pirate4me2

Hub app info

Onboard MG now. First visit to each is free, the subsequent visits are $8/pp. reserve thru the Hub app onboard when they open. I’ll post menus in a sec

I didn’t want to go too far for lunch, so Guy’s it is. I’m not usually a fan of the burgers, but this one was GOOD. Hot and cheese was super melty. And maybe I’m in the minority, but the new fries rock…they’re crispy and I like the seasoning.

Absolutely!!! Got my book, clamshell, drinks…I’m not moving!

Today (Wednesday) Chris has a scuba dive excursion at Anthony Key, and had to meet them at 9 on the pier. He rolled out of bed at 8:30 and wasn’t really human. Poor guy, that’s what you get staying out late! Me, I rolled back over and snored some more until 9:30, then went in search of breakfast. I settled on Shaq’s, and the chicken was fresh and delicious. I am now camped out in the shade in a clamshell on Serenity. Score! I stole it from a CHOG. Can you believe the nerve of all these chair AND table hogs today?!

We had great plans for after dinner, wanted to go to the Love & Marriage Show, the Tim Young comedy set, and the Pirate deck party. However, we walked into the 7:45 L&M show and it was PACKED. We went to check out the comedy situation for Tim Young, and people were already lining up. Standing in line is really not my thing on vacation, and there were 2 empty seats at Alchemy next to friends we had made yesterday, so guess how our evening ended? Yep…drinks and laughter, and shutting down Alchemy. Tim Young has shows today, so I figured we could try again. Drazen wants us to bring him expresso tonight, he has drinks in mind for both me and Chris that need that. He also pulled out the bar book last night to get ideas for me that include absinthe, my weakness. YAY!!! At midnight we hit up the late night snacks at Pig & Anchor to get something. I tried the meatball sub (meh) and chicken tenders (good). We grabbed a bottle of water to go from the bar, and crashed around 1. At least I could sleep in today, I had no plans to get off the ship!

I got the arancini and the caprese as starters, I couldn’t decide. The arancini won, hands down. The caprese was good and fresh, but was missing something. For the main I got the chicken parm with a side of spinach, and that spinach yall…it was garlicky and DELICIOUS! The chicken parm was tender and good, but nothing special. Chris and I both agreed it was missing something, kinda like my caprese was. For dessert I got the tiramisu, and all I can say is YUMM!!

Cucina menu

We got back onboard the ship at about 2:30, and promptly took a nap after showering. That sun took it out of us! We sailed away from Costa Maya about 5:45, and we headed to Alchemy. Yeah I know, we are so predictable! Carolina made me a mojito-ish drink, and we headed to Cucina for dinner. The MDR menu was ok, but not thrilling either of us. Pics of it below.

We were welcomed with a rum punch, chips, guacamole and salsa. Yum! We ditched our stuff at our area (little shaded day bed, 2 recline chairs and a table), and got in the ocean with floaty chairs until noon. The water situation was just like last November, it’s not pretty water, but it’ll do. There is some seaweed in it, but i had fears with the giant seaweed problem this year it would be terrible…it wasn’t. At noon they said lunch was being served, and I needed some carbs to soak up the Oreo mudslides I had drank in the ocean. Lunch was PHENOMENAL y’all. All you can eat taco bar with homemade flour or corn tortillas, steak, chicken, fish, pork, beans, rice, fresh made pico, fresh made guac, cheese, onions, and 3 hot sauces. I tried the chicken and the pork, both were delicious, I can’t decide a winner. The medium hot sauce was good, but the HOT sauce…oh yeah, that was my jam! After lunch we returned back to the water, and stayed there until 1:30. When we got out of the water I got to see my friend Sheba, the calico kitty who hangs out by the pool area. I didn’t get a pic of her, but when we went to the bar area to wait for our 2:00 taxi ride back to the ship I saw the “bar manager”, Stella, who wasn’t impressed with the noise of the blender disturbing her slumber. There were also 3 dogs I saw, but this one is my favorite. He’s an old boy who reminds me of our old family Rottie who passed away earlier this year, he just laid around like a speed bump and barked to greet the new arrivals.

Yesterday’s shenanigans (Costa Maya): The ship was cleared earlier than planned, at 7:30 am. Chris and I got up and readied ourselves, and headed ashore at 8. We reached the meeting point outside the port for our excursion, Maya Chan, at 9:00 ship time (8 their time), so we had to wait a little bit for the representative to arrive. Once she did, my heart sunk…they said we had no reservation with them, it had been canceled! I know when I booked they had the wrong date on the invoice ( they had it for Thursday, not Tuesday) but I emailed and they said they’d fix it, then when I swapped my November cruise to another date I had to cancel that booking with them, so maybe they got confused and canceled the wrong one? Who knows. Luckily they said they had room, and we could come on, so my despair was short lived. After a bumpy 20-ish minute can ride, we reached Maya Chan. It was the same excellent service I remember from last time, and they have been doing a lot of work to the beach and water area. I didn’t take many pics because I was in the water most of our time there, but here are a few.

I think the menu did not specify hard or regular, and we didn’t see them mix it, so I couldn’t tell you which. Sorry! Had a good day in Costa Maya, just stayed out laaaate last night so couldn’t post before bed. I’ll be catching y’all up in a few! I’m not a huge sweets at breakfast person…unless it’s MSC’s sticky buns. Those were my exception! The bartenders can definitely make or break a bar I think. They contribute to the vibe and whether or not you want to hang out. I’m loving it!!

I hate to admit that after dinner I was a bit of a weenie, and called it a day after just a few more drinks at Alchemy. The sun wore me out, and tomorrow is a fairly early port day…8 am arrival. However, it’s my last port day this cruise (I have no plans in Roatan, but Chris does), so I can start being a night owl tomorrow! Whoo hoo! I’ll probably still pass out early tho…I’m getting old. coming up tomorrow: Costa Maya!!

We stayed at Paradise until 4:00, our back on board time was 5:30. It was a great day. The line to get back on the ships at the port was long, but moved fairly quickly. We changed and showered, then hit up Alchemy for a pre dinner drink. Angel made me “something spicy” again, yum! We went to dinner at about 6:08, and there was barely a wait for a table. Dinner tonight was really good. I got the shrimp and crab cake starter, which was so darn yummy! Chris and I were both curious about the chicken roulade, so we got that to split, as well as the stuffed portobello mushroom for me. I thought the chicken was just ok, nothing to write home about, but the mushroom dish was really good…very, very flavorful! I got a cheese plate to end my meal.

The next crazy long line we encountered was the taxi stand. It was backed up all the way outside the tiki hut-ish area, and snaked around several times. We stood there for probably 30ish minutes, the longest we have ever spent getting a taxi. I have to wonder, with just MG and Breeze in port, if it’s that bad, what’s it like with 4-6 ships in port? I don’t think I wanna know… Anyway, taxi cost to Paradise was $15 each way for a taxi of 1-4 peeps. Going to Mr Sanchos? That’ll be $19. We got our taxi, and the driver got us safely to Paradise Beach, which wasn’t crowded at all today. It was a perfect relaxing day, with Luis serving us. Sorry for the lack of pics…I was too busy enjoying myself. I can say, the volcano nachos were disappointing (the chips were soggy-ish and glued together by melted cheese..the other toppings were good tho), the spicy garlic shrimp tacos were not really spicy but were delicious, and the blackened Mahi tacos had more spice than the shrimp and were DELICIOUS!

We headed off the ship at about 10:15, and holy moly…it was a madhouse to leave the pier. It was just us and Breeze in port, but the line to get off the pier was long and slooooow…apparently they check everyone’s bags now leaving the pier? I don’t remember my cruise on MSC doing this a few weeks ago. I had a small purse with me, which I thought may qualify as a bag, but at the encouragement of passengers beside me and my husband, I jumped into the “no bag, use this line” express lane and whizzed thru. Nobody grabbed me and threw me into a Mexican jail, so I guess I was ok doing that. Whew. Note to self: on future trips to Coz, wait an hour after the ship clears to get off, and don’t take a bag.

No reservations, last night we walked into the 7:45 show at about 7:30 and still lots of seats left. Sea Day brunch, reserve a spot thru the Hubb app Have a great cruise!

Hello from Cozumel! I woke up about 8, and we took our time getting ready. We headed to Lido about 8:25 to grab breakfast, and I opted for Blue Iguana. I lucked out and they had arepas! I had to get one, along with my egg, chicken sausage, and guac burrito. Mmmmm, perfect port day breakfast!

I finished out my night at Alchemy. Angel (working on his black coat) remembered I like spicy stuff, and there is still some hot pepper infused vodka left. Lord, please help my poor stomach…by the end of this week my bottle of Tums will be gone! He made me 2 more “spicy” drinks, and at #13 (my lucky number, by the way), I called it. No way can I reach 15, unless I start at 6 am with spiked coffee. Maybe tomorrow? No wait, tomorrow is Cozumel, no way is that happening. Ohhh Cozumel…tacos…tacos sound good right now. Yum. Are we there yet? I need carbs. Corn tortillas, with shrimps, cilantro, cheese, and spicy sauce! No tacos? Really? Fine…Chris, go fetch me Big Chicken. Chicken tenders with honey mustard. Crud Big Chicken closed at 5. Sigh. Pizza isn’t cutting my craving. Guess it’s bedtime. Tomorrow…Cozumel! And TACOS!!!!!

After dinner, we headed to Manny Olivera’s 7:45 comedy show. We LOVE Manny, but he’s…well, he’s a love him or hate him act. We have seen him 4 times now so we know what to expect. It was a good show, in our opinion. From Manny’s show we headed to Fortune Teller, and I gotta say…I’m not as big a fan as I thought I was last year. The drinks are all for show, not as good a flavor. I got the Crystal Ball and the Lime in the Coconut. They’re ok, but at heart, I think I’m truly an Alchemy girl.

We showered and got ready for dinner, and I checked us in on the app at 5:45. We got notice JUST AS WE SAT at alchemy to wait it out, at 6:00, that our table was ready. So much for pre dinner drinks! Like we needed them, right? I liked tonight’s menu! I couldn’t decide between the avocado soup or the Caesar salad to start, so I got both. For me, the salad won, even tho the servers never offered fresh ground pepper or grated cheese. The soup was ok, just very cucumber-y and chilled…not quite what I expected. For my main, I got the shrimp and fish cake, which I LOVED, the shrimp were delish, side of broccoli cooked just right so it was crisp, not mushy, and fish cake was not overly fishy, just mild. It was delicious! I also got a white sangria to go with my dinner, but they said they didn’t have any (after they brought me a red one), so I rolled with it, and you know what? I kinda like the red. Cool. Another something new today!

After lunch we hit the casino…which treated us both badly. Within 15 minutes we both lost our $25 free FunPlay moolah, so we said to heck with it and left. The dang Panda machine hates me! We headed to good ol’ Alchemy at 2:15 to drown our sorrows, and Drazen made those memories disappear! He made me absinthe drinks, but also kept me hydrated. We left around 4:45 to get ready for elegant night, with promises to come back after dinner for drinks!

After brunch, we went to the casino to load our $25 FunPlay money to slots. From there, we headed to the spa around 10:00. Holy moly, that was a hopping place today! I will *try* and get pics of the thermal areas sometime this week, but if it continues like it was today…yeah, sorry. We did manage to get into the TPool, which was interesting..there are hardly any jets except in this one corner, and, ummm…if you’re a lady, be careful how you position yourself in that corner. all the jets come from down below…and yeah..’nuff said. I did enjoy the spa time tho, and plan to go back! The aromatherapy steam was nice, and those tile loungers…ahh! So relaxing! At noon we went to Center Stage to see the Family Feud auditions. They were fun, but it was PACKED. We left right before the end to avoid the mass exodus to go find lunch. Chris opted for some icky buffet stuff (is it just me or is the buffet more limited on MG? Salad staton seemed MUCH smaller!) while I opted for the so unhealthy but soooo food Street Eats, along with a Serenity Fresh Creations salad. The cheesesteak fries were delish, the beef thingy in a wrap delish, and the salad PERFECT!!

Those were the exact words a lady at the table (2 inches) from us said..,”should just make it a table for 6!” As far as sea day brunch..,pre Covid I loved it! It was yummy, menu was bigger (they removed several favorites!) and it was our go to. Now…it’s still good, but with more limited hours, smaller menu, and yeah…not what it once was. I still have a few things to try this cruise, but I gotta admit…the next few days, being port days, I’m hitting up Big Chicken (have the biscuits improved? At least Bojangles quality?) and Blue Iguana (WHEN is the last time I had a breakfast burrito? I think pre Covid! Gotta change that!) and maybe, possibly, depending on my previous 2 choices… the regular buffet? Or maybe just pizza? I dunno. Dang, so close! I tried. 😂 I love the Alaska salmon my husband smokes, but this..I dunno. Maybe being early morning, or it being pink (his is usually a more white/clear color on the smoker back home), it just was not appealing. I tried it..it’s my “something new” this cruise…not a fan!

Ok, today’s recap up until now (dinner time): Both Chris and I awoke at 6 a.m….what the heck?? At least it made for some good sunrise and empty ship pics, and a short line for go-go juice but still…I’m mad. Vacation is for being lazy and sleeping in! After getting go go juice (aka coffee) we went ahead and delivered our gift exchange gifts by 7:45. In return we have gotten some cool stuff…a reusable tumbler, door decorations, snacks, reusable straws, keychains, etc! It’s a fun social media event we joined. At 8:15 check in for sea day brunch opened. We checked in at 8:30 and our table was assigned at 8:35. Yay! Service was a bit slow tho, and we were seated next to a complainer…kinda dimmed the experience. We had a perfect table next to the window, I loved my view of the wake! I decided to be brave and “somewhat” deviate from my usual order. I *always” get eggs Benedict, no meat…today, I decided, be brave and get the smoked salmon! So…the fruit to start was yummy, and breakfast was…just ok. The salmon was probably good, but I need to finally realize I’m just not a huge salmon fan…quit trying to be. The hollandise (is that spelling right? Prob not) sauce was yummy, and muffin toasted perfectly, but the eggs…sigh. Both of them were not poached, they were hard boiled. Yuck. And the brunch potatoes were just yuck as well. Shoulda went with hash browns.