Need tips on Spirit to Mexico 12-13

[menmoo]

Hi all. I am going on an 8 day Mexican cruise out of San Diego. I am looking for any do's and don'ts on this ship or in Alcapulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo. I have never sailed out of San Diego or to any of these ports. Any tips would be appreciated. Also if anyone has the menu I would love it. Thanks

[cathyz]

Hi all. I am going on an 8 day Mexican cruise out of San Diego. I am looking for any do's and don'ts on this ship or in Alcapulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo. I have never sailed out of San Diego or to any of these ports. Any tips would be appreciated. Also if anyone has the menu I would love it. Thanks

A group of us (28) were on this cruise in March and had a great time. I would recommend going to Zhihuatanejo (great authentic fishing town), not Ixtapa (a string of high rise hotels). Other than that, just have a great time! There are pics in my signature if you're interested. The menus are the same fleetwide so if you can find one for any other ship, it'll be the same.

[candigirl41]

In Zihuatehnejo we went to a really nice restaurant called La Perla on Playa La Ropa. Cost 7.00 for the cab back in 06. We stayed there all day eating drinking and playing in the ocean. Acapulco can be very intense. Lot's of vendors trying to sell you tours, kids literally climbing on you for money. Very scary at one point. We found a guy with a suburban and hired him for the day. There were 8 of us. It was during football playoffs, so we bar hopped so the football fans could see the games. In Manzanillo with did the colonial tour and really enjoyed it but it is a very long day. Zihuatehnjeo was my favorite port. I hope to go back in December.

 

Candi

[4bolts]

Hi all. I am going on an 8 day Mexican cruise out of San Diego. I am looking for any do's and don'ts on this ship or in Alcapulco, Ixtapa, Manzanillo. I have never sailed out of San Diego or to any of these ports. Any tips would be appreciated. Also if anyone has the menu I would love it. Thanks

 

We sail on the Spirit in October and are still trying to decide what to do. I like the catamaran and snorkel but we aren't sold on anything yet. Alcapulco is a pretty brief stop I think it is 7 to 4 so not much time to do much. We will hit the hard rock as we are collectors but other than that, we will probably stay close to the ship and just walk to the divers.

 

Email me if you want some more information on san diego or go to the carnival cruise website and join our discussioins there.

[caribbean dreams]

I also sailed Spirit in March (i think the cruise right before Cathyz)

 

Acapulco, caught a taxi to the beach, parasailed & rented jet skies for the day, had the driver drop us off at the ship to shower & eat, he then picked us back up to take us to the night cliff drivers show...that is a must see, we had a private balcony & free beer or soda for $3pp, we just could beat that price.

 

Zihuatehnejo, we had a private ziplining tour booked, this is a tender port, we were a little late getting off (even though we had priority tender boarding) the driver was patient & waited, afterwords we wondered around town, shopped & ate the local tacos 2 for $1 or rolled tacos 4 for $1

 

Manzanillo, we had nothing planned but after talking to a few local operators, we decided to charter a boat ($25pp +free beer & snacks)) for a little fishing & sun bathing, didn't catch much fish but saw lots of sea turtles and anchored for a swim. After, we decided to walk back to the ship and search out more local food (something we do in every port)

we found the perfect food, a BBQ under a sun tarp with a few picnic tables, the food was great, 2 taco's, 2 quesadillas, beans and a bottles soda for about $3.30pp american, the total bill was $30 for 10 of us.

We also found the churros cart, a bag of freshly made churros for $1.

 

The weather was great!!!

 

remember the sunscreen!

[caribbean dreams]

Acapulco can be very intense. Lot's of vendors trying to sell you tours, kids literally climbing on you for money. i

 

We had our taxi driver take us to the same beach that the Carnival beach excursion goes to, He walked us thru this resort (can't think of the name) the resort owner told us if we bought all our drinks & beach rentals thru them, he would take care of us...and he did, his parpasailing was $10 cheaper that the others and so were the jetski rentals, the drinks were about $3 a piece, we sat us in a large roped in area, no vendors we let thru the ropes unless we wanted to see something they had. They did a really good job at keeping those pesty ventors out, the day was made twice was good because of this!

[4bolts]

I also sailed Spirit in March (i think the cruise right before Cathyz)

 

Acapulco, caught a taxi to the beach, parasailed & rented jet skies for the day, had the driver drop us off at the ship to shower & eat, he then picked us back up to take us to the night cliff drivers show...that is a must see, we had a private balcony & free beer or soda for $3pp, we just could beat that price.

 

Zihuatehnejo, we had a private ziplining tour booked, this is a tender port, we were a little late getting off (even though we had priority tender boarding) the driver was patient & waited, afterwords we wondered around town, shopped & ate the local tacos 2 for $1 or rolled tacos 4 for $1

 

Manzanillo, we had nothing planned but after talking to a few local operators, we decided to charter a boat ($25pp +free beer & snacks)) for a little fishing & sun bathing, didn't catch much fish but saw lots of sea turtles and anchored for a swim. After, we decided to walk back to the ship and search out more local food (something we do in every port)

we found the perfect food, a BBQ under a sun tarp with a few picnic tables, the food was great, 2 taco's, 2 quesadillas, beans and a bottles soda for about $3.30pp american, the total bill was $30 for 10 of us.

We also found the churros cart, a bag of freshly made churros for $1.

 

The weather was great!!!

 

remember the sunscreen!

 

Our Acapulco time is very limited. We set sail at 3pm so we will miss the night time diving. Do they dive in the morning and is it easy to walk there?

Can you tell me how far Hard Rock Cafe is? Last time we took a cab there and back and again, thought about just walking this time.

 

Our excursions that are offered right now for all three ports are very limited. Hubby doesn't want me to book private tours so he is staying with Carnival.

 

However, he will consent to a cab ride somewhere so any suggestions in Manzanillo?

[caribbean dreams]

There is a day diving show but i'm not sure when it starts, it is only a few blocks from the ship but up hill so you will want to take a taxi.

 

Someone else may have other suggestions about Manzanilla, all i know to do is go to the shopping area.