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MEXICAN RIVIERA CRUISE
Trip Log
San Diego to Acapulco
October 13-21, 2007
Traveling: Glenn and Barbara
Sunrise near
Zihuatenejo, Mexico
The Specifics of the Cruise:
8-day cruise on the Carnival Spirit
Verandah Cabin No. 5261, aft, starboard side on Upper Deck (5), Category 8B
Refrigerator, small sofa, queen bed
First Dinner Seating, 5:45 p.m.
Booked through Costco Travel
Cost: Cruise and roundtrip air, PDX-San Diego, $2,385.02 Costco trip insurance: $82.
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Saturday, October 13
The HUT shuttle dropped us off at PDX just before 8 a.m. Check-in is now almost paperless. We had printed out our boarding passes 24 hours prior to the flight, so technically we could have just dropped off our bags at the x-ray machine, and gone on to the departure area. But, I had requested a wheelchair, and therefore had to check in with an agent. She weighed the bags, and very soon the wheelchair and pusher showed up. This was my first dealing with the TSA since my knee surgery, and as I had been warned, I got a thorough “wanding” but passed with flying colors. It really DOES take almost two hours to run this gauntlet, but we had time for a breakfast sandwich at Wendy’s. I also had time to check our e-mail, and even send out a few messages in one of the nice “work centers” scattered among the departure lounges. Plenty of stations, electrical outlets and FREE WI FI, which worked well, if a bit slowly. No wonder PDX is rated among the top airports in the USA.
Even though our flight was about 20 minutes late arriving, due to strong headwinds, the captain got us to San Diego almost on time, again, thanks to those strong winds—now pushing the plane south.
We located a Carnival rep in the baggage area but they seemed less sure of what to do with us than other cruise reps have been in the past. But, before long a bus appeared, we climbed aboard and got to the ship about 2:30 p.m. However, the ship was not ready for us! We checked in quickly, and then were told they wouldn’t start boarding for at least an hour, and suggested we take a shuttle bus to a nearby shopping area. But we were hauling our rolling backpacks around, and didn’t relish dragging them all over San Diego! We did walk along the dockside, admiring the sailing ship, “The Star of India” moored nearby, plus other interesting ships.
When we got back to the port building, HUGE numbers of us cruisers were waiting for their names to be called. We had a card saying “Zone 18,” and our hearts sank when they hadn't even called "Zone 1" yet! It was 4 p.m. before we finally filed past another security checkpoint and walked up the gangplank.
Our idea of having lunch aboard the ship had evaporated and we just waited for dinner at 5:45 p.m. We were able to go right to our cabin, but the luggage didn't show up for several hours. Carnival's interior decorators applied a very colorful palette to this ship, both in our cabin and throughout the ship. Seemed a bit TOO bright at first, but later it seemed nice and cheery. The cabin was well-arranged for storage and use of counter space. However, the reading lamps were placed on nightstands so low, that their light only illuminated the floor, not the bed! Later we discovered there was ceiling perimeter lighting which was nice and bright, and that became our reading light.
Our balcony was not big, but enough. It had two comfy chairs, with high backs and metal frame supporting a fabric-type back and seat. The chairs were NOT the white plastic type. (Because of the fire aboard a Princess ship, perhaps?) There was also a small round metal table. The bed, made up as a queen as we had requested, was a bit firmer than ours at home, but quite satisfactory. The duvet cover and synthetic down-like pillows were nice. In fact, we grew so attached to the pillows we ordered some from the Carnival catalog later. It turns out you can pretty much buy everything in your cabin, if you desire—from bathrobes to bed duvet! Our cabin steward encountered us in the hall, enroute to dinner, and introduced himself. He was “Emanuel” from the Philippines, as are many of the wait staff in the dining room.
For this first dinner we had temporary table assignments in the "Empire" dining room. Our table was for two, and right at the railing on the upper level where we had a nice view down into the lower dining level. We later asked the maitre'd for a table for two, hoping to get something similar. While he couldn't make a commitment this night, he promised to let us know tomorrow. We both ordered the Tiger Shrimp with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Best shrimp we ever had! They had fried the shrimp in a tempura batter.
In spite of a very long day (up at 5:15 a.m. to catch the airport shuttle) we managed to stay in the casino until about midnight. We both had good luck at times—enough to keep us playing. My personal best was about $15. from a penny machine. Unfortunately, they have two of our favorite kind of slots here: the “sevens” and the “Hot Shots.” Hard to stay away from them, and at times they paid off, especially for Glenn.
Before going to bed, we put out a request for a room service breakfast, to be served between 8 and 8:30 since the requisite lifeboat drill was scheduled for “about” 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, October 14
The theme of this cruise must be “two hours behind, no matter what.” We were up by 8a.m. eagerly awaiting our room service breakfast, and when we finally gave up and were gnawing on a left-over muffin from yesterday’s plane ride, breakfast arrived at 9 a.m. with profuse apologies from the room service man. He blamed it all on the “first day of the cruise” but don’t they do a cruise every week? Anyway, it was an “interesting” breakfast—we got the cereals we ordered, and the milk, and my banana. But, Glenn’s fruit plate magically had transformed into soft-smoked salmon with capers! The toast came, with butter on the side, but no knives to spread it or slice the banana. We managed, but it was the most mis-handled room service breakfast we ever had on a ship.
The late arrival of breakfast didn’t turn out to be a problem, as we also patiently sat around, with life vests on the bed, ready to put on—for another hour. But, finally, the signal came loud and clear and we trooped down two flights of stairs to our muster station. We are pretty practiced by now, on donning life vests, although I sincerely never want to put this to a REAL test. People lined up very obediently and generally shut up and paid attention—better than on many other cruises.
After stashing our life jackets in the cabin, we made a little tour of the ship, locating the gymnasium and considering using the whirlpool spa in that area, instead of either of the outdoor spas which were well-filled with both adults and children. But first, we attacked the casino again, and it was Barb’s turn to make some money.
The day was just about perfect, weather-wise. Just the tiniest of whitecaps on the waves, sunshine with some harmless clouds, and on the port side of the ship, we could see the outline of Baja California off in the distance.
Lunch was from the Lido buffet, and eaten on the aft deck, in the shade, but with nice views of the sea, the nearby pool, and to Glenn’s delight, some well-filled, but not OVER-filled bikinis. Yes, the median age on this cruise is a bit lower, although we senior citizens are still the majority. But enough young men and women to pep things up a bit. Not a vast variety at the buffet, but plenty, and the different food “stations” were nicely laid out. We weren’t constantly bumping into the other cruisers, which has been true on some of our other cruises. We settled for fresh fruit, a bit of salad, and a small bit of cake for dessert.
Glenn changed his mind about the spa pool—the fact there was a good football game on TV might have influenced him. So, I changed into my “gym” clothes and headed back up to the gym—located on the 9 th floor, well forward of the Lido buffet. I decided I really didn’t need to walk on the treadmill today—I probably logged at least 6 or 7 trips from one end of the ship to the other—and this ship is over 900 feet long! I was pleased to find that they had exactly the same model of recumbent bike that I use at the Courthouse Club, and was also pleased that I could move the seat forward a bit more, increasing the bend of my knee. Some more time on a couple of the weight machines, and I felt I could “afford” to take dishes of soft ice cream back to the cabin, and share with Glenn.
Tonight was the first of the two “formal nights” for this cruise, so the rest of the afternoon was taken up with showering, dressing, and taking the requisite photos in our cabin while looking unnaturally “dressed up." Along with the “formal night” it was also the Captain’s Reception before dinner. Carnival did an excellent job on this. We all filed into the theater which we were happy to see had comfy couches instead of narrow theater-type seats. They offered a good assortment of drinks and very nice warm hors d’oeuvers. And, the waiters came around often with refills, if wanted. Instead of having to stand in a long, long line to shake the Captain’s hand, he just stood on the stage, and introduced his crew. I suspect most of cruise lines have adopted this method for these receptions—people have had enough standing in line by the time they board the ship, and don’t need to do so any more!
When we headed for the “Empire Room” dining room, we were pleased to see that our request for a table for two had been honored. We are now assigned Table 402, on the second level of the dining room, right at the railing, with an eagle’s eye view of the diners below. While we still prefer the “anytime dining” of Princess Lines, this dining room is really very nicely arranged, with less big tables for eight, and more intimate areas for four or two people.
A word about the general décor of the Spirit. Overall, it’s very pleasant and some areas are outstanding, such as the atrium with the warm wood paneling and grill-work on each of the several levels. The three glass-fronted elevators with their twinkling white lights are also a great addition—adding motion, and light to the area. It also felt very open in the Atrium. Taken individually, many other areas are also warm and inviting, with dark wood paneling. But apparently different decorators were assigned to different areas, and no one was coordinating an overall theme. The restaurant has some touches of Russian Empire art, then scattered about the room are Greek statues, and the huge crystal chandeliers look like they should be in Austria! The same mish-mash of design styles is throughout the ship. The ship was built in Finland, and our cabin could look Scandinavian, but then we have the Greco/Roman paintings on the walls. Hmmm. But it really doesn’t matter, as you are only in one area at a time, and each is really quite pleasant.
Glenn and I went against usual cruise custom at dinner—this was the Lobster Tail night, but Glenn found Prime Rib and I found Pacific Salmon filet, and those sounded better to us ( I have Weight Watchers looking over my shoulder, and they are somewhat influencing my food choices, although I suspect the scales will NOT show any more weight loss after these eight days!
Back to the casino, but they just sucked up my quarters. Our game plan is to rest after dinner (doing it right now) then go to the late show in the theater—technically, we are supposed to be at the show right now, but we’ve learned that the seats fill up sooner than we can make it to the theater. We will stroll down to the “Pharaoh’s Palace Theater” about half an hour before the late show. Hopefully, we will beat the late diners to good seats. Stay tuned.
The Pharaoh’s Theater is a big one, and has four different levels. Should give more people a good view of the stage, and certainly, those couches are more comfy than being squashed into long rows of theater –style seats. They have more leg room too. We had no need to worry about finding a good seat for the evening’s show—we entered just after the early show-goers left, and the room never was more than about ¼ full. A fast-paced show, as usual, it was based on popular Broadway shows, but Carnival must have paid the fees to use the costumes, dance numbers and songs from some of Bob Fosse’s shows, and the “Lion King” among others. The dancers did a good job with Fosse’s difficult choreography and the singers were fine. Maybe the show was a bit TOO fast-paced—one set and dance number seemed to follow awfully close after the last. They had the fog machine going all during the show—it worked well with some numbers, such as “Phantom of the Opera” but at times, it was just blurring the view of the stage.
When we left the show, it was already after midnight, but did we head right back to the cabin to sleep? Heck no! The slot machines were still calling out and we had to go right through the casino to get to the elevator. Darn! We did finally tear ourselves away and get back to the room about 2 a.m. Then, we had to turn our watches ahead an hour so it was a rather short night. Lovely sea breezes on our verandah and only a little gentle rocking at times. I think we both slept well, ignoring the ship vibration that was annoying last night.
Monday, October 15
We slept in after our late night, and then breakfasted on the deck aft of the Lido buffet. The assortment of food was not extensive, but certainly it provided all we wanted and more. There were a couple counters where you could order an omelette or fried eggs. Since we stuck to fresh fruit and dry cereal, it was adequate—except for the fruit juices. At least, the apple juice was way more water than juice—hardly any “apple” flavor at all. At lunch others joined me in complaining about the exceedingly watered-down iced tea and lemonade. [Later, the orange juice and iced tea were fine--I never tried the apple juice again, but apparently they got the dispensers fixed.]
As we ate breakfast in a shady spot near the rail, we could see the last of Baja California slip by—we were far enough from shore that the famous Arch Rock at Cabo San Lucas was really not visible without binoculars. After Cabo disappeared, it was just us and our ship, out in the middle of the Pacific. We won’t see land again until we are almost to Manzanillo tomorrow morning. Last night, and again at his noon report over the ship’s loudspeakers, the Captain has mentioned there is a weather front about 400 miles away, which “probably” will keep moving west and not bother our route. But he assured the passengers he will be watching it carefully, and adjust our itinerary if necessary.
There was certainly no sign of any bad weather today. Very calm seas, blue skies and sunshine and a lovely temperature. However the whirlpools and the deck chairs were more than full; while in the casino, there was plenty of room at the slots, so that’s where we spent most of the day, with a break for lunch, and back to the room for a nap (for Barb) and for Glenn, some time on the verandah, watching the deep blue sea and drinking one of his “four beers in a bucket” purchased earlier today.
Enroute to the casino this morning, we stopped in at the combined Library/Internet Room. The ship has a very nice little library with handsome glass-doored shelves full of books. However, the demand for space to use computers for e-mail has prevailed over reading, and it was impossible to get to many of the shelves, since computers and desks were planted directly in front. At 75 cents per minute, I hesitated to ask any of the e-mailers to get up and let me gaze at the titles behind the computer! At the only accessible book shelf, I grabbed a Dick Francis page-turner, but even that didn’t prevent me napping in the afternoon.
Dinner was “elegant casual” tonight, which had many interpretations among us cruisers. Yes, there was actually one man wearing a dress shirt AND A TIE, but he was the rarity. So, apparently as long as you have shoes on, and long pants, you are considered to be “elegantly casual” and will be admitted for dinner!
Another good dinner—Glenn had the salmon and pronounced it very good. I had the Teriyaki Beef Roast and it was delicious. Nice and tender and the teriyaki sauce was excellent. Even the cooked carrots were good—cooked to a tender consistency, but not mushy. This ship will definitely get high marks for its dining room food if it maintains this pace.
Back in our room, there was a new towel animal. We never did photograph last night’s monkey, but made sure we captured the elephant before it fell apart, as towel animals are inclined to do. I thought “Emanuel” was going to let us collect them all, and line them up on the couch, but nope, the monkey had disappeared. The foil-wrapped chocolates also appear on the bed, next to the towel animal. I guess Carnival doesn't see the need to have a different-shaped chocolate each night, and I agree with them. Once the wrapper is off, they all taste the same anyway!
Tonight’s show was a hypnotist; we passed on that, in favor of yes! more casino time. We go up and down, but at the end of the day I was down ten bucks for the day, Glenn seven. Not too bad, considering how much time we have spent among the evil machines, which still are fun, I’m sorry to have to admit.
Glenn got his photos downloaded to the laptop and to our back-up external drive; the “Foto-Chute” and we now see that the exposure on the Panasonic must be adjusted back to normal lighting. Otherwise, the photos look good and no doubt “Picasa” will lighten up the dark photos for us. I tried room service out again and while it took a LONG time to arrive, the hot tea, iced tea, chocolate chip cookies and brownies came with the proper accessories like a spoon and knife, and sweetener. I guess the room service crew is recovering from the stress of a new bunch of passengers!
10:10 p.m. Well, we just had an up close and personal view of some wildlife! Glenn heard a rustling, scratching sound at the verandah window and when he opened the door to investigate, a small falcon flew into the cabin! The bird, of course, kept flying around and banging into walls, etc. We were about to throw a towel over him and call the crew, but he flew over near the verandah door, we opened it, and he obligingly went back out! However, I thought I saw some blood by his curved beak, and maybe a broken wing. We really didn’t get that good a look at him, and apparently he immediately left our verandah. The question—what is a falcon doing out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean??? Glenn says he saw a similar bird flying by a window while we were having lunch today. Since we have seen NO sea birds or other animals so far, we think the falcon is a hitch-hiker—who knows where it first “boarded” the ship? And, will he stay with the ship, or is this the end of the line for the poor bird? We’ll never know. He was speckled brown and black and definitely had the falcon’s beak. Probably about 12 inches long. [Back home, we checked the bird books—it appears our little "stowaway" was a Merlin falcon, and probably a female. Their range is from about southern Oregon to southern Mexico, but not out into the Pacific Ocean!]
By 11 p.m. we were ready to call it a night. So much excitement!
Tuesday, October 16
For reasons best known to the ship’s management, we are now running an hour behind the actual time in Manzanillo—our port for today. Two days ago, we were told to move our watches ahead one hour—putting us in Mountain Time. But, Manzanillo, Acapulco and Ixtapa are all in Central Time! Maybe they don’t think we can handle more than one hour ahead.
Anyway, Glenn was awake at 6 a.m., well ahead of our a.m. wake-up call. It was pitch dark outside, but he convinced me that watching the ship come into a port is worth it, so we got our clothes on and went up to a good vantage point at the front of the gym. No pesky glass windshield there to ruin photos.
As the sky lightened and we could see the harbor ahead of the ship, it was easy to understand why sailors since Hernan Cortez have considered Manzanillo a wonderful, safe harbor. Lots of protected bays which we saw were full of huge container ships, some of the Mexican Navy and little fishing boats. (We could tell which fishermen were successful, because they had a full complement of pelicans on and around their little boats.)
We learned later that Manzanillo has now overtaken Veracruz as Mexico’s major seaport and handles much of the goods and food that is produced farther inland. This port is about 4 hours from Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. Manzanillo is about the size of Salem, in population, but far more industry here. Besides the container shipping, there is an iron mine almost right in the city, and workers keep busy making iron pellets which are then shipped out by rail or sea. And, the rich volcanic soils on the outskirts of the city are planted to bananas, and other crops—although, condos and subsidized housing for the “working class” is gradually replacing the agriculture.
As the ship came into the harbor, we could see the twin smokestacks from the city’s huge electrical generation plant. Now coal-fired, but our guide for the morning said the plant will soon be converted to natural gas. Right now, the electrical plant lays down a significant layer of smoke over the harbor and city. Apparently natural gas will reduce that.
With the help of two tugboats, the “Spirit” was turned 180 degrees and then snugged up to the pier. After we watched enough of this process, we headed for the Lido and a nice breakfast, which we chose to eat INSIDE, as the air outside, even at 7:30 a.m. was very warm and VERY muggy. The AC inside the ship was preferable.
Usually, those going on excursions meet up in the theater and troop down to their bus as a group, but we were given no advance instructions and just headed for the gangplank at what we thought was an appropriate time. No one guided us to the right bus, but the guides were holding up signs, and we soon matched our tickets with the correct guide. Seemed sort of like mass confusion, but we lucked out and were first in line for the second bus for our particular excursion: “Discover Manzanillo & Fiesta” which cost $39. each.
Excursion highlights:
1) – To downtown, just a few blocks from the ship, with a spectacular blue marlin sculpture, then to a silver shop where I fell for a silver chain ($25 cash) "Happy Birthday, Barbara! says Glenn." Also a free beer/coke and clean bathroom. Then, a fairly long drive past the iron mine and out into the country north of town, to a beach area with a rather pathetic little “Mercado” which meant we had to run the gauntlet of the vendors to get to a so-so beach. Good waves for surfing, I guess, but not impressive by our Oregon standards. Then, we drove south through a hotel district and up a VERY steep, cobblestone and narrow road out onto a peninsula separating the northernmost bay from “ Santiago Bay”—I guess we were on the Santiago Peninsula where the “Rich and Famous” have their exclusive homes. As we went down the other steep side of the peninsula, we had good views and a photo op for “Las Hadas” which was the setting for the movie “10” which put Manzanillo on the tourist map after 1979. Fantastic towers and white buildings but the beach looked much better in the movie!
Final stop at a huge “cantina” for beers (we bought) and free snacks. Audience participation “show” and breaking a couple piñatas. Fun for awhile, but 1 ½ hours was at least a half hour too much.
Good to get back on the air conditioned bus and back to the air conditioned ship. We were not hungry after the cantina snacks, but a soft ice cream hit the spot. Took a short dip in the hot tub at the aft of Deck 9, sharing it with the two little girls who sit across from us at dinner.
Dinner and my low-cal chicken dinner was a dry and tasteless disappointment. So much for diet food! Had the “melting chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream—good, but awfully rich. Skipped the show (a comedian) but managed to spend several hours in the casino. At first, steadily losing, then decided what the heck, let’s just bet two bits a whack on the “Golden Monkey” and we started winning! Glenn recouped enough to go from losing fifteen bucks to being 3 bucks ahead, while I was astonished to watch as I hit the free games several times and cashed out fifty dollars worth of quarters. My finest win, at any casino, in a long, long time.
To bed, at almost midnight (Mt. time). Tomorrow, Acapulco.
Wednesday, October 17
The Spirit wasn’t due to arrive in Acapulco until about 9 a.m. so we had time for a nice Lido buffet breakfast and some picture-taking around the ship before going down the gangplank for our 9:30 a.m. bus tour. We lucked out with a very good guide, named “Phill”—a blonde Mexican of mixed Spanish, Irish and other antecedents. He was very funny, but also knew Acapulco as a native of the city and we got lots of interesting tidbits of Acapulco lore from him.
A pattern is apparent in these Mexican resorts—the older ones, such as Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo all seem to owe their popularity with tourists because of Hollywood. Either stars such as Johnny Weismuller, Hedy Lamar, John Wayne, Liz Taylor, etc. spent time in these once-small spots and publicized them, or they came here to make movies. The newer resorts, created in the 1970’s, were part of a Mexican government program, to develop more tourism, and places such as Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, and tomorrow’s destination, Ixtapa, simply didn’t exist until this development.
Phill took us first to see the famous Acapulco Divers—who have their own union, and who were first organized and encouraged by Hedy Lamar, who owned a nightclub in Acapulco. This was the highlight of all the excursions, as far as I was concerned. I thought the diving was the dangerous part, but no, it is the climbing up the sheer cliffs back to the ledges where the divers launch themselves into the churning water way, way below. There were several very nice viewing platforms, with many steps down to those closest to the divers' landing area. I opted to stay at the top, while Glenn made the trek downward. We both had very good views of the divers and got some photos and videos that we were very happy with.
The balance of our tour was really just seeing where the Rich and Famous live when in Acapulco, or once lived in the case of the stars of the 50’s and 60’s. Acapulco is situated on a lovely curving bay with broad beaches and only in the “old” part of town (near the old Spanish fort that guarded Acapulco’s riches from the pirates) could you see the beach from the street. In the newer section, at the southern end of the bay, the wall of high-rise hotels totally blocked the view. This part of Acapulco could have easily been exchanged for the same wall of hotels in Waikiki, Miami or San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our bus climbed up the steep side of the peninsula at the southwest end of the bay, and we made a short stop for shopping, bathrooms and a spectacular view back to the bay and the city that climbs ever-higher onto the mountainsides above it. Phill said the condos we saw hugging the steep hillsides run about ¾ million US dollars for that same view.
The third section of Acapulco was beyond this hilly peninsula. We could look down from the top of the ridge and see yet ANOTHER long row of huge hotels stretching along the beach that fronts on the Pacific Ocean, rather than a bay. Just below the peninsula was a small, circular bay. It was here that the pirates, preying on the Spanish galleons would hide out. Apparently Acapulco was the terminus of the Spanish trade with the Philippines and also the treasures of the Pacific side of the Spanish territories were transshipped from Acapulco to Veracruz before heading back to Spain. The southern section of the city that we now descended to is the newest part to be developed. It is referred to as "Diamante Acapulco" (Diamond Acapulco) Here are the “in” hotels of 2007, with more going up all the time. The big names—Intercontinental, Palace, etc. are here. Many of these are true resorts with their own golf courses and individual “villas” for the Rich and Famous. Phill confided that Howard Hughes spent his last 50+ days at the Intercontinental, expiring there, and his body was smuggled out of Mexico to avoid the nasty bureaucratic red tape involved when a US citizen has the poor judgment to die in Mexico.
Earlier, while in “Old” Acapulco, we had a shopping stop at a mostly-silver store, where we got the usual free drink ( Corona for us) and I picked up a couple postcards. At the end of the excursion, but before boarding the ship, we stopped in the very nice port shopping center, found a magnet of the Cliff Divers, and enjoyed another Corona at 3 bucks each (on the ship, they are $4.75.)
After dinner we took in the 9 p.m. show with a “swing band-era” singer and some good numbers by the ship‘s dance troupe—who are really excellent. Then, where else but to the casino? I had very good luck during a pre-show gambling session—parlaying five bucks into $24. Alas, when I tried to increase my winnings after the show—the slots turned surly, for both of us. Even the “Golden Monkey” my sure-thing slot, refused to give me those lucrative 15 free games. Well, easy come, not-so-easy go! We stayed up MUCH too late, considering that we had an early time for our bus tour in Ixtapa—well past midnight when we returned to the cabin. Gambling is evil.
Thursday, October 18
The sky was just lightening as the phone rang with our 6 a.m. call. We soon were on our way to the Lido for breakfast before our day’s excursion, and spent some time on the forward deck, watching a nice, pink sunrise (a bad omen, as it turned out). Zihuatenejo, the “old” town is situated along a lovely, smallish bay (at least compared to Acapulco Bay) and the Spirit had to stay well out in the bay while we were to be tendered into the town dock.
We trooped down to the Pharaoh Palace Theater where all excursions groups were gathered before going down to the tender. However, the “Slight Delay” syndrome that has plagued this cruise from Day One was still in effect. It seems there were large swells, as opposed to white-capped waves, which were rolling into the bay, ahead of a storm. (We could look west at VERY black clouds obliterating the sky and touching the ocean.) The swells made it impossible to safely load us unathletic passengers onto the tenders. So, we all sat in the theater while the wily captain turned the ship sideways, so it would shield the tenders from the swells. After a few days on a ship, and especially when away from it in strange and foreign cities, I find myself thinking of it as the “mother ship” and never feel entirely comfortable while ashore and away from our “mother.” Even using the ship to protect the tenders from bouncing water seemed a very “maternal” action. We have a nice “momma” for this cruise!
Anyway, the captain’s ploy worked, although it was still necessary to wait for the ideal moment when the ship’s loading platform and the tender threshold were more or less at the same level, then reach for the strong hands of the tender crew who hauled all of us safely onto the bouncing little lifeboat. With that dark sky to the west, and the roller-coaster ride we had into the dock, it was a temptation to just forget the excursion. But, losing money in the casino was one thing, losing it by foregoing an excursion, well, that’s something else!
We arrived about a half hour late for our bus tour, but of course they were happy to wait for all of us. A lady guide today, named “Elsa” who was adequate, but not the equivalent of "Phill.” Even more than yesterday, today’s tour was definitely to see where the Rich and Famous stay when in “Zihau” (Elsa said it’s o.k. to use the shortened version. Good thing, " Zihuatenejo" is a very tough word to spell!) As in Acapulco, we first drove through the “old” town, then up a steep hill on the south side of the bay, for a nice view of the Spirit waiting for us, down, down below in the middle of the bay. Back in the 1970’s the Mexican government bought up a huge “hacienda” several miles north of “Zihau” which had been a palm oil plantation. This became “Ixtapa” and it is another of the “created” tourist destinations. A smaller version of Acapulco, especially that newer, southern part of Acapulco. So development at first ignored Zihau, and focused on Ixtapa which now sports its own line of tall hotels fronting on the Pacific Ocean. The swampier parts of the palm plantation were converted to a marina, and the one existing golf course will soon have another one for company.
But now, those who prefer the bay at Zihua are developing hotels, condos, and resorts on the south side of the bay. All in all, the Mexican government’s hope of developing more tourist destination sites appears to be working. Zero unemployment in Zihau and Ixtapa—as was stated about Cabo San Lucas and Cancun too.
It had started to spit a bit of rain by the time we reached Ixtapa. Today’s tour included a stop at one of the big hotels lining the beach, and we enjoyed a complimentary beer under a big “palapa” near the hotel’s big pool. We didn’t have to run the gauntlet of a silver/jewelry store, but the vendors were busy plying their trade just beyond hotel’s seawall. That seems to be the agreement: the vendors can try to sell to the people visiting the hotel, but not on actual hotel property. We spied a man with his ironwood figures lined up on the hotel’s seawall, and there was a beautiful, big ironwood angel fish that just had “Happy Birthday, Glenn” written on it. The haggling resulted in a price of 20.00 US which left Glenn feeling a bit guilty, but hard-hearted Barb thought that was probably about the right price (it started off at $40.).
It was after 1:30 p.m. by the time the bus dropped us off near the dock. We had had one last short stop in Zihua, to peer down into the estuary water at some mean-looking crocodiles. Apparently they are all over the fresh water lagoons and that is sufficient reason to NOT go swimming there!
We had another roller-coaster tender ride back to the ship, but we negotiated the tricky part with no problem and stepped aboard the “Mother ship” with some sense of relief. It also started to REALLY rain about that time. We dumped Glenn’s heavy present and other stuff in the room, had another late buffet lunch, and as the last tenders came back from the dock, we went up to the lifeboat deck and watched them re-load the tenders onto the ship. Quite a process.
The casino opened up almost as soon as the ship’s engines started, so we spent half an hour before dinner trying to recoup yesterday’s losses. Not to be. We suspect they have tightened the slots, but can they really do that? We’ll never know.
Tonight, the wait staff put on a nice little dance during our meal, sort of a “John Travolta" dance--they definitely involve the wait staff in more "fun" activities than we've noticed on other cruises.
Later, I told Glenn that while we hear many different languages on the ship, my suspicion is that most of those NOT speaking English are immigrants from many countries in both Europe and Asia, who now have landed in California—especially southern Calif. Just a hunch, but I’m sticking with my theory. When the guides ask where people are from, most say “ USA” or “ Canada” although one couple was actually from Cairo, Egypt.
We didn’t especially want to watch the sword swallower at tonight’s show, so, it was back to the casino. We DID take a break and rest in the room, then back for a second assault on the slots about 11:30 p.m. The casino was packed both times, but the machines we did manage to sit at did nothing but grab our dollars. My loss: $20, Glenn did better, I think. Here I was, ahead $50 bucks just a few days ago, now I’m down $10. Sob! (But I’ll get back tomorrow, no doubt.)
We went out on the verandah for a few muggy minutes before going to bed. There were distant flashes of lightning and the waves were still topped with whitecaps and pretty good-sized. We feel the engines’ vibrations very clearly in our cabin, and it sounded as though the engines were working hard tonight.
Friday, October 19
Ah, this is an “At sea” day, and how nice it was, to sleep in, and then have a very relaxing breakfast on the aft deck outside the Lido. The air was just about perfect (82 degrees the Captain said, later) and a light, dry breeze blowing. You could just feel the lack of tension in us, and our fellow passengers. We are beginning to see the logic in how our friends, George and Cathy, approach cruising. They have probably gone on 30 cruises, all on HAL, which means they get a lot of special amenities. It also means they have done just about every excursion they’d ever want to do, so now, they look for cruises with many “at sea” days and often, never leave the ship or go no farther than the nearby port-side shops. They may be on to something—any day with an excursion is NOT a stress-free day. However, up to now, we have wanted to see what was in the various places our ships have visited and I’ll never regret all the amazing sights we have seen on excursions. But, that phase may be coming to a close and taking a cruise to REALLY relax (well, except for that airport security mess) may be the way we’ll go from now on.
The casino thoughtfully opened at 9 a.m. so after breakfast our feet just naturally led us down to Deck 2 and the slots. They are still being obstinate for me, and after losing ten dollars, I decided it was time to head up to the gym and get in some time on the exercise machines. Glenn stayed on, and later, back in the room he was able to report that he had made about $22. while I was huffing and puffing in the gym. I got in 15 minutes on the bike, gradually shortening the distance between me and the handlebars to give my knee more backward stretching.
Back in the room and time to clean up. Glenn arrived with his twenty dollars’ worth of quarters and decided he was on a roll so headed back to the casino. I nixed the idea of a dip in the whirlpool just now—geez, I just got cleaned up! Tonight the ship pulls out all the stops—last formal dinner, followed by another big revue-type show, and then, they apparently copy Celebrity with a “food display” about 11:30 p.m. These food displays seem like “wretched excess” to me, but I must admit the creations they make with food are very photogenic. Not the wisest thing to be consuming at midnight, however!
The Captain made his noon report over the ship’s P.A. system. First, he apologized for the bouncy tender rides, but as he said, the crew did their very best under difficult circumstances and we all got ashore safely. He said today would be a perfect day for cruising—and it is! And, he said the weather report for the rest of the day is more of the same, blue skies, gentle breeze and calm seas. Just what we were hoping for.
So, we headed for the Lido buffet by a very circuitous route which oddly enough, took us back to the casino, 7 decks below! I tempted the slots with another ten bucks, found one slot that at least let me play with my money before grabbing it, but the end result was the loss of that ten bucks.
We had a nice lunch and ate it out in our favorite area, the aft deck where there is shade and nice views of ocean and the aft pool (with a few bikinis to add some interest.)
After lunch, back to the room, where we jumped into swimsuits, and enjoyed some time in the hot tub amidships on Deck 9.
Just about 4:15 p.m., as we were cleaning up after the hot tubbing, and Glenn was getting a beer out of the fridge, the PA system came to life with a sudden announcement, consisting of “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Starboard Side!” which was repeated a few seconds later.
We went out on the verandah to see what might be going on, and noticed more and more crew members gathering at the railing two decks below us. After awhile, the words floated up to us: “Someone overboard.” Shortly after that, a lifesaver with flare was dropped over the water and orange smoke started trailing skyward. Then, we could see that the ship was turning around and making a large circle, heading behind where the flare was smoking.
Even with our big binoculars, all we could see was a rather calm sea with very small wavelets from time to time. An absolutely beautiful day and a cloudless sky. If you had to fall off a ship, this would be the day when you might make it, but oh my, a human being’s head is a very, very small object to spot out in the big, blue Pacific Ocean.
At 4:42 the Cruise Director came on the PA to say that a crew member had spotted what appeared to be a person in the water, and motions were started to alter our course to check this out.
About 5:15 p.m. a P.A. announcement said they had finished their search, found nothing and we were proceeding on our course. We had the TV on and were watching the channel that shows the ship’s route on a map, plus wind velocity, ship’s speed, etc. We could see the big circle the ship had made to return to the site of the incident. Actually, the ship did NOT get back on course, but made another detour back to where the lifesaver and smoke flare had been dropped and sure enough, we could see two life savers, one with smoke cylinder attached floating past the ship. Whether they tried to retrieve the lifesavers, we never knew. Finally, the “pointy end” of the ship was turned to the northwest and our speed went from 1-2 knots up to the usual 21-22 knots. We thought that must be the end of the “incident.” But, not so!
After dinner, around 8:15, as we were happily putting quarters into slot machines, the Cruise Director again came on the PA to say (and it was hard to hear him over the slots banging away) that the ship command had ordered a complete count of people aboard the ship. They said this is a US Coast Guard requirement and also Carnival’s policy. Why they didn’t do this before we left the area where the “man overboard” was reported, we don’t know.
All those who had early dining were ordered to return to their cabins, where the room stewards counted us, and we were ordered NOT to leave the cabin until the count was completed.
The late dining group was to go right to the dining room, and eat dinner while their heads are counted. All activities were halted until the count was done. Parents had to go to the children’s area and collect their kids, then go back to their particular area. Gosh, our other cruises have been pretty uneventful compared to this one! First a falcon flies into our cabin, now we have to see if there really IS one less person on the Spirit than when we left San Diego.
Everyone seemed to take the Captain’s orders seriously, and we all rather quietly filed into the elevators and returned to our rooms. “Emanuel” saw us entering our cabin, and apparently put a little red flag in our card key entry to signify that we were inside and accounted for. Glenn had grave misgivings about head-counting in this manner, but about 90 minutes later, the P.A. announcer said that all but about 6 passengers had been located; a few minutes later, they, too, turned up, and we were told to return to whatever we were doing earlier in the evening. The big revue show was canceled for the early diners, but we’ll get to see it tomorrow afternoon.
We quickly returned to what WE had been doing—playing the slots. Tonight, the midnight buffet and excessive food display was to start at 11:30 for the photographs and midnight for the eating. We trooped through the display, Glenn snapped a few photos of the ice carving and elaborately-decorated food, but nothing sounded appetizing at midnight, so we called it a night.
Saturday, October 20
Happy Birthday, Barbara! Another sunny morning at sea for “my” day and we enjoyed a late breakfast out on the aft deck. The air was noticeably cooler this morning, and got MUCH cooler as we sailed on northwestward.
I dutifully returned the library book at 10 a.m.—the librarian keeps very limited hours—one hour in the morning, and one hour in the afternoon. Then, whaddyaknow—the casino was just one deck below! We took a break to go hear the embarkation lecture in the theater. The cruise director managed to make it pretty entertaining—especially when he warned the passengers NOT to leave their purchased liquor out in the hall with their luggage tonight. He said there was a “Liquor Fairy” aboard—at which the Liquor Fairy himself danced across the stage—a burly crew member, dressed in pink organza skirt and wings, but bare-chested. That got the message across! Back to the casino. We now know these slots like long-lost friends and have settled on certain ones that seem more likely to let us play with our money longer. We both had some luck—good and bad, but all in all we still had some casino money when we went up to the Lido deck for lunch. At 12:30 EVERYBODY wanted lunch so we settled for a very “nutritious” dish of soft ice cream, garnished with a couple cookies.
We put on our dinner clothes early, as we planned to go directly from the 4:30 p.m. show which was postponed after last night’s lockdown. We still had time for some more slot-playing before going to the theater. We celebrated my birthday with a strawberry daiquiri at the theater, complete with paper umbrella! The show was excellent in all categories: scenery, props and dancers. The music seemed mostly composed for the show, whose theme was “spirit” and some was good, some just so-so. The underwater scene was really spectacular, complete with a sinking ship and mermaids!
The dinner menu included prime rib again, and that was our choice. Finally, it was my turn to hear “Happy Birthday to You!” from our waiter, assistant and assistant maitre d’ and a little cupcake with two candles came with the serenade.
After dinner, we did the final packing-up. We headed for “ Mecca” (the casino) but Glenn went back down after 9 p.m. to put the bags outside our cabin. The ship bounced around a bit all evening long, but by concentrating on the slot machine screen, I forgot about it. I also had a very profitable final evening at the slots, ending up about $20 ahead for the night. Glenn had good and bad luck, but said he ended up losing about $75 for the cruise. To my surprise, I took away $35 of the ship’s money.
We called it a night about 11:30, and a quick look from the verandah revealed—nothing. But, later during the night, I looked out the window and saw what must have been another brightly-lit cruise ship. Glenn said during his wakeful moments in the night he saw three cruise ships, some going our way, others heading south.
Sunday, October 21
I’m recording our last day on the Fun Ship and departure there from, in the baggage area at PDX. Instead of it being 3:45 in the afternoon (our original arrival) it is 7:11 p.m. and we missed the HUT bus to Salem by about ten minutes. All in keeping with the overall theme of this cruise: “There will be a slight delay.”
When we got up at 6 a.m. the sun was well-hidden by thick fog, and the Spirit was just creeping along into the San Diego harbor. I think it almost came to a standstill. We hoped to see romantic views of the city as the ship came into port, but after ten minutes standing out in the fog, I gave up and went in to breakfast in the Lido. Glenn stayed out longer, and got some “atmospheric” photos of dim objects in the fog, and then he too, gave up and came into breakfast. Soon after, the sun began to burn away some of the fog, so while Glenn finished his breakfast I went back to the bow and got some nice photos of sunbeams through fog and the San Diego skyline.
We vacated our cabin about 8:30 and ended up in the Lido buffet area for what proved to be a LONG wait. First, it was the fog, which delayed docking about an hour. Then, it was the non-US or Canadian citizens who had to be cleared by immigration on the ship, before the rest of us could leave the ship. This took almost two hours!! By then, we had gone to the Pursers Desk, and asked if we could be put on the “early departure” group, as it didn’t look like we would have the necessary two hours to go through security, etc. The purser assured us we would be off the ship and at the airport by 11:30 a.m. Well, we were off the ship by about that time, but we then stood in the very hot sun with our luggage for another hour or more! Finally, one Carnival employee realized a LOT of us were close to missing our flights, they hustled us on a bus, but we still got to check-in at Alaska Air too late to make our plane. The best they could do was put us on a Horizon flight to Boise and then later, on another Horizon flight to PDX. No time for lunch, so the two muffins saved from the Lido buffet tasted pretty good as we flew to Boise. As our plane flew northeast of San Diego we saw the first evidence of the catastrophic wild fires that were to devastate large areas of Southern California during the week ahead. We could see a huge pyre of smoke billowing up from mountain canyons, far below us.
This was a most upsetting, and stressful end to what was meant to be a relaxing cruise. There WERE 3 cruise ships letting off passengers and taking on new ones in San Diego at the same time, but certainly our ship’s management knew this ahead of time. Throughout this cruise, starting with our very late and disorganized embarkation, Carnival’s people-management skills have been almost totally lacking.
The two glasses of complimentary Merlot wine for Glenn and some good Widmer’s beer for me on our Boise Horizon flight helped us simmer down. But, we’re still mad at Carnival! Boise must have just completed a beautiful new terminal—gleaming stainless steel, nice lounge, and 100% WiFi signal right at our gate. So, I had time to get a quick e-mail off to Mark, Karen and Betty and read some of the 250 messages that piled up this week.
We also had time (barely) in Boise to split a Big Mac and soft drinks. The flight from San Diego to Boise had us on the very rear seats and the engine noise was very unpleasant. So, we asked if they could move us from those same seats to something better for the Boise-PDX leg. They did indeed, giving us front aisle seats and the difference was wonderful. More Merlot and Widmer’s beer was served and we are very impressed with Horizon’s efficiency and generosity in giving free alcoholic beverages. Their senior partner, Alaska Air, certainly didn’t do that for us on the trip to San Diego.
Now, almost a week after we left the Spirit we are still recovering! A cold virus must have left the ship with me, and so I spent the past few days in bed, coughing and aching. We returned to beautiful, sunny fall days in Oregon, but there is frost on the roof at night, and a definite chill to the daytime air. So, it is most pleasant to remember those delightful "at sea" days on the ship, with sunshine AND perfect temperatures as we sailed "down Acapulco way" as the song says. Glenn's prescription for my recovery from the knee surgery turned out to be a good choice, and we'll long remember our "stress-free" cruise, complete with stowaway bird and the "man overboard" emergency!
Barbara Halliday,
October 27, 2007
ADDENDUM
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF THE CRUISE
NOT-SO-GOOD
Ship engine vibration—kept us awake at times. More noticeable at the aft end of the ship. Moral of that story: try to get more toward the front of the ship.
No hand lotion! No shower caps! Obviously, Carnival is cutting back where it can get away with it. The room steward said “I’m sorry; we used to have it, but no longer.” And me, with about 20 bottles of hotel hand lotion back at home! I couldn't haul home small bottles of toiletries from this cruise, as they provided a single large bar of soap by the bathroom sink; otherwise, there were dispensers in the shower for both bath gel and shampoo, which of course worked just fine and did away with chasing a dropped bar of soap or shampoo around the shower floor.
The coat hangers supplied in the cabin closet represent a new low in trying to keep passengers from stealing them. Four hangers are hung from one holder,which is locked onto the closet rail. They keep the clothes squashed together, are incredibly difficult to take off and put on, and generally left me gritting my teeth every time I used them.
The price is right for Carnival cruises, but to have the same level of comfort as we have found on other cruise lines, I think you’ll have to bring some amenities with you—including coat hangers, and lotion.
Nobody is going to steal the hair dryer! It was wired right into the top drawer of the desk. The cord was very short and you had to keep you finger on the "on" button or you got no warm air.
The in-cabin safe has good and bad features. It’s roomy, so will hold our cameras and wallets, etc. But the way we lock it has some drawbacks. You can swipe any credit or debit card to lock and unlock the safe—but then ONLY that card will open it again. Even though we both have identically-numbered Master cards, we can’t use them interchangeably to open the safe. I much prefer the code-number system that either of us can use.
Now for some of the good features:
The crew seemed very friendly and worked hard to make our cruise a pleasant one (except for those in charge of getting us on and off the ship, and to the airport!!)
The dining room food was excellent--the equal of any other cruise ship we've been on.
Elevators are quiet and fast—with beautiful hand-done mosaic flooring.
Air conditioning in our cabin and throughout the ship worked well—it was very comfortable everywhere inside.
Our cabin:
The amenities DO include bathrobes, which are equal to any we’ve had on other cruise lines. Bath towels are fluffy and BIG. Our steward replaced them promptly.
Bed is comfy, and the down pillows and duvet are excellent.
Good lighting in the cabin.
Refrigerator works well, but of course has only a little room for OUR beer since it is packed with very spendy drink cans.
Storage room is at least as good as on other ships—and seems well-arranged. Our sofa is full-length and makes into a bed (with the help of the steward) and has big roomy drawers under it. We had no need of those; there were plenty of drawers and closet space.
Bathroom: Really very well designed to provide the necessities: fairly roomy shower, since the shower curtain is quite expandable; dispensers for bath gel and shampoo/conditioner really work well and eliminate all the fussy stuff, and dropping the soap, etc.; the shower head is European-style, can be removed and used as a hand shower, and easily adjusted for height and angle. The shower has a very low “lip” that eliminates a lot of the toe-stubbing and knee-banging when the shower is over a mini-tub.
Bath toiletries:
Not providing hand lotion or shower caps—pretty chintzy, but I suspect Carnival’s accountants said that was a good place to economize. On the other hand, they have a dish full of weird flavors of Crest toothpaste samples and lots of Bic shavers for both men and women. (I suspect those are provided by Procter and Gamble and a freebie as far as the ship’s expense is concerned).
Verandah: The two chairs are very comfy with a high fabric back. The verandah is small, but adequate. At least, it has a roof over it, and we made good use of that, to watch our departure from Zihuatenejo while it was pouring rain. The “expanded” verandahs have the outer portion uncovered and that’s not too nice when it is either too hot and sunny, or rainy.
Bed Pillows: Very nice! They feel like goose down, but when we investigated and took the cover off, we found they were a polyester, and washable. The tag said they are called “New Generation by Harbor Linen. (Made in China, of course.)
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