So Jenny and I are off to take our cruise. For various reasons (not least that internet time onboard is something like $5 a minute), I am posting these after the fact. Pictures of the cruise are available here. The full list of cruise posts is available here.

Cruise: Day 6 (Cozumel)

Despite the fact that Cozumel is merely 9 miles away from Playa Del Carmen, across an open strait of water, it took us all night (5pm til 7am) to get from the latter to the former. I am not kidding. Scuttlebutt (okay, I eavesdropped) on the ship was that the delay was so that they could open the casino, shops, and bars, which they could only do in international waters. Indirect support for this is provided by our route, which was roughly 100 miles straight out into the Carribbean, a U-turn, and 91 miles straight back along the opposite heading. :-P

Cozumel was, a year ago, a tourist trap on par with Playa Del Carmen. Unfortunately, Wilma seems to have played the part of abusive spouse for Cozumel while leaving PDC largely untouched (at least as far as I was able to tell). The pier--steel-reinforced concrete--had been torn up for nearly its entire length, and there were no untouched trees I saw. Cozumel itself was a reprise of PDC, including the silver shops, though today we found a very pretty necklace that, while it does not match Jenny's imaginary specifications, is still attractive enough to make a dashing birthday present (largely to herself, as she haggled for it).

Our excursion for today was snorkeling; we put on borrowed snorkel masks, fins, and live preservers, and waded out into the painfully blue sea. It really was beautiful, which fails to explain the remarkably grumpy-looking white fish (with a furrowed gray brow) Jenny and I saw. Sadly, I neglected to purchase a waterproof camera, so there are no photos of that. The water was a tad bit cold for long exposure (wetsuits would have been nice), so after 45 minutes or so we hightailed it back to shore, but I did enjoy it (after I learned not to panic when breathing with my head under water ;). Next time perhaps we will snorkel something more exciting (we were scheduled to do a reef/wreck snorkel in canceled Grand Cayman).

Dinner tonight was ravioli and a sadly disappointing spinach flan (I know Jenny was looking forward to the flan). Tomorrow we have demanded a custom entree in observance of Jenny's birthday.