Day 4, we woke up docked in Costa Maya, Mexico! As we exited the boat, we saw a great picture opportunity where I became the sacrifice!Not really, but it was a great photo!We had some sun today as we boarded a bus for a 1 hour ride to get to Chacchoben Mayan Ruins with a stop at a beach after for lunch. Chacchoben in Mayan means place of the red corn. This was a full day excursion and was amazing! The ruins were just discovered in 1972, so there are still many archeological sites that have not been uncovered as of yet. The land here is flat so all the mounds that look like hills with trees are actually sites that have yet to be part of an archeological dig. Why not, you ask? It takes a significant amount of money to fund the sites. They rely on donations and the dollars that come from tourists to fund the digs on this site. This site was uncovered because of Chicle trees. The locals discovered these ruins while in search of the sap to make gum. You can see the cuts they make from the top to the bottom of the trees so the sap drips down and they can collect it.
Our guide was top notch and provided us so much knowledge on the Mayan culture! We even learned how to count in Mayan and we saw some howler monkeys in the trees. We then boarded the bus and headed to the beach. It was a very tight road that only one bus could travel down at one time, so they use radios to communicate as there is no cell phone signals out here. Once we arrived, lunch was ready, and we ate. It was beef or chicken tacos that were delicious! There was also an open bar. We went into the water after the rain for a bit before it was time to go. We once again boarded the bus and went back to the ship to depart for Bimini, or so we thought. We decided to get a small pizza to share while we watched the ship sail out of port.While we were waiting to depart, the captain made an announcement that due to the weather, we would not be able to port in Bimini and we would have an extra day at sea. I was hugely disappointed as this was the only port we didn’t do an excursion so we could relax.
We had an early dinner at Gunbae, which is Korean style BBQ cooked by your server at the table. There was so much food served here and you do sit at a table with others here, whereas the other restaurants you have your own table. This was my 2nd favorite restaurant on the ship behind Pink Agave, although they are both phenomenal! We had 2 types of rice and several appetizers. The main entrée was a steak, chicken, shrimp, squid and octopus. At the end of dinner, your server comes over and you all play a drinking game, but you can opt out of the alcohol and just drink a drink of what you have on the table. It was so much fun and a definite distraction from the fact we now had an extra day at sea in terrible weather. I was so excited for the infamous Scarlet Night! Everyone wears red, there are pop up performances around the ship and the pool party!! I was most excited for the pool party, but it was moved inside to the Red Room due to the weather. We went to the Red Room for the party but it was so busy as the entire ship wanted to be there. We had a couple of drinks, enjoyed the opening performance, danced a bit to the DJ, then went to explore the ship. There was a band in one area but shows and most performances canceled due to weather also.We enjoyed the night and went to bed, hoping for a great day at sea the next day.
Day 5, started with an amazing brunch at The Wake. The food was unforgettable including a dessert they serve only at brunch! We both ordered the shrimp appetizer. I had the Brioche French Toast and my husband had the crab cake benedict. We met some nice people on both side of us and made friends.We keep in touch with them too! Today the seas are rough, and we spent some time in the room watching movies and just walked around to explore everything on the ship. Walking was exercise due to the 20 foot seas we were encountering. I spent a significant amount of time in the hammock on the balcony. For dinner, we had Pink Agave and Jess as our server again. We ordered pretty much the same as last time. We had chicken enchiladas, house made guacamole, which I don’t even like guacamole, but I ate all of it! My husband had pork and I had a ribeye smothered in cheese! For dessert we had a passionfruit crisp and the chocolate tacos! We were supposed to go see the Duel Reality show, but due to the rough seas it was canceled for the safety of cast. We went to the arcade and played some video games, air hockey & foosball. Then headed off to bed for the night.
Day 6, proved to be a lot like the previous day. Very rough seas, ship exploring, eating, and drinking. We had a relaxing massage before dinner at The Test Kitchen. The massage was wonderful, but dinner was definitely interesting. We had corn but it was a mousse that looked and tasted like corn but was not corn. Next was smoked salmon. Followed by shrimp or lamb, then asparagus & strawberry. We were still hungry and ran into our friends, who also didn’t enjoy the food. We made reservations to meet at Gunbae in an hour. We had another wonderful experience there. Cannot rave enough about it! We walked through the casino after dinner, then went to bed for one final night on the ship.
Day 7, wake up and disembark! Leaving is bittersweet, but I am so happy to be going back to solid ground. After 6 days of rough weather and having to learn to walk with the motion of the ocean, muscles in my legs were sore from trying to balance as I walked and it took at least 3 days before I was walking normal and not rocking. It was an adjustment for this land lover! All that being said, I highly recommend Virgin Voyages for couples needing a fun, romantic getaway. I would definitely sail with them again! I want to so I can to and enjoy all the things the ship has to offer without being queasy. We had a great time, and we needed that time to reconnect as husband and wife. That time together was priceless and totally worth it!
Your Bibbidi Bobbidi Bestie,
Jaime
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