SPIRIT 8-DAY MEXICAN RIVIERA
The Spirit is a beautiful lady. If you have been
on the Pride, they are sister ships, so you
shouldn't have any problems getting around. The
ports of calls I would like to share, if I may
what we do, we never take any ship's excursions
but just do our own thing, and neither of us
speaks a word in Spanish but that has never
kept us back. And you and your Mrs sound like
younger guys, so go out there and try this:
Acapulco: Go see the cliff divers. It is an easy
(yes all uphill) walk from the ship to the Cliff
Divers. As you exit the cruiseship terminal,
make a left and just follow the road by the
shore to Old Town Acapulco. Walk thru the plaza
by the bandstand and stop and visit the
cathedral. There's a funny story behind that
cathedral, it was supposed to be a movie
theater, they ran out of funds as they were
building it and they ended up converting it into
a church!!! but true. Continue uphill on the
side road just left of the cathedral and in
about 10 minutes, you are in La Quebrada, that's
where the cliff divers are. They have a show
around 1pm, you pay like 35 pesos each (around
$3.50) and that also incudes a free soda or a
bottle of water or a beer, your choice) From the
ship it may take you all of 10-15 minutes to
walk UP to the divers, walking down it's much
QUICKER!
You MUST take one of the local buses ($1 fare
each) to the far end of town across the bay.
Look out for the buses that have WALMART as the
destination, yes that's right, there's a Walmart
by those fancy high rises, nearly at the far end
of the bay. Stop by Walmart and walk on the
beach, YOU CAN SEE THE SHIP BERTHED AT THE OTHER
END OF ACAPULCO BAY now!. If you are bold, walk
back to the ship on the beach, we have done it a
few times, it is a loooooooooooooooooong, tiring
walk, it takes you like 3 hours to walk back, in
between stopping for a dip in the ocean and
maybe walking the main street for some window
shopping for your Mrs.
If you have a laptop, I always carry mine with
me on cruises and always seem to find a local
wifi hotpsot to connect for free , by those
residential highrises in downtown, I always seem
to connect, another spot is by that big white
building about 1/4 mile to the right from the
ship, it is marked in huge black letters
HARBORMASTER. But the connection there is not
always as reliable, sometimes I connect,
sometimes I dont.
One last thing, the vendors, hawkers, taxi
drivers by the ship are notoriously persistent
in Acapulco. But they mean NO harm and are only
trying to earn a living, albeit a lousy way to
make a living. Just say NO and keep going, just
don't make eye contact. Despite what you will
hear about Acapulco, we have ALWAYS FELT safe
there and never ever felt threatened.
Manzanillo: What a delightful town this is, it's
rather
a late player in the tourism game, Manzanillo's
claim
to fame is the famous Las Hadas Resort, across
the
the bay from where the ship berths, which is an
industrial
area. You guys remember the Bo Derek movie "10"
???
That's where it was shot, at the Las Hadas
Resort and who
can ever forget Bo Derek running on the beach, I
think that
scene should be in the AFI's top 100. And and
the sight of
Bo Derek and Dudley Moore playing in bed to the
tune of
Maurice Ravel's BOLERO !!!!!
You must go visit the Las Hadas Resort, here's
how to get
there: you can either pay like $60-$70 each and
take the
ship's sponsored excursion. That gives you the
luxury of
an aircondtioned tourist coach ride, a buffet
style meal and
I believe, 2 alchoholic drinks per person.
OR
Make it an adventure/thrill ride there and back
and it will only
set you back $1 per person, return bus fare.
Here's how:
Exit the fenced off port area, across the
railway track to the
other side of the street. bang across the
street, you will see
a bus stop. Take the bus from there and tell the
driver in whatever
language you want that you want to go to LAS
HADAS, Just like
asking for Coca Cola anywhere in the world,
they'll know what you
are talking about. The fare in Manzanillo is 2.5
Pesos or so (25 cents)
each ride. The bus will stop you just across the
road that leads to the
Peninsula where Las Hadas is located. You now
have 2 more options:
Take another bus which will drop you right by
the entrance to the
resort or WALK to Las Hadas, it is a bit of a
walk, maybe 30-40 minutes
but well worth it. Fantastic homes in the area
built to compliment the
Moorish architecture of the Las Hadas Resort and
oh boy, the view of
the bay is just fantastic and once again, just
like in Acapulco you can
see the ship in the far distance across the bay.
Once you are at Las Hadas,
be prepared to be awed by the beauty of the
resort. You can walk straight
to the beach, all beaches in Mexico are public
with public right of way. You
can also use the resort's facility by purchasing
like a day pass, I seem to
remember it was like 250 Pesos ($25 or so) and
that gives you a bufftet and I believe it was 4
drinks of your choice per person, my wife seems
to
remember it was 2, but Captain still says it was
4.
Make your way back to the ship same way. What we
usually tell them just to make sure we get on
the right bus is BARCO???? that's Spanish for
ship, they'll understand you. It is absolutely
safe to walk the streets, Mexicans by their
nature are a friendly lot. A pleasant thing in
Manzanillo by the way is that you do NOT get
hounded by ANY vendors.
Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa: Every time we have been
there, it's always been a short stop. Zihuat, as
the locals call the town, is a tender port. When
we go there we like to take the bus over the
Ixtapa, it is the modern resort town, just north
of the city, about 4 miles away. From the tender
pier, walk the main street about 5 short blocks,
by the corner there is a bus stop next to the
hardware store. Take the bus marked
IXTAPA/Marina. The fare is about 70 Pesos
(70cents each) Ixtapa is a very modern resort
town, very laid back....Let's see how long it
stays that way! Get off the bus at any of the
beach stops, by the fancy hotels. We usually
stop by the NH Krystal. The beach there is
absoluetly gorgeous, the waves are not that bad
and again, there is public access to the beach.
Or you can "blend in" and use the Resort's fancy
pool and facilities. We have unashamedly done
that numerous times, we just buy like a couple
of drinks to make up for our "sin". NOW YOU
CAN GET ADVENTUROUS HERE AND TAKE A PARASAILING
flight, there are like 4 different operators on
the beach, We have always haggled with them and
they have always let us have the ride/flight for
$20 each. I usually tip the
guys $5 between my wife and myself. Catch the
bus back to Zihuatanejo from right outside any
of the hotels lining up the beach.
Happy Cruising
Captain
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Mexican Riviera Cruise/First Time Cruisers Advice Needed
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