The Renkema Report: January 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Cozumel, Mexico & the Mayan Ruins in Tulum

Our ship docked in Cozumel on Monday morning. After a half hour boat ride to the main land of Mexico and a forty-five minute bus ride, we arrived to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum.

Tulum was thought to be one of the most important cities of the ancient Mayan during its time.

The most impressive building in the city of Tulum was the temple/castle, El Castillo (below). Like many important structures in the Mayan world, it is the result of different stages of additional construction. It began as a palace-like base, the staircase added at a later date and eventually it was crowned by the temple on top. This temple-topped pyramid also served as a watchtower and a lighthouse.

Tulum means "Wall", and the city was christened thus because it is a walled city; one of the very few the ancients ever built. Below is one of the entrances to the city of Tulum. The Mayans were not very tall people. I (Eric) had to almost bend in half to enter/leave.

Behind us is the temple/castle.

One of the Mayan watchtowers - Tulum overlooks the Carribbean. At one time it functioned as a "lighthouse" guiding ships through the treacherous reefs that lie offshore.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Our Ship (for a week)

We had a great time on our cruise. Our ship was the Carnival Liberty. Many evenings we would sit on the deck on lounge chairs watching a movie on the big screen out under the stars.

The first full day of sailing was rainy on and off, but we got to see a rainbow. That waterslide was pretty fun too.

There was a 9 hole mini-golf course on the top deck of the ship (deck 12). The first day we tried to play, it was so windy that the ball would roll away unless you held it down with your foot before hitting it.

Here are some pictures of the ship. It is Carnival's newest ship. 3000 passengers, 1100 staff/crew. 116,000 tonnes.

At our first port of call (Cozumel, Mexico) we docked right next to a ship identical to ours, the Carnival Freedom.

The beach in Cozumel.

Another shot of just our ship. Our room was on the other side, on the 2nd floor (second row of square small windows) near the middle. It was a decent size - bigger than some hotel room we've had!

The ship was beautiful, and incredibly clean and organized. At the ports of call, between the maintenence work, they would be up on ladders, painting the ship (with two people below with nets to catch the paint drips so it won't go into the ocean). Service was amazing, food was incredible.