Carnival Cruise Puerto Vallarta Mexico

One of things we love about cruising is that  you unpack once and the ship moves to a new city while you play and sleep. After a bit of a bum day in Manzanillo we head overnight into Puerta Vallarta. This is our fifth visit to this beautiful city. Each time we have found new and exciting places to explore. We start the day with a leisurely breakfast and photos of the port.

Carnival Spirit Lido Deck  buffet breakfast.

Pirate ships and upscale shopping seen from Carnival Spirit

Port Vallarta Cruise Ship Port

A shopping area just off the ship Puerto Vallarta

Feel right at home with a Walmart directly across from the cruise ship Puerto Vallarta

Today as we exit the ship there is a fleet of beautiful cabs eager for passengers. Our luck runs good! We meet Angel Guzman, a most excellent cab driver and tour guide.We negotiate a well priced tour. Angel speaks English like an native and knows Puerto Vallarta. We tour the town in style and air conditioned comfort. If you need his email to make prior arrangements contact me. Here is some photos from our tour.



Beautiful private homes overlook the water. Many have vehicles with New York plates in front.

Los Arcos Puerta Vallarta Mexico

The "love bridge" that connected Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor homes in Puerto Vallarta

Our last stop before heading back to the Carnival Spirit is the InterContinental Presidente Hotel. What a magnificent hotel. The views are killer.



InterContinental Presidente Hotel Puerto Vallarta Mexico

Hotdogs by the pool Lido Deck Carnival Spirit

Dinner salad Carnival Spirit

Fish Entree Carnival Spirit

Fruit Plate dessert Carnival Spirit

Dog towel animal Carnival Spirit

The next stop is Cabo San Lucas. Cruise on!!

Carnival Spirit Manzanillo Mexico

We woke early as our ship The Carnival Spirit sailed into the Mexican Port of Manzanillo.We hit the Lido Buffet for a quick continental breakfast and went outdoors to get some photos of our  cruise into port. In the back of my mind I remembered the words of cruise director Stuart Dunn. He told the story of unprepared people who arrive on shore with no plan or itinerary and stand there scratching their heads wondering what to do. This was our fifth Mexican cruise but our first to the port of Manzanillo. I thought Mr. Dunn was pitching the cruise ship's own shore excursions. In the past we have put together our own spontaneous fun adventures once on shore but this time, with the exception of some great photos, we failed. The port itself is beautiful with towering statues and coconut trees, but finding your way around without prior research is not suggested. I headed towards a cab stand and chatted briefly with a cab driver. He seemed to speak pretty good English and I asked for a tour and agreed on a price. We jumped in and headed off on an adventure. It turns out he bluffed me on the English, my limited Spanish was better than his limited English. We drove for about twenty minutes in his cab with no seat belts or air conditioning dodging crazy traffic on rough roads. I was starting to get a little car sick  and really could not determine where we were going so I asked the driver to return to the port. He seemed a bit sad but returned us to the ship. We paid the full fare and thanked him. Stuart was right you have to have a  plan. I did get lots of great photos. Enjoy!



Carnival Spirit Continental Breakfast Lido

Carnival Spirit Continental Breakfast Lido

Hills coming in to port of Manzanillo Mexico

Industrial Port of Manzanillo

Freighter entering Industrial Port of Manzanillo Mexico

Fishing boat harbor Manzanillo

Pleasure boats and fishing boats Manzanillo Mexico



Fishing Boat Manzanillo Mexico

Cruise Ship Port Manzanillo Mexico


Carnival Spirit in Port of Manzanillo Mexico

Swordfish Statue Manzanillo Mexico
Coconut Palms Manzanillo Mwexico

Benito Juarez Statue Manzanillo Mexico

This statue reminds me Of Stuart Dunn.Next time I'll have a plan!

No camera at dinner but we did get our daily towel animal.

Carnival Spirit Towel Animal Monkey

Our Cruise On The Carnival Spirit

It is our second at sea day on board the Carnival  Spirit. The relaxing has kicked into high gear. Up for an early breakfast it seems I'm so relaxed I did not bring the camera. I had the bagel and cream cheese in the Empire Dining Room. It is quiet and calm. This is the way to cruise!
We decide to take in a cooking demonstration in the Nouveau Steakhouse. The executive chef and his helpers are whipping up some tasty delights. I am not paying close attention to the demonstration but am trying to figure out how to take pictures in the lighting of the room. As mentioned before the room is bathed in pink light reflecting the red color of the smokestack into a white room. As I fiddle with my camera  courses of food  start to arrive. Seems it is not only a demonstration but you also get fed. No need for lunch after this!



Nouveau Steak House Cooking Demo Carnival Spirit


Artwork in the Nouveau Steak House
I did remember to bring the camera at dinner time.

Mixed Salad Carnival Spirit

Eggplant Carnival Spirit

Healthy Chicken Entree Carnival Spirit

Cheese Course Dessert Carnival Spirit

After dinner the birds invaded our cabin. The cutest towel animal birds!


Bird Towel Animals Carnival Spirit

Cruise Obeservations Carnival Spirit

The first day of our nine day Mexican Cruise on board the Carnival Spirit went by in a blur. On our second day we awake from a great night's sleep. I find sleeping on a cruise ship to be a wonderful experience. The gentle rocking of the ship, as we cruise through the night to our next destination , seems to act as a natural sedative. We are early risers and head up to Lido Deck in search of coffee.
Lido Deck Carnival Spirit early morning

Not only coffee, but a very complete continental breakfast is available early. No need to worry about being hungry here, food is everywhere and is almost always included free. We chose to have some fresh fruit in addition to coffee. If you feel hungry a little later there is a huge breakfast buffet on Lido Deck and sit down restaurant service in the main dining room. You could have three breakfasts and no one would mind!




Fresh fruit available on continental breakfast Carnival Spirit Lido Deck


This day is a "sea day" with no port stops but don't think there is nothing to do but eat. We did yoga, hit the hot tub, walked the ship, checked out a book in the library and marveled at the decor: All this before lunch.
Opulent Decor on The Carnival Spirit                                                                                                   

What's for lunch today? In a fit of cross cultural confusion I had the California Roll sushi on a trip to Mexico in the main dining room.


California Roll


It was time for a nap! After which we dressed up for elegant night and had martinis before dinner. I had a shrimp cocktail starter and the prime rib entree. The wife had Greek style salad and the lobster and shrimp..


Shrimp cocktail Carnival Spirit


Greek Salad Carnival Spirit

Prime Rib Carnival Spirit

Lobster and shrimp Carnival Spirit


 After a wonderful dinner we stayed out to see the late night show and found a fun seal towel animal waiting in our cabin


Seal towel animal Carnival Spirit

Carnival Spirit Time To Cruise

It has been about a month since we returned from our nine day cruise to Mexico on board the Carnival Spirit. I admit I suffered withdrawal from the cruising experience. It is so pleasant to have no cares in the world and have all your needs fulfilled. I have returned to the normal everyday world and frankly would rather be back on The Spirit. I am writing this series of blogs to relive the trip and to give others a glimpse of the cruising  experience.

 We rode the Amtrak Coast Starlight from our home near Emeryville Ca. to Los Angeles amd then transferred to the  Pacific Surfliner into San Diego. The train ride was wonderful with no problems and we arrived spot on time in San Diego just after one a.m on Friday. We crashed at the hotel and awoke to a overcast morning but our enthusiasm was not diminished. We could not board the ship until afternoon so we enjoyed breakfast and walked the San Diego Harbor/Marina area and shot some photos.

San Diego Harbor views

We arrived at the cruise terminal just after noon. Praise to Carnival for a great embarkation. In about forty five minutes we were on board taking pictures of the view from Lido deck.


Views from Lido deck Carnival Spirit San Diego March 15,2012 Above- Carnival Spirit water slide Below- Carnival Spirit pool.

We had lunch and proceeded to explore The Spirit. I highly recommend you take a walk around the ship. It allows you to get your bearings and scope out the facilities and check for deals. We headed up to the Nouveau Steakhouse to check out the menus. There is a extra fee for the steakhouse but the menus rocks. In the following photos of the steakhouse I must explain that the room is filled with red from the overhead fantail and glass.


Carnival Spirit Nouveau Steakhouse


We had a tropical drink and continued to explore. In the lobby they had a wine deal. You purchase the wine in advance and save a substantial amount of money. There are a number of bottles to choose from in a given price point. If I did the math correctly we saved seven dollars a bottle.



Tropical drink and wine package deal





Overhead views Carnival Spirit Lobby


We participated in the mandatory safety drill. At dinner we met the other two couples we would share dinner with the next nine days. I always am amazed at how Carnival picks dinner mates. Somehow they manage to put together tables with compatible people. After a great dinner we headed back to our cabin to find our first towel animal. The wife loves them!




 Our first towel animal! A Walrus.

More fun to come.

The Comeback Cruise-Carnival Spirit

I wish I could say Cruise Ninja has been standing by silently, plotting his next cruise. The truth be told, we like large numbers of people, have been pummeled by the down economy. When we started this blog we thought we could knock out a couple of cruises a year, at least. It didn't happen that way.

The good news is we have booked and paid for a cruise to Mexico on the Carnival Spirit this month. After a year of window shopping and conservative spending we are going to cruise! We created spread sheets, compared cruises and costs and we think we have winner.

We look forward to the fun and will report our experiences on the blog. Happy Cruising!

High on Cruising