Captain Hook Cruise, Cancun, Mexico

Back to Mexico(!) and time for a bit of cheese (after all that culture), a really classy(?) "Pirates of the Carribean"-themed cruise (with entertainment and food) on the Friday night of our first week (I was really looking forward to it, Flyingpops was intermittently expressing quiet concerns about motion sickness and the fact that she was running low on tablets to remedy any possible occurences of it)...we had a 7.30pm pickup (which turned out to be in an A-Team-style Dodge van) and were whisked (actually very slowly thanks to the terrible traffic jams) right into downtown Cancun -

- it must have taken about an hour in all I guess (about the same as the airport transfer) -

- catching our first excited glimpse of the Pirate ships from bridge over the docks -

- hopping out we joined the queue to pay port tax (what is it with Mexico and tax, tax, tax!?) - anyway, with that out of the way we got a chance to have a look around the stalls (and buy some pirate gear) -

- pose with some undead -

- and then get a closer look at the boats (one red, one green) -


- we got on board the green boat (the red boat already being untied even as we were watching), everyone posing for photographs at the treasure chest (we bought ours later as it was jolly good)-

- watched the red boat head off over the lagoon into the sunset (jeering and firing canons as they went) -


- and then off we went - and from that moment on, and this is no exaggeration, nor a word of a lie, the fun *never* stopped, we were genuinely and continually entertained by these extremely talented showmen -


- as was everyone else ;) -

- shockingly (especially to the Americans who historically have Mexico to themselves as a holiday destination) when it came to asking where people were from (by evaluating yelling volume of the participants) - the boat turned out to be (roughly) 50% populated by Brits, followed by about 45% Americans, a handful of Mexicans and Canadians (about 10 of each) and one couple from Japan (who were picked on mercilessly as soon as they revealed themselves)...anyway, the show continued with crewmen clambering around and swinging from ropes (as the sun began to creep below the horizon) -


- (swinging in more ways than one actually)...ulp...


There were then a number of party games, mostly involving drinking (the Brits won) -

- and then it was time for dinner - a *fantastic* smell had been wafting down from the galley (at the back of the boat above the bar) for some time -

- it was astonishingly good - a beautifully tender medium rare New York strip steak and a lobster tail that had been simply grilled with a little butter and seasoning-

- the presentation left something to be desired, and it was a bit of a struggle to find somewhere to sit to eat but when we did plonk ourselves down and dive in it was absolutely delicious (my mouth is watering now just thinking about it)...everyone then enjoyed a few drinks, had a bit of a dance and then, all of a sudden, the other boat was spotted off in the distance, the chase was on!

What followed (I was using the camcorder I am afraid, so no more pics, and honestly, it being the highlight of the cruise probably doesn't want to be ruined anyway) was a spectacular battle between the two crews, lots of swinging around on ropes, swordplay, explosions...great fun -

- the plot was cleverly arranged so both boats came away thinking they were the winner of the battle and a huge party kicked off, disco lights etc. and for the next couple of hours the two ships just circled in the lagoon with much dancing, drinking and general merriment (other boats even stopped to watch and try to soak up the atmosphere)...!

I absolutely couldn't recommend this trip any more strongly, if you are in this neck of the woods - DO IT - it's a staggeringly good night (oh and in case you were wondering Flyingpops didn't feel poorly after all, the lagoon is pretty much wave-free)... ;)