CRUISE VIGNETTES 04, Fairsea

SITMAR CRUISE, FAIRSEA
In early 1970s we spent 10 nights on a Sitmar Cruise Ship, named the Fairsea. Originally a Canard liner named the Carinthia, the ship was refitted and renamed in 1971. One of our fellow passengers, and his wife, had sailed on the Carinthia, a few years earlier, and this was their 45th trip on a ship. The ship was excellent, and the trip was a lot of fun.

Though not nearly as formal as Matson Liners, and other first-class ships a few years earlier, on this ship, a tie was required at dinner. (Well, maybe only about half of us needed a tie! And most of us did wear more than just a tie.)

Don’t remember the exact sequence of ports, but Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, located along Mexico’s west coast, were all included.

ACAPULCO
Two nights were spent in the harbor at Acapulco. The ship was used as our hotel and for all meals. We walked around in the city during the day, shopping, and strolling along the shoreline, visiting the luxurious hotels.

We hired a taxi with some other people, to see the Acapulco Princess Hotel, about 10 or 15 miles south of town. This was the most attractive hotel we had ever seen. Ten or fifteen-story-high palm trees, and a running brook in the lobby, gives you a little idea. Many years later, this is where Howard Hughes spent the last few years of his life, if that can be called living.

In the Holiday Inn Emmy found a beautiful ring with three large amethysts, and several small rubies. Beautiful, and the cost was about $100. Other ladies on the ship loved the ring, and said they would have bought it if they had seen it first. Emmy has the greatest taste in jewelry, (among other things). She has selected a lot of wonderful things over the years (yours truly is a living example), and they weren’t all expensive, either.

Speaking of having great taste in things, I am often accused of having an extremely narrow taste in people, food, music, politics, and all those kinds of things. I just mention my extremely narrow taste in women, and that’s the end of that complaint!

We did not find it enjoyable to see all the beggars sitting on the sidewalks between Acapulco’s fancy hotels. That did nothing good for us. We hate to see that, but this government won’t do anything for the people, and even if we gave them a $100 bill, it wouldn’t make much difference in their life for more than the next few days. I can’t imagine why anyone would go to Acapulco for a vacation. Seeing all this poverty takes the fun out of the trip. Sure glad we were sleeping and eating on the ship.