How much cash ??

One of the major appeals of cruising to me is not having to constantly open my wallet. Meals drinks and tips are all pre-paid.

I'll know before we leave roughly how much I'll be spending on beach purchased tours and excursions, but wonder how much people average spending on general extra tips and costs per day? I need to convert some NZ$ to green folding money before we get on the ship and I don't want to get too much or too little. The former as it's a dead loss when trying to convert back and the latter because it's awkward or expensive to get hold of some more when on the ship or on the beach.

I know everyone's different but interested to get a feel for how people manage their cash on a MexRiv cruise...

Hard to pinpoint as everyone is different, but ...

Which ship?

Which ports?

What excursions? Booked thru the cruise line?

Will you eat onshore? How adventurous of an eater are you?

What types of souvenirs do you usually buy?

Last MR cruise Mom, Sis and I spent under US$100 total for food onshore, 5 ports. We pretty much stay away from places catering to American tourists. Our most expensive meal was in San Diego. NonAmerican tourist Mexican restaurants are very inexpensive. American tourist restaurants can range up to US$15pp+. FWIW tipping in Mexico is the same as in the States, about 15%. Spent about US$30 for souvenirs, had to replace the sandals the dog ate and needed some kitchen tiles.

I plan to get $500 US in pesos before we leave from the bank for our 3 ports. We do like our cocktails though! This covers drinks, food, taxis, shopping, etc for Cabo, PV and Mazatlan. If I don't use it all, I just return it to the bank when I get back.

Almost all vendors in those ports will take US$. The only one who might not take US$ are some off the beaten path.

Most restaurants were giving a few points off the official rate. Probably cost you less than exchanging back and forth.

Though, if you do want to get pesos and your ship is doing more MR cruises, could pay small tips (i.e. room service etc) in Pesos.

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Mexico uses $ for pesos. You'll see DLLRS$ or US$ for American.

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Bathroom - throw all paper into the trash can.

I plan to get $500 US in pesos before we leave from the bank for our 3 ports. We do like our cocktails though! This covers drinks, food, taxis, shopping, etc for Cabo, PV and Mazatlan. If I don't use it all, I just return it to the bank when I get back.

We recently returned from a Panama Canal cruise that had five ports in Mexico, including the three you named above. I like to have some local currency when we travel, and so I got about $300 U.S. worth of pesos before we left. What a waste. Totally unnecessary.

I exchanged approx $300 on my last cruise to Mexico. We exchanged more than needed and wound up trying to spend the last of our pesos in a hurry before boarding the ship back home. It may be best to have and not need than need and not have. $100 per port is reasonable.