carnival pride? or spirit ? mexico

[melika091900]

Which ship would be better for a cruise with a 5 year old???

we are comparing both,, weve never been to acapulco so i wasnt sure if it was safe for us to take our daughter there..

any opinions on this ?

thanks

melissa

[Wennfred]

As far as the Mexican Riveria, We prefered the Pride out of Long Beach 7 day cruise trip then the one on the Spirit, In Puerto Vallarta we went swimming with the Dolphins, if you havent done this, its best to do it here, the water is enclosed as in a pool and filtered, they give you life vest to stay afloat and you get to interact with the Dolphins, totally amazing !!!

In Mazatlan, we went horseback riding on the beach with Randi's Happy Horse, truely an awesome experience if you like to ride horses, they have horses for every level rider.

In Cabo we took a water taxi over to the Mango Deck, its a bar/grill place on the beach and sat there under a nice unbrella to keep us from the hot sun, food and drinks there are great and cheap in price. Getting in and out of the water taxi with a 5 year old could be hard, but you can still take a land taxi there.

In cabo can do all the water sports there also, water ski, jet ski, parasailing etc. Walking distance to the La Melia Hotel and Resort, there you can get a nice massage, get out of the sand and hit their nice pools

The Spirit Cruise, although an Awesome ship out of San Diego, 8 Day cruise, We didnt care to much for Manzanillo, there we did an exotic land resort with the cruise ship, but it would be better there with your 5 years, same with Zihuatanejo we also did a land resort also, both has nice pools. In Acapulco we saw the Cliff Diver, it was a 7 hour tour, could be too long of a tour for your kid.

 

This is what we did, we didnt take a child, hopefully someone with children can give you a better run down.

[michelle2]

We've done both cruises with our kids who are now 7 and 10 years old.

In Nov 2004 we did the Pride:

PV - Paradise Beach thru the ship

Mazatlan - Randi's Happy Horses

Cabo - just walked around and shopped

 

In Nov 2005 we did the Spirit:

Acapulco - Hyatt by taxi and cliff divers

Zihuatanejo - Ixtapa Island thru the ship

Manzanillo - turtle reserve thru the ship

 

The two ships are so alike that I think you really need to pick the cruise based on the ports. Our favorite excursions were Randi's Happy Horses and the turtle reserve. We had a great time on both of the cruises. The extra day on the Spirit was nice. It did feel a little longer. As far as your concerns about Acapulco - we never felt unsafe. We had great taxi driver that took us to the cliff divers and waited for us. We did drive through some neighborhoods on the way to the cliff divers that looked a little scary. I would not recommend just walking around Acapulco by yourself. I would take a taxi somewhere or book an excursion thru the ship. Let me know if you have any questions about our excursions...

[DottieMay]

Thanks for this information! Having just finished the 4 day on the Paradise, we are planning our next cruise and it is likely to be one of these two!

[trustthedj]

In Nov 2005 we did the Spirit:

Acapulco - Hyatt by taxi and cliff divers

Zihuatanejo - Ixtapa Island thru the ship

Manzanillo - turtle reserve thru the ship

 

Family of six will be on the Spirit in March - trying to save some money on excursions. Did you like the Hyatt? How much time spent there? And then did you take a taxi to the cliff divers? Would also love to know if you thought the Ixtapa Island excursion was worth the money - could it be done on your own any cheaper? All thoughts WELCOME! Thanks.:)

[dlstex]

You need to check out both itineraries that are offered and which best suits your tastes. The nice thing about the Spirit is that the air port is only a mile away and makes it a breeze for showing same day from SF. If you decide to arrive the day before, the Holiday Inn is just 300ft from the pier and there is a lot to see within walking distance. The only problem I saw with the Spirit was it looked pretty worn in some areas, however I am under the impression it is or will be very soon spruced up. What can be fun is watching cruisers (after having a few too many on shore) returning to ship when both ships are in the same port at the same time and trying to figure out which ship they belong too. Passengers on the Lido deck on both ships were just cracking up watching the show down below. ;)

[wannacruisemore]

If you leave from San Diego you have longer in each port. The spirit just got out of drydock, it should be in pretty good shape. Yes, the Holiday Inn in directly across the street from the cruise terminal. Pretty cool to get a balcony in the hotel and you can watch the ships. Either way you will have a great cruise:o And Anthonys seafood is real close and is great seafood. It is family ran since the 40's. I would highly receommend it!!!!

[candigirl41]

I have done both. The only thing I didn't like about Acapulco were the little children. When you arrive back at the port to reboard the ship, the kids were literally climbing on us. My DD BF had to throw one off of him, the boy was so persistant. They want money and it is really sad, but it was very unnerving. They try to take your bags so you will pay to get them back. The security guys just sit and laugh. I don't think it's funny. They make a lot of money in Mexico and they need to do something about putting the children in school. I have been followed by children in other ports but not to this extent. Usually in the other ports you just say no and they move on, but not in Acapulco, they dogged us right up to the terminal where they couldn't get any further.

 

Candi

[michelle2]

Family of six will be on the Spirit in March - trying to save some money on excursions. Did you like the Hyatt? How much time spent there? And then did you take a taxi to the cliff divers? Would also love to know if you thought the Ixtapa Island excursion was worth the money - could it be done on your own any cheaper? All thoughts WELCOME! Thanks.:)

 

Acapulco: We really liked the Hyatt. They have a couple of nice pools and a beach that you can play on. We paid $13 for two chairs on the beach. There was no fee to use the facility. My husband had a great massage on the beach 45 minutes for $25! We spent probably 4 hours there. We took a taxi over and just walked into the front desk and told them we came off the ship. The front desk lady told us who to see at the pool area to rent the chairs. The pool guy took us down to the beach and got the chairs for us. It work out great for us. It was an inexpensive day at the beach. We took a taxi back to the ship for dinner. We took another taxi over to the cliff divers after dinner. Entrance into the cliff divers was $8 for all four of us and that included 4 sodas. We saved a lot of money by doing these excursions on our own.

 

Ixtapa Island: We were a little disappointed in this excursion. I had read some really good reviews before we went so I guess I had high expectations. Between the long bus ride (I think it was about an hour each way) and the water taxi ride I felt like we didn't have a lot of time on the beach. My husband snorkeled. When you rent the equipment a guide comes with it. He insists that all the snorkelers stay together. You all enter the water together, swim together, and exit the water together. It was much more rigid than we are used to. We husband actually tried to get away from him and the guide tracked him down. The beach was nice. My kids and I did a banana boat ride. They had jet skis to rent. You get 2 free drinks with the excursion. There are lots of restaurants to buy food. I thought the excursion was overpriced. I think if I were to do it again I would look for a beach or resort closer to the ship. I'm not sure about doing Ixtapa Island on your own. With the long drive and water taxi I'm not sure it would be much cheaper.