Susan and I had an amazing cruise to Alaska scheduled for for our 25th wedding anniversary in August of 2020… which happened to fall in the middle of a global pandemic. That cruise was cancelled, and some of those funds were used to reschedule a new cruise in the winter of 2021. Surely COVID would be gone by then, right? Right?

Two weeks before the start of our cruise, the “Omicron” variant of COVID-19 exploded, and the day before our cruise was set to sail — literally as we were in the car, halfway to New Orleans — we received an email with updated COVID protocols for the cruise. In addition to being vaccinated and showing proof of a negative COVID test within the past 48 hours, all passengers would be required to wear masks whenever indoors on the ship, and at all times (both indoors and outdoors) in Mexico. While this news was a little bit of a bummer, the last place you want to be in the middle of an outbreak is on a cruise ship. It is what it is.

Our cruise spanned five days with two stops at port (Puerta Maya and Cozumel) and two full days at sea. We spent our first full day at sea getting our sea legs and refamiliarizing ourselves with the ship. We saw a disco show, played some games in the arcade, and of course, sampled all the food. Susan and I ate breakfast in the dining room each morning, alternating between scrambled eggs and omelets with sides of oatmeal, bacon, sausage, and at least one parfait. Along with the never-ending buffet, there was also a burger grill, a sandwich deli, a BBQ hut, a Chinese stir fry area, and a small sushi bar. Morgan and I got rolls of sushi (spicy tuna and “Bang Bang Bonsai!”) and went back again a few days later.

At Puerta Maya, we spent the day hanging out in the port area. The weather was in the low 80s and perfect. Susan and Morgan swam in the ocean while I sat not far away in a lounge chair sipping on a drink served in a 3-foot-tall plastic palm tree. We had lunch at a small restaurant where we were grossly overcharged (two dinners and three drinks cost $95) and when we asked to see the receipt our waiter disappeared and never returned. By that point they had already charged our credit card and we assumed getting any sort of refund was unlikely, so we wrote it off as a learned lesson.

The next day at Cozumel, we visited a private beach called Mr. Sanchos for the first time. We had a really great time there. We had our own private table just a few feet from the ocean, and the $60/person fee included free food and drinks all day long. Our waiter (“Jhonny”) was only responsible for four tables and we could barely take a bite or drink without him rushing over to ask if we needed something else. We went swimming multiple times and had a fun, relaxing day. While we were on the beach, Susan made two new friends!

Wednesday was another full day at sea filled with activities. Morgan and Susan played Bingo twice, and Morgan spent some time hanging out with a friend whom she had met on a previous cruise. One of our favorite things to do is play the trivia contests on board. There are only four or five trivia games that take place each cruise, so coming in first place and beating everyone is pretty hard to do. At the last trivia session of the cruise, Susan, Morgan and I entered as a team and went 20 for 20, winning first place! Morgan accepted the trophy, which she attached to her lanyard and proudly displayed for the remainder of the cruise.

We spent our final night at sea taking it easy. Thursday morning we disembarked just as the sun was rising and were back in our car and on the road in record time. We spent most of Thursday driving from New Orleans back to Oklahoma City, the only memorable stop being at Buck-ee’s in Texas. We also stopped at a random truck stop where I paid for Morgan and Susan to sit in massage chairs, which they said took turns pinching and pummeling them.

A cruise to Cozumel is just the right amount of time to get away — it’s not too short and it’s not too long. And, as it turns out, the weather in Mexico in December is absolutely perfect. It was a great early Christmas present and I’m already looking forward to our next one, which will be visiting the Panama Canal in 2023!