It's My Birthday Cruise - Day Three - Carnival Valor - Cozumel

We arrived in Cozumel. When we arrived in port, Frankie our cruise director, announced that any water excursions had been cancelled due to water conditions. The water was pretty choppy and had about six to ten feet sea swells. Dave & I had breakfast on the ship, and made our way down to gang plank.

Here's a helpful hint for all you massage junkies. Don't book a massage on the ship. You pay at least $150 + mandatory gratuity for a 60-75 minute massage. You don't get the full 60 minutes - instead you get about 45-50 minutes and the rest of the time is spent trying to sell you product. After experiencing that the first couple times, we would set our phones for 75 minutes and get the entire massage - and that was like pulling hen's teeth. Then, we realized that at every port, there will be massage stations/places set up for next to nothing. In Cozumel, the massage place is right in the marketplace on the beach area outside of Pancho's Back Door Restaurant (plus they have free wifi). We headed on over, and they were booked, so we decided to go back later. We stopped back by when we were headed back to the ship. They charge $35 for a 45 minute massage (they tell you $35 for 30 minutes - but everytime we have done it - we've gotten a 45 minute massage). It's every bit as good as any massage I've ever had.

Also in the Puerta Maya market place is a lady who sells handmade linens. She has a kiosk that is in various locations in the market place. It's usually manned by her or her son and daughter in law. She's very nice, and does give great deals.

We took a taxi downtown (it's $8 - not $8 per couple, not $8 per person - so if you find a group of people you can get one of the vans and split the cost). We found another couple and paid $5 each couple so the guy got a $2 tip. They will try to tell you it's $8 per person or $8 per couple, but the sign at the taxi stands gives the rates per trip not person or couple.

We have a couple of standard places we like to go in Cozumel. If you want to try Cuban cigars, the place to go is Havana Bob's. He's located in the square by Wet Wendy's. His website is cozumelcigars.com. All of his cigars are genuine Cubans. A lot of the street vendors sell fake Cubans. His are authentic, and he even has his own that he hand rolls. He's American, and is very knowledgeable about the island and cigars in general. Another favorite stopping port near downtown is the Cartier store/mall area. That's a great place to stop for a potty break. They have nice clean bathrooms, air conditioning, and pretty good prices on Estee Lauder, pandora, etc. It's an upscale shopping center. Another great shop on the main strip is called Mi Casa. They have reasonably priced silver, pewter, and glass. They also give a ship discount.

In the local downtown square there is a restaurant that serves an inexpensive lunch and usually has mariachis playing. Always remember to get your pop either in a can or without ice. Margaritas and tequila is fine with ice as the alcohol will kill the bacteria. If you eat at Pancho's or Three Amigos at Puerta Maya, they do filtered ice so that's okay. Same with Margaritaville and Hooters.

When we are in Cozumel we also visit the pharmacy for Retin-A, Collagen, and antibiotics. Always ask what the exchange rate is. If paying with a credit card, have them charge you in pesos because nine times out of ten the exchange rate will be better than what you are quoted when the bank converts the pesos into dollars. Otherwise use cash and make sure they give you American cash back for change.

Shopping tips for cruises: don't get sucked into the Tanzanite craze. It's not as scarce as they let on. Furthermore, it is considered a "soft stone" so avoid getting a Tanzanite ring or bracelet. Also know - all of the shops that are in the port shopping area give kickbacks to the ship - so if a certain or particular store is touted on the ship - the ship makes money. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - just the way it is. Also, the cruise coupon book is an eh deal. It's pretty much going to be the same giveaways and stuff for each port. And, if you know what the deals are, you can go into the stores and ask for the freebies offered in the coupon book and you'll get the free gift or the 10% off or whatever is offered. Most cruise ports really talk up Diamond's International and how they cut out the middle man. Not so. And, their crown of light diamond is not this fabulous diamond. It's a flawed diamond that has used facets to reflect the light. The more facets the more reflections to disguise the flaws. A better quality diamond does not need a lot of facets to reflect light. You can get the same or even better quality stone on land. Their claim that you don't pay tax or duty is just fiction. Depending on how much you spend, you still have to claim it on your customs' form and pay tax and duty over anything valued from $200-$1,000 depending on where you visited. We've always bought any jewelry from mom and pop places in the downtown area - and have read up on how to tell if something is real silver, if it's gold, etc. Just do your homework before you buy.

We had dinner in the main dining room, and were again entertained by the waitstaff. Tonight the food was piping hot. I had the lasagna, and Dave had a fish dish. After dinner, we hung out until the mega deck party. They do a whole Mexican spread buffet. After the deck party, we called it a night. Our platinum gift was delivered to our room. On this cruise it was a night light. I have to say every platinum gift we have received from Carnival has been useful for cruising and/or traveling. This is no exception.