Excursion or on your own?

Going to the MR (Cabo, PV, & Mazatlan) in November, leaving out of San diego. Is it worth it to book one of the excursions or can you have just as good a time by walking around the city on your own?

When we went in April we booked an excursion through the ship (dolphin swim) in Puerto Vallarta, in Mazatlan we booked an excursion through an outside vendor to Stone Island, and in Cabo we went on our own. Had a fabulous time all three places. If and when I have it to do over again, I will just go by myself to all three cities.

Unless there is something specific you want to do (like swimming with the dolphins) you should be fine to just hop in a taxi and go wherever you want to go. Also if you change your mind, there are certainly vendors at all of the ports that will take you on tours for much less than the ship charges.

Have a great time.

since "is it worth it" is so subjective depending on so many factors, the only real way for you to determine that is to pick some excursion you think interests you and book it - then you can determine if it was worth it. Places like PV where you dock close to town, sure you can easily walk around the old part of town or take a cab to go there, but since one Mexican port is much like another, you might choose to take a trip to the interior out in to the country. In a port like Cabo where you will tender, you can certainly walk around, but then again you might want to go fishing. The shore excursion's worth can only be an individual opinion, at best. In my opinion, most are overpriced, but I go, knowing that, it it sounds interesting to me. And before you make a final decision, you should consider discussing it with shore excursion personnel, telling them your personal preferences. :)

Ships' excursions:

If your excursion is running late (bus breaks down, etc.), the ship will wait for you

Quality control is a bit better (if people think there's something wrong with the guide, vehicle, etc., the passengers will tend to let the purser's desk know and if there's enough complaints, the line might drop this company)

may be a bit more pricey than an independent counterpart

Indy excursions:

if you miss a port, they may charge you (always check out a company before pre-booking)

if there's a problem getting back to the ship, you may get left behind

tends to be less expensive

Most of the time, we (meaning me) researches the port ahead of time, and we just get into town and walk around. If we pre-book an excursion, it's with the ship. The last indy excursion we took (booked on the dock in Ketchikan), my hubby was pretty dissatisfied with.

In these ports, we've done a combination. In some cases excursions and in other cases we just walked around or sat on the beach. Just depends what you enjoy doing.

Keith

Cabo: if you want to go to the beach or shop, you can easily either walk from the tender dock or take a shared cab. There are also MANY local trip vendors on the tender dock who will be more than happy to sell you an inexpensive trip...snorkeling, fishing, a panga trip out to Los Arcos or Lover's Beach, etc.

Puerto Vallarta: If you want to go into town to shop or see the old town area, just take a cab. If you want to go zip-lining or something like that, you might want to take a cruise excursion. You will be further from town, and getting back in time doing this on your own might be problematic. You can get to several tequila factories for a tour on your own very easily.

Mazatlan: You can either take a cab into town to the Gold Zone (beach and shopping), or after you get off the ship you can get a town tour for about 1/3 of the ship's price that will take you to the most common sights. We have rented sailboats on the beach in the Gold Zone, and you can do the same for other water sports there. The last time we were there we took a cab to the Stone Island passenger ferry and spent the day on Stone Island on our own. 4 cab rides and the ferry fare cost two of us less than $25. You can just walk and lounge on the beach, or rent an ATV to explore more there, and you can easily get to the stables on your own (but get there early before the cruise tour or all the horses may be taken).

Many people take the tours because they don't know about private options, don''t speak any Spanish (which is rarely a problem) or just because they are fearful of doing it on their own. We rarely take ships tours, and we plan well, so have never gotten close to missing the ship.

Going to the MR (Cabo, PV, & Mazatlan) in November, leaving out of San diego. Is it worth it to book one of the excursions or can you have just as good a time by walking around the city on your own?

Wait a second...Is she asking about excursions in the three Mexican ports (belongs on the "Mexico" board)...OR, is it as I read it, that she's asking about SAN DIEGO and doing a San Diego excursion through RCCL?

If THAT's the question, then she means those post-cruise tour and trip back to the airport sort of excursions...

And, for that, the answer has more to do with what time her return flight is...and when she needs to get back to the airport...and what she wants to see and do in that short time...

Wait a second...Is she asking about excursions in the three Mexican ports (belongs on the "Mexico" board)...

P V has several interesting tours, most are a little cheaper of the ship.

Mazatlan, Just get of the ship and hire one of the open air taxis ( VW Thing) and they will take you anywhere in town you want. They hold 4 and last year they charged us $100 for all day.

Cabo, you can take a water taxi to the large hotels or there are several tour operators right on the dock that offer the same tours as on ship for less.

Remember.... Get back to the ship on time when you hire off the ship!!