When the Skies Opened Up: My Soaking Wet Adventure to Mayan Ruins

There's this moment right before everything goes wrong where you have absolutely no idea it's about to happen. I was standing in front of a 1,200-year-old Mayan temple in Mexico, my phone raised to capture the perfect Instagram shot, when our tour guide Marco casually mentioned, "The weather looks a little interesting today." That was his way of saying a tropical rainstorm was about to absolutely drench us. Let me back up. I'd booked this excursion through Celebrity Cruises while planning my week aboard the Celebrity Edge. The itinerary promised "guided exploration of ancient Mayan ruins with expert archaeologist." It sounded magical. It sounded educational. It sounded like the kind of experience that would make my friends at home genuinely jealous. The morning I signed up at the shore excursion desk, I was already imagining myself as some intrepid explorer uncovering secrets of lost civilizations. What I didn't imagine was forgetting to check the local weather forecast. Our group of about twenty people had been exploring the site for maybe forty minutes. Marco was explaining the intricate stone carvings and their significance to Mayan astronomy when I noticed the light getting we…