Day 8 - last day!

For those that are wondering, we did make it to the midnight comedy show. Good thing we got that extra hour last night as we were up by 6:15 am ready to repeat yesterday. Karin started the morning with 3 miles around the upper ship deck. Early in the morning, before they set out the lounge chairs, passengers use it for a jogging/walking track and they have marked it off in terms of distance - 10 laps equal 5 kilometers and it’s lovely to look out at the sea while you walk.
It’s easy to tell that we’re moving north. While it’s sunny and clear, the temperature is significantly cooler today. Combined with a 50 Kn wind, it was downright chilly up on the open decks this morning – however people are stubbornly laying out on deck chairs in sweatshirts and long pants. Fortunately for us, our balcony is at the aft of the ship, so is protected from the wind and toasty warm with the morning sun. We were able to spend the better part of the morning out there reading and soaking up the last hours of sun before we return to Minnesota in time for snow and cold. The picture here shows the view from our balcony.

Just before lunch we headed down to the pursers desk to find out about self-debarkation. Due to our propensity to over-pack, we typically try to avoid this and prefer to pick up our bags in the cruise terminal just before customs. This time, however, the only flight to MSP from San Diego was at 11 am, leaving self-debarkation as the only option if we want to make the airport in time.

Tonight at dinner we said goodbye and thank you (both verbally and with tips) to the staff in the dining room, all of whom have contributed so much to the enjoyment of our trip. Included in this group is Assadee (our head waitress from Thailand) who always took the time to stop and greet us by name whenever she saw anywhere on the ship; and who knew that Andrew would always order shrimp and that Karin would never want sour cream on her baked potato. Also thank you to Benjamin (our assistant waiter from the Philippines) who was always smiling and never neglected to ask how our day was. We also said thank you to Rolando, our cabin steward. Rolando kept our room spotless, and catered to our every whim including bringing us 3 extra pillows on the first day! Rolando also left us a virtual zoo of towel animals over the week – including monkeys, dogs and elephants. The staff on the ship really do go above and beyond to make sure that all the passengers have a wonderful time, and that they never want for a single thing while on the ship. They work long hours at not-so-glamorous jobs and are away from their families for up to a year at a time so we always try to remember to be appreciative of all their efforts and forgiving of any mistakes (although those are pretty darn infrequent).

After dinner it’s time to pack up. Karin likes to do laundry first, so that we take home clean clothes. Since the laundry room is just across the hall, it’s easy and convenient for us to do. Even better, as we’re cruising again in April, we can basically leave our bags packed for then! Tomorrow morning the ship will dock in San Diego around 7 am, and we’ll start getting off about 8:30 after the ship clears customs. We’ve had a great trip and it’s been fun for us to do these posts. We hope you’ve enjoyed following along – if so, we’ll do it again in April when we sail on a 12-day trip to Hawaii!

Day 7

Today is our second to last day and another sea day. While the ports are fun because you get to see different cities and sights, the sea days are nice because they are so relaxing. Today was especially welcome after 3 ports in a row. Andrew has developed a cold, so he slept in while Karin went to the gym. Not as crowded today as it has been other mornings – people are getting lazy as the week wears on!
After the gym and showers, we had our breakfast in the dining room for the first time on this cruise. We always forget how nice it is to eat breakfast there, away from the noise and chaos of the breakfast buffet upstairs. We need to remember that sooner in the future! After a lovely breakfast, Karin headed up to the deck to read and get some sun, while Andrew went to his spot in “The Jungle” to catch up on his Cruise Critic review. If you're hungry for more of what we did, you can check that out at this link:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=22221325#post22221325

Today was very windy and the water was a little rough, but the sun was warm. We could see Cabo san Lucas as we went by about 1 pm today - one of the ports we visited last year and enjoyed very much. We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around and reading.

Tonight was our 2nd formal night. We opted to dress to the “4 and ½’s” instead of the 9’s tonight, and it turned out just fine. Dinner was delicious, as usual. Karin had grouper and Andrew had shrimp. Yes, Shelby, Andrew does have shrimp for every meal. Even our waitress (whom we’ve had every night we’ve eaten in the main dining room and really love) knows Andrew will always order shrimp.
Tonight is another adults-only comedian at midnight. Buoyed by our successful attempt to stay up past 9 pm earlier in the week, we’re going to try for an encore. We also get to turn the clocks back an hour tonight, so it seems likely we’ll live to tell!

Day 6

Today we are in Manzillo and Colima. We were greeted at the Manzillo dock by our guide Paco and set off by car for our tour of the area. The first stop was La Tortugario (turtle sanctuary) where we watched a video (subtitled, thank goodness!) about the sanctuary’s efforts to revitalize the 3 turtle species that are native to Colima. We also learned that Mexico is home to 7 of the 8 turtle species in the world. The sanctuary gathers the eggs that are laid by wild turtles on the beaches and puts them in to an area that is protected from birds and other predators. It is also guarded overnight so that eggs (which are a delicacy and thought to cure illnesses) are not stolen. When the eggs hatch the baby turtles are moved to a nursery area until they are better able to defend themselves, and then they are released in to the ocean – which they let the tourists do. We each released a 1-week old baby turtle in to the sea – which was very neat.

After the sanctuary we got back in the car and hit the highway to Colima. Again, speed limits are not enforced, nor are the lines which outline the lanes. The speed limit was 60 km/hr most of the way (90 in a few spots); we did not, however, observe the speedometer go much below 120 km/hr. Despite that we arrived in Colima in one piece (and quickly!). Colima is an old city, with a traditional town square and vendors selling various goods and crafts. We spent about an hour browsing and then it was back in to the torpedo (aka the car) to see the Colima volcano, which is still active and creates beautiful black sand beaches in the area.

From the volcano we went to the small town of Comala (which means “coffee town”) for lunch. Lunch was traditional Mexican fare, delicious and lots of it. We finally had to ask the waiter to stop bringing us more courses when an end was not becoming apparent. We sadly opted out of touring the coffee plantation because of time and got back in to the car for the 75 minute drive back to Manzillo. Once back in the city, Paco toured us around the sights which included Las Hadas Hotel (where “10” was filmed), the “old city”, and the view from the top of the mountain. Our last stop was downtown where there are trees full of dozens of wild iguanas. Paco told us that he had counted almost 100 the week before – they really were everywhere, it was amazing to see! There is a market and restaurants nearby that feed them fruits and veggies, so they are fat and happy sunning in the trees. Many of them were 7 feet long!

Now we’re back on the ship and will sail away shortly. Two more sea days and our holiday will be over.

Day 5

Today we are in Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa for a day at the beach. Zihuatanejo is the original side where the locals live; Ixtapa is the newer area where all the tourists go. We took a cab to Playa Linda where there are pangas (water taxis) waiting to take the tourists to Isla Ixtapa. On the taxi ride, we noticed right away that speed limits and stop signs are merely “suggestions”, and we made it to the other side of the island in record time.

It was pouring rain for the first 2 hours we were at the beach, but that didn’t stop Andrew from heading straight out to snorkel the coral reefs. Karin had a luxurious 1-hour massage right on the beach with the rain falling on the palaypos roof. Around noon the rain stopped and the sun came out, making for a perfect day on the beach. Lunch was delicious fresh seafood, which is also sold on the beach by local fishermen – shrimp for Andrew, snapper for Karin.

After about 5 hours on the beach we headed back to town for a quick run through the shops. We are learning that most shops all over Mexico sell almost the exact same items, so we don’t purchase very much. Andrew collects a magnet from each place we visit and Karin likes to try and find local cooking ingredients.

Now it’s back on to the ship in time to shower and head off to dinner. Tonight we’ll relax and get ready for our final port (Manzillo) tomorrow.

Day 4

Welcome to Acapulco! Spent the day with Hector on a private tour and saw all the beautiful sights that Acapulco has to offer. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go to the Central Mercado, as Karin had hoped. We did get to see the famous cliff divers and tour the Flamingo Hotel, which was owned by John Wayne and Tarzan. There is a dramatic difference in income levels in the city. From multi-million dollar gated estates to shacks made out of cardboard. Our guide said that wages for a manual laborer (such as road work or construction) range from $5-10/day, and that the unemployment rate is currently 40%. Makes us appreciate how lucky most of us are.

It was HOT, HOT, HOT in Acapulco today and very humid so we’re exhausted tonight! Because of that, pictures will have to replace most of our words...

Day 3

Well, we made it to the midnight show and, while it’s nice to know we CAN still stay up that late, we’re reminded this morning while we don’t. We should also mention that there was a lovely towel elephant waiting for us when we returned to the room. Carnival doesn’t disappoint two nights in a row!

This morning we spent a couple of hours up on deck - taking in a supply of vitamin D in preparation for our return to a grey Minnesota winter. That was followed by more lying around on our own balcony, followed by a nap. Yep, it’s a rough life on a cruise ship during sea days. After dinner we went to see the magician/comedian show – which was entertaining, but not hilarious. Now we’re back in the room for the evening, resting up from our strenuous day and anxiously awaiting our first port tomorrow – Acapulco!

Day 2

Is there anything better than a bleeding piece of prime rib with a baked potato soaking up the carnage? Karin certainly couldn’t think of anything at to top it during our dinner tonight! Andrew had lobster tail and jumbo tiger prawns – all delicious. But back to the beginning…

Today was a sea day – which loosely translates in to “do as little as possible”. Despite that, we were both up by 5 am. Karin hit the gym for about an hour. Then we enjoyed coffee and fruit on our balcony compliments of room service. After breakfast we showered and headed off to “The Jungle”, which is a theme “hallway” with tables and windows. It’s was still cool this morning (68 F at 11 am) so with the breeze it was too chilly to be on deck. Karin read and Andrew played on the computer. Lunch at noon at the buffet – today’s theme was “Mexico”. The buffet is plentiful and quality is good, though not gourmet. Rest assured that hunger is not something anyone should fear while on a cruise ship. During lunch we listened to a live Caribbean-style band make up new words to Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue” to the melody of a steel drum.

After lunch Karin resumed her “book” (thanks to Kindle and iTouch for lightening our suitcases) and Andrew had a nap. Before we knew it, it was time to get decked out for the first formal night of the sailing. Since we opened with a description of our experience at dinner, we’ll not spend more time on it here. After dinner we each lost $10 in the penny slots before headed off to the game room for a less expensive, though equally rousing, round of “Battleship” (Andrew won). Now we’re in the piano bar listening to a fairly good rendition of “Bennie and the Jets”, preceded by “She’s Always a Woman to Me”. It would not, after all, be a piano bar without hearing Elton & Billy!

Our goal is to make it to the “adults only” comedian at midnight. Sadly, that is a good 4 hours past our normal bedtime and still more than 2 hours from now. Wish us luck!

Friday, November 27th – Day 1

Well, technically it’s day two but yesterday was primarily travel so we’ll start with today. We were up around 3 am – apparently even a 2 hour time difference is enough to throw us off. Hung out at the hotel reading and on the computer until about 6:30 am to head out for breakfast at Hash House a Go-Go. They don’t open until 7:30 am but we read on-line that it’s a small restaurant and there is always a crowd, so you need to arrive early if you don’t want to wait – which turned out to be true. We were one of about a dozen people waiting when they opened. We had also read on-line that they were known for “large portions”. That phrase does not even come close to describing the mammoth heap of food we received. Karin had smoked salmon eggs Benedict with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and chili hollandaise. It came with a biscuit the size of a yeast donut and a heap of “griddled mashed potatoes”. She reluctantly left about ¾ of the meal on the plate, but managed to polish off two large cups of their fabulous coffee. Andrew had fresh-squeezed tangerine juice and the “tractor driver’s special” which consisted of 2 eggs, bacon, some fresh strawberries and a 15” buttermilk pancake.

After Hash House, we headed off to the San Diego Zoo. It’s really quite beautiful there – realistic habitats and a good assortment of animals. Purchased a membership so we can go back to the zoo and the Wild Animal Park in April when we return to San Diego for our cruise to Hawaii! We spent about 3 hours there before having to head off to the cruise ship port. Returned the rental car and was pleasantly surprised to find they had a free shuttle available to take us to the port, very convenient!

We had wanted to arrive at the port about 2 hours after embarkation began and so we walked right on without any lines - NICE! Our cabin was ready and waiting when we got on board (another plus to waiting to board). It is an aft balcony cabin which, although not a suite like we had in February, is well-appointed with lots of storage to accommodate our inevitable compulsion to bring most of what we own.

Tonight we had our first experience with Carnival’s “Your Choice” dining. Rather than going at an assigned time (either 6 pm or 8:15 pm), you can go when it is convenient for you. We had this on Princess last year and liked the concept of eating when you are ready. One thing we didn’t like with Princess was four separate dining rooms. There was no way to know which would have a table open up first if they were all full and you had to go to each (on two different decks) to check for an open table.

The Spirit has only one dining room which makes it easier. The “Your Choice” dining option was just implemented on Carnival this year and it seems like they still have some kinks to work out. There was a 20 minute wait to be seated at 7 pm, though that was not entirely unexpected as we went at prime time for dinner. The bigger kink was the service - which seemed to be much slow than we expected. While the water and bread came out quickly, the remaining three courses were somewhat slow to come out. About 20 minutes between each so it took almost 90 minutes. The food was all good, but not one of the best meals we’ve had on Carnival. Karin had gazpacho and tilapia; Andrew had shrimp cocktail and sweet & sour shrimp as an entrée. Maybe we were being too picky though as they were trying to serve about 1000 meals at the same time - this isn’t McDonalds after all!!

What we did like was being able to have a table for two. Normally, you have to stand in line when you first board to make a special request to not to sit with a group of strangers (a pitfall of cruising without your own group).

While waiting for our table to open up, we went to the lounge next to the main dining room and we each had a frozen drink. Andrew has a list of drinks he wants to try, one down (Kiss on the Lips)! It was nice to sit and relax for a few minutes before dinner.

Back to the room to find…NO TOWEL ANIMAL! What?? Carnival is known for their towel animals! Maybe the room steward picked up on Andrew’s strong dislike for them!

Tomorrow is our first sea day. We’re hoping for warmer weather (it was cool today in San Diego (70 F) and is down-right cold tonight) so that we can enjoy the balcony!