LilyN

Try asking on one of the other travel sites like tripadvisor (I can't remember if you can mention other websites on this forum or not!!) or lonelyplanet or fodors...

We booked a GTY balcony on the Ruby for the upcoming Jan 2 sailing - no room assignment until about mid-November, though we had paid in full when we booked back in late August/early September.

That said, they assigned us a really nice room - C433 with the bigger balcony. (I think that's the number - it's definitely mid-ship on Caribe deck though...)

Watch your spam folder and, if you have gmail, where it pre-sorts your messages into Promotions/Social/etc as I found the email giving us our room assignment either in my spam or promotions folder rather than my inbox.

I'm unclear as to where you need the suitcase shipped from (Vancouver?) and to... LA?

Have you considered sending it as "freight" on Amtrak? They'll hold it at the station. Don't just check it and leave it unpicked up - there is a shipping option for packages on Amtrak. https://www.amtrak.com/express-shipping

Greyhound offers a similar option....

How were the beds?

What did you think of Salty Dog?

Get a Gorillapod if you don't already have one - they're awesome to have... I have a small one for the p'n's and just got the "big" one for my DSLR.

When I haven't carried my "big" camera on a trip, I'm always sorry, even though I have my Nikon P7000 p'n's with me. Bring it with you and if you don't use it, no worries, but if you want it - you've got it! And bring a tripod, too .....

With a cruise, you tend to be in 'safe' ports but if you're worried about a slice 'n grab of your gear, look at PacSafe camera straps (and bags and more). I have a PacSafe for my primary DSLR and feel better now that I have it because I tend to travel into dicey areas without a lot of gringos.

if you're not going to bring a laptop, go ahead and get a portable harddrive to dump your pics onto, too.

I realize that this if "off topic" but maybe some seasoned Mexico visitors might help.

 

I am destined to a land based week in PV in March, 2016.

 

What, where, and when is the best way to obtain Pesos in exchanged of USD on Mexico?

 

Should I load up before I travel? Airport? ATM?

 

Is there an easy way to mentally calculate the Pesos cost in terms of USD?

You can also often "order" pesos from your hometown bank - depending on where you live, it may take two weeks to get them.

With the current exchange rate average of 16:1, 100 pesos is about six bucks. Something that's 200 pesos would be about $12 in USD, 300 pesos $18.... and so on....

If you do order pesos from the bank, ask for a majority of 200 peso notes - vendors don't often have change for 500 peso notes and some simply won't take them because of counterfeiting issues. (though the 500 peso notes are super cool --- they have Frieda Kahlo on one side and Diego Rivera on the other!!)

I don't know if you had a chance to scope out the Patter thread, but this is it - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2143974&highlight=patter

People post copies of their daily newsletter with the activities available. I didn't check to see your itinerary but I'm sure you'll find a few Patters with your ship....

Obviously the onboard activities and their times change a bit from ship to ship and so on, but it will give you a better idea of what to expect over the course of your cruise on Princess! And you can use the search function here in the forum to find out the details on a particular activity and if it would be worth your time....

You are a wonderful young man and if I owned a company of any sort, I would hire you immediately... your enthusiasm and kindness is amazing to see!

Cash money is always the best. I hated getting a "gift" of some sort at Christmas when I worked at a country club in the restaurant - "Yay. A box of orange jelly candy." "Super. A mug with hot chocolate packets". Just gimme the cash you spent on these trinkets, please..... seriously. Five bucks would have been far better than any of the junk I got. Or really, nothing would have been cool, too.

However, I will say that taking the time after your trip to write a letter to Princess itself commending particular employees who went over and above is a great thing. I did this for a waiter I had at a casino restaurant one time (he really was amazing beyond anything!) and more than a year later, he saw my name on the reservation list, came over to our table, and thanked me profusely for that letter that I had sent to management extolling his virtues.

There should be a few street vendors and a store or two. It kinda depends on what brand she smokes.... they have most of the "common" brands like Marlboro, Camel, Newport, but PallMall, Virginia Slims, and so on are a bit more difficult to find usually.

In Tijuana, I pay 500 pesos for a carton of Camel Unfiltered (about $31/USD - typically about $72USD here in California) - if you pay with dollars, expect to pay about $35/carton. You typically can haggle a few bucks with the street vendors if you're buying a carton - they'll probably quote you $45 to start.

If you're flying to port and leaving the country, I THINK you can shop in the duty-free store on the way to the ship.... don't quote me on this, though....

And ask if you don't see your brand - great thing about Mexico is if they don't have it, they typically can go get it in a few minutes!!

Whoa! That seems super-cool, especially the ability to message other passengers!:cool:

Charles Schwab offers a no-foreign-transaction fee Visa debit/ATM card and all ATM fees each month are refunded at the end of the billing cycle. http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

It's great to be in country and withdraw local currency without incurring any fees and getting close to the interbank rate as the cambios (exchange houses) tend to shave a half percent or more off the going rate... though I will say most tourist towns tend to prefer USD. We live five minutes from Tijuana and always use pesos to pay - many of the restaurants downtown have to whip out a calculator to figure out the bill in pesos! (It's about 16.9pesos to 1 USD right now - they usually round down so give us 16p or 15p to 1USD - only a few pennies in savings, but when you're down there quite a bit or making a big purchase, it adds up!)