Mexican Riviera on the Carnival Spirit - Our Visit to the Las Hadas Resort
Today we arrived in Manzanillo at about 8AM and we were amused to look down from the balcony and see all the buses lined up for the excursions...
OK now you wonder why we were amused since there are always buses lined up for excursions in ports? But in Manzanillo it is really a sight...
there were NINE buses.
Wouldn't that amaze you? Nine buses wouldn't even hold the crew members going ashore, let alone any significant number of passengers.
We hadn't planned a tour so we had a leisurely morning of coffee and conversation on the balcony with some of our Cruise Critic friends, and went ashore about 10AM.
A large group of our Cruise Critic friends had decided to spend the day at the Las Hadas resort beach and hotel in Manzanillo.
We grabbed a taxi and headed for Las Hadas for a wonderful day of beach and drinks and pool and drinks and food and drinks..
..
you get the idea.
The beach was practically empty so I must say we had fabulous service.
The ocean water was warm and clear with lots of little fish and the sun was HOT.
The sky was blue and the air warm...
we are talking paradise here! Most of the morning we spent the time sun-bathing on the beautiful beach, swimming with the fishes in the warm ocean water, and swimming out to the raft for some diving fun.
We ordered food from the beach waiters, and just relaxing.
A little later a few of our group migrated over to the swimming pool, and it's not just a swimming pool.
It's a huge meandering pool with islands and a swim-up bar, pool side disk jockey, and more.
For those who prefer fresh water, the pool is absolutely gorgeous, the music playing poolside was fabulous, our favorite oldies.
The group of us who ventured there were dancing by the side of the pool, and everyone was joining in and singing and enjoying a fantastic day.
We were still ordering food and drinks poolside as well.
Lots of drinks.
For about twenty minutes we were visited by a very large Iguana that had lost it's tail.
We fed it lettuce and some of the guys tried to pet it.
Boy are Iguanas fast! The guys were not successful in their endeavors to pet the reptile.
Monetary details; the taxi was $7.
00 even though the driver got lost, the charge to use the resort is $30.
00 but we were given $30.
00 in coupon "money" to use on the premises and between us we had coupons left over so it was a very economical day.
I didn't really want a hamburger or hot dog in Mexico although they were on the menu and a few of us went for cheeseburgers.
My daughter-in-law ordered the cerviche and was very pleased and I actually ended up with beans, rice, and warm tortillas which were NOT on the menu so ask for what you want, you might get it.
I'm not sure why but wrapping the beans and rice in those soft warm tortillas tasted better than anything else I could imagine.
I had planned to go Deep Sea Fishing for sailfish in Manzanillo, but I had the back problem and decided not to risk it, and instead did the Las Hadas thing.
My son and Bob, from our Cruise Critic group, went out as scheduled, which was great because Vidal the skipper was able to re-arrange things when the itinerary changed.
Apparently they had quite the day on the ocean.
They each caught 70-75 lb sailfish at the same time! The smiles are still plastered all over their faces! It has been another great day on our Carnival Spirit cruise vacation to the Mexican Riviera!
OK now you wonder why we were amused since there are always buses lined up for excursions in ports? But in Manzanillo it is really a sight...
there were NINE buses.
Wouldn't that amaze you? Nine buses wouldn't even hold the crew members going ashore, let alone any significant number of passengers.
We hadn't planned a tour so we had a leisurely morning of coffee and conversation on the balcony with some of our Cruise Critic friends, and went ashore about 10AM.
A large group of our Cruise Critic friends had decided to spend the day at the Las Hadas resort beach and hotel in Manzanillo.
We grabbed a taxi and headed for Las Hadas for a wonderful day of beach and drinks and pool and drinks and food and drinks..
..
you get the idea.
The beach was practically empty so I must say we had fabulous service.
The ocean water was warm and clear with lots of little fish and the sun was HOT.
The sky was blue and the air warm...
we are talking paradise here! Most of the morning we spent the time sun-bathing on the beautiful beach, swimming with the fishes in the warm ocean water, and swimming out to the raft for some diving fun.
We ordered food from the beach waiters, and just relaxing.
A little later a few of our group migrated over to the swimming pool, and it's not just a swimming pool.
It's a huge meandering pool with islands and a swim-up bar, pool side disk jockey, and more.
For those who prefer fresh water, the pool is absolutely gorgeous, the music playing poolside was fabulous, our favorite oldies.
The group of us who ventured there were dancing by the side of the pool, and everyone was joining in and singing and enjoying a fantastic day.
We were still ordering food and drinks poolside as well.
Lots of drinks.
For about twenty minutes we were visited by a very large Iguana that had lost it's tail.
We fed it lettuce and some of the guys tried to pet it.
Boy are Iguanas fast! The guys were not successful in their endeavors to pet the reptile.
Monetary details; the taxi was $7.
00 even though the driver got lost, the charge to use the resort is $30.
00 but we were given $30.
00 in coupon "money" to use on the premises and between us we had coupons left over so it was a very economical day.
I didn't really want a hamburger or hot dog in Mexico although they were on the menu and a few of us went for cheeseburgers.
My daughter-in-law ordered the cerviche and was very pleased and I actually ended up with beans, rice, and warm tortillas which were NOT on the menu so ask for what you want, you might get it.
I'm not sure why but wrapping the beans and rice in those soft warm tortillas tasted better than anything else I could imagine.
I had planned to go Deep Sea Fishing for sailfish in Manzanillo, but I had the back problem and decided not to risk it, and instead did the Las Hadas thing.
My son and Bob, from our Cruise Critic group, went out as scheduled, which was great because Vidal the skipper was able to re-arrange things when the itinerary changed.
Apparently they had quite the day on the ocean.
They each caught 70-75 lb sailfish at the same time! The smiles are still plastered all over their faces! It has been another great day on our Carnival Spirit cruise vacation to the Mexican Riviera!