We were staying in San Diego the night before the cruise and in the morning we could see that the ship was a little behind schedule returning and therefore running behind with the disembarkation. We would usually get to the pier soon after 11:00 but figured an early boarding was not in the cards this time so we toured the USS Midway museum which is at the pier next door to the cruise terminal. Not quite the accomodations we get today on cruise ships.
We didn't even get to the cruise pier until about 2:30 pm but were still on board by 3:15. The good thing is that the cabin was ready by that time so we could drop our carry ons off at the cabin and begin to enjoy the vacation. By the time the ship sailed it was nearly 6:00 and almost dark out which was nice sailing away watching the harbor lights grow smaller.
The first stop on this cruise was in Manzanillo. We had been here before and had stayed local with some window shopping and lunch so to be different we negotiated a tour with a taxi driver and he showed us around Manzanillo and we went around the bay to the north to a little beach restaurant for some fish tacos and Coronas. There really is not a lot here in Manzanillo without going farther north to snorkeling spots or for some fishing. Either way it was a nice relaxing day in Mexico.
The next stop on our trip was in Puerto Vallarta. It is difficult to get excited about visiting a new 'exotic' location when you look out your cabin to see a Walmart. After blocking that out we hit the pier a to find an excursion and found a snorkel and beach trip that included lunch on a catamaran for about half the cost of the same excursion bought on board. The snorkel spot was at Los Arcos and we beat the Cruise ship excursion group by about 30 minutes. The water was still pretty cold in March but after a few minutes you kind of got used to it. After about 30 minutes of snorkeling we continued south to Las Animas for beach time and some fresh fish tacos and just hanging out. All in all it was pretty cool except...
We had a full day mostly on the beach but on the trip back to Puerto Vallarta the catamaran was facing stronger currents then normal and we were beginning to cut our return to the ship too close for comfort. Fortunately the captain recognized the problem and had his deck hand use their small boat and take the wife, kids and I on an exciting last few miles back into the marina. This boat skimmed across the ocean and into the harbor much more quickly than the catamaran could and we made the ship with only five minutes to spare. This is the draw back to not taking the cruise ships excursion. If the ship sponsored excursion is running late the ship will wait but if the crew does not know where you are and it is time to sail then adios.
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The day after Puerto Vallarta was our first day in Cabo, The harbor at Cabo is too small for the cruise ships so passengers are tendered to the pier. This day we were one of three ships in the harbor and the cruise lines are required to use a local company rather than their own tenders. The local company had a tough time keeping up with three ships and there were long delays getting to town. Once we arrived at the tender pier I think there were more vendors selling excursions than there were cruise passengers so there were plenty of opportunities to get decent tours at good prices. For $20 total for all four of us we opted for a small boat to take us out to the arch and the sea lion colony then leave us off at Lover's Beach. A friend and his wife I had met on this cruise went parasailing for less than half of the onboard excursion rate. A very good day.
La Paz was the next call for the Spirit. What a cool little old town. The cruise pier is about 15 minutes away from town but there were free buses to bring cruise passengers into the city center. This time I did not find hardly any vendors to do an excursion so we just took one of the buses into town and made our own walking/shopping tour. In retrospect, this would have been a great place to snorkel. The water was so much more clear than anyplace I have been on the Pacific Coast. From a pier on one of the beaches right in town you could so clearly see the sea life all the way down to the floor of the bay.
Either way we enjoyed just a casual day strolling through town. The people were all very friendly and the store owners were not pushy at all. We came back with nothing but a couple T-shirts and a refridgerator magnet which is a must for every new place we visit. Back at the pier, there was a small vendor area set up where there were various items such as leatheer goods, T-shirts, jewelry etc but me important to me was a taco stand which for $2 sold me a Corona and two carne asada tacos. Don't know and don't care what kind of meat the carne asada may have been but it tasted so fantastic that I dragged the wife away from window shopping to get her a round (and myself one more).
The final stop on this itinerary was the second day in Cabo. I couldn't convince my wife to try parasailing but we still had a fine day. We walked around the marina visiting many of the stores along the way until we ended up at a real shopping mall all the way at the far end of the marina. Good air conditioning and a tequilla store which had a sampling room. Tough to leave the sample room but we pressed on out to the main drag and found Cabo Wabo Cantina, stopped in looked around and kept going. When we got back around to the tender pier we still had about 2 hours until the ship was to sail so we got a table at a bar right next to the pier and right next to Senor Frogs. Good beer and taco deals and we hung out there people watching until the line for the tenders got shortened up to be just at the entrance to the pier. Then we got in line and headed back to the Spirit. I wish I had found Cabo when I was in College. I can see how the night life there could get pretty wild.
I am usually an early riser and have my breakfast up on the Lido deck in the outdoor area and love the made-to-order omelettes and on this cruise they were just as good as ever before. This trip my wife convinced me to have breakfast in the main dining room (MDR) just once. So we did. Unlike at dinner, there are no assigned tables so the hostest will seat you at any available table. The breakfast in the MDR can be as fancy or as simple as you want it to be. My daughter just wanted an english muffin and a glass of milk but I figured I would try the more fancy fare. I ordered the eggs benedict and fresh fruit with a glass of juice. It was the best breakfast that I have had in a restaurant. Just great tasting all the way around.
The lunches each day we were at sea was up at the Lido deck which had a made-to-order burger station with all the fixings and a small buffet which included hot dogs, chicken strips some salad and french fries. In the regular Lido buffet area was a very good Deli, the Asian food station which also had some awesome orange chicken and the always popular 24/7 pizza station. The pizza station makes a pretty good calzone with pesto sauce. There are so many choices to tempt me, thank goodness we do so much walking in port and around the ship.
We have a rule with the kids that each night we all eat dinner together in the main dining room (MDR). We always sign up for any time dining
Having sailed with Carnival before, my kids were very familiar with the Camp Carnival and couldn't wait for the first night's mixer/dance party. It is only about an hour long but it gives a chance for kids to meet other kids and the camp counselors. My wife and I had not even signed them in yet and they were off to the dance floor. Both kids met a few new friends in their age groups (9 and 11). When we get back to the cabin each night the kids get out their highlighters and mark up the Fun Times to identify the activities they want to attend the next day. The program has video game times and competitions, arts and crafts and scavenger hunts. The older kids have a late night pizza party which ends at 3:00 AM and the counselors escort the kids back to their cabin at the end of the night. My kids have to check in with a walkie talkie when ever they are leaving the kid program so that they know where to find mom or dad. But for at least 50% of the time on the ship the kids ditched us for the Camp Carnival. That was kind of cool.
This cruise did not appear to cost too much on our final bar tab in the end. We had prepaid our gratuities and had over $400 in on board credit (OBC) due to price drops on our Early Saver booking before we even sailed. I help keep the tab lower by buying my beers by the bucket which saves a couple bucks off the individual pricing and I only have the staff open one beer so that the others can stay unopened on the ice. The OBC covered the bar expenses and still had some left over to help cover some pictures and other items the wife bought. If you can plan ahead and choose a cruise during an off-season the Early Saver program can be quite a good deal. We usualy plan our cruises a year in advance which in our case allows us to pay off the cruise before we even board the ship.
We left our suitcases out in front of the cabin door the last night of the cruise and only kept with us the carry on bags. This time we were given group number 18 for disembarkation. So me, the early riser with my son following head up to the Lido buffet area to stake out a table for breakfast while we wait for my wife and daughter. The US Customs does not allow the disembarkation to begin until they have cleared the ship and the non-US travelers. This time all went quite smoothly and even with number 18 we were on the pier looking for our bags before 9:30. That was pretty quick.
See you next time with a review of the Carnival Valor 8-day Eastern Carribean trip in June.
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