gargoyle999

For those of you interested in the Mercado......we went and it was definitely something we enjoyed. We like 'different' though....so keep in mind that it may not be for everyone.

We must like different too! :) We enjoyed the Mercado in Mazatlan (DW who is the cook thought it was awesome) and a stop there will be part of our trip on Monday!

Thanks for the info. That sounds resonable. Was that 3 hours or about?

It is supposed to be about 6 hours. This is what gumballz reported as well who just had a tour with Rudy.

What is the price range for these yours? Do not need exact amounts just ballpark figure compared to ship prices maybe.

Here is what Rudy told us for the stops I listed above. He does include drinks in the van as well. Lunch stop is extra:

$75/pp for 2

$50/pp for 4-6

$35/pp for 7-10

Does Rudy make all the arangements before you get there? Does he give suggestions as to what is avaliable?

Yes and Yes. :)

he sent me a nice long email reply to my initial inquiry to see if they were available for the day I would be there. I'm sure if there was someplace else you wanted to go he would. Seems to be very customizable to what you want to do. Here is what he suggested:

1. - La Quebrada and the Divers, above all and at the very first place, what you can call a must!

2. - Non denominational Chapel of Peace and the Cross of Trouyet, best view to the bay area, surrounded by beautiful residences at the very pricey “Las Brisas” residential area.

3. - The “other” bay Puerto *****, smaller than the Bay of Acapulco but 8 times nicer as well, we only stop for pictures for a few minutes over there!

4. - The Los Flamingos Hotel, Once own by John Wayne and Johnny Weissmuller amongst other movie actors. We see the casa Tarzan where Weissmuller lived the last 20 years of his life.

5. - Hotel Casa Blanca, We only stop there for pictures. Great panoramic view of the Bay area and….. To the Cruise Ship!!!!!

6. - Diego Rivera´s mosaic mural, made by the most important painter of Mexico, married with the controversial painter Frida Kahlo, A short stop to take pictures, that will be all!

7. - El Mercado Municipal, is what I call a truly Eye Opener! So different to what you and your party have seen. But I warn you, it can be sort of Cultural Shocking for very many people! I recommend it very highly any way!

8. - El Zorrito restaurant (only suggested) or any other place you wish to go having lunch!

(the cost of Lunch in Zorrito is approximately $10.00 to $15.00 USD)

9. - El Zócalo & Cathedral, The Downtown area Main Square and Cathedral, oldest part of town and the most typical part of it, we may stop there for 20-30 minutes or not, always up to you!!

I had a deposit refund in about 3 or 4 days after I canceled. This was direct with Carnival though.

2 weeks from today I'll have the pleasure of meeting him! :D:D

I think Rudy knew about this link already. He referred me to it in an email last week so I could see the positive comments recent guests were posting. :D

Yeah..he probably does keep any eye on it. He sent me a link to another CC thread when I first inquired about a tour. I think it's good he is aware of a site like this. Positive comments will bring in the $$$ and (legitimate) negative comments will cause it to go elsewhere!

Since will will be on our tour Nov 30th I did a final confirmation with him that we are all set. I also sent Rudy a link to this thread to let him know of the positive comments recent guests were posting. He was very appreciative! :)

You will enjoy your day with Rudy. Do not hesitate to use him.

It's good to see another positive posting about Rudy! :)

I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner to your question, gargoyle999!

Thanks for that info! I've never been to Acapulco before so I'm really looking forward to our visit. :)

Gargoyle999, It looks like we are on the same cruise. Rudy will be with us as well as another one of his guys as we will have 18 people.

18 more days! :D

Like most of you know, we toured with Rudy from Tour by Van last week while we were in Acapulco.

Thanks for the review! We'll be using them 3 weeks from Monday! :) Though we won't be with Rudy, it will be one of his partners. I'll be posting how that goes although I expect we'll have a great time.

I have a couple questions. About how long did the tour last and was there an extra charge for the drinks?

I got my room switched. I moved to room 6183 which is in the middle of the Empress deck. It's right in the middle of the ship, so there shouldn't be anything major.

 

Thanks for all of the help and advice!!!

That is good news! Glad it worked out for you.

I probably shouldn't "say" this out loud so Carnival doesn't get any ideas....but I'm surprised that they do not have different Cat 11's on the Spirit class due to the big differences in the balcony.

You really are not getting the same thing when you consider the cabin and balcony together if you compare a Cat 11 midship, Cat 11 like 4226/4235 and the aft wraps. Could easily have Cat 11A (small balcony), Cat 11B (midship), Cat 11C (aft wrap). Cat 11B would be same as now, Cat 11A would be at a discount due to small balcony and Cat 11C would be a premium due to huge balcony.

Are you past final payment? If not you may want to consider saving the $ and moving to a balcony cabin.

The balcony is one of the smallest for a suite. It loses alot of space due to the exterior stairwell.

That is an excellent picture showing the stairwell. I didn't even realize just how small that balcony is.

OP- if there are other Cat 11's open on your sailing I would definitely switch.

I don't have any pictures but I did stay in 4237 in Feb on the Miracle. There is a stairwell there used by the crew. The one thing I didn't like about the cabin is the door below (directly underneath 4235) used by the crew to go outside and smoke slams shut a lot.

Now, that didn't prevent me from booking the same cabin in April on the Spirit. But that is because of the huge balcony and being directly aft. I don't think I would want 4226 or 4235 unless it was a free upgrade. The slamming wasn't going on all hours, in other words it wasn't waking me up at 2am. But during the day it is slamming all the time.

For Feb 13th I got the Renaissance Ft Lauderdale Plantation for $85 via Priceline. Seems close to the airport so I'm happy. Priceline says 4 stars and seems to get pretty good reviews overall on Trip Advisor (I bid 3 stars).

Was wanting to get someplace decent for under $100 since we are just crashing there after a flight that gets in at midnight. Hopefully this will be a nice place and I'm happy with the price.