Whalechaser's Musings

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Friday, February 6, 2009

Cruisin' Day 3

We spent one full day cruising from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico. So of course we spent the day exploring the ship and checking out the various activities on board. In Cozumel, we were on a mission. Actually, we were going o shop in Grand Cayman but since our prearranged tour trip was cancelled due to lack of participation we figured we could start shopping right here in Mexico. We knew there would be several opportunities to do so during the week, but since we found ourselves with a full day and no other plans we dug right in to the chore at hand.

Chuck wanted to get an engagement ring for me for Christmas but I thought since we were going to take this cruise, we should see if the prices in the islands were any better than what we could find in the states. So I came fully prepared with a printout of an engagement ring that I found at the Blue Nile website and began our negotiations.

These guys in Mexico are pretty slick. They wanted to start with a $6,000 stone and work their way up. I guess they thought they were dealing with a starstruck bride to be; so I set them straight pretty early in the process. They kept trying to sell me something very shiny and gaudy with many side stones etcetera. Finally, I had to pull out the print out and show them exactly what I wanted and the price that I could get it for in the states.

Now they knew I meant business and they went about getting something along the lines of my request and they actually did come up with something very similar and at $300 to $500 less than what I found in the states. Now all they had to do was take the stone I selected and put it in the plain band that I wanted and we would be all set.
Here is the stone that I selected...



We were able to agree on a price and they would have it ready in 1 and a half hours.
So what was left but to go and have lunch and come back to pick up the finished ring and return to the ship in time for departure for Grand Cayman Island.
So we walked a bit and saw many tourist shoppes
Then we got to a place named Pablo's Backyard and decided that it was our best bet for lunch. We were right, it was excellent although a bit pricey. They did have very nice Margaritas! I promised Jane that I would have one for her and this mango Margarita fit the bill, I am sure


Chuck ordered the combination plate of the day and it was really very good

The dessert was pretty good too...sopapillas with ice cream

We strolled along the waterfront making our way back to the store

And...here it is all finished.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh!!!! Congratulations!!! Just happened to pull up your page and read about the big news. The ring is gorgeous!!! When is the big day?

Miss you, Sandra