Cozumel, Part 1
Last week, Yvette and I spent 6 days and 5 nights at the Occidental Grand Cozumel for our 11th anniversary. We selected Cozumel because we had been there previously on three of our five cruises with Carnival Cruise Lines. Cozumel is our favorite port of call and when it came time to select an anniversary spot, it was the most likely place. We selected the Occidental Grand based on their website, although we booked it through Funjet Vacations.
Our flight was at 7:40 AM and, since it was an international flight, we were at the airport by 5:40 AM which meant waking up at 4:00 AM. At the Austin-Bergstrom airport, we had breakfast at a restaurant that has become our “standard” whenever we have a morning flight. The flight from Austin to Dallas/Fort Worth was uneventful. In Dallas, we arrived at terminal A and took the tram to terminal D. It was interesting to see all of the outbound international flights to places like Japan. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of a 747 or some other large aircraft, but did see much.
It was not long before we boarded our American Airlines 737 for the flight to Cozumel. During the flight, I watched episodes of CBS’ Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement. I cracked up several times which brought a couple of smiles from Yvette. This was Yvette’s first international flight while, but I had flown twice before to Vancouver on business.
After an almost three hour flight, we had another “first”. In Cozumel, we debarked the plane using stairs instead of a jetway. We passed through Mexican customs without any problems. It was interesting to see that they were using Dell computers. After customs, they had us pass through another checkpoint with a “stop” light and a push button like at a cross walk. When you pushed the button, it randomly selected people for a secondary screening by flashing a red light; otherwise you got a green “pase” light. Only one person from our flight got pulled for screening.
We collected our luggage but before we could get to our transfer shuttle, we were intercepted by “Vicente”. He was trying to get us to attend a vacation time share presentation. Yvette and I accepted after he gave us a rental car for the length of our stay for only $50. Mind you, the rental car was an ultra small compact and did not have power steering, but Yvette and I found it very convenient when driving between the resort and San Miguel, the town on Cozumel island.
Our next “first” was actually driving down the main thoroughfare through San Miguel. We had walked the street during our previous three cruises and taken a ride or two, but had never driven. The drive from the airport to the resort took approximately 25 minutes. During the drive, Yvette and I marveled at all of the stores and sites that we recognized from our previous trips and of the three cruise ships that were in port.
Next time . . . . . the Occidental Grand Cozumel resort.
Note: There are no pictures because I am writing this in Dallas while Yvette has the camera in Kyle.
