It’s time to visit our first port of call, Cozumel, on this 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Celebration. Known for its crystal-clear waters, cruisers heading to Cozumel usually book excursions for snorkeling and diving at spots such as the Palancar Reef or spend time checking out the beaches, local food, and shopping areas near the cruise port.
When it comes to safety, Cozumel is generally considered safe for tourists, and the US State Department doesn’t have any warnings or notices for restrictions on travel in this area. However, as with any foreign destination, it’s wise to keep personal belongings secure and exercise caution with vehicle rentals including cars, motorcycles, and watercraft as safety regulations are tossed out the window!
Cozumel Cruise Ports
Depending on the cruise line you’re on, you will be arriving at one of three ports in Cozumel:
- Punta Langosta – Located in downtown San Miguel, Punta Langosta is, in my opinion, the best of the three as it gives you very easy access to Cozumel’s shops, restaurants, and local attractions. It’s the closest port to the town’s central area, making it very walkable for those who prefer exploring independently. Cruise lines that use this port include MSC, Norwegian, and Disney. Royal Caribbean will occasionally dock here if the International Pier is full.
- International Pier – Situated a few miles south of downtown, the International Pier is predominantly used by Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines. While it’s not within immediate walking distance to downtown, taxis are readily available, and many excursions depart from this location.
- Puerta Maya – Located about five miles south of San Miguel, Puerta Maya is Carnival Corporation’s dedicated port, serving Carnival, Princess, and other affiliated cruise lines. It features a shopping village with stores, restaurants, and even a beach area nearby, offering a convenient spot for passengers who prefer staying close to the port amenities.
Being on Carnival, we arrived at the Puerta Maya terminal, which is the newest of the three, around 8am. Once you pass through the Duty Free, which was incredibly hot and sweltering as their air conditioning wasn’t working, you’re out in the middle of a large shopping area with dozens of merchants, a few restaurants including Pancho’s Backyard which is a passenger favorite.
If you want to venture outside the immediate port area, it’s just a short walk. Once outside, you’ll find more stores and a small shopping mall.
On this particular visit, the locals inside the port and outside, were EXTREMELY pushy. To the point of almost bordering on harassment. Every merchant would be out pushing samples and trying to lure you into their shops. I decided to do some walking outside the port and it was no better, in fact it was worse.
For the few miles I walked, I was constantly approached by locals offering pills, weed, massages complete with a happy ending, free tequila shots, motorcycle rentals, anything you could imagine.
I’ve been to Cozumel dozens of times over the years, and this was the worst experience I’ve had with the locals. Of course, one person’s definition of “pushy” is going to differ from another’s, so take it for what it’s worth.
Express Port Day Breakfast
On days the ship is scheduled to be in port, an express breakfast is offered in the main dining room, in addition to the options available every day including the buffet. On port days, here’s the breakfast menu for the main dining room:
10-29-24
Pier Runners and the Consequences
All aboard time was 3:30pm with 4pm set as our departure. When 4 o’clock came around, there were still people strolling back to the ship. The captain kept giving a few blasts on the ship’s horn, but it didn’t work. We departed about 45 minutes late as passengers kept arriving well after the all aboard time.
Whether they were out exploring on their own, or on a ship-arrange shore excursion, I don’t know. If you’re not on a ship excursion, and you arrive back late, the Captain has the right to sail away without you. If you’re on a cruise line sponsored excursion, the ship will indeed wait for all passengers to return before departing.
Part of the confusion may have arisen from Cozumel, being one hour behind Miami time, which the ship adheres to. Smartwatches and cell phones will automatically adjust for the time change, but it’s important to remember to always stay on ship time!
We managed to depart with everyone accounted for and since our next port of call, Costa Maya, is “right down the street,” it wasn’t a big deal to depart late, although cruise lines do incur additional dockage fees for late departures.
Evening Entertainment
Back on board, the evening entertainment featured a a slew of scheduled comedy shows in the Punchliner Comedy Club, karaoke (UGH!), Family Feud in the ship’s main theater, and the Most Magnificent Circus in the Center Stage (atrium).
The Most Magnificent Circus is another one of the productions that has been around since the ship’s debut and is still being performed. It’s one of two circus-themed shows that focus on music, aerial performances, and performance art in a weird kind of way.
The Center Stage area on the Excel-class ships is a three story venue that replaced the traditional atrium you’ll find on other ships. This space is used during the day for Bingo, Build-a-Bear Workshop, and other presentations and at night is used for production shows.
I’ve been critical about the layout of this area as sight lines are absolutely horrible and it’s very hard to enjoy any show being put on here unless you arrive early and get one of the main floor seats up front. Otherwise, be prepared to have a bad view.
While the layout of Center Stage is the same on Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee, there may be plans to revamp this space based on feedback, as Carnival has surveyed guests specifically about this area of the ship. Hopefully they take some of the feedback in mind when building the additional Excel-class ships that are schedule to arrive over the next few years.
Carnival Cruise Line Surveying Guests About Center Stage Area on Excel-Class Ships
Main Dining Room Menu
For those choosing to have dinner in the main dining room, here’s what’s being offered tonight:
Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse Dinner
For dinner this evening, I wasn’t planning on hitting up the steakhouse again, but when it was time to decide on where to go, wait times for restaurants in the Carnival Hub app were showing 50 to 70 minute waits. Since it was 8:30pm and I knew I could get into the steakhouse without a reservation, off I went.
Tonight I started off with a shrimp cocktail and some pork belly, both were good, but the shrimp were quite small for steakhouse shrimp.
Next up was the main course, which tonight I went with the New York Strip with broccoli and a baked potato. The steak was well seasoned and cooked a perfect medium rare as requested.
I skipped dessert, but chatted a while with my server and the chef about some of the menu changes recently, mostly revolving around the removal of side dishes from the menu. It was explained to me that Carnival has enlisted the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat food waste.
When dishes are cleared from the table, they are scanned under a camera before leftover food is scraped off. Technology takes over identifying which items are being wasted, and menu adjustments are made accordingly.
It was explained that when side dishes were able to be ordered separately, tables were ordering multiple quantities of all the sides, and a large amount of food was being tossed. Now, through the help of AI, what is being discarded is being tracked and menus are being adjusted accordingly.
What a world we’re living in!
Quick note about my time in the casino tonight. For once, I had a bit of luck, hitting a few jackpots and turning $50 into $550 jackpot. Not bad, but still not ahead. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings.
We’re currently sailing towards our next port of call, Costa Maya, where arrival is scheduled for 8am. As always, thanks for following along.
FunTimes for Day 3:
The Fun Times for October 29, 2024 can also be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.
Personal Day-By-Day Carnival Vista Cruise Review: