10-Day Thanksgiving Week Cruise 2011

RATING: $$$$+++++
10-Day Carnival Spirit Cruise
Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo
November 18-27, 2011

We love this time of year!  But this time, we were not only celebrating our annual Thanksgiving week vacation, but it was also John's 50th birthday.  This is a great way to celebrate.  We just LOVE cruising.   For us, it's cheaper to cruise than to stay home most of the time!  This was John's 23rd and my 18th cruise.  And we can't wait for the next one (in 42 days ... but who's counting?)

La Bufadora (Blowhole)

Sea Lions at the Pier

Our first port was Ensenada, Mexico.  I love when we stop here because as soon as you step off the ship, there are a bunch of barking sea lions.  This is a port that you have to search hard to find activities to do, because there's not much there.  So we found a taxi to take us about a half-hour away to La Bufadora (The Blowhole).  It was only $10pp, right off the pier.  Through the cruise, it's about $40pp or more.
 

ATV Riding around Ensenada

After our trek to La Bufadora, we went to go ATV Riding.  A few days before the cruise, we booked our ride for about 1/3 of the price found on Carnival.  The best (trusted) deals we found were at PuertoVallartaTours.net.  The location to pick up the ATVs are only a short walk off the pier.  This was a 2-hour AWESOME tour.  We had a blast!  But it totally made me miss riding a motorcycle.

Famous Arch at Cabo San Lucas

After a day at sea, we stopped (for 2 days) at Cabo San Lucas.  This was an amazing port!  The beaches are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  There are sea lions to go visit, chilling to do, and pelicans to see at Pelican & Lovers Beach.  There's plenty of snorkeling and great fish to go see. 

Right off the pier, you can easily book tours for snorkeling, beaches, and para-sailing.  They're about 1/3 of the price of the cruise excursions.


On the 2nd day at Cabo, we took another glass-bottom boat ride to the beach, but first we went para-sailing.  That was a blast!   Yes, it was a little scary at first (as you can see me screaming in the picture at the left), but then very cool.  It was only our second time doing this.  We just couldn't believe how soaked we got just by sitting on the boat ... constant waves splashing us ... so make sure it's a WARM day when you go, or you'll freeze!

We stopped in Puerto Vallarta next, but it was so hot and humid and not much we wanted to do there, so we just walked around for a while, picked up a few souvenirs, and went back on the ship to go chill in the pool for the first time ever.  The next day, we ported in Manzanillo.  We found a taxi driver to take us to a private beach and then drive all around, so it was an absolutely beautiful day.

Carnival Cruise awards we won!

We have such a great time on cruises!  Some people just love to chill and hang out by the pool, but John and I just run around non-stop from activity to activity, staying busy all day.  We usually start at 10am and don't finish until 10pm.  We love playing all the games, doing all the activities, and playing trivia.   Carnival always has the most activities to get involved in, has great food, and has great shows, which is why they're our favorite cruise line.  We love that we only have to unpack once, get to see a few new countries when you wake up, enjoy lots of free food (prepare to gain weight!), enjoy entertainment, and watch great evening shows.  We just cannot wait until our next one!  

If you have any questions about cruising (or any travel needs), please feel free to EMAIL ME!

Happy Travels!
Andrea & John Walen  
Leisure Travel Consultants
CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor
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