<p>Cozumel would be the place to go if you want to snorkel or scuba dive. I can’t wait! We will be there the second week of February, right around Valentine’s Day.</p>
<p>ML - We’ll probably also go in February some time, if we ever sit down and make our bookings. Somehow it seems easier facing winter knowing we’ll get a week of summer in the middle ;)</p>
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<p>In 1979, there was a terrible snowstorm in Chicago so a friend and I flew down to Cozumel to get away for a few days. At that time there were maybe two cruise ships in port at a time. We happened to be there over Mardi Gras and they were celebrating Carnival. There was a great parade in town with all the children dressed up. It was such a treat to see! This site confirms Carnival will be Feb. 6-12; the schedule has last year’s dates but it shows all the activities that they expect to have: [Cozumel</a> Carnival 2013, Program, pictures, and discription.](<a href=“http://cozumelmexico.net/carnival/]Cozumel”>http://cozumelmexico.net/carnival/). I would consider this a “don’t miss” if you’re there during that time.</p>
<p>When we were in Cozumel in late 2009, we went to the Nachi Cocum beach club for most of the day - lazed around, snorkeled off the beach, had a few drinks and ate. I agree that snorkeling is one of the highlights of the island; we thought about taking one of the trips out to a reef but iirc there had been a recent hurricane which meant the snorkeling wasn’t optimum.</p>
<p>I really wanted to do some souvenir shopping but the sales help is so intense that it becomes extremely unpleasant.</p>
<p>Were going the first week if march so will miss that unfortunately. Are there any recommended places for shopping?</p>
<p>I’m assuming they speak English? I do speak a fair bit of Spanish but if I’ll need to communicate that way I’ll have to brush up on some terms. :)</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
<p>They speak English everywhere in Cozumel, or at least have someone who speaks English. In 1979, all I knew how to say was “Mas agua, por favor” and I did fine.</p>
<p>No specific stores that I can recall but I would suggest shopping in town rather than the shops by the docks. As in all ports, don’t shop the high end stuff unless you’ve already researched the quality and prices and are quite knowlegable. And even then, St. Thomas is usually considered the big shopping port.</p>
<p>In Cozumel, I would suggest sticking to local arts and crafts that you like. There’s a lot of what they call Mayan stuff. I some some beautiful silver pieces in one of the big stores on the main street. Check out a few stores and compare prices; you’ll see the same souvenir products everywhere. Try bargaining, especially at outdoor stalls and street vendors. If you bake, you can get some Mexican vanilla but study up ahead of time because there’s a lot of fake vanilla for sale. One brand I’ve seen recommended is Los Cinco Soles Natural Gourmet Vanilla. Don’t believe anything the sales people tell you!</p>
<p>I’ve been to Mexico about 6 or 7 times. I will not go back any longer. I’ve had enough! Please be very aware in the Mexico ports when it comes to shopping. They are professional rip-off artists. Sorry that sounds so harsh, but it’s true. Whatever silver you buy, make sure it’s really sterling silver. It will have a number of 925 on the bottom if it’s real. In Mexico the silver is plentiful and should be quite reasonable.</p>
<p>We bought an outdoor hammock in Mexico and brought it home and put it up in our basement for the kids to swing in. It fell apart from shoddy construction within a week of buying it, seriously! </p>
<p>The onyx chess sets are nice, again make sure it’s the real thing. Yes, definitely shop around and haggle. They have room to come down in price quite a bit! They even come after you after you’ve walked away. Be careful what you buy, for how much, and just watch your purse and bags.</p>
<p>Sorry to say…I’ve been to many other islands and have not had the problems we’ve encountered in Mexico. Just be careful!!</p>
<p>Just returned home from a wonderful week at sea - St Maarten, St Thomas and Bahamas, lots of sun and fun. Thanks for all the great advice!</p>
<p>Now if I could just get rid of the feeling that the house is gently rocking from side to side, all would be swell…</p>
<p>Glad you had a nice trip, Stradmom! :)</p>
<p>So tell us, what did you do? Did you go on the ship’s excursions or on your own or just shop or water activities?</p>
<p>Did you like the cruise line you went on? Yeah, it definitely takes awhile to lose the sea-legs…so would you go on another cruise sometime? Must have been pretty crowded right before Christmas…</p>
<p>Did you make it to the top of the hill in St. Thomas for Banana Daquiri’s? 
I really love St. Maarten…will try to rent a place there for a few weeks in the future…see any nude beaches? ;)</p>
<p>We were on the Norwegian Epic, which we liked a lot (neither DH nor I are “participate in the planned activity” people, but we enjoyed everything and we would definitely go again). We did the ship’s excursions - a drive around St Maarten that could have been better with a more interesting guide (“so, here is the gas station…there is the Burger King”) and a nice outing to Orient Bay Beach (a couple of topless sunbathers but we never made it to the fully nude area … maybe we could cut down on post-trip laundry if we do that next time? ), a wonderful drive up the ridge on St Thomas (yes, the World Famous Mountain Top with the World Famous Banana Daiquiris!), glass bottom boat in Nassau (we had low expectations for this port and they were met/exceeded, despite the rain - glad we hadn’t booked a snorkeling tour!). </p>
<p>D3, the musician, just announced that she might be interested in getting a gig on a cruise ship for a while after graduation. Clearly, this is a sign that more cruises are in our future!</p>
<p>You’re kidding me, a guide pointing out mundane land buildings? Yikes. Did you see both the french and the dutch sides?</p>
<p>Glad you had a nice time. If I remember correctly, you’ve been on a cruise in Europe, that’s one we haven’t done yet! Sigh, it’ll have to wait till after colleges are finished! :D</p>
<p>We are one of the couples that toured Western Med by cruise - loved that! Still thinking about a winter Carribean cruise… but nothing booked yet. I love reading the feedbacks. (Alas I can’t copy stradmom’s good trip - we did the Med cruise on the NCL Epic…loved it, but want to try another ship).</p>
<p>^^^Colorado_mom:</p>
<p>Have fun planning your cruise too! We always enjoy planning them…it really gives us something to look forward to! :)</p>
<p>Funny, I never thought I would like cruising. It was only recently as an adult that I went on my first cruise and now 7 years later I’ve already gone on 6! I like them more than I thought I would, but also do enjoy land vacations too. We’ve done one cruise and one “land” vacation each year! Once the kids are out of college (it’ll be awhile :D) we hope to do longer cruises. Our longest has been only 10 days, but I wouldn’t mind going on a longer one! Someday! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^^Don’t wait tooooo long to book your cruise, or they will be sold out!</p>
<p>Well, we may have waited too long to book the cruise for Feb. Not sure yet. I am busy with work at the end of the year, but I’m hoping DH will use some of his holiday vacation time to do research.</p>
<p>We too were surprised how much we liked cruising. Our honeymoon was a 4 night cruise NYC/Bermuda. It returned into NYC a few hours ahead of Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Typically our vacations have been to visit extended family. We found it relaxing to just “get away”, w/o worrying about any logistics.</p>