Day 6 Costa Maya - NCL Joy 2022

Even though we lost an hour, I was still up pretty early. The casino was closed since we were to arrive in Costa Maya around 8:30. We went for a little walk around the waterfront. One of the doors outside is around a corner heading to the District Brewhouse. As we approached the turn, near the restroom a man stopped us. He had on a rather large mask and a lanyard. I didn’t understand what he said but he seemed that he didn’t want us to go further. Chris told him we were going for a walk outside. I was wondering if the deck area was closed for weather since we had been having bad weather in the morning. He then said, “Making water is OK but the one for shitting is broken.” At least that is the only part we did hear him say. Chris thanked him. After we stepped outside, I asked Chris, “Did he just say the one for shitting was broken?” Chris laughed yes. I joked that I should’ve asked him what he had for dinner. One lap and we decided to get some coffee and breakfast. We went up to the Horizon lounge for a coffee and pastry and watched our approach. We saw the Regent Explorer making her approach as well but we beat her to the dock. 

It was overcast but not raining so we went back to the cabin for our IDs to get our walk in ashore. We clocked the walk from ship to end of pier to be a quarter of a mile. The first store you have to walk through is like a duty free shop in the airport, liquors and perfumes. Most of the area looked the same as it did on our last visit. We saw many of the same stores, pool with swim-up bar, and the swim with the dolphins setup. I enjoyed seeing the flamingos and do not remember seeing them before. It is a very “Disney-esque” area for tourists. It is very reminiscent of the Mexico pavilion in Epcot complete with a Mayan pyramid replica. We headed back to the ship but we did get a two mile walk while exploring the area. 

We figured we could put on some bathing suits and head up to the Haven. Of course it was raining when we go there so we sat inside the courtyard. I wrote while Chris did a few laps in the pool and sat in the hot tub. We can’t complain about having the area to ourselves this morning. Hopefully though the rain will stop and we an enjoy the sun deck. 

After spending some time reading and writing inside the courtyard, we noticed the sun was making an appearance. We went up to the sun deck and found our usual spot waiting for us. We both took a dip in the hot tub that overlooks the side and could see Regent Explorer and the waves crashing along the shore of Costa Maya. It was turning out to be a perfect day. We didn’t want to change out of our bathing suits for lunch so we called the butler to ask if he could bring us some wings to eat. The wings from the Local are one of our guilty pleasures. Right after he called, the courtyard valet came around with the sun deck menu. I had read on cruise critic that this was not available which is why we called our butler. We had only made one request from our butler which was on the first day for a lounge chair so hopefully this was not too annoying. We definitely would have used that menu though if the attendant was walking about earlier. We chatted with our lounge chair neighbors and they enjoyed the lunch from the menu. Maybe we will try that tomorrow. After some Pimm’s cups and reading, the water slides opened. We ventured to the main deck which had plenty of seating in both sun and shade. We did the slide with the inner tubes first. It was a very short wait and it is a nice relaxing ride. Your hair won’t even get wet! Chris was much more adventurous and tried the scary slide that drops the straight down and enclosed tube. I tried a similar one years ago on the Escape and that was enough for me. Chris thought is was fun and not too scary. 

We relaxed in the cabin for a bit. Chris enjoyed a snooze on the lounge chair on the balcony while I showered. It was a very relaxing day with most passengers enjoying the port. We went to the Sugarcane bar outside for today’s trash drink. It was called Pulp Art and used a homemade red pepper syrup. It was one of the better ones. I hope the idea stays as it is nice having drinks made with fresh ingredients and it is also eco-friendly. We chatted with passengers we met on the first day and enjoyed hearing about their experience so far. They told us about the virtual reality they did and now I really want to go try it. Maybe that will be my adventure tomorrow. 

Tonight’s dinner was in Le Bistro, an NCL classic venue. We have dined there many times on the various ships. We used our dinner that was included for Sapphire level. It also includes a bottle of wine from a limited list. The first wine we chose was a Gruner Veltlinger and it was carbonated but should not have been. The sommelier confirmed this and tried another bottle that was the same. I told him he could pick another white and gave us a great Chenin Blanc. We both started with the escargot and the were bubbling hot when served. Absolutely delicious with the fresh French baguette. Chris had the French onion soup while I tried the crab salad with smoked salmon. The soup was as good as always and the crab and salmon were tasty as well. I am not usually a huge fan of salmon but it was very nice. For our entrees, we typically order the filet but we were both tired of beef so we tried the Fruits de Mer. It was very tasty but it was the smallest portion entree so far. I would not recommend it if you were paying the ala carte price as it was two small shrimp, two extremely tiny clams and two tiny scallops. I did not order dessert as I was sad they did not have my favorites from the past, fondue, profiteroles and creme brûlée are a thing of the past. Chris tried the hazelnut mousse and I did taste it. It wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t personally order it. 

We went to the atrium since it was supposed to be ballroom and more from 7-8:45. We had one cha cha and then it was break time. The duo said they would return and play Latin music so I guess that was the “and more.” The ship has three different groups that play Latin music so if salsa, bachata and merengue are your jam, you will have lots of options. The main show had only started ten minutes so we decided to go stand in the back. It is a acrobat duo that combined ballroom dance, acrobatics and aerial stunts. It was a very entertaining show. We did return after to the Atrium for some “and more” dancing. Sugarcane had a one man band so we popped up two decks to hear him. We ended up doing some more dancing there. Our server kept us very hydrated with waters and said she was enjoying our dancing. We didn’t want a mojito after dinner so we decided to see how the Haven Bar was doing later in the evening. It was not to crowded so we managed to get seats and the bar and both tried the famous smoked Old Fashioned. It is quite the process but it makes a really great drink. Rodney made me another evening type drink that we named a RODhatten. It was Hennessy and port wine with angostura and orange bitters. It was a nice riff on a Manhattan. We closed the bar down chatting with fellow passengers. This is one difference from Crystal as they had one bar that would stay open until the last passenger left. We decided to stop in the casino and then we went to the Local for some late night wings or early morning wings. I changed my order from Buffalo to Korean and they were spicy but had great flavor. 
Since it was the next day, we went back to the cabin to get some sleep before arriving in Cozumel.