SeaYoda
Contributor
I embarked Thursday on my first cruise ever and was to have my first international dive in Cozumel on Saturday. If you haven't guessed by now, things didn't go as planned.
The trip was doomed from the start, weather forecasts had rain in Coz for Saturday. The night before we set sail our friends who were going with us had a water line break at their house. As we were leaving the next day to pick them up our power went out. We were a little late arriving in Mobile and we missed the turn for the terminal. We got in a line for the parking lot and the Jeep started overheating. We got to the parking deck and the attendant wanted the papers I had stowed in the front of one of my bags in the back - the hatch was jammed by the bags so we had to extract the bag from the back seat. We had the same issue as we checked the bags. We were just late enough to get a parking space in the sunny part of the deck. We rode the elevator down to the lobby and were directed to the back of a long line outside. We made it inside and all lines were very slow - the computers were out. We were in the lane closest to the door so every wheelchair traveler and family kept being inserted in our line just ahead of us (this included all of their party as well). We made it upstairs to find the longest trundle lines in history. We did finally make it to the boat before she sailed.
The old song "The weather started getting rough..." began to ring in my head as the storm set in. Rain and wind and waves - OH MY! Barf bags were hung by the elevators with care and many casualties went to their beds with visions of bonine dancing in their heads. Shows were canceled as the boat rocked all that night and the next day. Waves were reported to be 10-15 feet. Finally things were calmer the next night so hopes were up for a salvaged visit ashore. We woke at sunrise and ran to the Veranda to see Cozumel in the distance. I couldn't tell how big the waves were compared to the big ship until we were almost at the pier and a small boat headed our way. The thing was popping like a cork in the water and my heart sunk. A trip to the excursion desk confirmed my fears - seas were 4-6 feet with ripping wind and such strong current that all small boats were told not to go out. All SCUBA, snorkeling, and swimming excursions were canceled.
I spent my day on land being accosted by store owners to buy their wares.
Back on ship the water had calmed down enough for one show to go on while we were at dinner. We went to the later show and by that time the ship was not only rocking side to side but pitching front to back. One of the dancers at the first show had gotten injured and they canceled our show. We rocked the night away in bed until morning.
Day break was sunny (still windy) and the boat was still enough to fill the pools and bring out the deck chairs. We soaked up a little sun and dreamed of how it was back in Coz on this day. The night went well and all was calm and clear for docking back in Mobile on Monday morning.
Here is a slide show that makes the trip look much better than it was:
The trip was doomed from the start, weather forecasts had rain in Coz for Saturday. The night before we set sail our friends who were going with us had a water line break at their house. As we were leaving the next day to pick them up our power went out. We were a little late arriving in Mobile and we missed the turn for the terminal. We got in a line for the parking lot and the Jeep started overheating. We got to the parking deck and the attendant wanted the papers I had stowed in the front of one of my bags in the back - the hatch was jammed by the bags so we had to extract the bag from the back seat. We had the same issue as we checked the bags. We were just late enough to get a parking space in the sunny part of the deck. We rode the elevator down to the lobby and were directed to the back of a long line outside. We made it inside and all lines were very slow - the computers were out. We were in the lane closest to the door so every wheelchair traveler and family kept being inserted in our line just ahead of us (this included all of their party as well). We made it upstairs to find the longest trundle lines in history. We did finally make it to the boat before she sailed.
The old song "The weather started getting rough..." began to ring in my head as the storm set in. Rain and wind and waves - OH MY! Barf bags were hung by the elevators with care and many casualties went to their beds with visions of bonine dancing in their heads. Shows were canceled as the boat rocked all that night and the next day. Waves were reported to be 10-15 feet. Finally things were calmer the next night so hopes were up for a salvaged visit ashore. We woke at sunrise and ran to the Veranda to see Cozumel in the distance. I couldn't tell how big the waves were compared to the big ship until we were almost at the pier and a small boat headed our way. The thing was popping like a cork in the water and my heart sunk. A trip to the excursion desk confirmed my fears - seas were 4-6 feet with ripping wind and such strong current that all small boats were told not to go out. All SCUBA, snorkeling, and swimming excursions were canceled.
I spent my day on land being accosted by store owners to buy their wares.
Back on ship the water had calmed down enough for one show to go on while we were at dinner. We went to the later show and by that time the ship was not only rocking side to side but pitching front to back. One of the dancers at the first show had gotten injured and they canceled our show. We rocked the night away in bed until morning.
Day break was sunny (still windy) and the boat was still enough to fill the pools and bring out the deck chairs. We soaked up a little sun and dreamed of how it was back in Coz on this day. The night went well and all was calm and clear for docking back in Mobile on Monday morning.
Here is a slide show that makes the trip look much better than it was: