mexican riviera cruise on "spirit"

[Herb & Judy]

Originally posted by cesto2:
Hi!We will be on the Spirit on the 7th of March(first time with Carnival-Disney wonder last year) and I would like to ask if the Supper Club is for adults only and if its not do they charge the same for a 3 yr old?Also what excursion do you recommend for us family of 3(hubby,myself and son)aside from going to the resorts ,shopping and beach?Thanks

I checked with my PVP at Carnival who had been a friend for years. Here's your answer:

Oh, absolutely they can bring their 3yrs old with them but they will pay the $30 surcharge for him too. The surcharge is person..

[Spiritfilled]

Nice

[cesto2]

Herb & Judy,
THanks for the info. about the supper club.I have checked out the port excursions thru Carnival and you are right it's quite pricey.WE would probably go about on our own.WE will definitely see the cliff divers and maybe go to Roquetta island while in Acapulco.I've seen the pictures of the ruins in Ixtapa but I think the place is in Colima-I have to research the distance and the cost to go there.No plans yet for Manzanillo--maybe just the beach.How about you guys--what are planning to do while onshore??

Ces

[Herb & Judy]

We're going to do the cliff divers too. I've found some beaches that we're going to. Just a word of info and caution. The beaches on the Mexican Rivera are very unique for the most part. Once you go in the water the drop off is dramatic!!! It causes a severe under tow. I'm and excellent swimmer yet even I have trouble some time. It's so strong it can carry you out and away very quickly. There are good safe beaches for families that are excellent. You just need to do some research.
Judy and I live in Denver so for us its going to be all the beach and sun we can get.
You'll have fun shopping in Mexico. The vendors are fun to bargin with. They're aggessive but entertaining. Refusing to bargin is an insult so have fun. Be sure your husband is with you. They think American women are easy sales.

Let us know if we can help more.

[prometrick]

CESTO2, HERB & JUDY,

WE SET SAIL ON THE SPIRIT ON FEB 9TH. I WILL GIVE YOU MY REVIEW OF THE SPIRIT AND EVERYTHING THAT GOES WITH IT. WE ARE GOING TO PURCHASE THE SODA CARD, SMUGGLE ALCHOL ON BOARD, SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS, BARTER AT THE SHOPS, HIT THE BEACHES AND HAVE KIDS IN THE KIDS CLUB. WE INTEND TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN AS THIS IS OUR FIRST CRUISE. HOPEFULLY MY COMMENTS WILL BE HELPFUL. THIS IS A GREAT CHAT SITE TO OBTAIN ANY CRUISE INFORMATION THAT IS NEEDED USE IT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AS EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE VERY WILLING TO ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS.

Originally posted by Herb & Judy:
Welcome to the cruise family! My wife Judy and I are sailing on the Spirit March 15. This will be our 15th cruise, 10th on Carnival, and 5th to the Mexican Rivera. We sailed on the Pride, which is a sister ship to the Spirit. You'll love this ship. You'll find that everyone in these cruise chat rooms is very helpful, espically to first-time cruisers. Let us know how we can help. The more you know before you go the fun you'll have so don't be shy. Happy cruising.

[cesto2]

Herb-I don't think I will have a problem with bargaining-it would be fun to see how low could I steal the goodies...and also I think I would blend well in the crowd--I'm Filipina and probably look like the locals the only thing though is my Spanish is very limited-that would give me away(hehehe).WE were suppose to take the March 15th sailing--but my TA made a mistake and book us on the 7th-we could have meet each other.

Prometrick-we will wait for your posting.Have fun on your first cruise.JUst go with the flow and you'll have fun.

[Bnsheegirl]

I just got off the Spirit last Thursday. We had a wonderful time and the weather was a dream.

We didn't book our excursions through the ship. In Acapulco we booked an all day tour (8 hours) with Rosie for $30pp. She took us to the Cliff Divers, shopping and other popular spots, it was fantastic. In Zihuntenjo we hung out on the beach and swam and played in the sand all day and did some shopping. The kids had a great time. In Manzanillo was the only place where I wished we had booked a ship excursion, there is not much to do there if you don't. I heard that other people had a great time on the turtle excursion.

You will have a great time having your family portraits done, their photographers are very good at getting great shots of the kids that you just can't resist.

We loved eating almost all of our meals in the dining room as opposed to eating the buffet on the Lido deck.

We stayed in cabin 5236 which is an obstructed view extended balcony and we loved it!

If you have questions, concerns, etc. let me know.

[gdjoslin]

We didn't book our excursions through the ship. In Acapulco we booked an all day tour (8 hours) with Rosie for $30pp. She took us to the Cliff Divers, shopping and other popular spots, it was fantastic. In Zihuntenjo we hung out on the beach and swam and played in the sand all day and did some shopping. The kids had a great time. In Manzanillo was the only place where I wished we had booked a ship excursion, there is not much to do there if you don't. I heard that other people had a great time on the turtle excursion.
Glad you had a good time. How was your weather? What kind of entertament was on board. We are going to be on her the later part of Feb.
Thought the turtle excursion was in Acapulco.

Thanks

[prometrick]

BNSHEEGIRL,

DID YOU SAIL OUT OF SAN DIEGO?

WE HAVE ALREADY BOOKED OUR DOLHIN EXCURSION THROUGH CARNIVAL ONLINE. WOULD YOU HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT BOOKING IT ON YOUR OWN IS THE WAY TO DO IT? IF SO, HOW DO YOU GET IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE LIKE ROSIE? I ALSO NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE KIDS. MINE ARE 6 AND 10 AND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR OPINION OF THE KIDS CLUB. LAST VACATION MY WIFE WOULD NOT LEAVE THE KIDS AT THE KIDS CLUB BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT TO SURE OF IT. DO THEY KEEP THEM ACTIVE AND ENTERTAINED? THIS MAY BE A STUPID QUESTION BUT SHOULD I HAVE ANY CONCERN ABOUT THE KIDS FALLING OVERBOARD. BY ANY CHANCE DID YOU GET THE SODA CARD? IF YOU DID WAS IT WORTH GETTING? WE ARE IN ROOM 5160 WHICH IS ALSO AN OBSTRUCTED VIEW. CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING OR IS IT COMPLETLEY OBSTRUCTED? I AM HOPING TO GET UPGRADED TO AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW. SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS AS THIS IS OUR FIRST CRUISE AND ME AND MY FAMILY IS VERY EXCITED.
R.L.

Originally posted by Bnsheegirl:
I just got off the Spirit last Thursday. We had a wonderful time and the weather was a dream.

We didn't book our excursions through the ship. In Acapulco we booked an all day tour (8 hours) with Rosie for $30pp. She took us to the Cliff Divers, shopping and other popular spots, it was fantastic. In Zihuntenjo we hung out on the beach and swam and played in the sand all day and did some shopping. The kids had a great time. In Manzanillo was the only place where I wished we had booked a ship excursion, there is not much to do there if you don't. I heard that other people had a great time on the turtle excursion.

You will have a great time having your family portraits done, their photographers are very good at getting great shots of the kids that you just can't resist.

We loved eating almost all of our meals in the dining room as opposed to eating the buffet on the Lido deck.

We stayed in cabin 5236 which is an obstructed view extended balcony and we loved it!

If you have questions, concerns, etc. let me know.

[Bnsheegirl]

[quote]Originally posted by prometrick:
BNSHEEGIRL,

DID YOU SAIL OUT OF SAN DIEGO?

WE HAVE ALREADY BOOKED OUR DOLHIN EXCURSION THROUGH CARNIVAL ONLINE. WOULD YOU HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT BOOKING IT ON YOUR OWN IS THE WAY TO DO IT? IF SO, HOW DO YOU GET IN CONTACT WITH SOMEONE LIKE ROSIE? I ALSO NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE KIDS. MINE ARE 6 AND 10 AND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR OPINION OF THE KIDS CLUB. LAST VACATION MY WIFE WOULD NOT LEAVE THE KIDS AT THE KIDS CLUB BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT TO SURE OF IT. DO THEY KEEP THEM ACTIVE AND ENTERTAINED? THIS MAY BE A STUPID QUESTION BUT SHOULD I HAVE ANY CONCERN ABOUT THE KIDS FALLING OVERBOARD. BY ANY CHANCE DID YOU GET THE SODA CARD? IF YOU DID WAS IT WORTH GETTING? WE ARE IN ROOM 5160 WHICH IS ALSO AN OBSTRUCTED VIEW. CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING OR IS IT COMPLETLEY OBSTRUCTED? I AM HOPING TO GET UPGRADED TO AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW. SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS AS THIS IS OUR FIRST CRUISE AND ME AND MY FAMILY IS VERY EXCITED.
R.L.

Yes, we sailed out of San Diego. It was very smooth embarkation. We arrived at the pier at 10:00 a.m., I know this is kind of early but we came straight from the airport. We were pretty much the only people there and there was no line at all. Because we were so early, we were part of boarding group 2. So when they started VIP boarding at noon, we were the next group on. We were on the lido deck eating at the buffet by 12:30. Also because our luggage was loaded on the ship early (we watched it go by at about 10:30), we had it in our cabin around 2:30.

I found the info for our private excursion with Rosie on the cruise critic mexican riviera message board. There are lots of other private tours that people are talking about over there.

The kids program is great, I highly reccomend it, espcially with your kids age. Mine are 5 & 13. It's not like they have to be in there the whole time, you can decide when to check them in and out throughout the day. There are lots of activites and things for them to be do. But there are fun things to do for the family on board, such as swimming, going on the slide, watching the ice carving, playing with the giant chess set, playing cards or board games (they have them on-board) at a table up on lido, etc. I have no worries about them falling overboard, the ship is very safe and there are people every where.

My hubby did get a soda card. It was around 50-55 bucks, but he paid extra for the carnival soda travel cup. He thought it was worth it and will do it again next time. He also used it to get juice that was not always available, such as cranberry or orange and to get soda in the dining room.

My cousin was in room 5170 and you can see just fine, the view is not really obstructed much. She had the same view that we had. Here are a couple of pictures of the view from our OV cabin. http://travel.webshots.com/photo/284...25497709xlqVwV
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/219...25497709kwTgFB

Trust me, you will love your cabin, we did. It was our first cruise too and we are already looking at booking our next one.

No problem about asking questions, I'm happy to do it. I had a hard time finding info about the Spirit before we left, so I vowed to help others