Celebrity Century 4-day Western Caribbean Cruise

Day 3
Mmm, did you wonder about the correct pronunciation of Cuneyt’s name?
When we saw him again at the Grand Dining Room’s at Sea Buffet we did ask him about this: without missing a beat he produced two laminated cards, June Eight. Just so there’s no confusion.
Our pretty ship, ‘sweet sixteen Century’, moored opposite Radiance of the Seas and some distance off Carnival Ecstasy in Cozumel, Mexico.
When I’m back on broadband rather than satellite I’m keen to find our what happened to the Splendor, and how long she’ll be in repair mode.
Meanwhile, we’ve booked a mini-jeep and snorkelling tour of Cozumel’s national park and are very happy to discover at the port that there’s only one other couple along for the ride with us. Our Sunshine Tour guide, Nathan, a very fit Mexican ex-army nurse and search and rescue expert, proves to be highly knowledgeable and entertaining; Jose, our driver, is sweet and helpful and we are assured has been married five times and is still looking for his perfect partner, ie someone from a cruise ship.
First stop in the park was to see saltwater crocs (not as big as the Aussie variety) but equally hungry for stray prey. Those cute little raccoons we saw pottering about are prime targets. Nathan gave us a mini history of the Mayans at a weather station they built some 800 years ago, and then we “Step gas” and go rattling along the most
stunning coastal track on our ‘rhinos’ to the lighthouse. Turtles nest on this wild, windswept beach and the turtle protection scheme run by the national park is proving to be highly effective.
At the lighthouse we take a Mexican hammock break and let our new-found friends, Alan and Deb (who run the first-ever Scottish pub in Vermont) scale the 103 steps to the top – and yes, their photos of the view are spectacular.
Snorkelling on the eastern side of the island was the top experience of the tour, the highlight being a sighting of a moray eel lurking in the crevasse of a big rock.
The Mexican fiesta night on board Century was fun and inclusive – the Mariarchi band swooping, weeping and whooping it up as they only know how. I think I need a month in Mexico – what a fabulous introduction.
Sea day tomorrow … but don’t think there’s any slacking off – “highly restricted” tours of the Bridge and Engine Control Room coming up.