Spirit 2/12 review (Very Long)

[cruisedude66]

Embarkation:

We arrived at the terminal about 10:30 am and walked right up to the counters. We were checked in within 15 min. We left to walk downtown since they were not starting to board until noon.

When we go back about 12:10, the terminal was busy but not too crowded and was able to move around. Since my father needs assistance to get around. They let our whole party pre-board. We were given #5 boarding number when we first arrived but never had to wait till that was called. Some in our group arrived at 12:30 and got a lower number. Still don’t know how that happened.

I give Carnival and the port people an A+ for this experience.

After we got on the ship we headed to our cabins that were on Rivera Deck. We had 2 inside staterooms next to one another.

Being just out of dry dock I expected them to have everything ready. The rooms were made up but they were just putting finishing touches to the room. I thought the rooms were just the right size and was amazed at the closet space.

We went to the lido deck to find the FOOD. They had ample wait staff and all the buffet lines open. The food was just ok but I will talk about that later.

I was very disappointed that they didn’t have a band playing on the lido deck pool stage at all during this time.

We were given late seating even though we requested main seating. We went down to the restaurant to get that changed around 2pm. Only 3 couples in front of us and got that changed rather painless.

We left around 6pm local and it was a good day.

1st sea day: 1st formal dinner.

As others posted here before, it was cold and cloudy day at sea. We spent this day exploring the ship and just getting into vacation mode.

2nd Sea Day: Valentines Day.

As advertised by the Captain, this was a sunny 80 degree day. We were able to enjoy the sun and lay out on the deck. There were always plenty of deck chairs and always saw empty ones.

Acapulco:

We arrived at noon as advertised and were off the ship in no time. This is a very large city with a large number of taxi drivers ready to swarm. We arranged a driver before we left and she was waiting outside the terminal gates with a sign. Her name is Rosie Diaz Hernandez. She was wonderful. We had originally told her 9 people for this day long tour of the city and she quoted us 25 dollars per person. When we arrived she told us that she had a van for 16 people. We had others in our group so we waited and ended up with 14 on the tour. Well, we big Americans filled the van up so I would not take more than 12 in that 16 passenger van. This reduced our rate to 20 dollars per person.

She took us on a city tour, shopping, and the cliff divers. She had us back to the ship at 8pm. The cost of the van was the whole time we were in port so if you are more of a late night group she will keep you till the ship leaves.

Her business card says “Someone you can trust think of your excursion and I will make it come true, local and out of town”. This cannot be truer. Her English was perfect and she had a great relationship to all of us. Highly recommended you can find her email address by searching the boards for Rosie.

Zihuataneio/Ixtapa: Tender port:

We got our tender numbers about 7:30am and we were on shore with 2 hours after anchor. Tendering was a breeze our number was 5.

You arrive in Zihuataneio which is a fishing town with plenty of shopping opportunities. If you are not looking for something from Acapulco in particular I would wait till you get here. You can walk most of the town from the dock but be prepared to get swarmed by taxi drivers as you exit the pier. We spent about 2 hours walking and shopping before we decided to find a cab to Ixtapa Island.

We just asked 1 driver which was our mistake; he quoted us 30 USD to get to the pier at Playa Quieta. This was about a 30 min drive through the towns. We agreed to a time for him to pick us up because we didn’t see any taxi’s there when we arrived. The boat trip is short 3 USD round trip; make sure you save your ticket because they look at it on the way back.

We went to the beach next to the pier called Cuachalate Beach. There the beaches are lined with restaurants that have chairs and tables for you to use. We settled on one that was in the center and they took no time in wanting us to order. I ordered some drinks and waited to order food. Make sure when you order food you find out the exact price before hand. We had a whole red fish with sides and tortilla’s, which was very good. We did however make the mistake of taking the owners word about the price. We told him that we had limited cash because we needed money for the taxi ride back. He said if it is too much don’t worry about it and when you come back you can just pay me then. Well needless to say when we got the bill it was way overpriced.

We had a wonderful time on the beach and our 15 mo old just loved the ocean water. There were mostly locals on the beach so you know this is the place to be. A short walk to the other side of this beach is where the excursions take you for snorkeling.

Manzanillo:

They had buses waiting for us on the Pier to take you into the city center which was a surprise to all of us. The bus dropped you off in an area full of restraints and shops. We spent a few hours walking around looking at shops and decided to find a beach. When we were dropped off, the city tourism folks had a table set up for information as well as posted signs for taxi rates to specific places in town. We decided to go to La Boquita from the recomdation of the tourism people. This beach is also loaded with restaurants and locals. It has very mild surf so was perfect for our daughter. The meal was superb and also had a great time.

We had the restaunt call us a cab and they came in short order to take us back to the city center so we could take a bus back to the ship. Since we were early my wife and daughter did some more shopping as I relaxed to some Corona’s. I was with some other cruisers when we heard them say last bus. None of us thought they really meant the last bus because we still had 2 hours before the ship left. After about 30 min my wife and daughter arrived back so we went to the bus stop and the tourism people were packing up. Yes it was the last bus. Instead of taking a taxi back to the ship we decided that we would walk. It looked to be about an hour walk but we found some others on the way that had done it earlier and it was only about 30min.

First sea day after the ports:

It was another sunny day spent out on deck which was also our second formal night.

Last sea day:

This day was sunny but windy and cool. I did venture outside but did have jeans on. We also had to pack our bags and have them outside our door by midnight.

Pulling into port:

We arrived about 6:30 am and the lido deck area was full by 7:30 am with people eating. I suggest getting there early because it will be hard finding a seat. People just waited till they were called to get off the ship. We were the last group to leave and were at the airport by 11:30 am.

Summery:

This is my first cruise and this would not have been my first choice of itinerary. I had a great time at these ports and would recommend this to anyone. We had an inside cabin on the Rivera deck #1170. They captain was first rate. He was visible throughout the trip and also had a question and answer period our first sea day after the ports. Our cruise director was very loud and didn’t find anything I really wanted to participate in. I was just happy relaxing and wondering around the ship.

Our cabin steward also did a great job. Our TA said a crib would not be allowed in the room so we were going to bring our pack and play. We decided not to and just asked our steward when we first saw him. We pushed the bed to the wall and had plenty of room.

I thought our cabin was great. The showers are the best I have ever had in any hotel and everyone is right about the bedding. I never slept so well. I was surprised to find a mini bar in our class of room but used it for milk and drinks.

Now for the infant:

There are a lot of opinions on these boards about this subject but I am glad she came along. Never did any fellow cruisers give us an impression that she was in there way or annoyed them. Not to say she was an angel. She had her fits at the dinner table in the restaurant and she loved to walk around the lido deck and might have gotten in peoples way. So if you think you want to bring an infant bring them and don’t listen to all the naysayers.

I never figured out what they did in dry dock. They had crews working on the ship while we were there and had parts of the fantail pool closed a few days. Wasn’t to inconvenient but they did have the slide and the children’s pool closed the whole trip. I don’t think the slides on the Spirit class will ever open again. No one can give you a reason.

Now I am ready to book again I am hooked. :D