Jan 2008 Spirit Review

[Molly BPOE]

Hello fellow cruise junkies. We just returned from our 8 day Mexican Rivera cruise. The dates were from 1/9/08-1/17/08

 

Pre-Cruise

We drove in so we booked the cruise~n~snooze deal at the Holiday Inn Bayside. The hotel was great with lots to do for the kids (swimming pool, 9 hole putting course, hot tub, pool table, ping pong, shuffle board). They were very friendly and the deal included allowing us to park our car for up to 10 days. They shuttle you to and from the port.

 

Embarkation

Went smoothly. We got to the port at 11:25 and were on the ship by 12:30. Cabins were not ready so we staked out a spot on the lido deck and had lunch. After we were able to drop off our carry ons, we explored the ship. Very easy layout and all the decks went through.

 

First two sea days

The weather is cool the first and most of the second sea day in January. We participated in some of the activities, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed being on vacation. The first sea day was the meet and greet for our roll call, we met at the aft bar and got to know who was who. This was a great group of folks and I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with them.

 

Acapulco

We got off the ship and did some shopping. This port was our least favorite and I wish now that we had booked an excursion through the ship. The city is dirty and very smelly. Children as young as two and three begging or trying to sell you gum and crafts. If we do this itinerary again I will either book with Carnival or stay on the ship that day.

Zito (I can't spell it so why try)

Cute fishing village. Shopping was nice and hubby and the kid swam here. We tendered at this port, but as we were doing our own thing we just waited about an hour after we docked to get our tender stickers. Really quite easy.

 

Mazanillo

Many have posted that this is an industrial port. They were being truthful. However, we got off the ship and took the shuttle to the shopping district ($4 per person round trip) Shopping here was the best. Prices were more reasonable and better selection of goods. We enjoyed this port.

 

Last two sea days

More relaxing and joining in activities. I won the last day at Trivial Pursuit and go my solid gold ship on a stick:D. Battle of the sexes was also a lot of fun! I played in the casino a couple of nights and was happy to give hubby back all the money he gave me to gamble with after I won on the last night. I was able to pay off our sail and sign as well!

 

Staff

The staff on this ship were the greatest. Sergei was our cabin steward, he was great with the kids and very nice. Ovi and Anna were our dining room team. Words cannot describe how wonderful these two people are. Very attentive and never batted an eye if we wanted something else. Ovi did some AMAZING card tricks after dinner and just wowed our kids. I am writing a letter to Carnival specifically to praise these two people. I have never had better service on land or sea.

 

Shows

 

The shows were for the most part okay. We really enjoyed the juggler, he was funny and clean. The magician was just so so. The comedian was funny in both the afternoon show and the midnight adult show. Hubby went to some of the other shows that feature singing and dancing and said they were good.

 

Food

It was excellent! We especially enjoyed the baked mushrooms, escargot, Fried shrimp, grouper, snapper, the roasted beef tenderloin, salmon, fried mozzarella, warm chocolate melting cake and the bitter and blanc bread pudding.

 

Debarkation

I really like the debarkation process on Spirit, last time we cruise you had to wait for your luggage tag color to be called and had no idea when you were getting close. This time you received tags with a number between 1-36. So basically if you were #10, you knew when you were getting close to debarking. Made everything much easier.

 

Overall cruise

I would take this cruise again and with the exception of staying on the ship in Acapulco, would enjoy it again. The Spirit was great and we really enjoyed her.

[mprucha]

I was thrilled to read your review of this ship and itinerary. We're considering the spirit for 2009. Glad you had a great vacation!

[Charming01]

Thanks for the great review. I'm glad you had a good trip!

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review.

[mjbearit]

Thanks for the review! We leave on the exact same trip Mar 5! I got excited all over again just reading your review! We did book an excursion for Aca so hopefully we will have a good time in that port.

[Pischina]

Molly, we had Ovidu and Anna for our servers also! We had late seating, when was yours? I am not sure I met you at our Meet & Greet, so I'm not sure what you look like. :)

 

I agree with your review except for a few downsides we had:

 

The food for us, and our whole dining table, and everyone we seemed to come into contact with, was really really below standards. I cruised the Pride in August so I knew what to expect, but this was really really disappointing for us. We did love breakfast, and on the last day there were barbecue ribs in the buffet that were to die for, and that evening the quail in the dining room was excellent. The rest of the food was very disappointing.

 

Entertainment:

We didn't go to all the shows, and none of the singing/dancing ones.

I enjoyed the first juggler. The magician (Woody?) was painful to watch. The comedian that followed was okay so we went to his R rated show, but we didn't like that one at all. I really did enjoy the juggler though.

 

Excursions:

In Acapulco we went Snuba Diving so we never actually set foot on land there. The Snuba Diving was not as good as in Cabo but my husband had never gone and he had a very good time.

In Ixtapa we did the dolphin swim, and that was fun. Then we walked around Zihua and shopped, and had a delicious lunch of various tamales at "Tamales y Atoles Ana".

In Manzanillo we had the best time. We took the Magic Pueblos tour. It is a 1-1/2 hour bus ride to Comala, but the bus is very comfortable and the guide gave us a running comentary on the history of the town, and various features we passed by. We stopped at a watermelon stand to sample yellow watermelon, we visited the house of Alejandro Rangel, a Mexican artist who also collected ancient pottery, we visited a coffee roasting plant and sampled coffee and bought bags of coffee beans and jewelry made from coffee beans. We visited a bakery where they were making mexican pandulces, and we bought some 3 for $1. Then we landed in Comala for a wonderful lunch of Tapas and punch made from pomegranate and tequila, and did a little shopping. It was a very relaxing day and everyone on the bus seemed to have a good time. Comala is beautiful and is filled with amazingly happy and friendly people - the best place I have ever visited in Mexico.

 

We also had a very good time, mostly relaxing and spent a lot of time reading. The first two days were at least warm enough to go in the jacuzzi and lay in the sun, we were only cold on the very last day.

 

We used Luggage Express and it was WONDERFUL. We were off the ship by 8:35am, but our flight was not until 3:30pm. Without dragging our luggage around we were able to spend the day walking around San Diego (one of my favorite places!) and had lunch in Old Town. Then we just took a taxi to the airport around 2pm. I definitely recommend Luggage Express if you are able to do it, it is one of the best ideas they have come up with.

[Molly BPOE]

Pischina,

I am sorry about your food. Ours was truly wonderful! There were a couple of dishes we didn't care for but overall we were very happy. We had late seating also table 214. Were you and your SO sitting at the table a little ways away from the group at the meet and greet? I am just trying to place you. Sounds like your day in Manzanillo was amazing. If I go back I will have to try that excursion.

[KLTCRUISER]

It sounds amazing, we sail on March 13th! The day can't come soon enough! Thanks for the wonderful review!

[Luckysll]

Thanks for the review. I'm going to be on the same cruise in 3 days!!

[Humnbrd]

I was on the same cruise. I really enjoyed the whole trip. I also took the Magaic Pueblos excursion. It was a real delight. I will be doing this cruise again in the future.

[mkitchy]

Pischina,

Did you have air thru Carnival? Just wondering, as we have return air thru ExpressJet, not Carnival, and we're hoping it will be available for us. Sounds like a great deal.

[Pischina]

We were at the late seating at a table with three couples. I know Ovidu was doing card tricks for the boy at the table next to us and he always spoke of how much he loved that kid - I'm sure that was your boy.

 

What about the line to get into the dining room every night! AI YI YI!!!!! That was another downside of the cruise - but don't get me wrong, overall I still had a great time.

 

And yes, at the Meet & Greet we met a few people in the group and then sat down to relax. I met several more of you while sitting at the table and we really enjoyed meeting you all.

 

Humnbird: Sorry I didn't know you were there at Magic Pueblos! I'm sure we saw each other! I talked to quite a few people on the trip, I wonder who you were! :)

 

Luggage Express: We had arranged our own flight. Anyone can do luggage express as long as there are only 2 bags per person to check. They will leave a note in your room about it early in the cruise, and give you a few days to turn it in. It costs $15 per person, but it was worth it to us to not have to spend the entire day in the airport. There is plenty to do around San Diego by foot, or they have a trolley and plenty of taxis. We turned in our forms, and put out our luggage the night before just like everyone else, they just give you different luggage tags which are actually the airport tags. In the morning I think they call Luggage Express with Group 2, and we were off by 8:35am. It was a great day!

[Nebr.cruiser]

Pischina,

Did you have air thru Carnival? Just wondering, as we have return air thru ExpressJet, not Carnival, and we're hoping it will be available for us. Sounds like a great deal.

 

 

We were on the exact same cruise as Molly, and we used ExpressJet. I'm very sorry to tell you that the express luggage option was not available on ExpressJet, though it was for quite a few other airlines. Darn!

 

Our plane didn't leave until 4:50 so we were lucky to have a nephew who picked us up, did some sight-seeing and lunch with us, and took us to the airport. Otherwise we were going to either rent a car, for luggage space, or go to the airport and see if we could check our luggage in early. Does anyone know how early this can be done? I suppose it varies with airlines.

 

We did love using ExpressJet (this was our first time) since we had a non-stop flight from Omaha, practically unheard of! Not having to change planes was wonderful. We were home in less than three hours.

 

We had a great time on this cruise, like Molly, many more good experiences than bad. We actually thought the food was mostly excellent also, and so plentiful!

 

If I get ambitious I'll write a review too.

[tha sista]

how cold was it the first 2 sea days....did you have plenty of warmth the last 2?

[Molly BPOE]

how cold was it the first 2 sea days....did you have plenty of warmth the last 2?

I think the captain said it was about 62 degrees on the first sea day, but it progressivly got warmer. The average temp in Mexico was 95 degrees (it was -9 when we got home :( ) The trip back got progressivly cooler, although it was not rainy in San Diego when we disembarked so that made a big difference.

[tha sista]

thanks molly

[MommaOML]

Thanks for the reviews! I am on this ship at the end of February. 60 degrees sounds fine with me. It's been -40 with the wind chill here lately :o Not having to wear long underwear to work in my office is something I look forward to!

[Nebr.cruiser]

Temperatures were kind of cool for the sea days. Like Molly said, 62 for high the first day out; for me (I get cold easialy) just barely warm enough to lay out. The second day was better, more like 70ish.

 

Mexico was very warm, 85-90 all three days.

 

The last two sea days were pretty cool. First day on the way back, around 60 for a high; I tried laying out, but with the wind was too cold. The last day was really quite cool, probably in the 50's, and we didn't spend much time outdoors. The good news; Lots of chairs available on that day!

 

We knew going in (had done the other Mexican Riviera Route) that the first and last sea days would likely be cool, but were hoping for a little warmer conditions. Very smooth though.

 

15 for the highs here in Nebr., with snow, since we got back, 60 sounds pretty good.

 

Molly, my son in Butte had -30's for a couple of nights and 8-9 inches of snow too. Brrrr.

[Amy G]

Do you happen to remember what night Beef Wellington was served (DH's favorite!)?

[KLTCRUISER]

Did you hear of anyone who made the 1:00 show of the cliff divers in Acapulco? We would love to see it in the daytime!

[mkitchy]

Thanks Nebr.cruiser. Maybe next time.:)

[Darlipoo]

go to the airport and see if we could check our luggage in early. Does anyone know how early this can be done? I suppose it varies with airlines.

 

.

 

I looked at this site because I'd like to sail the Spirit one day. As to your question, while on the Elation last week a couple at dinner had the same problem. Would have the whole day to waste but had no place for luggage. The man who travels a lot for business said a lost of places won't let you check your luggage more than 6 hours ahead of a flight.

[Sharkin97]

Check with your airline to see about luggage. I am sure you can check 6 or 8 hours ahead of time. San Diego is NOT a huge mega-airport where hundreds of thousands of pieces of luggage are sorted and flown daily.

 

From the downtown/port area, a cab is less than 10 bucks.... Thats an extra 20 bucks total to not sit at the airport and do nothing or have to haul your luggage around with you.

 

OP: Thanks for the review! Less than 4 weeks until we sail on Spirit!

[Nebr.cruiser]

Thanks for your advice on luggage--we've just never had it happen that we could have been stuck with it for hours before our flight departed before.

 

We probably would have gone the cab to the airport route and tried to check in early if we needed to. Nice to know we probably could have. Also nice to have relatives in San Diego!