Distance from Quepos to Acapulco, Mexico 1038 Nautical Miles
NOTE (July 6, 2024): Most of my really nice photos from Acapulco have mysteriously disappeared. Even the backups have vanished from my computer. I've looked everywhere but they are gone. I did manage to retrieve some FB pics from the voyage.
It’s a beautiful day in
Acapulco.
Unfortunately, Acapulco is still recovering from the direct hit it took from Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October 25, 2023. There was extensive damage to the city (80% of the hotels and 95% of the businesses were damaged with the devastation totaling $6 Billion dollars. It will take the city a couple more years to recover but from what we saw during our tour, it might take somewhat longer. I didn’t see any planes so the airport is possibly still not operational. It's hard to see the damage as Serenity approached Acapulco on this hazy morning.
The morning was normal and we
both reported to the Stardust Lounge at 11:30 AM for our tour – “Cliff Divers
and Terrace Show”. I had 20 passengers
in my bus (a big bus that was a little over half full). I had a little trouble understanding
Alejandro, our guide, due to a scratchy sound system and a thick accent. On the way to the venue, I could see the damage the hurricane had caused - several roofs had been torn off and most of the businesses were shuttered. I had been on this tour before and when we
finally got to the site – La Quebrada - it was essentially deserted except for
our two busses. The place used to be teeming with vendors hawking diver swag. The hurricane must have
damaged some of the site as there only a few places you could go to watch the
divers. The adjacent hotel was damaged and was not one of the viewing sites. We were offered cold bottled
water or Modelo Beer. I tried the
beer but it got warm so fast I couldn't drink much of it. I had a few mobility-challenged
guests so I stayed with them as they were helped down a couple of ramps to the
terrace area.
There were five divers and the entire exhibition took about 15 minutes. From our vantage point, the divers were pretty tiny but I still managed to get some pretty good shots of their dives. Some of my passengers headed to the bus early to get out of the heat and humidity. As they do after the show, the divers come up to the terrace area - I tipped the divers as is tradition.
The ride back to the pier was
very short – less than 10 minutes and soon we were through security and back on
the ship. We turned in our backpacks and
paperwork and went to Tastes for lunch.
I had the gazpacho and we both has the Chinois Salad without the
chicken. It was an excellent salad.
It was very nice out of the deck so an iconic picture was called for.
The sail away from Acapulco also did not really reflect the current dismal status of the city.
Dinner tonight was off the
menu – Ellen had the Dover Sole (deboned at the table by Craig) and I had the
Rigatoni in Cream Sauce (no ham). I also
had the Greek Salad (excellent – one of the best in my experience). Both of our meals were delicious. My pasta tasted just like an Alfredo and I
would get that again in the future.
After looking at the menu for the next day, we both ordered Kosher Meals – Veal Chops for Ellen and a hamburger for me.
Tonight’ Showtime was “My
Life” – a tribute to Billy Joel by James Fox, who played Billy Joel on Broadway
several years ago. We last saw him seven
years ago. This time out, his show
contained some fantastic choreography (his previous show had some but most of
it was a concert format). It was a great
show and it has the best attendance of any of the shows on this cruise. The show ran nearly an hour so it was also
the longest show on the cruise. The show
had everything – good back screen graphics (a new addition to the New Crystal)
and lighting, excellent and relevant choreography, and some great vocals by
James Fox.
The clocks go back one hour to put us on Pacific Time.
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