Hurricane Michael - any port in a storm? No it's only Costa Maya

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nHURRAH!! Finally back in the real world with wi-fi. It's been so long, in case you have forgotten, we're in Cuba!! Read on...

…RECAP

Embarkation day started like any other. We were filled with eager anticipation and excitement. We checked out of our Casa at 11am and walked the ten minutes to the port. We arrived at the arrivals hall and showed our passport and boarding documents to the security guard. After checking the names on the documentation agreed with our passports we were waved through. In the transit shed we could quite clearly see the berth and the bay beyond. We approached a group of porters in distinct red t-shirts but where were the rest of the passengers. But more to the point, where was our ship…???

Perhaps it is moored at another pier and a shuttle is available. We knew deep down that this was clearly not the case as we could clearly see all the piers of this small port from the sea wall as we passed by some minutes earlier. We handed our boarding document and passport of one of the men in Red.

‘Check in time is from 4pm’. It was just passed mid-day.

‘What time is the ship expected?’ I asked

‘1pm’, the porter replied. ‘but you can leave you luggage here. Is there anything you need from it?’

‘No’, we both said as we passed our luggage across. How could we have gotten it so wrong? The ship is not scheduled to depart from Havana until midnight, tomorrow. It is due to remain in port over night. We moved back toward the transit shed exit and sat on a low wall to examine the cruise confirmation documentation. It stated quite clearly (although not clear enough as we didn’t even notice it!!) check in time - 20:45!! This is something that Roisin or I had not bothered checking. Usually when a ship arrived in the early morning and we may have a check in time of 14:30, we still arrive early and there has never been any issue. On this occasion, after thirty-three previous cruises, we had become too complacent and just rocked up as we normally do. We now had four hours to wait, together with two heavy pieces of hand luggage. A trip across the bay to Casablanca to view the statue of Christ close up is still very much on the agenda when we return to Havana, as is a ride in an old American vintage car. We had time to do one or both of these things today but it wouldn’t be much fun lugging our hand luggage around. It would bugger up our plans for the few days here after the cruise. We decided to head back in to the old town, find a coffee house and take it from there.

We crossed over San Pedro in to San Francisco square. The rhythm of drum beats took our attention. A small crowd had gathered around a troupe of stilt walkers while several drummers working in harmony to beat out a traditional Cuban tempo. A bench with two statues presented a photo opportunity. One was Chopin. I was not sure who the other statue was although it looked a little like John Lennon – his Plastic Ono Band years!! That’s nice. A sculpture commemorating the works or two of the greatest composers the world has ever known. Sitting down, Roisin took up a position to take the photo. Shit! The John Lennon just moved. I felt a warm but rough gloved hand lightly grab my upper arm. It wasn’t John Lennon at all. I had just had my photo taken with one of those human statues. Without warning I gave the Chopin statue a firm punch in the ribs to liven things up a bit. This only resulted in very badly bruised knuckles. Chopin was not a human statue but an actual statue!!!

We soon found ourselves back in Plaza Veija at the Café el Escorial. Whilst I sipped my Americano (not sure I could make it last four hours!!) my attention was taken by a naked lady riding a huge stiff cock in the middle of the Square!! Now that I’ve got your attention, this was a mysterious brass statue of a woman sits atop a big, feathery mount (what did you think I meant??!), her voluptuous form was completely naked except for a pair of stilettos. A massive fork rests on her right shoulder. The rooster unperturbed by its passenger just gazes ahead. Having asked around and googled this sculpture, no one knew for sure the meaning behind the puzzling statue. The piece is called Viaje Fantástico (fantastic journey), so perhaps she’s heading off on an adventure to some sort of naturist (all you can eat – judging by the size of her fork!!) dinner party? Maybe there is a more sexual connotation and my original description is nearer the mark given the alternative names for a rooster!! I could even be that it’s just a figure of the sculptor’s imagination and has no deep symbolism at all. Either way, there has to be some truth in the statue being a constant reminder as who is controlling whom??!

We still had three hours. I was almost tempted in spending time in the nearby museum dedicated to playing cards!! Almost but not quite!!

We headed back to the bay to await the arrival of the ship. The pilot boat set out at just before 12:45. The ship was due to dock at 13:00. And then there it was. Peeping around the corner of the Malecon, gracefully gliding up the inlet, slowing right down before the side thrusters kicked in to manoeuvre the ship alongside its berth.

Not many passengers disembarked from the MSC Armonia today. We since learned that out of 1,800 passenger there are over 900 Spanish speakers, mainly from Mexico but also from Puerto Rico and South America (Colombia, Uruguay etc…) The majority of people will disembark in Cozumel, Mexico.

Fast forward to 16:30. We were finally o board welcomed by that very familiar MSC ‘smell’ (the pleasant sort’. Normally, your cruise card, which, amongst other things, is your cabin key, is received at check in. However, with MSC, the cruise card is waiting for you in your cabin. The problem was, on this occasion, that no one was allowed in to their cabin until 19:00!!

Sitting in one of the lounges we heard a familiar voice. I got up to investigate, knowing quite well to whom the voice belongs. Walking toward me, speaking with a member of her team was Candice. We first met her several years ago on the Sinfonia during a cruise on the Baltic. That was her first contract with MSC. We have since travelled with her on several other occasions. In such a short time, she has risen to the position of Chief entertainer. Candice now refers to Roisin and I ask her family. So many of her colleges have since come up to us shaking our hand. I’m sure they think we are her actual family!!

The ship remained in port overnight. The weather had suddenly changed. We had planned on taking a ferry across the bay but the rain clouds descended making visibility poor and walking, very wet. The wind would have rendered umbrellas useless.

The ship finally weighed anchor at a quarter past mid night and headed along the north coast of Cuba. Having already spent a full day on the ship whilst we were in port, we now had another full day at sea before arriving at our first destination, Belize.

Roisin is a regular user of a website called Passageweather.com. This site shows the sea state of anywhere in the world and provides an animated forecast. She happened to check our passage to Belize and didn’t like what she saw. The route which the ship should take is through a narrow straight between Cuba and the Mexican coast.

‘Too much red for my liking on this chart’, Roisin said.

‘I’m sure the Captain has it under control. It’s probably just going to be a bit choppy’, I reassured her.

All the activities were scheduled to be by the pool today but were moved indoors. The temp was still a warm 68C will only a slight breeze but the swell was 8-10m. The stabilisers did their job which resulted in only slight rocking of the vessel but the swimming pool and outdoor Jacuzzis were already out of bounds. It was evident that we had slowed right down. Then came the announcement made by Jimmy, the cruise Director. He started his message: ‘This is an urgent message on behalf of the Captain. It is urgent affecting all guests.’ His message conveyed that there is a tropical storm brewing in the strait and the Captain has the safety of the ship to consider so there will be a change of itinerary. We would not now be stopping at Belize and tomorrow would be another day at sea. Once finalised, we could expect to receive an amended itinerary. The message as then repeated in German, Italian, French and Spanish. That’s a shame, I thought. I suppose it is one less lot of fridge magnets I need to worry about!! It is a pity because that would have been another country ticked off the list but it can’t be helped. I’ve not heard any rumbles of discord yet but that’s probably because there aren’t too many Brits onboard!! The Captain obviously uses Pasageweather.com as well!!

We continued to hug the north coast of Cuba keeping away from the periphery of the storm. Roisin continued to monitor the web site. The weather front was due to linger in the straight until tomorrow. What we didn’t know until a few days later is that this was no tropical storm. This was Hurricane Michael that continued its route in to the Gulf of Mexico and reeked carnage across Florida before moving out in to the Atlantic.

During our additional day at sea, Jimmy once again took charge of the public address system. The itinerary was finalised. Costa Maya would be our first port of call. This would be followed by Belize. However, our scheduled stop to Honduras has been cancelled. Cozumel remained unaffected. I would have preferred to have kept Honduras and binned Cozumel (having been there before!!) I understand why Cozumel had to stay on the itinerary as this is an embarkation/disembarkation point and should he have cancelled this port, it would probably have started a Mexican revolution. I don’t think the Captain weighed up the Pro’s and Con’s. Con: no one ever likes a revolution; Pro: it would have made excellent writing material for my blog!!!

A new feature of MSC is their MasterChef at sea series. This is in conjunction with the TV series and the winner could eventually be selected to appear on their country’s own version of the programme. The game consisted of a qualifying round where multiple-choice questions were presented. This event took place in the theatre. Six winners would be chosen to cook off taken from those with the most correct answers. Example: Which of these is not a true event? A) Blowfish football – Japan; b) Cheese rolling – UK; c) Radish carving – Mexico. The blowfish football was so ridiculous it had to be true. We put Radish carving. We were right in thinking Blow Fish football was ridiculous. It was, because it wasn’t a true event!! Damn you, double bluff!! Other questions included what are the ingredients for Hollandaise sauce and what is aracnobutyrphobia! Who even knew there was a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth!! We managed to scrape a respectable (well we thought so!) five out of ten. Four passengers scored ten and two scored nine. These made up the six finalists. The cook off was scheduled in a few days’ time.

Due to the guest demographic, the trivia’s have been non-existent. That’s OK. We expected this. It’s less tat to bring home anyway!! We did attend one rather bizarre trivia. The weather was back to blue skies and 32C so all activities were once again poolside. This particular trivia was Name that tune, or to be more precise, name that rhythm!! Example: Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock reverberated through the open decks. The answer: Rock and Roll. There wasn’t even anything to write down. The first person to run up to the stage and sit down on the lone chair provided, say the answer and providing it was correct, dance with the compere or one of his assistants while the song in question was played once again. Most of the songs were obscure Latin American styles with the answers ranging from Merenge to Salsa to Mambo. The only other song I recognised was; Cotton Eyed Joe although I would have said it was more bluegrass than country for which was given as the correct answer. This kept Roisin and I entertained for forty minutes to see mainly Mexican’s battling down to the front all in the name of an MSC beach bag!!

So after nearly four days on board we finally touched land. The temperature was 32C but with the humidity, felt more like 37C. For this voyage, we had chosen an inside cabin so at 08:30 I ventured out on to the aft deck. The intensity of the sun light bored in to the back of my skull making me immediately wince with pain as I brought my hand up to shield my eyes at the same time looking away from the light. I felt like Moleman returning to the surface after six months hibernation in an underground chamber!!

Costa Maya is a small tourist resort on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The area used to be nothing more than a group of small fishing villages. In 2002, this region was transformed into a popular cruise ship destination but five years later in 2007 Hurricane Dean devastated the area. Costa Maya has since been re-built to now include the retail village that greeted us as we made our way from along the lengthy pier.

The skyline of the Costa Maya retail village looked very Disney-esque. On entering the village it still held that fantasy - make believe feeling. All the central shops were created in the style of native Mayan huts. There were mock old 1930s style vehicles with props to give the illusion of an archaeologist dig. A man-made pool provided the centre piece of the jungle like scene complete with crocodiles and flamingos. One of those types of creatures then moved to my surprise as I thought everything was fake. Thankfully it was the pink flamingos that were the genuine article. We moved from hut to hut. The same cheap (and some not so cheap) souvenirs packed all the stores. It was a case of ‘If you don’t see it, ask (cause it’s probably here somewhere!!’) We saw everything from cheap plastic sunglasses to a stuffed wolf. From hand carved masks with the emblem of your favourite football or baseball team (crudely) painted on the forehead to the Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling mask of your favourite star. This is the only place I have seen a detailed colour statuette of Spiderman share the same shelf space as a moulding of Our Lord!!! These sellers, hard as they try to guide us in to their shop must be used to tourists ignoring them. We, at least said a polite ‘No thanks’ although I may have said a white lie of ‘Maybe later’. One such vendor actually said as we passed by: ‘Welcome to my store where you can buy double the trash for half the price!!’

There is a town beyond the tourist village which takes about half an hour to walk. It is possible to take a shuttle trolley for $3. However, I have read and heard that the town consists of a few similar stores for which we have already exhausted our attention span and a string of hotels offering all you can eat and drink packages with complimentary wi-fi and a private beach. The sun was now at it’s hottest. Free food and drink together with pre-paid wi-fi awaited us back onboard ship. We passed by the mock Mexican church modelled on a wild west frontier town place of worship. Looking up, Roisin spotted someone high up in the bell tower crouched beside the solitary bell staring down at his mobile phone. What lengths some people go to try to get a signal, I thought!!

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