Day 3: Costa Maya

Let’s talk about excursions for a moment. When you get your booking numbers for your cruise, you also get the option to book excursions at the various ports you’ll be visiting. These are sometimes owned and/or operated by the cruise company.

Bare Necessities negotiates with Carnival (for them to make certain venues clothing optional. These trips fill up fast. These facts will become important in a future post here.

This day was a clothing required excursion and it was the Dolphin Swim.  It was on our Female Halfs bucket list and we decided it was time.  It was expensive, like $250.00 for us both to do it expensive.  We read that you couldn’t bring cameras or phones with you (but we took them anyway).  Everyone is fitted with a Life Jacket.  You are NOT allowed anything like glasses, or cameras, etc. in the tank.  Two Dolphins are assigned to your trainer.  You pet them, you hold their fins, they kiss you, you kiss them, and you get two rides.  One ride is they push your feet while on a Boogie Board.  The other is they lay on their back and you grab their fins and ride on their belly.  It was fun.

After you get out, you are offered to buy the pictures.  Digital copies are $70.00 EACH!  Yes, I typed that right.  They offered us to download all 67 pictures they took for $150.00 and “threw in” two prints.  We paid it.  Again, the only time we’ll do it for sure.  One annoying thing was that it took almost a day for the pictures to be available in the app they have you download to your phone.  So you’re miles away before you can get to the pictures you paid a LOT for.  The pictures were good though but this was a $400+ day.

There was also a safe shopping area set up where you can buy souvenirs and clothing items.  We bought our female half a couple of dresses and haggled a deal on them.

Expensive but fun day in port.