Sprit/Mexican Cruise?

[Suburban Drudgery]

Can anyone tell me any great sights/excursions to see on this cruise? It goes to Acapulco,Ixtapa,Manzillo(sp?).
TIA

[PeggySand]

Hi! We just returned from the 12/09/06 sailing of the Spirit.

In Acapulco, we hired a van with the driver named Alberto. There were five adults and two small (7 & 4) kids. He spoke English very well, and we told him up front what we wanted for the day. He took us for snorkeling at Roqueta Island, which was $5 pp for the boat over to the island. Alberto stayed with us for the whole day. After a few hours of snorkeling, he took us to a shopping area and we walked around for about an hour. Then he took us to an old hotel overlooking all of Acapulco to see the beautiful lights at night, including the cruise ship. After that, we went to the cliff divers ($3.50 entrance fee). Many feel that the cliff divers are a "must see" in this city. After that, Alberto took us to one of his favorite little taco shops and we had a wonderful dinner. Alberto's fee was $180 total, and we were with him for at least six hours or more. It was a great day.

In Zihuatanejo, we tendered in and walked around the beautiful little town and enjoyed looking and shopping in all the little shops. We spent a large amount of time just enjoying the warm ocean and some of the adults took the kids on a banana boat ride. The banana boat guy told us about one of his favorite places to eat, which was called Pollo Loco, so we walked there and enjoyed another great authentic meal.

In Manzanillo, we ended up going by taxi to a small beach called La Boquita. We sat at one of the many open-air restaurants and enjoyed the beach and more great Mexican food. It was a great day at the beach. For $10 pp (including equipment), we went snorkeling in a little boat with a ladder, and the guy took us to two great snorkeling places, one of which was a sunken boat in fairly shallow water, so the living reef was easily seen as we snorkeled all around it. That trip was a little over an hour, and we saw tons of fish.

As you can see, we didn't do any ship excursions. Since this was our third time in these cities, we felt very confident going out on our own. Do your research on these boards and you will learn a lot. Don't forget to check the Ports of Call area of these boards.

Have a great time, and don't sweat the small stuff.
Peggy

[mek]

Peggy - I'm going on the Spirit in February. Can you tell me anything about the ship - food, entertainment? Anything special I should know? DH and I cruise frequently, but somehow have never been to any of these ports, so were looking forward to a new experience.

[PeggySand]

MEK,

Embarkation and debarkation in San Diego was the quickest and easiest of all of our cruises; we couldn't believe how fast they both went.

The Spirit is a wonderful ship. We were all able to find our way around by the end of the first sea day, including my 7-year-old grandson.

I highly suggest that you go to the Supper Club one evening, it is an experience not to be missed. We went on the second evening at sea, but make sure you go up to the Supper Club to make your reservation the day you board because that night books up quickly (the first sea day is the first formal night, don't miss the lobster in the dining room!). The duo that perfoms in the Supper Club is quite good, and they take requests. They are called "Two's Company." There is a bar up there that you can use any evening, and also a dance floor.

All of us got hooked on the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake served as an alternate dessert in the dining room for dinner. I'm still going through sugar withdrawls from our cruise!

The horse races are fun, but Carnival doesn't promote it as much as they did on RCCL, so watch for it in the Capers.

We entered the drawing for a free spa treatment on embarkation day. You have to take a short tour of the spa to enter, and you must be present at 9:30 pm in the spa to be a winner. I won a seaweed wrap/half-body massage that was valued at $159 to be taken on any port day. I did it the morning we arrived in Acapulco, and it was pure heaven!!

That's all I have time for now, but if I think of anything else, I will let you know.

Have a great cruise and don't sweat the small stuff.
Peggy

[Catmomma]

Originally Posted by PeggySand

I highly suggest that you go to the Supper Club one evening

Was there a seafood option there? We are heading out in just under 4 weeks on the Spirit. I was thinking about doing the Supper Club for my birthday but my husband and I are vegetarians that occasionally eat seafood. If it is just a steak place it won't do us any good.

[PeggySand]

Check out the 8-night Dining Room menus and also the Supper Club Menu at this link:

http://tom-n-cheryl.smugmug.com/gallery/2102141/1. Click on the "O" above to see the menu close up.

They have a pan-fried Dover Sole entre and also a broiled lobster tail.

The Supper Club is wonderful for the music, the dance floor, the SERVICE and also the superior meals. Everything was great, from the Starters to the Desserts. Hopefully, you can go to the above link to check out the different menus.

Have a great cruise,
Peggy

[Catmomma]

Originally Posted by PeggySand

Hopefully, you can go to the above link to check out the different menus.

Oh thanks for the pictures of the menus, that is great! Any chance you could tell me the order they are in. I am curious what our dinner options are the night of my birthday which would be night 7 of the cruise.

[mek]

Thanks, Peggy!