Red 5, Standing By

Rockapella Cruise

Day 4 -- Cozumel

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Liz and I got up for the Sunrise Stretch, then went to breakfast in the Platinum Room.  Liz was a bit dismayed to see that her chicken sausage was not the correct color.  Perhaps they should have burnt them or something.  

We arrived at our first port: Cozumel, Mexico.  We brought our shopping pass to the shops there and got a free charm bracelet and a charm.  Jenn bought something at the jewelry store which matched a piece of jewelry she had at home.  I bought a pretty silver hair clip.

We met up with the rest of Team Pella and went to the excursion meeting area for The Amazing Cozumel Race.  This was an excursion that I had been excited about ever since we had signed up for the cruise, and I had organized our team and we all agreed to wear our red Rockapella shirts (or just a red shirt if we didn't have one).  Liz couldn't find hers, and Jenn didn't have one, but we were all still wearing red, and we looked great!  We had 5 members on our team (like the Pella!), and we also ended up being Team #5.  This is Wendy's favorite number, so she was already happy.  I was already happy because we were doing The Amazing Cozumel Race!  We were also wearing red, so we were Red 5.  If you don't know the significance of this, I refuse to help you, because this means that you are not a geek like me.  I can't remember how many teams were playing but we were all very excited.  We were given badges which would have to be returned, so we didn't get to write "Team Pella" on them.  While we were waiting, we took tourist-y pictures on huge furniture.  

Seriously, I almost fell down.

All of the teams took shuttles to a shopping center, where we were given a map and clues about our quest.  It had something to do with a serpent.  While planning for the cruise, Jenn had already agreed to be the designated snorkel swimmer, so she was ready with her equipment.   We walked along the beach and found our clue, which led us to a henna tattoo stand.  Wendy volunteered to get the tattoo, which was of the aforementioned serpent.  

Happy Sher, staying on the boat

We were then given a clue which led us to a boat with other racers.  It was snorkel time for Jenn!  The captain took us pretty far out onto the water, and we were told that there was a sunken pirate ship with a clue for our diver to find.  Our boat had a partial glass bottom, but we couldn't see the sunken ship, even though the water was quite clear...and a beautiful, beautiful blue. 

Not-so-happy Jenn

Not all of the teams had people brave enough to dive, which was OK because we were given the clue while Jenn and the other guy dove.  I won't say how we were given the clue, but we were.  Jenn came up for air and said that she couldn't read the clue, and she was really tired from swimming down to the ship.   The guy from the other team did read the clue, and when he came up for air, he tried to calm down a now-hysterical Jenn.  She was yelling to us, "I'm not kidding, you guys, I'm really tired!!!"  The dude kept telling Jenn to relax.  She eventually yelled at him, "YOU RELAX!"  Our captain finally let Jenn out of her misery, and we picked them up.  Jenn  swore that she almost drowned.  Poor Jenn.  She was so happy until that point.  

We then got off the boat, and went to the Scuba Divers sculpture, where words needed to be counted and unscrambled.  This led us to a museum about the coral reefs, where we had to fill in blanks for our clues and such.  Then we had to go to a miniature golf course.  I do not enjoy mini-golf as much as my friends do, but I still did a stroke for the team.  The course we got was really difficult, so we switched courses, in which Liz got a hole-in-one!  Once we were done, we were told to go to a nearby store, where we had to husk an ear of corn to find the clue inside.  This clue told us where to go for the finish line, which was at a thatch-covered Mexican restaurant .  We ended up in 5th place.  Yes, FIVE AGAIN.  Whoa. We were hungry, so we ordered food, which was less than yummy.  I bought a white polo shirt with the race logo on it before we took a shuttle back to the port.  The race was just way fun (well, maybe not so much for Jenn, whom was exhausted and decided then and there that she was not yet cut out for the real Amazing Race).  

Team Pella/Red Five

Who should appear when we got in line to board the ship but Geo and Sandra!  He totally lied to us about going windsurfing and stuff.  Sandra straightened him out and said that they actually did a bunch of shopping.  APPARENTLY, Sandra is quite the haggler, and Geo was impressed with her bargaining skills, as well as her Spanish-language skills.  Liz and I want her to come with us when we go shopping.

Since we were still hungry after the non-yummy food, Liz and I ordered room service, and I had a BLT.  We took our showers and got ready for the first Rockapella show of the cruise, which took place in the Ebony Cabaret Lounge.  (There will be a separate post about the show).  Jenn had bought me the picture of the two of us that we took together at the Port of Miami, and placed it in a fancy leather folding frame, so I had 4 out of the 5 guys sign it after the show.  Scott was not liking a dude's Red Sox shirt.  Afterward, we went to the picture gallery and I bought a bunch of pictures.  We would have tried out the sushi bar, but the selection was limited and boring.  

We returned to the Platinum Dining Room for dinner, and Jeff T sat at our table.  At first, he sat by Karla, but then June told him where to sit.  I ended up sitting between him and Wendy.  Scott was a no-show again.  I had the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail, Short Ribs with Rice, and Molten Chocolate Cake.  The rice had a lot of ginger in it, which I did not enjoy.  Fred, who was seated at our table again, ordered the sherbet, but he was given the cake.  He didn't mind, though, because he said "It's Destiny."  We talked about the race, and Jenn told everyone about her "near-death experience".  She's funny.  Jenn talked to JT about her awesome cooking, and I told him that I thought about him when we were eating roasted garlic with our bread back at our hotel in Miami.  He loves the stuff.  Jenn asked him how it feels for us to know everything about him.  He responded, "They don't know EVERYTHING."  Jenn said, "Good for you."  Clearly, Jenn has forgotten how to be a stalker.  ;)  JT left for Bingo as the rest of us decided who was going to do the "Thriller" dance.  The boy loves the Bingo, I guess.  

A much happier Jenn, with Jeff T

Karla, MJ, Liz and I went to the White Heat room to learn the "Thriller" dance.  Well, Liz went to watch us and take pictures.  I had a mango martini, which was REALLY strong, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had during the Martini Tasting.  We learned the dance, did it for real, felt silly, and left.  Liz and I sat in the lounge area of the corridor.  Fred came by, so we invited him to sit with us.  He talked about the comedian/juggler that he had just seen at the Ebony Cabaret.  JT and Tim passed by on their way to the comedy club to see Steve's bro.  MJ and Ross came by and said hi. Sandra and Geo came by and I finally got the 5th Pella to sign the frame that Jenn gave me.  Steve waved to us as he passed by.  It was a happening scene, man!

Karla, Sher and MJ Zombies (courtesy of Amy K)

After all of the socializing, we returned to our room, where we found our towel creation of the day:  elephant!  :)

Next up:  Grand Cayman