Thread: Acapulco with Rosie

This is excerpted from a post I made on our current Summit Panama Canal cruise that is on the Celebrity forum:


Acapulco with Rosie.

Sometimes I think that the nicest thing Celebrity does for its passengers is the cold towels it provides when we return from a warm weather port. And it was warm in Acapulco today. It was warm, not hot, only mid 80’s but the humidity is rough on those of us unaccustomed to it.

Fortunately, Rosie arrived in a large air-conditioned van to pick us up and was waiting on the pier when we cleared security. She is delightful. Born and raised in Acapulco, she spent five years in Florida so her English is very good and easy to understand. We started the day with a tour of Fort San Diego, which is right across the street from the pier. (BTW, there are walking tours of this available from the pier, but it is a bit of a climb and if you are not physically fit and used to hot humid climes, you may not want to do those.) Originally built in 1516 to protect Acapulco from pirates and any other invaders from the sea, it has a moat which used to contain water and alligators to deter trespass.

After a drive through the Golden Zone of Hotels, restaurants and beaches, we went to the Chapel of Peace, to get a close-up view of the cross that looks out over Acapulco Bay. The Chapel is beautiful, with windows of onyx, and gardens of tropical plants. While we waited in the cool courtyard for Rosie to park the van, Ed got a chance to make the acquaintance of the first of three cats we encountered in Acapulco. BTW, the Chapel is not accessible by tour buses, which makes it a very peaceful, refreshing place to linger.

Our next stop was Rosie’s father’s plantation, right in the heart of Acapulco, where she was raised and where her parents also raise some beautiful chickens, mangos, bananas and citrus.

I was amazed at Rosie’s ability to navigate that van through the narrow backstreets of the city on the way to the Fine Bonita Jewelry Store, where we made a stop to pick up a battery for Ed’s watch and a little shopping before heading to the other side of Acapulco for some dramatic views of the harbor. The surprise of the day, for me, was glancing out of the van window and seeing this incredible mosaic on the garden wall of a house along the way. Rosie stopped the van and took a few pictures for me from her window while she explained that a couple of years before Diego Rivera died, he moved into the Acapulco house of his friend, Dolores Olmedo, to recover from an illness. When well, he created the mosaic mural. It was a total surprise and one I will long remember. I didn’t know that any of his work was even in Acapulco, much less displayed on a wall on a side street.

After our scenic stop we headed to the Miraflores Hotel for the cliff divers, and arrived shortly before the 1:00pm show. When I was a child John Cameron Swayze used to do a commercial for Timex watch showing one of the divers making a dive with a Timex watch strapped to his wrist. The theme was, “Timex watch, takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” I couldn’t stop thinking of that commercial.

Our final stop was the Flamingo hotel where the movie stars all stayed. Rosie even got us out to the round house that was renamed the Casa Tarzan in Johnny Weissmuller’s honor.

In case you might be wondering, we were well pleased with Rosie’s tour and would highly recommend her services to anyone traveling down to Acapulco on either a Panama Canal or Mexican Riviera cruise. Her email address is: dew_days@hotmail.com


Susan

thanks susan i really enjoyed reading your review about your tour with rosie in our beautiful city of acapulco. she is very good and does know how to treat our guests. adios for now .............brisa

Has anyone used Rosie recently? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

We will be there in mid-December.

Tom

Susan ... Thank You!
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Originally Posted by Tom-the-Cruiser

Has anyone used Rosie recently? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

We will be there in mid-December.

Tom

Tom, we'll be there in mid-February and would very much also appreciate any other "Rosie Reports".

We took a tour with Rosie 3 years ago and had the best day ever!! We will be sailing Tues.11/03/09 on the Spirit and again plan on spending the whole day with her

Just returned from Acapulco on the "Spirit". It was a great visit and loved seeing Rosie again. She gave us a wonderful tour and very resonable. If you want anymore information please pm me









Steward note: email deleted for security purposes. Please use our private message system

Grandy, it would be great if you could share here on the forum so others who come looking for info can find it.

Happy to hear it was a good tour!

Thanks for posting. We have a tour with Rosie on our upcoming Radiance cruise!

Originally Posted by ScrapperJen

Thanks for posting. We have a tour with Rosie on our upcoming Radiance cruise!

So do we. How was your tour Jen?

I just got off the Radiance of the Seas today. I was in Acapulco on Wednesday (12/16/09) and took the sightseeing tour offered by Rosie. It was better than has been advertised by others. Rosie met us just outside of the security area at the port with a large "pink" sign.

We loaded into her new A/C van and headed out of town. This being just before Christmas, the streets were filling up from visitors from other parts of Mexico and the US, especially from Mexico City, which is only about 4 hours away.

Rosie wanted to take us to the farthest part of the tour and work our way back, so we would not be late for the 1:00 p.m. cliff divers show. I like the way she thought ahead about the crowds and revised the tour so we would not miss anything.

It was one of the most enjoyable tours I have been on. This was because of Rosie - she is very charming and articulate. She knows the history of her city. Like others have said, her English is great. She has such a great sense of humor. Since I was riding up front, I was put in charge of getting the other passengers their refreshments (water, sodas and even beer).

I really like the way she treated the employees at the various locations we went. When we were at the Chapel of Peace (a great place to see the city) she always spoke to the gentleman that were directing traffic and even offered them a coke (it was hot) - some of the other tour guides and cabbies were rude to them. That showed me the real person - someone that cares about others.

The tour was about 5 - 6 hours which included an optional lunch at El Zorrito - a great place for Pazole.

Her prices were very reasonable. I wish I could have stayed longer and saw more of her city - but the cruise ship would not wait.

If you want to see Acapulco and have a great time - contact Rosie - you won't go wrong.




If you have any questions, please feel free to post them and I will try and answer them for you.

Tom