Year 2 Day 354 – “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/18/2023. Day 4 (Costa Maya, Mexico) of 21-night Radiance of the Seas Galveston TX to Los Angeles, CA. Today we are docking in Costa Maya, Mexico. Costa Maya is located on the southeastern coast of Mexico just over 200 miles south of Cancun and only a few miles north of the Belize border. It’s in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, next to the fishing village of Mahahual. A Carnival ship looks like it is racing us into port. Our ship is tiny but contains everything the larger ships do. In the morning we walked around and explored the ship. The Radiance of the Seas is an older ship and instead of a Royal Promenade or Royal Esplanade thoroughfare, Radiance Class ships have a Centrum.
The venues are smaller and tucked away in little areas of the ship. There is of course the rock-climbing wall. We found the miniature golf area. They keep this area so nice and clean.
There is a small court where people were playing pickle ball. There also is a children’s water area with a slide near the Childrens club areas.
We found the ping pong tables near the Doghouse restaurant.
The specialty restaurants are tucked into places. We found the Samba Grill Brazilian Steakhouse. This restaurant looks so nice. The doors were locked this morning, but I peered in through the doors. There are four ships in Costa Maya port today. There is a T-shaped pier in the port of Costa Maya. This pier has berths for up to four Mega-cruise cruise ships to dock, including the largest ships in the World. The Carnival Dream (holds 3,646 passengers), Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas (holds 4,000 passengers), MSC Divina (holds 4,435 passengers) and Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas (us) – holds 2,466 passengers). If all these ships are full that means 14,547 people could have gotten off the ships plus crew members today.
We got off the ship walked around for an hour and got back on it was horribly crowded.
We saw military personnel with machine guns walking around. Their faces were covered so you could not tell if they were men or women. Very intimidating. In the Costa Maya port, there is a Fish Spa. It was very busy and there were many people with their feet in tubs of water with Garra Rufa fish nibbling away. They were laughing and saying the fish tickled. This is not something I would want to do. I don’t even like when fish nibble at my feet in the ocean. I chase them away!!
There is also an aviary called Aviarius which is an aviary where you can buy a pass to walk through a high rope walkway and view from above the pelicans, dolphins, pools, and tourists below. This walkway goes through enclosures with different types of birds. You get seeds to feed them. It looked as though the bridges would be a great place to get some beautiful pictures and views of the port, beach, and ocean.
You can also Swim with the Dolphins right in port.
It was so nice to get back on the ship. Quiet and air conditioned.
We have sailed 976 nautical miles as of this evening since we left Galveston. There was excitement at our house today. Our house sitter was away in the afternoon, and someone came by our house and set the alarms off. He was gone before the police showed up, but we got some great pictures. We think he needed gas.
Today’s product recommendations are for traveling by car. 1) We always carry this Igloo Playmate cooler in our back seat. She is always belted in. We carry water, lunch and snacks. We never go anywhere without it. https://amzn.to/41rWJNa 2) A first aid kit is also a necessity when you could be on the road far from a town. This is a great one. https://amzn.to/3Uyo2Ty 3) We also keep wet ones in all our vehicles. Using rest areas or eating snacks require the use of good antibacterial wipes. https://amzn.to/3UCWhJS 4) I also always keep these toilet seat paper covers in our vehicles. I hate those interstate rest area seats. Men have it so easy. Not us ladies we have to sit on those seats. Sometimes they are really wet from other people’s bodily fluids. How gross is that. These work great. Keep them in your vehicle or purse. https://amzn.to/41qjz7J
To see more about Radiance of the Seas, click here: Radiance of the Seas – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count
To view the complete daily diary, click here: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count