Mitsugirly's extensive back to belly sun & sky review

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to make it back to the hubby and it was time to revert back to drinking some soda. I think the few icky blue whateveryoucallit sour drinks did me in.

 

 

 

I looked over to find Sakari and she was no where in sight. The panic in me set in. "Where is my child?" "Why are you not watching her???" Jorge was close by and said "Don't worry, the nanny took her to get some food" LOL My child just ate, but hey, if she wants to eat again...she's on vacation and I don't have to pay for it. (Just in case you are wondering...our table, directly behind our table: maybe 2 feet, then the lunch are beside it...they are all together. Nanny didn't run off with my child and she could be seen from where we are at. Of course I go into complete panic mode and never give the hubby a chance to speak).

 

The nanny set up a picnic table for her to eat at. I think she was enjoying this "service" of her own.

 

 

 

I walked over to get her picture. I wanted it as a keepsake and to see what a....fine job she did? yikes

 

 

 

Like I said, painting is NOT her thing.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

Before long, we decided to pack up our things and take a walk. We would walk toward the boat dock in order to leave, but had plenty of time for exploring along the way.

 

 

 

I wanted to go check out this lagoon they were talking about. They said it was really pretty...just don't go in unless you wanted to be lunch to the creatures over there.

 

I didn't think there was much to see. They had some guys working on some speed boats over there, but it was far from being pretty to me.

 

This is where you will find the sign for Isla Pasion. I really pictured this to be different too. You always see everyone taking their picture with this and I just expected it to be out front somewhere on the other side when you enter the island. It was just in an odd place. It had fake grass in front of it and didn't look as nice in person and what you see in the pictures. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari practicing her photography skills (hilarious at first because we posed forever and she just kept saying "It's not working"...only later to find out she was recording.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

They had what looked like a church over there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The workers were building something here.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I thought it was so beautiful over here. There was just something about the unspoiled nature of the area. There wasn't any chairs, palapas, tables or anything over here. Just the few buildings.

 

Honestly, I would have been 110% happy with coming to a beach that looked just like this with nothing on it. It makes for a beautiful beach and surroundings and I could just hang out all day right in that spot on the beach under the palm tree with nothing to sit on but my towel.

 

 

 

It was obvious that they must do weddings there.

 

 

 

Our boat was waiting at the dock for everyone and we decided we would just sit here in the beautiful sand, on the beach, under the palms, all alone, until it was time to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

When it was time for everyone to go, I noticed that everyone was meeting back in the same area (right past the statues) and they were all talking...for quite some time. I was enjoying the peace and quiet and the last thing I wanted to do was get up and walk all the way over there to hear another speech. Nope, I would stay right where I was and forgo that part. Hopefully they weren't taking roll call.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We took a few last pictures before leaving this beautiful area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then you could see the crowd start to move in our direction. We decided it was time to beat the crowd and head straight for the boat.

 

 

 

They did give us then when we first arrived. However, like I said, we didn't even go to the shops. Anyone know what they give you for "free"?

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I'm stopping for the night and will continue with our boat ride back to the ship some time tomorrow.

 

:)

[Laszlo]

You have me rethinking going to Passion Island. What time did you leave and return? The excursion info says its 5 hours? so I' assuming you got about 3 full hours on the beach?

 

Did the Sun and Epic dock side to side?

 

 

Thanks

Edited December 9, 2014 by Laszlo

[hpecorari]

This place sure is beautiful, however......I, also, like to be near the water and

if one can't safely go in the water I think I'll pass, thank you very much.

 

Harriet

[mitsugirly]

How mean of someone to steal your door decorations. I am sure Sakari was bummed. :(

Heather

 

She was very bummed, but I was prepared for it and had read on these boards how it could happen. I made sure that when we made it, it had nothing on there of value or sentimental value either...just in case. When it first disappeared, I told Sakari that maybe it just fell off and they had to throw it away. I also told her that it was ok because we only had 1 more day of the cruise left so we wouldn't be needing it anymore. She was sad (it always helped her find the door...especially if we were coming from the opposite direction).

 

You have me rethinking going to Passion Island. What time did you leave and return? The excursion info says its 5 hours? so I' assuming you got about 3 full hours on the beach?

 

Did the Sun and Epic dock side to side?

 

 

Thanks

 

Well, let me think about this. We met in the Stardust at 8:45. They were 10 minutes late. So I would say we were on the boat around 9-9:15am. With it being a 20-25 minute ride, we should have arrived around 9:45am.

 

I assume the 5 hour time frame they give to you includes transportation (which it normally does).

 

Our "meeting time" was at 1pm on the dock of Passion Island, giving us only about 3+ hours of time there...about 10 hours too short IMO. :( They had everyone on the boat and we were leaving by 1:15pm for the ride back.

 

Yes, the Sun and Epic docked side by side of each other.

Edited December 9, 2014 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

This place sure is beautiful, however......I, also, like to be near the water and

if one can't safely go in the water I think I'll pass, thank you very much.

 

Harriet

 

 

Not being able to go in the water can happen at any beach. You just never know and with the water being so rough that day and the sand turned up, I think that had a lot to do with the breakage of the fire coral and the bad experience.

 

However, I just didn't like the set up of no shade closer to the water. I love places that have the palapas or especially the palm trees really close to the water so that you can sit and relax by the ocean. There was just simply no way to do this here. You really had to walk a distance to be near the water and then you were going to roast. :(

[Perfect Stranger]

You lucky lady! How did you snag such a young, cute husband? ;)

 

You two sure made a beautiful daughter!

[mitsugirly]

We were back on the boat (meeting time was 1pm) and we were to pull away at 1:15pm.

 

Since we had waited in that area, we were second to get on the boat and I immediately told the hubby I wanted upstairs so that I could take pictures on the way back. He gave me "that look" and I assured him it would be fine since once we started moving, we would have air to cool us down.

 

 

 

Mom and child selfie

 

 

 

We pulled out right on time and stirred up the water even more. Take that you fire coral.

 

 

 

A few last pictures of the island as we were pulling away.

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy was happy to have some air coming his way at this point.

 

[mitsugirly]

And away we went...sad to be leaving

 

 

 

Those two are at it again...

 

 

 

The angry water from the day was still beautiful

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was fun to watch but I didn't realize I still had my camera on tilt shift, so it made the picture blurry in the areas I wish it wouldn't have. That'll teach me.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

When we got closer to the port, everyone noticed that the Epic had pulled in right beside the Sun and they all jumped up for pictures. Of course everyone from down stairs started coming up to our territory for the same reason. I'm pretty sure the boat got top heavy at that point. LOL

 

 

Would you look at the difference in size??

 

It almost looks like the Sun got a new hat and shades.

 

 

And a few added "layers" on top.

 

 

 

But you don't really realize just how much bigger the Epic is until you come around back and see this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Laszlo]

Well, let me think about this. We met in the Stardust at 8:45. They were 10 minutes late. So I would say we were on the boat around 9-9:15am. With it being a 20-25 minute ride, we should have arrived around 9:45am.

 

I assume the 5 hour time frame they give to you includes transportation (which it normally does).

 

Our "meeting time" was at 1pm on the dock of Passion Island, giving us only about 3+ hours of time there...about 10 hours too short IMO. :( They had everyone on the boat and we were leaving by 1:15pm for the ride back.

 

Yes, the Sun and Epic docked side by side of each other.

 

Thanks for the info, yea thats a little too short. I wonder why you don't stay until 3PM. Reminds me of the snorkeling beach "Day" in Belize. It was cool we were picked up right at the ship. What I didn't notice was how short the tour was, 3.5 hours :rolleyes:

[mitsugirly]

We headed down the pier to the ship. Of course we were VERY early back (as you always are when you are on a sponsored ship xcursion).

 

They had a sign up for everyone welcoming you back...however, there would be no party since we weren't actually leaving port until 5pm and all aboard wasn't until 4:30pm. Sigh** I always love the welcome back party, but it is what it is. (You could tell the sign was for Epic, but a girl can dream right).

 

 

 

 

 

Guys riding their bikes for a tip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was kind of surprised at just how many people were on the pier coming back at such an early time. But then again...remember the "type" of cruise we were on with a "much older" crowd on board.

[Laszlo]

So your saying old people can't hang?:D

[mitsugirly]

My final thoughts of visiting Passion Island:

 

The positives:

 

It was a beautiful place.

 

The sand was powdery soft and the landscape was spectacular.

 

The food was good, even though it wasn't an authentic "Mexican" meal like I like. I did get hooked on their salsa and chips...once again, I don't like tomatoes but could eat this salsa all day. I actually told the hubby when we were there that if I had this salsa every day it still wouldn't be too much for me. :p

 

There were plenty of seats...there just might not be the seats you want if you are not the first to arrive (the beds if you want to relax). But you definitely had your choice of tables to pick from and plenty of the S chairs out by the water.

 

The childrens play area and the nanny were a nice extra added touch, which in our case...was really appreciated that day. Otherwise, I'm really not sure what Sakari would have done for the rest of the day. She's like me and always has to be doing something and can't just sit still.

 

It's a fairly short ride over to the island.

 

All you can eat and drink included in the price!!! What more can I say? I love these type of excursions.

 

A wonderful staff and very helpful (especially when Sakari was hurt they went out of their way to help her and comfort her).

 

Always making sure that you had plenty to drink and filling you up before you were even done with the last. The service was EXCELLENT and VERY FAST!!!

 

The bathrooms were nice and loved the way they were decorated. They had someone cleaning them and restocking them constantly.

 

The negatives:

 

There just isn't enough time spent here. It's such a short day...especially for the price. I can never understand why they make you go back so early on any of the ship sponsored excursions.

 

The water being turned up and sea weed all over down by the water. (Of course no fault of Passion Island or the excursion itself). It just happened to be the day we were there maybe?

 

Getting stung by the fire coral. Again, could happen anywhere and probably due to the water conditions.

 

Only having 1 set of restrooms located a bit of a walk depending on where you decided to sit at.

 

Having everyone walk so far from the boat dock when the area around there was so beautiful.

 

The very rude and pushy photographers at the beginning of the island.

 

The lagoon area was just ugly and of course couldn't be used.

 

The whole "speech" at the beginning. I mean come on, there's really no need to tie up our very limited time on the island by a long drawn out speech. Welcome us, point in the direction of the restrooms, tell us what time to be back on the boat. End of convo. It's not that hard!

 

-------------------------------------------

So would I go here again? Nope, I sure wouldn't (but I knew this coming here). I just wanted to experience the place and put a ✔ next to my list of things done in Cozumel. Of course I also wanted to tell everyone that I had been to the Corona commercial island too. :D It was beautiful, but just not my "paradise" that I'm searching for. Chankanaab still remains my favorite place out of every place that I have been to in Cozumel so far (Chankanaab, Playa Mia, Mr Sanchos, Nachi Cocom, and now Passion Island).

 

 

A "Did you know" fact about Passion Island. We were also informed that Passion Island is in fact NOT a part of Cozumel or considered Cozumel. So I can say that we went to Cozumel AND another place while here...does this mean we visited 5 places on this cruise? :D

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

You lucky lady! How did you snag such a young, cute husband? ;)

 

You two sure made a beautiful daughter!

 

He found me and chased me down. If you ask him, he's the lucky one. :) :p All kidding aside, he's the greatest husband and father anyone could ask for. We have a marriage made in heaven...12 years strong and still madly in love. :D

 

Thanks for the info, yea thats a little too short. I wonder why you don't stay until 3PM. Reminds me of the snorkeling beach "Day" in Belize. It was cool we were picked up right at the ship. What I didn't notice was how short the tour was, 3.5 hours :rolleyes:

 

I always wonder the same thing with EVERY ship sponsored excursion. To me, it's just a waste of money. They charge you double what a private tour would charge and you stay 1/2 the amount of time compared to a private tour. I ONLY do these if they benefit me in some way.

[mitsugirly]

So your saying old people can't hang?:D

 

I know plenty of old people that can hang better than me probably. This crowd just consisted of a lot of people pushers and third legs...so "most" seem to be slower. :p I'm not saying it was a bad thing at all. The vibe on this ship was very calm and relaxing...which was a plus. I would sail a ship like this on every cruise if I could. :)

[Laszlo]

I hope its the same way in February!

[mitsugirly]

We returned to the ship and I know that a lot of people on here talk about how nice the ship is on port days when everyone is off of it. You have the whole place to yourself. Well, I figured we were pretty much going to get to experience this today since it was so early.

 

We headed to the room to drop our bags off and found the VIP treats.

 

 

 

Of course they want you to purchase a FCC. We decided not to get one this cruise and would pick up and few on our next cruise the following week instead.

 

 

 

We decided to not even get dressed and spend the rest of this time by the pools.

 

We headed to the main pool for awhile. For some reason, I completely forgot to take pictures while here and this was the only picture I got.

 

 

The water was very cold when we got in and I didn't stay long. Therefore, Sakari was forced to put her puddle jumper on and I was forced to hear the whinning about what a "big girl" she is and didn't need it. Nope, this momma is not about to go back in the freezing cold water to save you if needed. You will wear it.

 

We decided shortly to head over to the kiddie area. That would give Sakari a chance to take her floaties off and we would relax for awhile.

 

 

 

But once we got there, we decided just spending time in the hot tub sounded a little more relaxing.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Daddy didn't want to be left out of the fun and decided to join us.

 

 

 

 

 

Now the ship is a little old and it's not perfect, but we really didn't see very much that needed repaired. This would probably be the most we seen the entire cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goofy times in the water

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I <3 my family...

 

 

I can say that when we were in the hot tub...you know, the "kiddie" hot tub, there was a lady that came up and stood there. Then she sat by the pool. She was there for awhile and then finally left. I'm almost 100% sure she was one of those "adults" that figured they would come here to use the hot tub to get away from the crowd. We would have been more than happy to share with her...but I guess that's not what she wanted and after awhile, she walked away with this "look" on her face.

 

Then later, a couple did the same thing. It's almost funny to watch the expressions on their faces. It's almost like they look at us as if we are doing something wrong and why does a child have to be in the hot tub? Well, if you haven't noticed, this area is for KIDS. It's a kids hot tub and just because you know that it's not used much and can be a private little getaway most days, sorry about your luck. You don't like the adult hot tubs to have children in them so why do you have that same look on your face about the kids hot tub? :confused: :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to get out after awhile and knew that it was getting closer to the time people had to be back on the ship. I wanted to get a few pictures of the port from the ship before pulling out.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Of course I had to do some tilt shift pictures because I'm just so hooked on them and they make the pictures interesting sometimes...if they turn out focused on the right thing.