Mimed

Mary had a harrowing experience while in Cozumel. I thought this bandito was going to take her out.

Carnival Ecstasy Cruise

I started planning for this cruise about 6 months ago and purchased tickets through Cruise Holidays of Topeka. This cruise was sponsored by 106.9 Country Legends radio in Topeka. We left Topeka January 4th at 5:30 AM by bus and it was very cold. Betty Engle, Junquers Travel, was in charge of the bus transportation and did a wonderful job. The trip down and back was well planned and comfortable. There were 100 persons that signed up for the trip so two busses were required. This posed some problems when stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks but the stops were made where adequate facilities were available.

Sunday night we stayed in Corsicana, TX and Mary and I had a suite in a newly opened hotel. After getting our luggage and freshening up the busses took us to a Sirloin Stockade that was expecting us. We ate a continental breakfast at the hotel before leaving the next morning.
We arrived in Galveston about 2 PM and boarded the Carnival Ecstasy along with 2,000 others.

We left port at 4 PM and headed for Progreso, Mexico. We purchased a tour of Merida City and shopping. The first area we went to was downtown and a very busy place. Many street vendors followed us around peddling fans and other trinkets. Their restrooms or Baños were terrible. The ones at the first location did not have seats and both men & women used the same one. Very dirty! We purchased two cans of Coke in this area. We visited a huge church built in the 1500’s with stones that once belonged to a Mayan pyramid and also toured the Government palace.

Later we went to an upscale mall area and I purchased some tequila and pure vanilla.

Merida is the capital city of the state of Yucatan. Known as "White City" because of the large use of white limestone and white paint this traditional city depicts much of the splendor of Colonial Mexico. This is by no means to say that Merida still exists in a time warp and the contrary could be said. There is old and new exhibited in everything from fashion to architecture.

The Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo founded present day Merida in 1542. An insight into the horrendous pain and suffering of the people who were brutalized by the conquering conquistadors exists in magnificent paintings that are on display in the Governor's Palace located in downtown Merida.

Left in seclusion for many years because of the difficulty of traveling to Merida the people of this region have cultivated a distinct contemporary society that is unique in Mexico.
Merida is a safe place to visit and the people are warm and friendly. There is lots of traffic in Merida, especially downtown. Taking the local bus can be tricky if you do not speak Spanish. The majority of streets are one-way and the bus routes wind all over the place and if you are not on top of things you can end walking more than you expected.

Progreso, Merida's port city, is 30 kilometers north and is an interesting area to visit to see the salt-flats and flamingos.

We went back to the ship and headed for Cozumel Island where we took another tour of the area and more shopping. This was a beautiful area and the water so blue and clear. Cozumel is the largest island in the Mexican Caribbean. It is also the most populated island in Mexico with an estimated population of around 90,000.

Cozumel is situated near the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in the State of Quintana Roo. The island is approximately 30 miles [48 km] long and 10 miles [16 km] wide. It is about 12 mi [20 km] from the mainland, and some 36 mi [60 km] south of Cancun. Isla Cozumel [or Cozumel Island] derives its name from the Mayans who once lived there and regarded the island as a sacred place. In Mayan, Cuzamil [Cozumel] translates to "land of the swallows," a reflection of the indigenous birds that inhabit the island.

The Mayans are believed to have settled the island over 2000 years ago harvesting the rich abundance of seafood for commercial use. Conch shells were collected as an ingredient for stucco, which was used extensively on the mainland. The ocean also supplied a large number of other valuable items such as shark teeth, stingray spines and seashells that were used for ritual purposes.

The Spanish explorer Juan de Grijalva first landed on the shores of Cozumel in 1518. The visit was proceeded a year later by the butcher Hernán Cortés. The conquistadors ruthlessly invaded the island destroying everything that lay in their path. Whether or not the Spanish knowingly imported smallpox on purpose is a matter of speculation; however to the ravaged Mayans the disease soon eclipsed their very being. Those who did not die a miserable death were shackled and sent to Cuba to live out their lives as slaves.

We visited a tequila distillery and sample several different kinds of tequila. Most of it was too expensive for me but I did purchase one bottle. We stopped downtown and shopped and ate Mexican food that was excellent. Of course we had a Corona beer. The weather was just great the whole cruise. The first day was rather windy though as the ship was heading into a strong south wind.

The service and food was excellent. I managed to just gain 2 pounds and Mary none, so we didn’t do too badly. The entire cruise and travel cost less than $2,000 for both of us which we thought was very reasonable. We had a great time and would consider another cruise in the future.

We arrived back in Galveston about 8 AM Saturday, January 10 and boarded the bus at 11 AM after we all went through customs. They didn’t even look at any luggage. We stayed in Dallas Saturday evening with both dinner and breakfast in the Hotel. Sunday we stopped in Oklahoma City at Hefner Lake & park for a wonderful lunch. It was too much food, but very good. We arrived back in Topeka at 6 PM.