What a great view we had when we awoke this morning – instead of ocean as far as we could see from our bed, we saw land! The ship was already turning into Acapulco Bay!
I opted for a great workout in the gym and a 2-mile walk before we had breakfast. Wanted to make sure I exercised the fat cells. We had originally planned to eat on shore but when we found out we couldn’t disembark until around 1:00, we went ahead and at the Carnival Trough! No, that’s not the official name but with 8-10 serving lines (each with a different option), I think the name is appropriate.
Acapulco dock workers treated us with "Y M C A" complete with hand motions
Finally we were on land – what a strange feeling after almost 72 hours at sea. As soon as we got off the ship, we were bombarded with taxi drivers and begging kids. Larry and Nancy went on a shore excursion to see some archeological ruins so there were only 4 of us for the afternoon. We decided we would get across the street from the cruise terminal and were told we would find better deals on drivers there. We must have been sending off some unknown vibes to the drivers because a couple of them dogged us across the street!
We’d heard suggestions to go to Papagayo Park and told that $10 USD for 4 of us was a decent price to pay for a taxi. The rest of us put Burl in charge of negotiations and pretty soon he had hired Jesus to take us to the park for $5. Now Jesus was no dummy so he hung with us after we got to the park – and he got us in free too! Our first stop was a little market area at the edge of the park and he steered us there for complimentary margaritas. Then we were off on a brief sojourn through the zoo which was really fun – no lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) – but had lots of monkeys, alligators, exotic birds and miniature deer.
Ron, Burl and Barb with our driver/guide JesusSince our chances of ditching Jesus were slim to none, we regrouped and decided to see what he had to offer for the afternoon. Again, Burl was the go-to guy for bargains and Jesus and his un-air-conditioned taxi (temp was around 90 and very humid!) were with us for the rest of the afternoon. And even after we negotiated a reduced rate, he still let us know we were free to pay him more! We decided he was meant to be our guide since he was wearing a ball cap from a feed store in Benton, MO – given to him by a regular client. Our first destination was the rooftop of Hotel Casablanca where we could see perfect water views from 3 sides. Not sure how long it’s been since the glory days of his hotel but Barb and I were relieved that the elevator wasn’t working as I’m not sure I’d be here to write about the experience.Our next stop was at the Hotel Flamingo which was made famous in the 50’s when many Hollywood starts started staying there – Johnny Weissmuller and John Wayne to name a few. The common area was decorated with lots of old movie posters and we sat in the bar area and had a beer with a great view overlooking the bay. Apparently Johnny Weissmuller retired to Acapulco and lived in a round house on the grounds until he died in 1984. In fact, he’s buried in Acapulco. Unfortunately we couldn’t go in it but did get to peak in the windows. Don’t know if/when we’ll ever return to Acapulco but I’d opt to stay at the Flamingo.Barb and Ron by the historic marker at the Hotel Flamingo
Soon we were back in the cab with Jesus seeing more of the city and then a brief stop at a shopping area. However, the shopkeepers kept following us closely and any interest shown in an item just invited them to leech onto us – so we went across the street to a discount liquor store and bought some tequila to take home. We’d already priced the (bargain) rates on the ship and these prices were much better plus we paid in pesos. Too bad we had to surrender the booze when we got back on ship – they are holding it for us until late Saturday night since they want us to buy more of their overpriced drinks! For now we’re sticking to their free ice tea and lemonade during the day.
Jesus dropped us back at the pier after a fun-filled 4+ hours. We had an early dinner and then were ready for the next adventure. The one thing we wanted to do in Acapulco was watch the famous cliff divers so we joined a tour bus for that experience because we knew we’d make it back before the ship sailed at midnight.
Trust me, there are divers in the photo and they're ready to dive 75-100' into the water
The tour included another look at the city and then took us to a couple of jewelry shops that the ship’s Shopping Specialist, James, had picked out for us. We’ve learned that James is not a Carnival employee but is contracted to the ship by merchants in the ports who pay him to promote their goods. All of the shops offer some kind of freebie whether it’s a margarita (max of 2 oz and short on booze), a gemstone or piece of cheap jewelry. In addition, we had to contend with locals as we got off the bus – they were on us like flies and we kept up a running commentary of “no gracias”. It was easy to walk away from all the “bargains” since we were in Mexico last winter.
From the shops we were able to walk to the Hotel Mirador where we had great seats at a table on a terraced patio and could look down on the cliff divers. We got our first complimentary drink which was a pina colada and got a big laugh out of the waiter saying we should tell him if our drinks needed more rum or ice. That was a clue that neither had been added to the juice! We asked again on our second round and got the same results.
The cliff divers are all young men (mostly teens) who parade down the steps in their Speedos, jump off a short cliff into the water and then climb a higher cliff to where they dive. Most of them diver from about 60-75 feet into the narrow area between the cliffs and we heard that the water is only about 13 feet deep at that point. They were amazing to watch – especially the two who did back dives in perfect synchronization. We also heard they have to dive out more than 7 meters in order to clear all the cliffs. The last diver dove from the highest point (about 100 feet) carrying a torch in each hand and no artificial lighting so it was quite spectacular.
Following the divers we were treated to some entertainment from a mariachi band plus several dancers in authentic costumes.
Again, we were seated at just the right table to see them up front and personal.
By 10:30 we were back on the boat and ready to set sail for our next port of call.
I love reading about your cruise adventures, but I admit I enjoy hearing about them in person even more! Guess that will have to wait until the end of March. You should have a package waiting for you at Mike and Annie’s when you arrive. Good to chat with you today even if it was short. Maybe next time I’ll have something interesting to say! Love to you and Burl.