Mexican Riviera

What are some of your favorite things to do in Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan? And for those who have sailed in October, how warm was the water in these places. Thanks!

10-09-2004 - Diamond princess - Mexico

10-25-2003 - Navigator of the Seas - Eastern

11-09-2002 - Explorer of the Seas - Western

You might try the Ports of Call board. There is a wealth of information there on all of the ports of call. Go to Mexican Rivera and you will find most everything.

Marilyn

We were on the MR 2 years ago.

In Puerto Vallarta I would recommend any excursion with Vallarta Tours. We did one, a snorkel out to some islands (Marietas?) that was excellent. The crew was by far the best and most entertaining crew we have ever seen.

We spoke to others on the cruise who took other excursion offered by the same company and they were all great. At the time, when I checked their independent prices vs cruise excursion, they were identical.

IN Cabo, I went scuba diving (through the cruise ship Discover Scuba) and had a great time. Most of the divers with me were certified, but like me, had little or no recent diving experience. The guides were excellent again.

In Mazatlan, my dh and a friend went on one of the ship's fishing expeditions and still raves about it. I did the unusual for me, took a taxi into town and shopped.

We went in April/May, so I don't know about the water temp in October.

Also, to second the previous response, go over to the Ports of Call section. Plenty of info!

While in Mazatlan a couple of weeks ago we went horseback riding with Randi and her happy horses, it was a real kick. You can find her on the port of call boards and there are a few pic's in our albums (link on this page). Randi is a real character, the horses are very tame and well trained, the beach is beautiful, the lunch was well worth the $$ and it was FUN.

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I sent Randi a question about her excursion and received both e-mails and CruiseCritic posts from her that were very rude and sarcastic (see Randi's responses below). Personally, I ended up booking with King David and based on Randi's snobbish responses I would not recommend Randi's Happy Horse excursion to anyone. When I posted my negative experience with Randi (aka Island Girl) on the Ports of Call Mexican Riviera boards, my posts were deleted from the boards. So Randi is obviously also the Moderator of that board, or has some close connections.

My questions:

Hi Randi, How long are you required to ride the horses going to and from the beach? We don't ride very often so would prefer to only be on the horses around 2 hours total. Is this possible? If some in our party just want to go to the beach and skip the horse ride, is there a way you can take them to the beach or are the horses the only way to get there?

Here are Randi's Responses:

Hi NewWave, You are not obligated to even ride our horses and I really prefer, with your attitude that you chose another shore tour. Thank you for your interest but I have no interest in you riding with us for an hour and a half. Guessing you will whine and complain the entire time. That would wreck it for everybody else that want's to see the beauty of the Island. Change your attitude in any case or stay on the ship.

I really think, with your conserns that you would be much happier with another excrusion. We wing it because I am the boss and I can.

NewWaveDave was duped. Randi isn't like that at all. We were there in October of last year and went with Randi and had a blast. I had also recieved a rude post from Randi on the boards, and found out later someone had hacked her screen name. She appologized for the incident, which wasn't her fault, and we had a blast. You won't regret it. In PV we went snorkeling with Pacific Scuba. They were great. Just my wife and I, and one other couple. It was very reasonably priced, and very private. I would definately recommend them if you are into snorkeling. We went out to Las Marietas and had a blast. In cabo we did the typical boat ride out to Land's End and then just walked around downtown. The water was very warm while we were there. I think in PV the water temp at Las Marietas was 76 degrees. Really warm for as far out as we were. Check on the Port of Call boards for more info. You can always post a specific question for Randi or PV Pam. Or email me if you like przeor@yahoo.com

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

I don't think I was duped (An easily deceived person). I was aware that Randi had posted some comments indicating her CruiseCritic account had been hacked. But if this was the case and your acocunt was hacked, wouldn't you simply create another login (like Island Girl 1) and start posting under the new login? Or maybe go in your profile and change your password? Also, some of the comments that I posted from Randi came from e-mails received directly from her.

I would agree that of all the posts that I have read from Randi (and she posts a lot), almost all have very polite, cordial, and informative. The ones I received certainly seemed out of context for her. Thats why I tried several posts here on CruiseCritic and e-mails directly to her. After EVERY response from her was very negative and rude, I concluded she just wasn't someone I care to deal with. I find it hard to believe that every response over a 1 week timeframe was from the hacker and that the real Randi never got a chance to respond even once.

We just came back from Mexican Riviera and we had been there many times so we had already done the usual things. This time we rented a car for $88.00 in PV. This included lots of insurance which we elected to buy so we would not have any problems. We drove up into the mountains and then back down to Nuevo Vallarta where they have all the high end resorts. Went shopping, went back to the ship for lunch and then went out again. Even went to Walmart just to see what it was like. In Mazatlan we took a cab to our favorite restaurant "El Shirimp Bucket" and had a $60.00 lunch (large shrimp bucket) Then walked around, shopped and took a cab back. They wanted $8.00 for the cab, we got them down to $5.00 and then gave the driver a $5.00 tip. Cabo did the same thing, took a cab to shopping area and then got back to the ship for lunch. We're getting old and can't do some of those excursions anymore.

Also, I have dealt with Randi many times. I emailed her several times about things that had nothing to do with her tours. She was great. There is no way she wrote that. Please believe us, she is very nice and she doesn't care if you take her tour or not she will tell you anything you want to know about that area.

You might consider a day trip to Las Caletas while in Puerto Vallarta. It can only be reached by boat (which stops at Los Arcos to snorkel on the way). The ladies on the beach are selling the best pie I've ever eaten (made with no electricity!)

Also the PV Malecon has wonderful shops.

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We went last October and the weather was wonderful. It was warm every day and we went to Las Caletas in PV. They met us right as we got off the ship and we walked over to their boat. In Matzalan we did Randi's Happy Horses and had a blast!! NewWaveDave you are wrong about Randi. She was very accomadating to our group and was not RUDE in anyway. We had so much fun that we booked Randi again this September and can't wait. Maybe Randi was right that if you whine now about not wanting to ride as a group you would be a problem once you arrived. We all rode as a group and no one is left behind or can anyone from the group go off by themselves. If you want to ride by yourself then maybe a private horseback ride is what you need.

In Cabo we did the Sea & Snorkle and that was also a lot of fun.

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NewWaveDave, we tried to go with Randi but were too late. We were goint to go with King David but chickened out. Decided to just try to get to Stone Island on our own and wing it for a horse ride on the beach. My 8 year old loves horses.

Next time (if there is one) we'll start earlier with Randi. A friend at work was on his honeymoon last year and happened upon Randi's horse ride on their cruise. He said it was wonderful, not too long or too short. I kept asking him, did it feel like you wanted to go back to the ship? He said he didn't notice the time, just had a good one.

We'll see you on the beach, Kate and family

Pick a nice street side cafe and people watch in each port when not on a beach or in a resort pool. Parasailing and Marlin fishing are also good affordable and productive bets. Getting hung upside down on the marlin hoist inside the bar and grill, the Giggling Marlin in Cabo is lengenary among the transient fishing crowd. they then proceed to pour tequiles down your gullet.

John