We arrived the night before and stayed at the Best Western Seven Seas. It had small rooms but they were clean and great for a place to sleep before the cruise. They also will let you leave your car, no charge, and provide transportation to the port. Embarkation was a breeze, we arrived around noon and were on the ship by one o'clock. We did have to wait for our cabin to be cleaned so they send you up to Lido deck to eat. We were in our cabin shortly after lunch and luggage arrived very fast. Great cabin, bad location, we were right below the pool and the music and people dragging chairs was very annoying. To noisy to sit out on balcony and relax. They gave us late seating dinner and we requested early so we stood in line to see the maitre d and ask for a change, he made no promises but would try for next day. We did get our change to early seating on second day. We had the best waiter Richard and his assistant Bernadette. We have been on nine cruises and they were the best. My husband is a fussy eater and they were able to please him and keep his hot coffee filled. Chocolate melting cake the best enjoyed it every night. Buffet on Lido deck was just what you expect of a buffet, we live in Vegas so no surprise to us. It was o.k. when you were not expecting to much. The deli sandwiches were pretty good.

First port Manzanillo - should probably be dropped by Carnival. We did a ship's tour to Jalisco and Barra de Navidad a waste of money. Took us to a plantation to taste fruit served to you in a baggie, just a few germs. A very dirty place for a first stop. Should have stayed on ship. Next was Acapulco a little cleaner. a large city. We did the ship tour to cliff divers and coyuca lagoon. Cliff was was nice to see and lagoon a pretty spot, we had a nice tour guide. Last Zihua/Ixtapa this was the best stop. A beautiful fishing village with clean blue water. We did the City tour that went to Ixtapa to have a drink at a beautiful hotel. We really enjoyed this tour and would not mind going back to stay in a hotel in Ixtapa. We did some shopping at flea market in Zihua. Ship was very clean and staff very friendly we would like to do Alaska on the Spirit if we could get the same waiter's in Dining Room. Entertainment on the ship definitely leaves something to be desired. So if this is why you choose to travel forget it. We cruise to relax and enjoy ourselves and we did. Casino was tight as expected and pretty small, remember we live in Vegas. Still fun to play a little as you watch the sunset and enjoy a glass of wine. Embarkation was as easy as could be off the ship early,called the hotel for shuttle and we were on our way home to the real world. Almost forgot to mention we cruised during what might be a spring break time some places, yes we saw more children then usual, but they were never a problem as some people have posted. We are in our early sixties and the kids did not bother us at all. Happy Cruising to you.