Well, my grand plan of blogging the cruise died a quick death… LOL We just were having too much fun, and while Carnival’s Wi-Fi access is great on the boat, the speed of the connection leaves MUCH to be desired.
So Anyway, we had a blast. Acapulco was just OK, but we never expect much from that port. Acapulco is a great place if you love getting completely trashed and going from bar to bar finding excitement, and that is really not our scene. We are way too laid back for that. So we wandered around the city for awhile and found this really nice outdoor restaurant and had some lunch.. They were mostly a seafood joint, but there were very few tourists in the place, always a good sign, and we got stared at for some time. 
However we did get sat next to Andres Garcia who is apparently very famous in Mexico, and my brother recognized him… I had no idea, but it will still cool..
The next day we were off to Zihuatanejo / Ixtapa. They are one port, but two cities. This is BY FAR our favorite port. For a few reasons. The shopping here is much better and there are A LOT less of the street people who are constantly trying to sell you chiclets and other sundries… The shopping is more along the line of handcrafts and leather, and clothing as well. Acapulco is all silver and jewelry shops.. Pass. The other great thing about this stop was Bandido’s. This is a great little restaurant that we always go to when we are in town. They have a patio dining area, and flat screens for the game, and the best mexican food. This time I even got a shirt. 
I think the best part about this port is a small little beach, which we didn’t get to this time, that you have to take a boat to get to.. We stopped there the last time and just sat on the beach restaurant and drank 50 cent cervasas and ate the finest guacamole you have ever tasted… This time we spent soo much time wandering the city that we were all just to tired to go over there, so I guess we will have to wait till next time.
We weren’t really expecting anything from Manzanillo this time either, since the last time was a major dissapointment. Manzanillo is another excursion port. In other words, if you don’t have excursion on this port, stay on the boat… The downtown is filthy and the shopping is sad and pathetic. So we were not planning to get off the boat, but Laura want to do an excursion called “The Cuyutlan Turtle Experience”. I HIGHLY recommend this tour… It was really really cool. You get driven out to this turtle sanctuary in Cuyutlan and they give you a small education on the sea turtles, which ones are endangored and which ones aren’t, and then show you where they are incubating and hatching sea turtles. You also get to see several different varieties of turtles at various ages… the little baby ones are hilarious. Then you go down to the beach, where they have a few people get to release baby turtles. (not everyone in the group gets to do it, and if you want to DON’T put on sunscreen sinec you can’t touch the turtles if you have sunscreen on). Laura got to do it and it was quite an experience for her… I have a picture, on my other computer, that I will get posted in the next couple of days.
After that they take you on a boat for about a half hour through a lagoon that is just busting with wildlife.. all sorts of birds, alligators, and Iguana’s, and beautiful scenery. It was very relazing and cool too see. Then they drive you out to a small village where there are few resorts and you get a free lunch (very tasty) and they let you just chill at the beach for a couple of hours… The water is so warm, it is like getting into a bath. You can do a little shopping here too, and the vendors are much more respectful of your space and leave you alone unless you want to buy something.
All in all it was a great day, and much more then I expected from Manzanillo…
The last two sea days, were all about relaxing. We played card during the day and sat in the lounges at night and listened to a great Jazz Trio called the Joseph Filipow Trio. They were very very good, and my brother, being a musician, was enthralled by them.. Especially the bass player since he played a seven string bass.. If you don’t know why that is impressive, just know that it is. I felt like they were wasted though by Carnival… The other entertainment on the ship was WAY sub par and they were FANTASTIC, yet they had the worst spot on the ship and it made it difficult to truly appreciate the talent. They apparently don’t have a website… otherwise I would link to it…
Overall the trip was fun and relaxing and it has been difficult to readjust to normal life… I am still waiting for the towel animal on my bed, and no one has offered me a 5 course, 5 star meal yet… hmmm…
