Spring 2012 – Day 7

The clocks were set back an hour last night so the extra sleep was appreciated. In addition, we did not dock at the island of Cozumel until 9 am.

The kitchen

At 8 am it was raining but it cleared up by the time we docked. Cozumel is Mexico’s largest island and a major tourist stop. Today there were 5 ships in port so it was really busy. We were docked at the same pier with the Celebrity Eclipse, the sister ship to ours. Both ships were letting passengers off at 9 am so about 7,000 people including crew who could leave were all leaving at the same time – what a crowd. But pretty soon everyone was on their way to separate places so again it was just another busy port with lots of stands to buy things.

The highlight of our trip to Cozumel was meeting a chef at major market in town for a two hour food experience at a number of different local restaurants in the town.



The restaurant

 We met Emily, a US Citizen and trained chef who is living in Cozumel and she then proceeded to drive us to our first stop, a very local Empanadas restaurant, where we had three versions of the dish, all very good.

Then it was to another place for an introduction to Yucatecan food and they served cochinita pibil, which is baby-suckling pig that is slow roasted, marinated with citrus and annatto and served on a soft taco.

Then we went to the local market and Emily walked us through explaining how to tell fresh produce of different kinds and we looked at all the local produce from Mexico. The fish for sale at the market was very fresh, having been caught that morning.

Next we went to a more formal restaurant which served a really great Yucatecan chicken soup.


All parts of a pig cooking for our next meal



And our last stop was a local bakery where she pointed out the different types of breads that they produce and we each selected one for dessert.

What a wonderful experience we had. Every one of the restaurants except the bakery was an actual home with the restaurant in front and their homes in back. At the stop before the bakery, the front seating area was actually the garage for the house at night!!

So much for health codes.

After Emily dropped us off where we started, we took a taxi back to the ship and spent the next hour or so shopping at the shops by the pier. Barb bought a couple of purses because she really needed them. One that is made of folded gum wrappers we saw in Europe a couple of years ago for over a hundred dollars. The style finally made it to the islands and Barb bought one for $20!

Another restaurant and they park their car inside at night

Then it was back to the ship for a nap before dinner by Ed.

Then the problems started. Just before getting on the ship, I (Ed) had diarrhea. It had to be because of all the spicy and different food we ate on the food tour. At 5, there was no more diarrhea; however, I decided to go to the infirmary to get some Imodium in case it continued later on in the evening.



Two new purses



Everything was fine at the Doctor’s office after completing the paper work. Then the nurse came back in and brought me the Imodium and said the I was going to be quarantined in our room for 24 hours. No amount of talking or pleading would budge them. They said that anyone who reports diarrhea must be isolated for 24 hours in case it was a possible case of Norovirus and as soon as I signed the form, I was trapped.

So, until 4 pm tomorrow, I cannot leave the cabin. We were planning a great evening and a fun trip on the island of Roatan, but all that was cancelled.

Barb is not quarantined so at least she can leave the cabin tomorrow. There has been no more diarrhea since 5, but that doesn’t matter how good I feel now.

As of this writing there are 17 ½ hours left – what a bummer!!

Dinner in the room is not fun!!