MITSUGIRLYS JEWEL OF A CRUISE review and pictorial

[mitsugirly]

Now I don't recall anyone mentioning that there was any snorkeling to be done at Mr Sanchos, so instead of packing the full gear, I only packed my snorkel and mask....just in case. Even if there isn't snorkeling at the place I go, there's always something to see under the water and sometimes you get lucky and find something you haven't seen before. So, what the heck. I did see a few "darker" spots on the water and I did see a bunch of people with snorkel gear on...might as well try it.

 

Off I went, headed toward the dark areas to see what everyone was looking at. There were some rocks with fish and other sea life, but it kept taking me on down toward the other end of the place. I decided to get out, walk down to the beginning part of the AI side (there's a volleyball net there) and start from there letting the water carrying me down.

 

I'm sharing what I found that day with limited pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted a red feather duster (or sea worm) and I do believe it's probably the first time I have ever seen one this bright of red in color. Most are a brownish color and the salt water tank I had at home years ago had tons of them. So this is kinda a "first" for me (the bright red).

 

 

 

Someone please remind me to STOP trying to zoom in. It just does NOT work with a point and shoot camera. It's harder to capture the picture, know if you are pointing at the right object, you get 1/2 of fish in the picture, it blurs, and it just never works out for me. But yet, I continue to try it. So sorry for any of the zoomed blurry pictures. That's what I get for trying but I just get so darned excited.

 

In this picture I was trying to capture the hundreds of little neon looking fish that were everywhere. I like swam into this swarm of them and they were surrounding me. They were really glowing and pretty. I just couldn't prove it on camera.

 

 

 

I did see sea sponges and sea fans out there...so there is more to see than just fish.

 

 

 

OH MY GOSH.... Someone tell me what that long brown thing as the bottom of this picture? Are there such things are a brown hairy looking sea cucumber? I didn't even notice it until looking at this picture. I must have thought it was just some type of sea grass. But looking at this picture, it looks like it has antennas or something. I'm off to see if I can locate hairy sea cucumbers. Anyone???

[mitsugirly]

Could it have been a hairy seahare? Or hairy sea slug? I see different pictures online that looks like it. Come on, where are all my sea people that knows their sea animals? I need you right now. :D

 

[mitsugirly]

Ok, I've been side tracked now...sorry about that. I love when I discover new things...I would just prefer it to be in the moment that it was happening so I can investigate more.

 

So on with the picture show.

 

 

 

 

There was this area of what I would normally call a gravel bed, but instead this was a seashell bed. A bunch of sea shells and crushed stuff was along this strip. It was pretty neat and ran along the entire beach. This is where Sakari would collect a lot of the shells we brought back with us for her collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate when I'm trying to take a picture and the water has me moving at a faster pace than what I want and then my shadow gets in the way. Then I proceed to trying to kick my way back, do a flip, then turn around only to find out what I was trying to get a picture of has already scurried off because I scared them with my water aerobic skills.

 

 

 

A pretty neat looking sea fan...once again, zooming in is not my thing!

 

[mitsugirly]

There were a bunch of anemone around the area...a lot more than I expected to find. They were really pretty when the sunlight hit them. They had a green glowing tip. Hey! That's not nemo!!!!

 

 

 

 

Anyone see the antenna sticking out of the rock?

 

 

Yep, I had spotted my first lobster. Boy was it a proud moment for me. I missed it the first swim by and something told me to come back. At first it was out a lot more, but the more I did my water aerobics, the more it hid. I took tons of pictures and can't really say I'm happy with any of the results, but it is what it is. Of course my zoom feature was failing me again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that's my snorkeling adventure. Yes, there's a little bit of snorkeling to be done there. No it's not this great reef or anything, but you never know what you might find. If you have a snorkel and mask, I would bring it. I actually found myself wishing I had brought my fins as well. I would have probably went out a little more and also been able to snorkel a little better.

[micdee]

Kim, great review and pics. Thanks so much for all the hard work and time that goes in to doing a review of this magnitude.:)

 

We are tossing around the idea of going to either Mr. Sanchos or Nachi (have done Chaka.) twice now. Do you remember what time you arrived? Was it super crowded the day you were there? I believe there will be 4 other ships in port the day we arrive.

[mitsugirly]

Kim, great review and pics. Thanks so much for all the hard work and time that goes in to doing a review of this magnitude.:)

 

We are tossing around the idea of going to either Mr. Sanchos or Nachi (have done Chaka.) twice now. Do you remember what time you arrived? Was it super crowded the day you were there? I believe there will be 4 other ships in port the day we arrive.

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

I'm guessing at the time. Our ship docked at 9am, we were the first tender off, waiting in line at the port, then the 15-20 minute drive there (since we dropped other people off)....my guess would be about 10am.

 

The place was not crowded when we first arrived and there were plenty of chairs. Yes, there were people there already (especially since most ships got there at 8am).

 

Our problem was that we spent a lot of time looking for our friends instead of grabbing a table. We wanted a table in the first row by the beach so we could watch our stuff easily (especially since we had a computer in our bag).

 

With only 4 ships in port, psshhhh, it'll be a "quiet" day in port. That's a small amount of ships for Cozumel.

[mitsugirly]

We headed to the "potty" ...

 

 

...and when I was in there I found something interesting...when I went to reach for the toilet paper, I couldn't find it or the opening. I wasn't really paying attention, but I knew my hands weren't feeling anything normal. When I looked over, I found the toilet paper coming out the side of the holder. I actually liked this. No feeling around of having to pull it down far enough to grab the end. All places should have this! So of course I had to take a picture.

 

 

 

When I came out, I found a path to the right...I just had to explore it and see where it went.

 

 

 

 

 

Found the parking lot over on the side

 

 

 

 

You could see the back of the building they were working on

 

 

[mitsugirly]

At this point Sakari was saying "I don't wanna go in there, it looks scary" but I kept trucking...

 

 

 

 

There was a path...where was it leading? What was it for? I'm thinking "maybe" it was an employee entrance or something instead of them walking in the beachy/tourist area:

 

 

 

It came out to a building that was a surf type rental shop and then to the beach.

 

 

 

I have no idea what these things are. I thought maybe where they hang hammocks, but none were there.

 

 

 

Some of them didn't have a "bottom" ??

 

 

 

A lot of people were para-sailing today. I really want to do this some day. But I'll have to wait until Sakari is a little older.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We arrived back at the table and decided to check out the buffet. I love buffets and like seeing the items before I get it and picking out only what I like. It's just simpler that way for me.

 

 

 

It was all good. I was pleased and FULL.

 

 

 

The people next to us (with the table pulled up to ours) had placed an order with the waiter and he would try to deliver someone else's drinks to our table. They weren't ours and weren't the table next to us. Then he delivered her meal to our table, but yet it was not exactly what she ordered. When he came back and ask her what was wrong, she said she was still waiting on the food. He pointed at the food on our table and she replied it wasn't what she ordered. He was all messed up this day. I remember at one point he ran around trying to find who a couple of drinks went to and never did find them so he offered them to us and we took them.

 

 

Sakari tried to make a sand angel i honor of Christmas....

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't turn out as expected. boo

 

She got a souvenir from the sand.

 

 

 

I bet you all can guess what this meant...yep, she had her excuse to head back to the water where we wouldn't be able to drag her out for some time.

 

Off she went while I followed in her footsteps.

 

 

 

 

She was much better now and decided to build a sand castle.

 

 

But she would soon learn that the waves were unpredictable and no matter how far up she moved, the waves followed her.

[lostone65]

Finally caught up! Whew! Come on Kim I'm waiting........:D

I should be researching our May Pride of America cruise. Or maybe I should be writing my Epic review......Instead I am waiting for more on this review and thinking I need to book this itinerary.;)

[MemphisWife4]

It is after 10:00 at my house, which is at least an hour past my bedtime but I had to catch up with your adventures.

 

I am finding what makes me smile the most are the pictures of your daughter. My two oldest (who are parents now themselves) grew up in Myrtle Beach and they were exactly like your girl. Always in the water, and it was a battle getting them out of the ocean, pool, intercostal waterway, and every puddle in between. It makes me very nostalgic to see your sweet little girl with a big grin and messy wet hair covered in sand. Brings back a lot of happy memories for me. And yes, even the tantrum (with her little head buried in the towel) was a trip down memory lane.

[mitsugirly]

For the next hour or so (at least it seemed like it), we dove for sea shells and coral for her collection back home. She enjoyed this so much. My hand were constantly full and we definitely got our exercise walking back and forth to the table. I finally decided to grab a huge zip lock baggie that we stored out power cord for the computer in and take it out with me.

 

 

 

 

This was the collection she ended up with for that day. Quite the collection for 1 day I think.

 

 

 

When we were diving for shells, there were 2 fighter jets that went by.

 

 

They would continue to circle for quite some time this day. It was pretty neat to see them so close together moving in the same direction when they turned.

 

 

 

I wanted to take a picture of the beach line. When we went to Nachi Cocom, we did not care for the beach part at all. It was pretty, but it was so hard to walk in when we were there. Plus there was a bit of a dip in the water, which got a little too deep too quickly for my taste with Sakari being so little.

 

Mr Sanchos had sand that was a little difficult to walk in only if you were going up. It also has a bit of a dip in the water, but either Sakari grew a little since the last visit or she was handling it a lot better. Either way, I didn't feel too bad about it. She definitely couldn't go out too far before it was over her head and she was pushing off the bottom to swim back. I also kept pulling her back because it was a little wavy there that day and it wanted to keep taking you down to the left. But we managed.

 

The beach line seemed to be a lot wider and smoother than Nachi. The only problem was trying to get up over the hump in the water. It was kinda difficult. I actually helped push a lady up at one point. But once you were up over the hump, it was fine. You didn't sink in trying to walk in the sand.

 

 

I think I need another drink...collecting sea shells will make you thirsty.

 

[MemphisWife4]

I cannot fail to mention the toilet paper dispenser! You took the time and made sure to have the proper angle AND included it in your review! That is awesome, and might someday win you a prize:p

[mitsugirly]

Sakari agrees...diving down and collecting sea shells will definitely make you thirsty.

 

 

 

BTW, all of the drinks we had here today were good with the exception of the strawberry daiquiri. It was WAY too sweet. Like WAY too sweet for my taste. It also left a big red ring on your mouth and made you look like you were smiling all day. I assume it's the same thing as what Sakari was drinking plus the alcohol.

 

Also, we found that this place makes STRONG drinks. They are probably some of the strongest I have had at any AI or PAYG. They were terrific.

 

Playing in the sand while mommy finished her drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So of course by now, we had figured we were not going to get to see our friends. Either they stood us up or....maybe I misunderstood them and they were on the non AI side (PAYG).

 

One last attempt to find them and I was done searching. We walked over to the other side to look for them and check that side out. Along the way, I'm of course snapping pictures.

 

 

 

 

This is the main dining room for the PAYG peeps. I assume that this is what they are building over on the AI side because it was pretty big as well. Maybe they felt like they should have one over there too because it was pretty nice.

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

The guy with the picture of the parrots and iguana's came by for us to check them out. I did hear him talking to a person in front of me about the pictures. I heard him tell them that a picture was $12 alone and if you buy the picture and the frame they had it in, then it was $20. Then I heard them tell them ok...$10. So I bought all 3 of mine for $10 each. Sakari is sitting here right now as I type this starring at the pictures and talking about her holding them. She is drawing (because that's all she ever does) pictures of them. I have to say, she's quite the artist at times.

 

Shops along the area heading over to the PAYG side. I ended up buying a couple of magnets from this place (my oldest collects them).

 

 

The small pool on this side:

 

 

 

Loved the bright colored tables and chairs over here i the dining area.

 

 

They even had a tree over here. Man this side rocks!!

 

 

 

 

The massage area:

 

[mitsugirly]

Ok people....are you ready for this? The FISH SPA! I was like what in the world? I had to check it out. People sitting in there while the fish ate away at their feet skin. Um...ok. I ?guess? it makes sense??? It was just odd. I can't imagine too many people doing this because most people are ticklish, but I sure did see a lot of people going in and out and sitting in the chairs with their feet in the aquarium. I however, am not ticklish and could have done it if there was time. I would be interested in knowing what they charge for it. Imagine coming home to family and friends telling them the fish cleaned your feet.

 

 

 

This was the shower and restroom area. I thought it was pretty neat looking. You walked up all these stairs to it and it was kinda pretty. I was already at the top when I took this picture.

 

 

 

I snapped some pictures of the menu. I did find out after I returned home (from another thread) that the PAYG side menu is different than the AI side.

 

 

 

 

 

Notice this side has all RED chairs and tables.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Picture from down below of the restrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pool area. It was a lot smaller than the AI side and it wasn't deep at all. It was only 3' and just the right size to make me feel comfortable with Sakari in it. It was actually perfect for her.

 

 

It's located right beside the huge covered dining area.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Mommy joining Sakari in on the fun.

 

 

 

Face plant in the water. She usually thinks she's a dolphin.

 

 

 

 

 

THIS DID NOT TURN OUT GOOD. I'm sure you can guess.....

 

 

 

 

She played it off like it didn't sting, but I'm pretty sure from the looks of it and the sound that it did have to hurt some. But she kept going.

 

Are you trying to dive now? Again, not a pretty ending.

 

 

 

Man these drinks are strong. I've been going strong all day long and I think the hubby was a little far gone too. Maybe we should back off just a little. When it comes to the time where you're too drunk to take a picture holding your glass anymore and you have to use your feet...it's time to stop. Take note!

 

[mitsugirly]

So here we would sit for the rest of the time we had and let the ground stop moving under our feet. I didn't realize that Mexico had earthquakes on an hourly basis. Who knew?

 

After awhile, I told Sakari I needed to get her "Christmas Santa Hat" picture for the day. She whined all the way to the spot and then did a quick "I'm precious" pose and then ran. Sigh

 

 

 

I gathered what little bit of balance I head and told the hubby I was going to attempt to walk over to the "shopping mall" they had and take a look around. I got the "you can do this babe" look from him and I was off.

 

 

 

 

 

VERY blurry picture and I debated sharing it, but wanted you to see there was more than just a few stands set up here.

 

 

 

 

Then I came across this...

 

 

 

Now I know the one is a male peacock and I would assume the other is a female. But, it looked like the same birds my uncle use to have on his farm, which were guineas.

 

 

I ran back to tell Sakari about them. It took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to talk her into getting out of the pool and coming with me. I got the "I don't want to leave" over and over and I kept telling her I had a surprise for her. I thought I had regained her trust after the stingray day, but I guess not. She finally came and daddy had to stay. That way she knew she was coming back to the pool area. She loved the Peacock and couldn't wait to get back to tell daddy about them. When we returned, she wanted daddy to come look and of course we couldn't just leave our stuff sitting there while we went around the building, so we seen this as an opportunity to make a run for the exit (the peacocks are right there as you leave) and get a cab back to the port. She wasn't happy about it, but she went.

 

It was a quick ride back to the port and I thought it went rather well since there were so many ships in port and we did happen to be at the busiest port, there wasn't a traffic jam or anything.

 

I really don't like this port. We were dropped off on the side of the road across the street from the port. There was non-stop traffic going by and it made me feel real uneasy about crossing the street with Sakari. Here it seems like the traffic will not stop for you to walk across UNLESS you just go ahead and step out in front of them and then they would stop.

 

 

 

Then once you start to cross, everyone crosses and then the traffic gets upset because they can't move because so many people are crossing.

[mitsugirly]

Outside the terminal coming in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, I see the sign on which way to go to the tenders.

 

Hubby found his dream boat standing on the corner waiting for him.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

Good golly oh molly...the line wrapped all the way around the entire port shopping area. It was ridiculous. We stood in the hot sun forever and moved slowly at first and then a little quicker.

 

 

 

 

We're almost there...

 

 

 

 

 

Well here we were. WHERE WAS THE WELCOME BACK PARTY??? I mean if you're not going to dock us, you're not going to put us at the NCL port, and we're forced to tender at the busiest port, the least you can do is having a coming back party along this line. Really? I LOVE the coming back parties with the music playing and people dancing. I feel completely robbed!! We got cold rags and some watered down juice. Go us!

 

[mitsugirly]

They had the big luxury boat that we came over on and they had 3 of these smaller boats. We opted for the smaller. In my eyes, smaller meant less time to fill up, quicker take off time, faster off the boat and onto the ship. I was right. Both the smaller boats were full and unloaded before the bigger boat pulled up. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh darn, I forgot to share this and meant to put it in the review. Well, better late than never.

 

For those of you that will ask "Does Mr Sanchos have lockers?" Here's your answer. I have no clue how much though.

 

 

 

So we made it back to the ship right at 4:30pm...and there was still a line behind us. So obviously, once again, we pulled out of port late.

 

When we arrived back to our room, it looks like the room steward must have saved Trixie from the crab...or either she man-handled him and won.

 

 

 

We went ahead and took our showers and got dressed up because we wanted to go to Tsars tonight and we knew sitting on the balcony watching people come in was going to be awhile at the rate tendering was going.

Edited December 31, 2013 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

I manged to get some pictures of the other DOCKED ships who were leaving on time as they pulled out.

 

 

 

There goes the Dawn and our friends that were a no show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Finally caught up! Whew! Come on Kim I'm waiting........:D

I should be researching our May Pride of America cruise. Or maybe I should be writing my Epic review......Instead I am waiting for more on this review and thinking I need to book this itinerary.;)

 

LOL. MY perfect itinerary would be Roatan, Grand Cayman, St Thomas and St Maarten. Now if they would put together an itinerary with just those 4 ports...I would make sure I came up with the money to do it!! :p

 

It is after 10:00 at my house, which is at least an hour past my bedtime but I had to catch up with your adventures.

 

I am finding what makes me smile the most are the pictures of your daughter. My two oldest (who are parents now themselves) grew up in Myrtle Beach and they were exactly like your girl. Always in the water, and it was a battle getting them out of the ocean, pool, intercostal waterway, and every puddle in between. It makes me very nostalgic to see your sweet little girl with a big grin and messy wet hair covered in sand. Brings back a lot of happy memories for me. And yes, even the tantrum (with her little head buried in the towel) was a trip down memory lane.

 

Aww, that makes me happy that you have enjoyed it. I swear she's such a good child and can be so intelligent and so adventurous that most of the time we forget she's actually only 5 now. She simply amazes us. When she does throw a fit (which I have to admit is next to never unless we are on vacation and it involves the water...pool, ocean, slides) then it's a quick reminder of how old she really is. It pretty much slaps us back into reality real fast. :p

 

cannot fail to mention the toilet paper dispenser! You took the time and made sure to have the proper angle AND included it in your review! That is awesome, and might someday win you a prize:p

 

LOL, it was just something that I noticed that caught me off guard and I had to share. You will never catch me without my camera. :o

[mitsugirly]

Ok, gonna call it a night on this review. I'll try to get a little bit in tomorrow before work. I don't know how I'm going to make it. Off work for 15 days, come back to work for 1 day, off another 3 days and then back again for 1 day. Whew...life is hard (but it gets harder this weekend when I have to work 4 days in a row. I'm sure my tail is going to be dragging by next Tuesday). :)