Sea of Cortez Cruise Alumni? . . . .

[shipcafe]

Good Day!

Has anyone out there done the 7 or 10 day Mexico w/ Sea of Cortez cruise aboard the Ryndam or Statendam? I am will be sailing on the 12/4 cruise and am now starting to go through the shore excursions for each port. We are debating on which tours and if we should to the HAL tour, local tour, etc.

I'd love to hear any feedback from those who have done this cruise!

Have a Great Day,

Steve
www.shipcafe.net

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did the Sea of Cortez in 2001 on the Ryndam.

Santa Rosalia - not much there - tender port - you can walk the entire town in about a half hour. The people are friendly - not much in shops - the best place was the french bakery. Most on our cruise agreed that HAL could have skipped that port.

La Paz - Pichilinque - again we did not take a tour. Instead we took the shuttle into town - at that time we paid $2 per person each way. Did the walking tour on own. People very friendly. There were muscians playing and banners welcoming the Ryndam. There are lots of cheap shoe and cheap watch shops. Nice town.

Loretto - tender port - again no tour - once we got off the tenders it was about a 15 - 20 minute walk down to the town itself along the coast (turn left after you get off the tender). Then you turn right - can't miss the turn - there will be lots of children and young ladies to greet you. You walk along a tree lined street for several blocks - lots of craft shops. They had mariachi music playing. There were tables nearby - could order drinks - beer. In the plaza, the children had displayed their paintings, etc. We spent several hours walking all around, shopping, relaxing. This was one of our favorite ports.

[DaveOKC]

Steve - we will be on the same sailing! We are really looking forward to it.
We did the Ryndam in Dec. 02 but took the Mexican Riveria cruise. Of the three ports, we liked Cabo the best - it had better shopping (downtown is a 10 minute walk away - skip the open air market on the dock) plus the town is alot more modern and upscale.
The Ryndam is a fine ship (we have been on her twice already) and I am sure you will enjoy it. To us the size is just right.
We enjoy sailing out of San Diego as the port is ony 5 minutes from the airport and neither is crowded (unlike Ft. Lauderdale). The Holiday Inn On The Bay is a great place to stay the night before (right across from the pier) but is already booked up for Dec. 3. Most hotels nearby have been booked for 6 months - there must be something going on that wekend.
Perhaps we can get a group together onboard - that would be alot of fun IMO!
DaveOKC

[Tinknock50]

Good Day!

Has anyone out there done the 7 or 10 day Mexico w/ Sea of Cortez cruise aboard the Ryndam or Statendam? I am will be sailing on the 12/4 cruise and am now starting to go through the shore excursions for each port. We are debating on which tours and if we should to the HAL tour, local tour, etc.

I'd love to hear any feedback from those who have done this cruise!

Have a Great Day,

Steve
www.shipcafe.net (http://www.shipcafe.net)
Hi Steve,
I did the Sea of Cortez cruise. It depends on your interests, but if you like old churches and small quiet towns, take the San Javier excursion in Loreto. Very bumping road but i enjoyed it.
Also check out the church in town. To the right of the altar is a room with some very old paintings. Loretto was my favorite port on this cruise.

Overall, this is a very laid back cruise.

[shipcafe]

DaveOKC : Look forward to keeping in touch and meeting on board!

So far we have been planning out snorkel, kayak, adventure excursions. If anyone has done anything along these lines, please let me know. We're down to comparing and contrasting the details between various snorkel, kayak excursions primarily between La Paz and Loreto.

I know that I want to snorkel at Los Islotes in La Paz for sure and then snorkel or kayak near Los Arcos in Cabo.

Any other input would be great!

Steve
www.shipcafe.net

[akeka]

Shipcafe,

We took the 7 day Sea of Cortez cruise on the Ryndam last Thanksgiving.

We took a private snorkel tour from Las Parras Tours for $35 per person. Their website is http://www.lasparrastours.com/.
We felt it was a good value and were at the same beach as the ship's tours.

We did the ship's tour to Los Islotes at the La Paz stop. Unfortunately, the boat ride was miserable due to rough seas that day. The rest of the tour was great. Loved snorkeling with the sea lions and enjoyed the lunch stop. It was at a beautiful cove.

[shipcafe]

Thanks for all of the advice, everyone! ... Counting down the days ... ! !

[dot73]

Has anyone done the Copper Canyon train excursion? It sounds amazing and I'm interested in doing it on FEb. 14 cruise. Thank you.

[SuziClue]

Hi, we just returned (literally) from a 7 day Sea of Cortez cruise. We called at Loreto (very laid back, sweet), La Paz/Pichilingue, and Cabo. Loved Loreto just because it was so much more non-touristy than much of coastal Mex. we just wandered around, had a wonderful lunch (that with a couple of Tecate's cost about $11 each, cheap!). Relaxed.

In Pichilingue, the port for La Paz -- it's about a 25 minute ride to the city -- there was a free shuttle. We took the excursion to Todos Santos, an arty little town on the Pacific. It was a long day -- 1.5 hours each way -- but fun. Others in our group went snorkeling and many came back with a lot of jellyfish stings, so beware.

Cabo San Lucas was my least favorite (have been there before but after the sort of authentic Mexican feel of the last two ports it came off as raunchy). But did have a wonderful time doing the ship's shore ex horseback ride.

Last time I was there went on a tour to a nearby town -- San Jose del Cabo. I highly recommend this -- it's a lovely place. In fact, the ship tour's spend so little time there I'd suggest renting a car....

Great trip, but as a previous poster said, very laid back. We loved that.

Oh, the water was a little rough just outside of San Diego (first night) and just before we returned (last night) so bring that Sea Band....

Happy to answer other questions....

Suzi

[garydm]

Steve-Agree with Suzi. We have done this trip on Ryndam and on The World. Loreto is a nice little town that I would spend the day just wandering around, have lunch and beverages at one of the sidewalk cafes. People are very very nice and you can visit the local church, etc. In La Paz, we find it to be just another big city. Might consider a tour outside town here. My wife loves Cabo, so I dutifully follow her around a bit and then steer her to The Office on the beach for food and drink.

Gary

[LAFFNVEGAS]

This is actually what I like about this board that we have so many different personalities so there so many different opinions which is good. I believe Suzi may have been on the same cruise as we were. I personally did not like Loreto, we did not do any shore excursions ( I would rather do water activities in the Caribbean) I knew the water would be cool and the jelly fish problem. I thought it was quaint to see for a few minutes and liked seeing the Pelicans but was ready to move on to the next port. La Paz I thought was unique, yes it is a larger city but not overly touristy so you see the shops and they people who live and work there. I thought it was great they offered the shuttle and the tour guide was great she was so proud of her city and spoke great english. Also at no time was any one beggin for tips, I think they were just extremely proud for us to be in their city. I could see this being a nice quiet vacation get away.
I personally really liked Cabo. We had never been there before and really did not know what to expect. I felt we really needed far more time here but we had the least amount of time. We did the Deluxe Coastal Tour that turned into a unbelievable Whale Watch. This was very unexpected but the captain of the boat just went with the flow and followed the pods of whales. We were so close and had so much fun.

[shipcafe]

This is actually what I like about this board that we have so many different personalities so there so many different opinions which is good. I believe Suzi may have been on the same cruise as we were. I personally did not like Loreto, we did not do any shore excursions ( I would rather do water activities in the Caribbean) I knew the water would be cool and the jelly fish problem. I thought it was quaint to see for a few minutes and liked seeing the Pelicans but was ready to move on to the next port. La Paz I thought was unique, yes it is a larger city but not overly touristy so you see the shops and they people who live and work there. I thought it was great they offered the shuttle and the tour guide was great she was so proud of her city and spoke great english. Also at no time was any one beggin for tips, I think they were just extremely proud for us to be in their city. I could see this being a nice quiet vacation get away.
I personally really liked Cabo. We had never been there before and really did not know what to expect. I felt we really needed far more time here but we had the least amount of time. We did the Deluxe Coastal Tour that turned into a unbelievable Whale Watch. This was very unexpected but the captain of the boat just went with the flow and followed the pods of whales. We were so close and had so much fun.

Thanks for the first-hand advice! We have tours planned for all three ports, I believe - mostly snorkel tours, etc. I think that one of the days we have very little - if any - time in port. Haven't booked anything yet so I guess there is still time to change our minds . . . .

[SuziClue]

Yes, Laffnvegas, I was! I read your excellent review -- it was so much fun to relive the trip! Thanks....

My only regret is there isn't more time in Cabo and not really because of Cabo but because there are so many cool things to see outside of that town and there just isn't enough time!

Also wanted to say one thing about the ship. I was so impressed with the re-do...the NYT Exploration's Cafe was a big hit with everybody, young, old and in-between. We also loved the Pinnacle Grill and on sea days it was great for lunch -- peaceful, delicious food, no rush.

Maybe though that was because -- go figure -- it was sunny every day in port but I don't think ever at sea!

Suzi

[Bunny2]

Cabo San Lucas was my least favorite (have been there before but after the sort of authentic Mexican feel of the last two ports it came off as raunchy). But did have a wonderful time doing the ship's shore ex horseback ride.


Suzi,

Can you tell me about the horseback ride...we had been debating over this and the ATV trip. Was it an all day thing??

[catlib55]

We took this cruise in April of 2002 on the Statendam. It was awesome!
We took the sail and snorkel excursion in Cabo and had a wonderful time on it. The fish were beautiful and the water was fantastic -- cool and crystal clear. We snorkeled out near the arches, then went out into the ocean and sailed back into port. We were on a catamaran. The shirts on the crewmembers said "El gato booze cruise."
We loved Loreto. There was a beautiful little beach to the right of the cruise pier. We went to the shopping area in the morning, had lunch on the ship, then went back out again to swim at the beach. Then we went to a little restaurant on the water (across the street from the actual beach) and had the best Margaritas I have ever tasted.
The best part of LePaz for us was our lunch at Carlos and Charlies. When we got off the ship, most of the shops in town (they shuttled us for free from the cruise pier) were closed. By the time we were ready to leave after lunch, the shops were just opening up.
In Mazatlan, we did the city tour with the folk show. The tour took us up above the city and we were able to get some beautiful pictures. We also saw some "cliff" divers. Nothing like what I've seen on TV in Acapulco. I could have done without Mazatlan.
But it was a wonderful cruise (one of our favorites).
You will love it!
Happy cruising!
Only four days til we leave on the Rotterdam. I have loved looking at your pictures of the Rotterdam!!
Mary Ellen

[shipcafe]

Thanks again for the continued feedback! Getting pretty excited now! I fly out tomorrow morning for a work trip but will be joining up with my family and traveling companion this coming Friday and Saturday. Staying at the 500 West Hotel in downtown San Diego on Thursday night and then on Coronado Beach the following night at the Marriott.

Will definitely publish a comprehensive photo review of the Ryndam and her enhancements upon my return!

Have a Great Week,

Steve

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Steve, I am looking forward to hearing your report. I am sure you will find her to be wonderful like we did. Oh, but how that week goes by way too fast. Then after you get home it feels like it was a dream.

Bon Voyage Steve !!!!!

[shipcafe]

Steve, I am looking forward to hearing your report. I am sure you will find her to be wonderful like we did. Oh, but how that week goes by way too fast. Then after you get home it feels like it was a dream.

Bon Voyage Steve !!!!!

Yikes the week certainly DID go by insanely fast ! ! . . . The only bad part about the week! ;)

Steve