We departed the ship early and took Pop on a tour of San Miguel. We then returned to the ship and left Emerson with Mom and Pop while we went shopping (mostly browsing) in town. I did buy a bottle of aged tequila, and Libby bought a set of silver hoop earrings to replace one that she’d lost a couple of months back. We then had an enjoyable lunch at Pancho’s Backyard (pretty good food, decent prices, and an appropriately festive ambiance).

We returned to the ship in time to avoid a deluge, which turned out to be more than just a brief tropical shower. By the time we’d left port, the weather had turned rather foul. We spent the evening sailing into high winds and twelve foot seas, much to the chagrin of some of our fellow passengers.

This didn’t stop us from enjoying an excellent meal at Le Bistro, which we felt was much improved over prior visits. The starters, entrees, and desserts were all tres bien, as was the nice bottle of Cote de Rhone. Indeed, for me it was one of the rare, magical moments in life when you’re just happy to be where you are, doing what you’re doing, with whom you’re with and to know at the time that you should remember and be grateful for it.

Continuation…

I don’t normally do a lot of advance planning, especially for Caribbean ports of call. For Costa Maya, I’d read in our Frommer’s guide that there was a nice private beach right by the pier, as well as a good spot to get some local cuisine. Planning done.

Sadly, the book was wrong on both accounts. The private beach was dilapidated and abandoned, perhaps the result of Hurricane Dean. The local restaurants were replaced by a Señor Frogs and a Carlos’ ‘n Charlie’s.

Fiddle sticks.

Also, since we’d planned on using the beach at the port, I didn’t have much cash and no ATM card with me, as we were going to return to the ship and pick up Mom and Pop for lunch. To go to the beach now, we’d need a taxi and to pay for entrance to one of the clubs. So, I hustled the 1/2 mile roundtrip on and back on the pier to get my wallet.

The beach club (pictures above) was actually very nice. For $15 per person (Emerson was free) + $12 for roundtrip transport, we had free beach chairs, umbrellas, a pool to use, water toys, clean restrooms, and wifi. For $20 more, we could have had unlimited drinks, which was a real bargain compared to the prices at the port. I’d do this again in a heartbeat on a visit to Costa Maya (and I’d stay to eat lunch at the club too).

In our case, we returned to the ship around noon to pick up Mom and Pop for lunch. We went to Carlos’ and Charlie’s… it was wildly (I mean wildly) overpriced for so-so Mexican food. While it was good to get Pop off the ship to enjoy the ambiance, I wouldn’t eat/drink there again. You’re essentially captive… and it’s (what’s the Spanish for it?) a “trap tourista.”

We had dinner at Bambo and attended the show, which was altered after an accident at the earlier performance. It seems that one of the dancers/acrobats took a fall from a height during (we believe) the song “Defying Gravity” — sadly, he didn’t. Irony aside, it’s good to hear his injuries don’t appear to be life threatening. (Update: he broke his hip, was disembarked in Cozumel, and flown back to Miami for treatment).

The 7 day cruise is to the Western Caribbean and visits Mexio, Belize, and Honduras, as well as Key West. That will add +2 countries for us — making our projected total a net gain of +7 in 2010 (including our trip on the Nieuw Amsterdam in July — not bad, all things considered).

Here’s a photo of the Pearl (taken on a weekend cruise in October, 2008):