Welcome back to Florida - Cozumel cruise was a bust!

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SeaYoda

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Location
Florida Panhandle
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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:

 
Sorry about the diving being a bust, seems like you guys probably made the best out of trip with what you had available anyway :) Thats gotta count for something.
 
My latest cruise was ruined by not only bad weather, but the fact that I had to be removed from the ship for emergency surgery in Jamaica, so I feel your pain! (BTW I missed Coz AND Grand Cayman...)
 
None of us turned too green either. There was a short time when the girls had to go lay down to feel better - no hugging the bowl though.

One employee had been working with Carnival for 8 years and he said this was his second roughest trip. We did have fun despite the crazy weather.
 
Oh, I'm so sorry your cruise didn't go well :(
I hope you get a chance to go again, maybe they will give you a real good discount because of all the canceled shows
.. I did one (my only) with Carnival to the western Caribbean and it was the most fun thing I've ever done, the shows, the food, the ports ... and my intro dive in Roatan was the best thing of all
 
The staff was great and made the best of what they had to work with. The food and food service was great. The cabin stewards were fantastic too. Even the people in the gift shop were fun.

The only things, beside the weather messing up some events, that I could complain about were that the ship seemed a little worn down and the water in the cabin was often brownish in color.

I'd go back again and would recommend them. I wrote my comments on their form so maybe I'll get a discount when they read them.
 
What cruise line were you with? Did you have better weather at your other ports? Where you able to dive at the other ports? When I did Western Caribbean I dove at Cozumel and Belize, and I believe several Western Caribbean cruises also stop at Grand Cayman, all good diving destinations.
 
Sorry to hear about all the trouble...diving around here hasn't been much better. Even some of our back up spots like Morrison and Cypress are washed out right now. At least you got a boat ride out of it.....AND, you were NOT at work! Let's try to wipe the bad diving memory out by splashing some place local real soon....let me know when you want to go.
 
bad timing. The north wind was howling down here too....and it got cold. But it's nice now...
 
What cruise line were you with? Did you have better weather at your other ports? Where you able to dive at the other ports? When I did Western Caribbean I dove at Cozumel and Belize, and I believe several Western Caribbean cruises also stop at Grand Cayman, all good diving destinations.

I went with Carnival. This was a 4 day cruise from Mobile direct to Cozumel and back. No other ports on this trip so no other chances to dive.

Sorry to hear about all the trouble...diving around here hasn't been much better. Even some of our back up spots like Morrison and Cypress are washed out right now. At least you got a boat ride out of it.....AND, you were NOT at work! Let's try to wipe the bad diving memory out by splashing some place local real soon....let me know when you want to go.

I saw your report - what a flood! I was going to hit the jetties Tuesday but the web-cams didn't look too promising with the rain and all. I'm still waiting for some early afternoon high tides - I get off work at 1:30 so anything past two might work.

bad timing. The north wind was howling down here too....and it got cold. But it's nice now...

Bad timing is my middle name :D.
 
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