One lady in her mid forties approached and offered a massage. We quickly discovered she is a shaman, witch-doctor if you will, and dickered with her for two massages and spirit cleansing. She gave us her phone number Lucia, 74 41 33 31 97 and asked us to call ahead the next time and she and her apprentice daughter would be waiting for us for a repeat session. It was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable massages I have ever had! And my wife says the same for her. Cost? $25 total for two, plus a $5 gratuity I was eager to pay.
My advice: Learn what you can about the places you will be stopping. Make contact with as many tour companies via Internet as you can. Ask friends. Play the newsgroups. Do things on you own! The tours are OK for the novice and the person who just wants to get a feel for things. And of course the Cruise Ship company will be promoting tours where they get a fair commission. I am learning that every trick in the book is being used to part me with my money.
Fellow Passengers on the Carnival Spirit
The Armenians on our first cruise were big, boisterous, loud and oblivious of the rest of us on the ship. They crashed lines, held heated arguments in the middle of the passageway without a care. On this cruise about half the passengers are Hispanic, mostly Mexicans who have done well in the US and now enjoying family reunions. They kept to themselves, were very polite, easily leaving space for others, easy smiles, gracious in their manner, the kind of people you'd like being round! Sit long enough in one place and somebody will sit nearby. A minute later you will make a comment or the other and a conversation will start.
"Nice day"
"Yep"
"Where are you from?"
And so it goes for as long as you can both stand the nothingness of the chat or until something really strikes you both and animation begins. Often the silence becomes oppressive and you find an excuse to move on. As chance often has it, you move to the stern only to find your "new-found" friend already there.
Melen noted this is the perfect venue for a family reunion. Everybody can do as they see fit without getting lost in the shuffle. There are many family groups on this cruise. Grandparents reluctantly rolling strollers with babes down the isles as their "kids" enjoy the Jacuzzi or??? But only infrequently as most family groups could be seen eating together, lounging by the pool, or just hanging out.
I think a cruise would be the perfect setting for a seminar. One took place on this cruise for a group studying mediation. Their fee was about $1,000 per person for the course, plus discounted group fees for the cruise.
Like it or not you will be seated with the same bunch of people every night. If I were to make a suggestion to the cruise companies it would be to rotate tables thus giving us all a chance to meet other people. But then, I imagine most people like the security of having at least one predictable element to their daily life of adventures at sea and on land. (Since writing this in the middle of the cruise, I am now thankful for no rotation as we are getting to know some wonderful people and it's good to have something sure, something known to look forward to other than your stateroom.) It was, in fact, a sad parting of the ways with our two LA area, fun-loving couple sharing the table with us.
Manzanillo
Our shore tours were simply getting to shore, walking, taking a short boat ride to a quiet cove and dipping into the ocean blue as we did in Zihuatanejo. In Manzanillo we debated calling our cab driver from the past trip--the president of the local taxi cab association who had said he would make a special deal for anybody mentioning my name. Joel Andres Virgen Lopez, Cell. 044 (314) 10 305 28 -- but instead found a shuttle service to downtown for $3 round trip and we took it. Our objective was to find something interesting in Manzanillo other than tourist traps.
We found a typical Mexican restaurant in an old hotel, just a block from where the shuttle dropped us off. We spent the rest of the day there sipping Micheladas (Lime juice, beer, salt-rimmed glass, ice), munching Mexican appetizers, meeting other travelers from the Carnival Spirit with like minded love for authentic Mexico, and had a wonderful time. Our bar and food bill for the hours spent there was $18 US.
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