Day 4 of our World Cruise journey took us to Isla Cozumel in Mexico. A busy, touristy port town with lots of shopping and restaurants right at the Cruise terminal. Many of the restaurants near the terminal are touristy representatives of a US selection like Señor Frogs.
We were still tired, despite our Day 3 at Sea exploring the ship and getting used to our new environment. We joined the ‘Walk Around the World Challenge’ and received our official journals to keep track of our distance walked each day. With a goal of improved health and wellness, this played perfectly into our plans. Onboard the ship, despite some crazy weather, we did our walking on Deck 12 where the running track is.
We weren’t really feeling like a busy day fighting off shop vendors coaxing us to purchase trinkets so we did a little Google research for the best seafood restaurants in Cozumel. Our search lead us to a little local restaurant that was off the beaten path and got us out walking in town.
Pescaderia San Miguel was an amazing find! Tucked away several blocks off the main cruise terminal bustle, we were starting to question our research. We walked right by it and had to rely our our GPS to track it down. When we walked in, we found a very local, family-run restaurant in a tiny courtyard. We were the only customers until another group joined with a table of 4.
The teenage children waited on us attentively and we ordered the small mixed ceviche and some shrimp tacos. When our food arrived, we were happy that we did not order the large portions — it was so much food and incredibly fresh ingredients. We were stuffed but felt we made their day by stopping by and really enjoyed our lunch. With a couple of local beers each, our meal cost the equivalent of about $30US.
After lunch, we wandered back to the ship and were stopped outside the cruise terminal by a young man named Mario who remembered us from a stay about 2 years ago at the Westin Lagunamar in Cancun. Small world! He was in Cozumel helping his uncle get a new jewelry shop off the ground. We followed him to the store and looked at some absolutely stunning jewelry. Still reeling from our downsizing projects at home, we explained that we were not in the right mindset to purchase anything at the moment. They were very gracious and friendly but we bowed out without a purchase.
We were back at the ship early, around 2pm, and settled in at the Schooner Bar where we joined a team with a pair of lovely Irish girls, Paula and Gillian, and managed to win a round of Name that Tune. We came away with the coveted Royal Caribbean pens, enjoyed their company and made new friends.
Getting back to the ship early was a good call as the weather turned nasty. We received word that the storms had been following us and no further ships were able to get to the CocoCay and then to Cozumel in the days following our visits. We have been very lucky to have gotten away when we did and avoided any changes to our already aggressive itinerary.
