Vince Outlaw's Weblog

Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo

We had an awesome day in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo with Uncle Thomas providing some great guidance to make our day end fantastico!

Pulling into port in Zihuatanejo was very different from Acapulco, as it was much smaller and quieter. We had to tender in from the ship, so this was also a new experience for this trip. The dock where we got off the tender boats was very small with small fishing boats on the beach and lots of other small boats moored in the harbor. We met our guide with the ‘Swim With Dolphins’ sign and boarded our bus a few feet from the dock.

As we motored through Zihuatanejo, our guide gave us a bit of history of the name, which means something like ‘place of many beautiful woman’ is was named this because the men were all out warring either with the other native tribes or with the Spanish conquistadors. We continued up into the hills and down for about 20 minutes to Ixtapa and the Dolfiniti attraction. We quickly donned floating vests and got into the pool where dolphins waited for us. At first our group of about 16 people spread out in the water and 2 dolphins swam in between us and we were able to pet their slick, rubbery skin (keeping our hands away from their eyes and blow-hole. The little ones, especially Mad, were a bit scared at first, but immediately warmed up to the friendly fish. Then we each had one dolphin come up to us, where we gave them a hug and a wet, salty kiss and held onto their flippers (while the helpers snapped pictures). We then were able to hold onto their flippers while they pulled each of us tummy-to-tummy along a wall. After a bit more swimming around with them (really us floating and them swimming), we got to each have 2 dolphins push our straight-legged feet across the pool, lifting us out of the water. As every one said, “it was awesome!” We then watched from the sidelines as the dolphins finished the session with lots of jumping, flipping, and diving tricks. Well, we actually finished the session watching the monitors and picking out which pictures and video we wanted to buy. (Lesson Learned: Do not leave the place without seeing which pictures they put on CDs if they do that…we discovered none of our own pictures on the CD we got and are currently trying to hunt down these special photos.)

At this point in the day, we deviated from the schedule and instead of boarding the bus back to port Z, we got a couple of taxis and headed for Playa Linda where we boarded a ponga (small boat) over to the beaches and restaurants of Isla Ixtapa, a place that Thomas had read or heard about. I felt sort of like a local, as it wasn’t the most luxurious of transportation and accommodations, but it was great for a grass shack on the sandy beach, a bucket of beers, a table full of shrimp, fish, lobsters, rice, beans, and tortillas with water and lounge chairs for all. A great afternoon experience.

After a boat and taxi back to port Z, we boarded the tender back to the ship. Our group got together for dinner in the Napoleon Room and then browsed the pictures gallery for shots of us on and off boat.

Day 3 - A Tour of Acapulco

Shook off a little too much nouveau supper from the night before with an early morning stroll of the deck and a swim in the pool.

It was a nice change to see some land outside the ship as we pulled into the beautifully round port of Acapulco. Lots of high-rise hotels ringing the long stretches of beach. Our fellow sailers all seemed very anxious also as they ringed any available rail space on the decks to take it all in. As we got ready for a day back on land, we had a great view of the ship docking from our cabin balcony. There was another cruise ship in port, so our captain had a HUGE parallel parking job. A mariachi band played outside the cruise terminal and people on the ship cheered each song…people were definitely in a party mood. We parked across the street from the old part of town which includes the Fort San Diego.

We disembarked around 1:30 with sister and her family in tow and no set plans…no pricey shore excursion in this port. And it was no problem because we were immediately able to rent a van for all 8 of us with a great tour guide Garcia for a negotiated $150 until about 8:30, after the evening cliff diver show. Our first stop was the Fort and the museum of history it now holds. The many rooms of the fort gave us background on the role of Acapulco as a main port for the Spanish (after their conquest in the 1500’s) to Asia and the Philipines. The Manila Galleons were the big ships that enabled trade of raw materials from our New Spain port for goods such as china and textiles. The museum was also housing an exhibition about the Jaguar and it’s place in the history of Guerrero, the Mexican state that is the home of Acapulco. We were able to climb around the top of the forts walls, (play) shoot the cannons at our cruise ship, and get some great views of the bay.

We then toured around the beach-front ringing the bay. Lots of people on the beaches (all are public in Acapulco), with places to buy fresh fish and lots of beach restaurants, from small palapas to faux pirate ship themes. We stopped at a store for to-go refreshments including spicy Jalapeno potato chips, orange Fanta, Negro Modelo beers, and GuGu fruit candy. Our van climbed the south side of the bay into the Diamond district of town where the nice houses and fancy restaurants with spectacular view of the bay are. We stopped at Senor Frogs to take pictures high above the water and then continued on to see the other bay of Acapulco and another strip of high-rise hotels and condos toward the airport.

Garcia then brought us back into the main beach-part of town where we ate dinner of tacos, rice, beans, and other interesting things as we watched the busses loaded with locals, VW taxis with their fares, and horse-drawn, balloon decorated carriages looking for tourists show around the town. Time slipped by quickly and it was off to one of the main attractions of the day, the evening Cliff Divers show.

It seemed like everyone else was heading that same way, but our driver took us around the mountain, parked up on the sidewalk, through the $3.50 adult ticket booth (which interestingly included a drink, and in position just as the divers made their parade through the crowd down toward the water. The divers jumped in (we couldn’t actually see where they went in) and scaled the other side of the cliff to get to their dive positions. While the cliff looked pretty challenging, the divers climbed it with no problem in bare-feet and speedos and reached a now crowded diving perch (there were about 8 or 9 divers). 2 divers headed to the very top while the others readied for their dive. The crowd roared as the divers one-by-one stood ready and then leapt in graceful swan-dives toward the rocks. One even did a back-flip! Finally the diver at the highest point said his prayers at the blue altars behind the dive-point and approached the ledge. He took his sweet time and it was pretty tense as he started and stopped several times. He ultimately made ready and then hurled himself off to the cheers of the crowd. It was pretty amazing. Next time I want to have a better view of the water so we can see where they go in.

We hiked back up the cliff stairway and took a picture with one of the divers (and gave him a nice tip). There was time to buy some souvenirs and shop in a store right next to the cliffs. Then it was back down the hill for drop-off at the ship terminal around 8:30 pm…great timing. This was a great way to see some of the city and it’s sights without spending a ton of money.

As I write this, the sun is coming up as we near Manzanillo for our next port stop. Today we will be swimming with Dolphins!

Day 1 at Sea on the Carnival Spirit to Mexico

We're now into Day 2 at Sea on the Carnival Spirit, which is really Day 3 of the cruise if you count our evening departure from San Diego as Day 1. Confused? Don't worry, we're on vacation! Wireless connectivity seems to be pretty good throughout the ship, even with a few bars in our cabin on Deck 8, which is a pleasant surprise. I'm having a bit of trouble with photo uploading for some reason, so I'll have to visit the Internet Cafe and see if they have some answers.

Anyway, here's a rundown of activities yesterday, on Day 1 at Sea...

I took an early morning stroll around the ship to orient. Restaurants, shops, casino, and the theater are on the lower decks and the gym, pools, and buffet are on the upper decks.

I took in seminar in the gym on Detox for Health and Weight Loss with an eye toward improving in both of those areas on the cruise and beyond. It was really a sales pitch for a Metabolism and Health session you can pay for which is good because I was already looking to do that. I'm signed up for my session today on Day 2, so I'll report back on where I'm at.

The little kids checked into the kids club to make tshirts and have some kid fun. The rest of us explored the pool and the big water slide on the back of the boat...very fun...and even the little kids were able to go down it and have a blast.

We have an early seating for dinner on this trip, which I'm all for, and Day 1 was formal night, so we all took a little extra time putting on our best for the evening in the Empire Room. Lobster, Prime Rib, and other goodies were on the menu, so we all ate well. We've got a group of 16 people, so the kids have their own table, which is an interesting exercise...but they are doing really well together and ordering their own food...for the most part.

We all took in the Higher Spirits show last night. The performers seemed to be putting their all into it, but I have so say they didn't seem like they were all on the same page as far as the dance numbers went. It will be interesting to see how they do for the rest of the cruise.

One of my goals for the week is to get plenty of sleep, so I've been turning in early with a least one kid and it's felt great waking up the last 2 days.

More to come...and hopefully some pictures to go with it....