An Eight-day "Mexican Riviera" cruise from San Diego, CA to Acapulco, Mexico. Oct. 13 - 21, 2007 PORTS OF CALL: The three ports we visited were interesting. Since I had a newly-replaced knee, we settled for a less physically-demanding bus tour excursion at each port. Having had the opportunity to visit the Mayan Riviera on the Caribbean side of Mexico, we think we much prefer the Caribbean beaches and water to the Mexican Riviera on the Pacific side. The weather at all three ports was hot and muggy, but this was just at the end of the rainy season. Apparently it will be a bit cooler and a lot less humid in the winter months. Day 1 Depart San Diego 9 p.m., Days 2 & 3 At Sea, Day 4 Arrive Manzanillo 7 a.m. Depart 6 p.m. Manzanillo gave us a look at a bustling, non-tourist Mexican city, unlike most of the ports visited by cruise ships. Day 5 Arrive Acapulco 7 a.m. Departure (scheduled for 4 p.m., actually left after dark). Acapulco had an amazing number of high-rise hotels lining the bay and the Pacific Ocean, but the highlight of the port was seeing the Cliff Divers. Very spectacular and way more dangerous for the divers than I had thought. Day 6 Arrive Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa 8 a.m. Depart 6 p.m. Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa was an interesting contrast between an old, genuine Mexican town and one of Mexico's "created" tourist destinations, like Cabo San Lucas and Cancun. Both had their charms. Days 7 & 8 At Sea Day 9 Arrive in San Diego 8 a.m. (Arrival delayed an hour due to fog.

We boarded the Carnival Spirit on a sunny Saturday afternoon in San Diego. We quickly realized that there was going to be a persistent "theme" to this cruise: "There will be a slight delay." We were delayed getting on the plane in Portland, Oregon because of strong headwinds, then once we got to the pier in San Diego, there was a one and a half-hour delay before anyone could board the ship. (We never learned the cause.) The lifeboat drill the following morning was also delayed for an hour (never knew why). At Zihuatenejo there was an hour or more delay getting ashore via tender because huge swells made it dangerous to board the lifeboats; then, a lock-down on the ship one evening while they accounted for all passengers meant our evening show was delayed to the following day; there was another delay in getting back to the pier at San Diego due to pea-soup thick fog in the harbor, and finally, there were so many delays getting us off the ship and to the airport that we missed our nonstop flight back to Portland--instead we got sent through Boise, Idaho. We missed our shuttle to Salem by ten minutes, which meant our return home was delayed until almost ten p.m.

This was our tenth cruise, but there were also a couple of "first-time ever" events. Read more