Let’s start with waking up… Well, we did it. We were going
to break our normal routine of heading to the buffet for breakfast so we called
room service. Room services wasn’t going to be able to get to our cabin in time
for us to eat and make it to our excursion so it was up to the buffet. We
are docked on one of the longest piers in the world. It’s about four miles long
and we were at the very end! Good thing we were able board a bus near our berth.
Our bus took us along Paseo de Montero where most of the notable
buildings in the city are located. Our guide pointed out important government
entities, banks and other important buildings as well as a surprising amount of American
businesses like McDonalds, Starbucks, Costco, Walmart and Sam’s Club. He seemed
very excited about those.
We stopped in the middle of downtown by the government
building, St. Ildephonsus Cathedral and Francisco de Montejo’s house. There was
a very small group of protesters outside of the government building. I’m not
quite sure what they were protesting. We didn’t have a lot of free time to explore.
St. Ildephonsus Cathedral was built on the Mayan ruins of
Tiho and is one of the oldest cathedrals on the continent. The main doors of
the cathedral are called the “Doors of Forgiveness” and is only open during
special occasions. The front of the cathedral was very interesting. It’s outfitted
with slits around the door for weapons as a defense mechanism. Our guide also
told us that This cathedral contains the largest wooden crucifix on the
continent.
On our way back, we stopped by Monumento a la Patria,
located in the middle of the busiest round about in the city on Paseo de
Montero. I don’t remember much about the fountain but it was designed by Romulo
Rozo depicting the history of Mexico.
We explored a small number of shops on the pier when we got back
and headed up to the ship’s poolside grill for lunch. I was hungry!
After lunch we had afternoon tea and attended a farewell reception
in the main atrium. There were performances and we were served champagne. At the
end the cruise staff paraded around thanked us for traveling with them.
Tonight’s show was a best of Broadway cabaret show where
everyone’s talents were showcased individually. Even staff outside of the cruise
ship’s entertainment cast performed. They
performed On the Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady, Any Dream Will Do
from Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Lily’s Eyes from Secret Garden,
On My Own, Stars and I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables, It Takes Two from Hairspray,
This Moment from Jekyll and Hyde, Corner of The Sky from Pippin and finished
with All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera. It was a pretty good show.
After the show we went to the buffet for dinner but had to
cut it short because the jewelry store was picking the winner for a “guess the
carat weight of a gem” contest they started at the beginning of the cruise. I
didn’t win…
We went back to the buffet after the contest to eat a little more and then to the
rooms to retire for the night. We lose an hour tonight because we’re traveling
through another time zone but we also get to sleep in because tomorrow is another
day at sea. Fun stuff!
