J. M. Patrick

Pretty faded from its heyday of the 70s and 80s. The ship will try to steer you towards the few expensive stores where they have pre-established arrangements made. They directed us to "Fine Bonita Jewelry," saying it was in the "heart of Acapulco." That's not true. This district was to the left when you get off the ship, and in old town. The area was awful, and totally run down, other than this one store. The store is overwhelming in its amazing selection of jewelry, but not what we wanted. The heart of Acapulco is actually in the opposite direction after you get off the ship (to the right), toward the high rise resort hotels leading up to that beautiful cross on the hill. There are many boutiques and small shopping malls in that direction. We always like to head to a nice hotel, so we went to the Hyatt Regency Acapulco, about a 15 minute drive because of traffic. These hotels are right on the Bay, with a fabulous view of the whole bay, looking back toward the ship, and a beautiful sandy beach. There are tennis courts at most of the hotels (in all the ports), and you can play for a nominal fee. First-timers to Acapulco especially love the cliff diving at the beautiful Las Brisas hotel, and I believe they still have night-time shows as well (the ship stays until about 1 am).