COZUMEL - OK - Did my search like a good CC'er

[DHADEN]

Have read a lot about the condition of Cozumel and all the talk about ships returning - rebuilding the docks/shops - spend $$$ there to help out.... etc.

 

Do you have recent pictures you could post to show all of us what Cozumel looks like now compared to before Wilma? I would like to see what progress they are making and if our day there (Apil 21, 06) will be worth going ashore.

 

Thank you.

[wework2play]

Sorry I don't have any info, I just want to say that I love this thread because I am going to Cozumel in March and I would love to know more about it's condition.

[Snoozeman]

http://www.cometocozumel.com/english/wilma/default.asp

 

http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/CozumelWilmaBeaches.htm

 

also try a search in the popular online photo galleries.

[Sea-shell]

We were there mid January. Hard Rock is still closed, they have cleaned things up a bit but the tendering issue is a problem. We were on Explorer, and the line to tender back to the ship was very long-took us an hour to board the tender. People who went back to the ship closer to sailing had to wait 2hrs in line. Many crew members were late coming back to the ship and received yellow warnings. We wont get off the ship next year unless the dock is back, because the bottom line is Cozumel isnt ready for visitors yet. Note - the shop owners were very pushy, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to their shops. I know they need help to rebuild but I felt uncomfortable. Almost scary.

[prc]

My opinion only...were there Feb. 11. on the Splendour. It took 35 minutes from leaving our stateroom until we set foot on shore. Everything was clean and about 90% open downtown. Yes HRC was still closed. Pancho's Backyard was great. Yes there is damage very visible between downtown & points south. Paradise Beach was picture perfect in every respect. Tendered back at about 5pm. walked right aboard tender, and waited about 10 minutes for it to fill before leaving. Splendour & Enchantment were the only 2 ships downtown that day, and the Enchantments tender line was very long. There was one carnival ship tendering to Punta Maya.

[DHADEN]

Snoozeman, thanks for your links. But they are just news releases, and of course, Cozumel wants to paint a pretty picture.

 

Seashell and prc;

Thanks for the info - it tells me what I fear.

 

Does anyone out there have recent PICTURES of the town, shoreline, beaten down docks, the town square fountain, etc.?????

 

I kept thinking as many cruisers that have probably been there in the past few weeks, that there would be a lot of pictures taken and you that took them could share.

[jtonra]

Hi Darrel - check out the Cozumel board. There have been a number of reports (both good and bad) recently. In particular, look for posts from bruce-r. He was there in December and recently posted a link to some pics he took. He's a long-time poster so I believe he has credibility (at least to me for what that's worth).

 

I've been following the reports from Cozumel pretty closely since I'm on the same sailing as you. I'm definately going ashore and have already got a dive / snorkel excursion planned for my group of 10.

[CarlCruisesPlus]

We were in Cozumel in January on a Jewel of the Seas cruise. Cozumel provided several ferries to tender to Cozumel. We went to Paradise Beach which has been restored. Good food, service ,pretty beach and fun water toys. The day we were there it was not overly crowded. It is about a 15 minute and $5 per person cab ride from the landing location.

[Twinsmomct]

We were just in Cozumel last week. While I don't have any pictures to show you, I think that they have done a remarkable job in cleaning up from the hurricane. When we were on Grand Cayman last week, I thought that evidence from Hurricane Ivan was much more prevalent than from Hurricane Wilma in Cozumel and Ivan was almost 2 years ago. But I have to agree with an earlier poster -- the shop owners are pushy. But a simple no thank you was sufficient.

[frogfuzz]

We just got back there on 2/15. We went downtown and it seemed very good to me . Didnt go to Hard Rock but Senor Frogs & Carlos & Charlies open, only saw a couple stores not open. We took a horse & buggy tour from a local and went behind main streets, There was evident damage to some but these people are working very hard to fix it all. The man took us by the church we oohed and ahhed at how beautiful we walked up could see the marble floors flowers on the alter then noticed the back portion gone and roof missing off some of the santuary, we stuffed the rebuilding fund box. The workers built their own ladders , missing rungs and working away. We tipped the driver extremely well . Havent unpacked camera but they are very slow on repairing pier. I would say they are 1/16th the way done.

[signman]

Many of the shops looked very good after reconstruction. Would definitely urge you to go ashore, and definitely take your camera so you can return the favor to the next person who asks for photos after you return.

[jtonra]

Some more recent photos: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2109047146&mode=guest