Taking the Plunge: My First Snorkel at 62

I'm sitting in the Solstice Class dining room aboard the Celebrity Constellation, nursing my second cup of coffee and trying not to think about the snorkel gear waiting in my cabin. My wife, Margaret, walks by with that knowing smile—the one that says she knows exactly what I'm worrying about. "You're doing this," she says, kissing the top of my head. "We didn't fly all the way to Cozumel for you to chicken out now." She's right, of course. But here's the thing about being 62 years old: you get comfortable with your limitations. You know what you can do and what you can't. You've made peace with the fact that your snorkeling days, if you ever had any, were probably in your twenties when you were fearless and stupid. Now you're neither, and that seems like a good reason to stay on the ship. But Margaret and I had signed up for the Celebrity Constellation's shore excursion to a secluded reef in Cozumel, and she wasn't about to let me waste her money—or our time. We'd been planning this cruise for two years, saving for it while working full-time jobs and pretending we weren't getting older. This was supposed to be our "yes" trip, the one where we stopped saying no to things. The morn…