Cruise2End
December 7th, 2005, 05:14 PM
We just returned from the 11 day Mexican Riviera Cruise (Celebrity Mercury) and I wanted to report on the excursions taken at each port of call.
Cabo San Lucas -
At this port four of us hired a cab to take us to San Jose del Cabo - (I believe it was $40 for 3 hours) Very nice small town atmosphere and we enjoyed the margaritas here. The driver showed us the various huge hotels and condos as well as the view areas to and from San Jose. His English was very limited but he tried hard!
Puerto Vallarta -
We took a ship excursion - San Sebastian Cultural Encounter by Air. Although it was pricey, (would have been cheaper direct thru http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/ because we were on a cruise ship we had to book thru the cruiseline. This was a fantastic excursion to a remote small mining town in the mountains - we tasted raizilla (spelling?) which is a liquor made from the wild agave, toured a coffee plantation and tasted some home-made fruit candies, went through a hacienda and given information about the history of the mining as well as one of the descendants explained her family history and background. It included a traditional Mexican lunch - Our tour guide Marteen could not have been nicer - definitely recommend this one but seating is extremely limited. There were only 10 of us - it's a small plane.
Mazatlan -
Ten of us did a tour with Mazatlan Frank - Colonial and City Tour - it was a good 6 hours - $50 per person. The tour included the brick yards, a furniture factory, a tile factory, a bakery, as well as churches. Frank's English is wonderful so for those who are concerned about communication - this won't be a problem. He was fantastic - also highly recommend -
www.mazatlan-frank.com
Cabo San Lucas -
At this port four of us hired a cab to take us to San Jose del Cabo - (I believe it was $40 for 3 hours) Very nice small town atmosphere and we enjoyed the margaritas here. The driver showed us the various huge hotels and condos as well as the view areas to and from San Jose. His English was very limited but he tried hard!
Puerto Vallarta -
We took a ship excursion - San Sebastian Cultural Encounter by Air. Although it was pricey, (would have been cheaper direct thru http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/ because we were on a cruise ship we had to book thru the cruiseline. This was a fantastic excursion to a remote small mining town in the mountains - we tasted raizilla (spelling?) which is a liquor made from the wild agave, toured a coffee plantation and tasted some home-made fruit candies, went through a hacienda and given information about the history of the mining as well as one of the descendants explained her family history and background. It included a traditional Mexican lunch - Our tour guide Marteen could not have been nicer - definitely recommend this one but seating is extremely limited. There were only 10 of us - it's a small plane.
Mazatlan -
Ten of us did a tour with Mazatlan Frank - Colonial and City Tour - it was a good 6 hours - $50 per person. The tour included the brick yards, a furniture factory, a tile factory, a bakery, as well as churches. Frank's English is wonderful so for those who are concerned about communication - this won't be a problem. He was fantastic - also highly recommend -
www.mazatlan-frank.com