-Wish walk, lounging by the solarium pool, nightly entertainment, game shows, and endless food.