Family B2B Cruise - June 30, 2022 - Cozumel, Mexico

Paul had never been to the Tulum Mayan Ruins and I remembered them being pretty neat to tour (years ago) and so we booked an excursion for our day in Cozumel.  Cozumel is an island.  Tulum is on the mainland.  The ship arrived in port about 9:00 a.m. which was also the time we were supposed to meet in the theater for our excursion.  The theater was full with people on at least 6-8 different excursions that all required a ferry to the mainland.  Our group was one of the first to be released.  After stepping off the ship, we walked to a nearby dock to board the ferry.  We had a while to wait as the rest of the groups made their way and filled the boat.

Once the ferry was full, it was about a 35 minute ferry ride to the mainland.

After arriving on the mainland, we boarded a bus that was about an hour ride to get to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.

I believe these are a female and male Hooded Oriole

The Castle (El Castillo)

Temple of the Paintings

Tulum is right on the Caribbean Sea

Black Spiny-tailed Iguanas

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird

A small green lizard, the size of an anole

Another Black Spiny-tailed Iguana - they were everywhere!

We had four hours in Tulum which was a long time on a very hot, sticky day with no access to A/C.  About an hour of that time was a guided tour.  We spent the next hour or so taking photos and exploring on our own.  And then we went in search of a snack and some shade and watched the iguanas run to pass the time until it was time to return to the bus.  Here is a video I put together of our day.

The bus took us back to the dock where we would catch the ferry.  We were one of the first groups to get a seat on the ferry at about 5:10 p.m. but we had to wait for the ferry to fill up (with Caribbean Princess passengers on other mainland excursions).  About 5:40 p.m., it looked like we were full but we were told we were waiting on two people.  We sat there another half an hour before finally leaving without them at about 6:10 p.m.  All aboard time was 6:30 p.m. with a planned leaving time for the cruise ship of 7:00 p.m.  We were walking back on the ship (and towards the front of people from the ferry) at about 6:50 p.m.  

One huge advantage to taking a cruise line excursion (especially an all day one that might cut it close) is that you don't have to worry about missing the ship.  The cruise line will either hold the ship for you or make all arrangements to get you to the next port (it's almost always in their best interests to just hold the ship).  One other time (on a Celebrity cruise) our excursion bus was late and the ship waited for us.   The cruise line won't do that for passengers that explore on their own or book excursions through a third party.

By the time we made it back, both Carnival ships had left port already but the Celebrity Equinox had arrived and was still there.  The sky really was quite cool and the view of the bow of the ship from the dock was unlike a view we normally get.

One last look at our ferry

After a long hot day, we headed straight for the pool which was so refreshing.  I grabbed a chicken sandwich from the pool grill and enjoyed the evening and then we retired early.