Each day at your dinner time, we would go back to our cabins and get all dressed up and go for dinner in the dining hall to the rear of the ship. There were waiters there for your every need throughout the whole meal, and they were very upbeat people, ours were at least. The food was very good, it was prepared by a top chef, and you ordered off of a set menu. After dinner you could go and get pictures taken in your formal wear around mid ship.

Every morning you get up when you want to and go upstairs to the top deck and choose what you want for breakfast and eat it outside in the morning sun next to the pool, or on the upper decks. Caught some rays in the afternoon and went to a show, or down to the casino in the evenings. The smaller kids were ecstatic that you could get ice cream whenever you wanted, 24 hours a day, and I must say that I enjoyed it myself.

Once we arrived in Acapulco, we went Jet Boating that afternoon. I wouldn’t really recommend the jet boating if you are squeamish, it was done in really dirty water and because of all the sulpher in the water it reeked, but if you are up to getting a little dirty and soaking wet and don’t mind the smell, this is definitely something you should try. I thought it was rather fun, but the rest of my family didn’t think of it in the same way as I did.

That evening we went out to watch the Cliff Divers and have a few drinks. This was quite a good outing I would definitely recommend this one to everyone. The restaurant is built right into the side of a cliff and the divers are doing their dives right in front of you into the dangerous waters below. Have a beer or a margarita and sit back and enjoy the show.

After this the ship set out again, this time back towards San Diego stopping along the way in Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa where we went on a city tour, and did a little shopping. This was a nice stop, Zihuatanejo is a small fishing village. The port isn’t even big enough for the ship to dock, you go into shore in the little rescue boats. I enjoyed the little shops and markets, it was a nice relaxing stop.

Then we were off again to Manzanillo, where we got off the ship and went to an all inclusive resort on the beach. We spent 4 and a half hours relaxing on the beach and in the pools of the resort having drinks whenever we wanted. The food at the resort was pretty limited in choice, and it wasn’t very good, but the scenery and buildings were very nice.

Having your own secluded little world on the ship to go back to every night was a very nice feature to have. Especially if the food wasn’t very good on shore, you always knew that when you got back in the evening you could go get pizza or Chinese, Italian or Burgers, and so on.

All together these shore excursions ended up costing about $258 per person, some weren’t really worth it, but most were. The air fare from Vancouver, BC, Canada to San Diego, CA, United States, plus the cost of the cruise came out to about $1656 per person. Not bad considering it includes the air fare.

From Manzanillo we cruised back to San Diego, California, and began our departure, everything went very smoothly throughout the entire trip. It was very hot out but the breeze made that unnoticeable while on board the ship so be careful and put on sunscreen, I ended up with a pretty bad burn from laying on the deck too long one day, but other than that the service was rather good, and overall it was a very enjoyable voyage for the 8 of us that went. Happy travels.

In the morning we had breakfast at my aunt and uncles, and then got back on the road to head on our way through Vernon, we stopped in Revelstoke to change and have a quick stop, then we drove through Golden and into Banff National Park. Finally we drove across into Alberta, Canada, Lake Louise is just 15 to 20 minutes away once you’ve crossed over into Alberta. The entire drive was beautiful, as driving through the Rocky Mountains always is; trees and mountains everywhere as far as the eye can see, it is absolutely breath taking.

Once we arrived in Lake Louise we made a couple quick stops (seeing as the legal age drops a year to 18 as you cross into Alberta) and off we went to find our campsite. Be careful to check both sides of the highway for the campground before moving on to search for other places you think it might be, because the map that I had looked as if it were on the opposite side of the highway. If you have stopped in the small mall as you enter Lake Louise, all you need to do is head away from highway 1 to the next intersection and turn left and follow that road straight to the ranger booth at the end.

Now, you can make your reservation online, and for the 3 nights that we stayed at the campsite it cost us about $80, but since it is a national park when you show up you will need to pay a Park Stopping Fee, the amount of this fee will vary depending on how long you will be staying, but mine was another $80, so if you are thinking of going just assume that the Park Stopping Fee will be just another payment of whatever you paid for the campsite.

There are a lot of wild animals in this area since you are surrounded by a national park and therefore you will need to be careful with discarding remainders of meals and cooking water, but you can sleep soundly at this campsite not worrying about bears or any other animals, because the campground is surrounded by an electrified fence to keep the large animals out of the campsite.

When you are staying at the campsite I recommend taking a couple quick trips to see the glacial lakes in the area. The closest lakes to you are Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, which are just up the road a few kilometres. These are the most amazing lakes I have ever seen, the pristine mountains and trees surrounding these beautiful lakes are just amazing, it’s something you need to see for yourself, because pictures just won’t do it justice (but if you’d like to see a good picture of Lake Louis then check out my picture “Glorious Day”).

If camping is not the outing for you though, there is a Fairmount Hotel right on the bank of Lake Louise that is extremely pretty, and I would assume very extravagant, but I wouldn’t know for sure since I’m the camping type.

We traveled into Banff on our first day there to take a look around at hotels and little shops. Banff has a very similar look and feel to it as Whistler Village, if you’ve been to Whistler that is. The second day we went on an outing to Lake Louise, and on the third we took a trip out to Moraine Lake. All of which had their own distinct adventure, and were all quite fun outings. I would recommend this trip to anyone who likes the outdoors, or if your not the outdoorsy type then reserve a room at the Fairmount and have the view of a lifetime just out your window as you wake up each morning.

It truly was an amazing trip in all aspects, both me and my girlfriend loved it, I’m sure you would too. Safe travels.