Mike45LC

I would do the "glass bottom boat" trip to the Arch first -- it gets dark too early in your short port call! Warning: If after your Arch visit the boat drops you off at the beach, you need to wade ashore. So you will be sandy and wet. Given how early it gets dark and how late you will be arriving in Cabo, you might want to skip either the Arch or the beach. Or you might catch an amazing sunset from the beach -- I've never sunsetted on that beach and I don't even know which way west is from the beach!! Someone help us here! [Why don't I know which way is the sunset? I've been on a ship's balcony in Cabo often enough. Time to check some of my Cabo photos.] Walk back to the Marina after the beach (or the boat tour drops you off in the Marina) and do your dining and shopping as you walk back to the tender dock. If you are wet, that might make dining uncomfortable. I'd skip the beach all together: boat tour, shopping in the Marina, then dinner in the Marina. You did not mention drinking. Giggling Marlin and other bars/clubs are easily walkable from the Marina.

I thought about the Hop-On Hop-Off in Mazatlan, but the route was no big deal for me. The HOHO price for two of us was something like $80, and I figured the cost of pulmanias (golf carts they use as taxis in Mazatlan) would be comparable. But we would not be tied to the bus schedule and waiting in line for the next bus. I would cab from point to point and not walk. Cab one to the downtown area (the church and mercado), cab two to the Golden Zone and [I'd skip this one], cab 3 to the divers. Then back to the ship. There is no problem catching a cab at any of these areas of interest -- you will have to fight them off!

MSN, I've been to the new terminal several times. The excursions drop passengers off outside the terminal, leaving them to walk past/through all of the shops. And most of the time, I see the departing tour groups congregating outside the security screening area, so a double-booked tourist doesn't need to do security screening before joining the new tour.

Gomba, I've done the Mex Riv cruise many times (on each of Princess, Celebrity and Carnival), and as far as I can recall, the ship always adjusts to PV time. But if the ship is scheduled to arrive in PV at 9:00, then that will be ship's time = local time, and you won't make the 8:45 tour.

Cabo: Medano Beach is a long walk from the tender dock. I walk it, but it is far. Are you willing to take the kiddo on a pedicab without a car seat? That would be my recommendation. Will that stroller work on sand? Mazatlan: I posted about Stone Island. No cab ride needed. And I don't think kiddie seats are need for the boat ride. The ferry should have child-sized life jackets. Puerto Vallarta: There is a public beach just a short walk from the cruise ship's docking area. This is not a great beach, but I walk here to kill an hour or two while waiting for my wife to be ready to go ashore. When you are walking through the Cruise Ship Terminal area -- this is complicated. The name of the Cruise Passenger Terminal is Puerto Magico. Lots of stores. They want you to turn left to go into the store area, but if you go straight ahead to the driveway, it is more direct. You might need to ask one of the locals for directions. Once you get to the roadway/driveway, there is a large flea market visible, off to the right. There is a large plaza in front of it. The market stalls and a restaurant are across the plaza. Kind of straight ahead there is a fence with a large opening and a red banner "TO THE BEACH" with a large arrow pointing to the right. The walkway runs along a condo building's exterior wall. Walk along the walkway (to your right) and you will come to a small stairway to the beach. The beach is called "Playa De Oro." If you walk far enough along the beach, there will be lounge chairs under palm frond umbrellas, but those areas are roped off (and patrolled by very polite staff) for residents/guests only. I don't know of any services for cruise passengers, but I usually buy a soda from one of the flea market stall operators before and after my beach visit.

I've never seen a whale from the cruise ship, but I saw a commotion amongst the passengers when one person in the buffet claimed to have sighted a whale -- I saw nothing except a crowd of people pointing. I have taken many of the "glass bottom pangas" to the Arch, and have never seen a whale during the tour. However, I would consider paying the panga captain for a detour out to look for whales. Or, rather to cruise out to where the whale-watching tour boats have congregated, on the theory that they know where the whales are to be found. The most whales I have seen was on a Hornblower's whale watching cruise out of San Diego.

In downtown Mazatlan, for example near the church or the Mercado or the theater, you cannot walk half a block without a taxi driver soliciting you for a ride. This is during daytime tourist hours. I don't know about nighttime and early morning.

Diet Coke should be available in cans and in the soda guns.

Took the Panorama five months ago, food was good -- MDR, Buffet and Italian. Production shows: The lead singers were very good, as were the dancers. Comedians were terrible. Too much anti-oldsters!

I also don't understand the word "Latin" in this context. No Romans were mentioned and the dishes don't sound Italian or Roman.

Here is my recommendation for self-guided tours in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. I am assuming we are talking about a relatively short one-day cruise ship visit. PUERTO VALLARTA: Known for: Cobblestone streets, high sidewalks. Sculptures along the Malecon Grab a shuttle from the port. These are mini-vans and cabs offering to drive you “downtown” for $5 per person. The Malecon (I’ll loosely translate this as “The Boardwalk”) is too far for you to walk, especially compared to a $5 pp van ride. Make sure the fare is $5 per person. I recall seeing A-Frame signs by the shuttles. A lot of posters here talk about walking out to get a city cab, to save a couple of dollars. I am on a relatively expensive cruise holiday, and will not go out of my way to save a few bucks. El Malecon Boardwalk: The shuttle will drop you off near Rosita Hotel. You can walk down El Malecon from there. The water to your right is Banderas Bay. Whenever you get tired, you can take a break at any of the many restaurants, or you can grab a cab back to the ship. For the return taxi ride, there is no fixed fare – agree upon a price before you get in the cab! I usually pay $10 to $15 for the return trip, depending on various issues, including how tired I am and how much time and effort I want to put into negotiating! Remember, the difference between a $15 fare and a $20 fare is only $5 to you out of thousands of dollars on the cruise fare. For the driver, it is much more significant. So I will bargain the price down and then pay a lot more in the tip. As you walk down the Malecon, you will see many sculptures – the Seahorse, the dolphins, the ladder to the sky (“In Search of Reason”), sea creature chairs (“Rotunda of the Sea”). There will also be sand sculptures on the Bay side. Sometimes, the folkloric fliers are performing here on the beach side. The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is off to the left (as you walk south). You will see the government building and the Plaza De Las Armas on your left. Cut through the Plaza and you will come to the Church. It is a couple of blocks uphill from El Malecon. Walk as far as you want. The Malecon used to end at a river, in the middle of which is an island, Isle Cuale. Nowadays, you can continue walking El Malecon even further. This area is called Romantic Zone, and Las Muertos Beach. Las Muertos Beach is at the south end of El Malecon, beyond Rio Cuale. Plenty of beach-front restaurants, parasailing, banana boats, jet ski rentals, .... By Las Muertos Beach, there is a street called Basilio Badillo, where you'll find a variety of shops with good quality Mexican items better priced than the stores on El Malecon. During your walk, you will see some Oxxo stores. Oxxo is the equivalent of 7-11. Coke, chips, .... PV has multiple alternatives – Vallarta Botanical Gardens, zip-lining, Playa las Gemelas, Destiladeras Beach, Playa Las Animas, .... But the walk along El Malecon is the basic “I want to ‘do” Puerto Vallarta” experience. MAZATLAN The ship docks in the middle of a large commercial port. You need to take a free shuttle bus (tips are gladly accepted!) from the ship to the Visitor’s Center, which is filled with small stores. Once you get through that (and the stalls outside it), there are taxis and tour busses lined up waiting for you. Mazatlan has golf-cart style cabs (“pulmonia”). As always in Mexico, agree upon the price of the cab before you get in!! There are lots of tourist helpers hanging aroud, sometimes called “Blue Shirts”; these are snowbirds helping us out as a free service. Many of these snowbirds are Canadians, others are American. They speak English and know Mazatlan. My recommendation for a do-it-yourself tour: Grab a golf cart to the Cathedral downtown. Explore the Cathedral and then walk to El Mercado (Mercado Pino Suarez, to give it its full name). Any of the locals will point you in the right direction. It is only a block or two from the Cathedral. Wander around El Mercado, get grossed out by the pig heads and other exotic merchandise. Then, grab a golf cart and go to the Golden Zone – ask to be let off at Seashell City or Shrimp Factory or Las Flores Beach Resort. Wander around, go to the beach, shop, enjoy. When you are done, grab another golf cart to take you back to the ship. If you want, this driver will stop to let you watch the cliff divers. Alternative: There is a blue line painted down the sidewalk/in the middle of the roadway, from the Cruise Passenger Terminal to downtown. You can easily walk to the downtown area by simply following the blue line. The Tourist Advisors will help you find the Cathedral and Mercado. [Update: there are also signs on posts pointing you along the “Blue Line”.] My personal way to enjoy Mazatlan includes a trip to Stone Island. This does not need an organized excursion or tour guide. Stone Island has a nice beach, with lots of bars/restaurants. The restaurants have chairs and tables and umbrellas. The café you are spending money at will allow you to use a table/chairs/ umbrella as long as you make a reasonable minimum spend. I’ve never known the minimum spend, because it has never been an issue. The beach has many vendors (cheap jewelry, candies and other Mexican stuff.) There are ATVs for rent; horses; banana boats; seadoos; etc. To get to Stone Island: A short walk from the Passenger Terminal, there is a “ferry” that takes you across a small inlet to Stone Island. From the entrance/exit of the Cruise Terminal (after the tram ride from the ship), turn left and walk down the street, about four blocks. The street curves to the right just beyond the entrance to the Naval facility. Continue straight onto a dirt road, about 50 yards, to a ticket booth (small yellow building). Round trip ticket costs 30 pesos per person – they will charge you $2 per person if you pay in $US. After you reach Stone Island, there is a path off to the left, to the beach and restaurants. I usually spend a couple of hours on the beach at one of the restaurants CABO SAN LUCAS: This is a tender port. Many ships spend only a few hours here, so don’t get adventurous!! Others spend overnight here. On some ships, the tenders run all night; on others, the tenders stop from around 9 or 10 p.m. and resumed tender service at 8 a.m. or so. I have not stayed ashore all night. The tenders bring you to the Marina, which is filled with restaurants, bars, shops. Some people don’t even leave the marina area. If you wander a little bit, you will find more restaurants and bars – Giggling Marlin, Cabo Wabo and similar places. Cabo is very much a “party city” for California’s youth. When you first get off the tender in Cabo, there will be a huge crowd of locals trying to sell tours. They all offer the glass-bottom boat tour to the Arch. It includes a drive-by of Lovers' Beach, the stinking sea lion rock, the Arch, Divorce Beach -- these are all just drive-bys. The captain will do a drop-off at Lovers' Beach upon request. Warning: there are no services at Lovers’ Beach. You will climb off the boat and wade ashore. I have heard of one local who sets up with a cooler to sell beverages, but I don’t know how often he is there. After seeing the Arch, upon request, the Captain will also do a drop-off at Medano Beach. You need to wade ashore; if a wave catches you wrong, you might take a dunking. There are full services at Medano Beach -- food, drinks, bathrooms, chairs, umbrellas, water sports, parasailing, ATVs, jet skis, etc. And vendors; lots of vendors. If you want to parasail, I recommend doing one that launches from the boat instead of from the beach. If you get off at Medano Beach, you have already paid for the return to the Marina, but that requires you finding the same boat that you had taken. I have never tried this -- I will walk, grab a land-based taxi or a pedi-cab instead. I don’t want to try to find the same captain and then wade out in the surf and climb aboard the boat. If you stay in your tour boat, the boat returns you to the Marina, near the tender dock. My last glass bottom tour, I think I paid $25 for two of us. Pre-Covid, I would pay $8 to $10 per person, but I am more generous now! When I am paying thousands for a cruise, I no longer want to negotiate over $10! This “tour” is no-frills, no soda, beer, drinks. There are lots of other tours -- pirate ships, open bars, lunch buffets, etc. -- but the basic one is what I take every trip to Cabo.

I'm glad you were able to fix it. Otherwise, you would be required to lie down every time you wanted to get off/on the ship, so you would be sideways to match the security photo.

I would consider the nature of the morning excursion. If it is some kind of boat ride or adventure tour, you are stuck with the tour operator and if the tour operator is running late, you are out of luck. If it is a city drive tour, you can always bag out at 1:30 if it seems to be running late, and grab a taxi back to the port for the Rhythms excursion.

I called the phone number on a casino offer recently and left a voicemail message. I then got a call back from a random Personal Vacation Planner, who left a voicemail for me. We finally connected, and I booked with her. I will call her directly for my next booking. As far as I am concerned, she is now my PVP, as long as she performs well. Since I made that booking, I have received casino offers with the names of unknown PVPs on the offer fliers, claiming to be my PVP. I will stick with the one I am presently using. I think the names of the planners who say they are my PVP are randomly inserted. The only telephone used was my initial phone call to the number of the Casino offer, and then the phone tag we played. I would not be gracious to a random phone call from an unknown caller!

I cruised on Carnival in 1997 and 2001, and said "never again." We mostly cruise Princess and Celebrity. My wife wanted to take our niece on a cruise and she (schoolteacher) could only do August. Long story short, we ended up on a Carnival cruise. I was pleased. In the late 1990s, Carnival was a Spring break experience, full of 20-something guys getting wasted and vomiting in the corners. Although my August 2023 Carnival had a lot of young adults, it was not gross and they were not rowdy! Food was decent and the "Dine My Way" (or whatever they call it) worked very well -- we would tell the application that we were ready to dine, and we got a table notification within ten minutes. Embarkation in Los Angeles was horrible, but the cruise itself was fine. Cabin, food, entertainment, etc., all were good. Not Celebrity level, but a good cruise nonetheless. Based on this experience, I have booked us on three Carnival cruises for 2024.

I've never travelled with kids, so I have no first-hand knowledge. On a recent cruise (Celebrity, Princess or Carnival), there was an area of the buffet (food selection) reserved for the kids (lunchtime) and several tables reserved for them. I thought that worked well for the kids.

But there are usually multiple small boats going to the same sandbar who can take you back to port. I always evaluate whether there is an alternate bus/taxi/boat to get me back in case of a breakdown, in deciding whether to take a Cruise Line tour or a private tour!

I once had more than two entrees when the steak was inedible without a chainsaw (I was given a replacement steak which was just as bad), and I finally was served a grilled chicken breast. I sometimes try a dish that I've never had before, and if it is not to my taste, I will have another dish. But that is "only" two entrees.

Thank you!

When you get off the tender in Cabo, there is a huge swarm of vendors selling tours. Probably every one of these vendors will sell you a water taxi tour. It is a standard tour, leaving from a dock in the Marina, going out to the Arch by way of Lover's Beach (where you can get off the water taxi [warning: no services, and you wade ashore]), a quick stop to see fish through the "glass bottom", a stop to admire the stinking sea lions, a stop at the Arch, and a stop by Divorce Beach. The only usual variation in this tour is if some passengers want to get off at Medano Beach (lots of services, but again, you need to wade ashore). The cruise lines offer lots of tours, but I don't know if they have this basic no-frills boat ride. The cost is too low for the cruise line to make money on this -- $10 or $12, plus a $1 dock fee.

I have not been to the Caribbean in decades, but when I lived on the East Coast I did a lot of Caribbean cruises. In those days, I used to hop onto a safari tour bus in Charlotte Amalie for an island tour. No reservations, no tickets, just hand $XX to the driver. Is this still a thing? If not, what tour companies can you recommend? I'd like to drive up to Mountain Top, Drake's Seat, a very brief stop to see Magen's Bay. I am not looking for beach time or water activities. Viator has an excursion, but in the old days I would just hop on a safari bus.

I keep my phone in airplane mode until I am actually on land. Then, I turn the airplane mode off and use the phone to check my voice mail messages on my office phones, and otherwise take care of business. I go back to airplane mode as I board the ship again. I have used the phone off of airplane mode sitting on my balcony in Cabo, and did not get any nasty billing surprises, but I am very leery of this.

The assertion that ship's time is always local time is wrong. I am looking at a Patter right now: "Please be advised hat ship's time is one hour behind local time in Puerto Vallarta." This is common on the Mexican Riviera cruises. On that particular cruise, the ship's clocks were set ahead one hour on embarkation night (2:00 a.m. the next morning, to be precise), and remained at that time (I think it was Mountain Time??, Pacific plus one) the entire cruise until the night before disembarkation, when we set the clocks back one hour (to Pacific time). Sometimes the ship's time is adjusted to Puerto Vallarta local time, but sometimes not. As to the OP's question, I have never seen Princess ship's time NOT be the same as local time in Cabo. Once, when Daylight Savings Time ended, our "spring back" coincided with the time zone change, and they cancelled out. I just watch the Patter and follow the instructions.

The tip to bring translation cards is a good one. When I went to Asia, I had index cards with my dietary restrictions in English on one side, and in several Asian languages on the other -- Thai, Mandarin and Japanese. Mom, if you live in a community with Mexican restaurants, you can probably get someone to prepare the translations for you if you visit at an off-hour.

I don't recall having a ship's excursion run more than 45 minutes late -- and that was a van breakdown, and the van had to be replaced. I would think a 90 minute cushion would be enough. Good luck.