We are sailing on the Spirit for the 8 day Mexican Rivera Nov 28th.  It will be our first time on this ship and to these ports.  I would like to read a few reviews from you guys uut there on your experiences.  How about it?    -Azcamm-

Hi AZ

We were on the Spirit for the 8 day Mexican Rivera cruise back in February 2007

We were with a group of 8 people, some like myself new to cruising . . . some experienced cruisers. 

As for the ship . . . I loved it !! so much so we are booked for a 12 day Hawaii cruise this September. . . again on the Spirit! We`ve been bitten by the cruise bug.  Hahahaa

We found the ship to be very clean and the staff to be absolutely wonderful. We had no complaints regarding food, service, our cabins or the entertanment . . . nothing

As for shore excurisons . . . In  Acapulco, the men in our group did the "shotover jetboat" tour while the women did a little shopping. The group also went to see the Clifff Divers in the evening. Overall impression of Acapulco was glad we did it, but not overly impressed.

In Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa . . . We did the Catamaran Sail & Snorkel in the morning and did the dolphin swim in the afternoon. These two excurisons were the highlights . . . Loved it, Loved it,  Loved it !!!

In Manzanillo . . . We did the beach & shopping tour . . . This was a very nice relaxing day, most enjoyable!

Nice review - we like the "spirit class" ships as well. We were on the Miracle in March and will be on the Legend in a few months.

So the dolphin swim was good?  How long did it last and did the cruiseline take you directly from the ship to the event?  Cost?

Hi Nickibear

Loved swimming with the dolphins!  . . . booked it through carnivals shore excurisions

Yes  bus transportation included, cost a little pricey at $200 per person but I thought hey this would be a once in a lifetime experience!  I don't regret spending the money.

The total tour is approx. 3 ot 4 hrs, but you only swim with the dolphins for about 1 hour, the rest of the time is transportation, gift shop shopping etc.

If you have never done this before . . . Do it

A group of us went on the Spirit in Feb of 06. It had just come out of drydock...the crew hadn't had time to meld together yet....not one of the best...but had a great time....Hired a van in Acapulco instead of a tour...went (drinks) everywhere...saw S. Stallones house had (drinks) shrimp another bay over....went to Senor Frogs for (drinks)  deep fried osyters....and then to a local bar for (drinks)...Ixtapa/Zejuantanajo...got a few bottles of Oprah's favorite tequilla...Cream De Tequilla...at the house of tequilla....Manzanillo..deep sea fishing...didn't catch anything...but good time with friends(drinks)...going again this Nov....from Hemet...

Hi GentlemanJim,

Did you hire the van right at the docks and how much did it run you for the day?  We are going to Acapulco in Jan. and would like to hire a van.  Did that once before in Mazatlan and it was the way to go.  Also, was there a certain company the van was with.  Thanks!  Kim :-)

Have you checked out cruise critic reviews?  My review is posted there.  I sailed on the Spirit, aft balcony on the very back so we watched the wake of the ship and everywhere we were leaving.  Wonderful cruise.  I posted lots of pictures there too.  I'll try to post my review here tomorrow but posting pictures isn't easy on here.   Stay tuned.

My review turns out to be 3 pages so I think I'll post a link to my review on cruise critic for you to read.  Mine was a 7 day visiting Cabo, Mazatlan & La Paz so probably not the same itinerary as yours but the ship is the same and lots of stuff is the same.  I swam with dolphins in Cabo so I have details about it there too.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=41110

Hi Kim, yes we hired it right at the dock. It cost us 150.00 plus we gave them a little extra for a  tip. They took us to lots of stops, and even to see the divers. Visited a few local hangouts also.

Thank you very much Jim for the info!  

AZCAMM:

We are sailing on the Spirit for the 8 day Mexican Rivera Nov 28th.  It will be our first time on this ship and to these ports.  I would like to read a few reviews from you guys uut there on your experiences.  How about it?    -Azcamm-

We are booked on the same cruise as you.  This is our first time with Carnival.  We have been on NCL with similar itinerary and liked the open dining concept.  I am not sure how we will like the structured dining.  Maybe we will see you on board ship.