First timers to Mexican Rivera

[pkrfan]

Hey Guys,

First time cruisers doing Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo- on undecided ship (Sapphire Princess Winning) Any other ships that you can recommend is cool. We are traveling Late Jan. 2010 for our 10th anniversary with two other first timers. My wifes maid of honor & her BF joining us. Everybody late 30's. Want to know what to do at each port. Sounds like booking you own excursions the way to go financially. We still like to party so keep that in mind. Whale watcing is a must. Any Helpers?!?!?! Trying to please my well deserving wife with the best time ever.

[katiepe]

Best fun we had was a stop at Cabo Wabo in Cabo San Lucas. Owned by Sammy Hagar(of Van Halen fame). They have the best tequila. It is their own label and makes a great souvenir;)

We just walked to it off the ship.

We were on the Golden Princess so that wont help you as it doesnt do that route anymore.

[wolfganghowell]

In Cabo, Medano Beach is lined with beach bars - from laid back to party scene. Just walk along and find the place you want to play. Since you guys still like to "party" Carlos & Charlies and Senor Frogs are always fun for some great music and some hilarious people watching (or participating). Some people love it, some hate it.

[takeavacation]

Cabo Wabo is a fun place to visit -- but it is totally dead during the day (when ships are in port). Save it for a visit when you are in Cabo during the evening hours.

 

The bars along Medano beach are much more active during day hours. A water taxi to Lover's Beach can be fun.

 

For Mazatlan -- you can tour the Tequila factory (if that is your kind of thing) -- or spend a beach day with either included or very inexpensive drinks over on Stone Island. You can do a tour, or head over on your own. It's easy to get to from the ship.

 

For PVR - depends what you want. Ziplining, Las Caletas, beach day -- the options are many.

 

Good luck planning your trip! And -- for people in their late 30's -- go with Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas -- it is a super fun ship (the largest on the West Coast) and your age group will fit right in with the fun!

[kdicey]

My wife and I are traveling a 14yr old son. Which Bar would you recommend on Medano for a teenage boy.

[andynlala]

We just got off the Mariner this past Sunday, and this would be my vote for your group. The prices are really cheap right now. There seemed to be a way older crowd coming off of the Princess ship. Maybe they were just having a geriatric convention or something.

 

Here's what we did at our ports....

Cabo-went to Tobasco's on the far end of Medano Beach, they have good, cheap food and drinks. The Mango Deck is a fun place with occassional Spring Break type antics. Water Taxi to the beach is $4 per person, and if you ask, they will take you by the arches for a quick look. Don't buy stuff from the vendors here.

 

Mazatlan-went to Stone Island. Not crowded, and you can walk out really far into the water and still be waist deep. You can rent ATVs, boogie boards, & kayaks right on the beach. The vendors aren't too pushy, and their stuff is way cheaper than anywhere else. We hung out at Lety's. Killer shrimp quesedillas and Margaritas. They also have Tres Corones Tequila, very good and cheap, potent too. We stumbled back tot he ship just in time!

 

PV-did the Los Veranos zip line tour. This is a must do, don't miss adventure!!! There is also an Outdoor adventure that is supposed to be very good too.

 

Whatever ship you choose, make sure you bring some warm clothes for the first & last sea days. I was not prepared for the cold. Luckily I at least had a sweatshirt with me.

[andynlala]

One more thing, buy some Rum Runners and bring your own booze on board. We ran out and then ended up spending $150 + in one night.

[Durangler]

pkrfan:

Wow! I've got to agree with all of the previous suggestions. We're on Mariner of the Seas, 12/6/09 and I've locked in 3 excursions. The Dolphin Swim in Cabo San Lucas & Canopy Adventure Tour in Puerto Vallarta, thru the ship. In Mazatlan we booked Parasailing, on our own, thru Mazatlan Adventures (Johan & Sandra). I'm sure you can find these excursions on your own. The ship price will always be more expensive, but you'll not have to worry about the ship leaving without you. There's an outfit in Cabo, "JT Watersports" that offers all kinds if outings. Their parasailing ride lifts you off a boat and lands you back on and tandem flights are available, plus they say you don't even get wet!:D Keep scanning these threads and you'll find lots of ideas.

 

http://www.jtwatersports.com/homepage.htm

 

http://www.johann-sandra.com/ scroll below their picture for their offerings.

[pkrfan]

You guys are awesome, I knew I could count on the CC'ers to come through. Anyone been to Los Caletas? And do you book through the ship or try to do it yourself on shore? By the way it looks like we are doing the Mariner of the Seas. Thanks again everyone for the help. Keep it comin'.

[J&KCruisers]

We are big fans of Princess. The crowd can be a little older, but the ships and experience are first rate. The Sapphire is a really nice ship.

 

The Mexican Riviera is a fun cruise.

 

Puerto Vallarta is a great town. A wonderful feel and relaxed atmosphere. Just take a bus or a cab into the old town. You can shop or end up at the Playa de los Muertos for a relaxing day.

 

In Mazatlan we started the day by touring is one of the open air cabs called Pulmonias. For $40, we took a 2.5 hour tour of the City and saw everything. If you are a first timer, you cannot get a better look at a place than a drive in a Pulmonia.

 

We then went to Stone Island which is near the port and walking distance. You take a boat to the island for about $2 each rt. We ended up at Lety's which is right next to Victors. You will see posts about Victors, Lety's and Molokay. All are right in the same area. The place you choose will probably be contingent on the availability of beach chairs.

 

We stayed there for about 4 hours eating shrimp (both Garlic and Coconut), quesadillas, home made tortillas, drinking buckets of beers and sodas. The Margaritas are made from squeezed limes and mineral water (really good!!). Literally, the four of us ate too much, drank too much and sunned for about $40.:D:D:D:D

 

An absolutely great day!!!!!!!

 

Cabo is typically a half day on the Sapphire and I am not sure about other cruise lines. Cabo Wabo, the beaches and the water taxis to Lovers Beach and Los Archos are all good bets.

 

Have a great cruise.

[pkrfan]

What about whale watching in Cabo Zodiac or Pez Gato funner/better?

And good margaritas for the way home ;) !!!!!:D

[Stvandon]

I highly recommend Pez Gato....great crew..lots of fun!

[Eddiesmom]

www.rumrunners.com a must to have

 

Hotel Krystal - Puerto Vallarta, walking distance from the ship. Book a massage for the two of you $90 contact Leonardo at MILLENIUMMASSAGE@HOTMAIL.COM After enjoy their pools, beach and swim up bars.

 

Mazatlan Frank www.mazatlanfrank.com for a city/beach tour or stone island on your own or with www.kingdavidtours.com

 

Cabo Wabo for drinks and when you exit out the patio entrance go to Slims, the worlds smallest bar, only 4 bar stools. Pex gato for whale watching.

 

Have fun:D

[Let'sGo!]

Hotel Krystal - Puerto Vallarta, walking distance from the ship. Book a massage for the two of you $90 contact Leonardo at MILLENIUMMASSAGE@HOTMAIL.COM After enjoy their pools, beach and swim up bars.

 

Mazatlan Frank www.mazatlanfrank.com for a city/beach tour or stone island on your own or with www.kingdavidtours.com

 

Cabo Wabo for drinks and when you exit out the patio entrance go to Slims, the worlds smallest bar, only 4 bar stools. Pex gato for whale watching.

 

Eddiesmom, you just laid out our entire upcoming cruise to the Mexican Riviera!

 

We're booked for massages at Krystal, Frank's city/beach tour, and we're planning on going to Cabo Wabo to at least say we've been there - even if it's dead.

 

Great to know we're on track!

 

One question I have though for you experts: My fiance is kind of a photo buff, and I know he's going to want to get pictures of Los Arcos. How do we get there, water taxi?

[MDavis23]

One more thing, buy some Rum Runners and bring your own booze on board. We ran out and then ended up spending $150 + in one night.

 

Andynlalay -- what mixers are on the Mariner? We have never cruised RCCL before. On Carnival, we purchased the beverage card and were able to get cranberry juice and other juices at any bar. Also, the buffet dining, which was open all the time, had juices availalbe there, with Mango/Orange (I think that was what it was) in the morning. We brought a small round container (so it would fit in the refrigerator) and put juice in there. Also, we brought our Magic Bullet on another cruise (yes, we are frugal) and used our rum (in the Rumrunner bags) and fresh fruit. Does any of this sound doable on the Mariner? :)

[Eddiesmom]

Eddiesmom, you just laid out our entire upcoming cruise to the Mexican Riviera!

 

We're booked for massages at Krystal, Frank's city/beach tour, and we're planning on going to Cabo Wabo to at least say we've been there - even if it's dead.

 

Great to know we're on track!

 

One question I have though for you experts: My fiance is kind of a photo buff, and I know he's going to want to get pictures of Los Arcos. How do we get there, water taxi?

 

Yes a water taxi can get you there. Also on port side top deck of the ship, you should be able to have a photo op of Los Arcos. The Mariner is a great ship, you guys will have alot of fun.:):)

[jonbgd]

www.rumrunners.com a must to have

 

Hotel Krystal - Puerto Vallarta, walking distance from the ship. Book a massage for the two of you $90 contact Leonardo at MILLENIUMMASSAGE@HOTMAIL.COM After enjoy their pools, beach and swim up bars.

 

Mazatlan Frank www.mazatlanfrank.com for a city/beach tour or stone island on your own or with www.kingdavidtours.com

 

Cabo Wabo for drinks and when you exit out the patio entrance go to Slims, the worlds smallest bar, only 4 bar stools. Pex gato for whale watching.

 

Have fun:D

I agree with totally

a couple Questions Im going on ROS next month How was the ship

Ive never heard of Rumrunners on any other cruise lines only on Carnival:D

Also your from Downey My Sis lives there I know it really well went to Rio Hondo & Griffiths middle school in the 70's

[deputymama]

Everything we did was walking distance from the boat/tender.

 

PV: Krystal Resort: If you don't want a massage you can pay $42/couple for a day pass. That $$ is reimbursable at the bar or for food. It was good but I felt like I missed out in seeing downtown PV.

 

Mazatlan: Stone Island!!! So awesome! I could spend a week there. It was quiet and I felt like I had the whole island to myself. We stayed a Carmelita's It was right next door to Lety's. We ate at Lety's and were not dissapointed. This would be a great hangover day. ;-) And it is so easy to get to and cheap. $2 round trip per person.

 

Cabo: We started out at Medano Beach (took water taxi) and left because the water was too scary for our son. We ended up at Finesterra Resort (up the hill and walking distance from tender boats). It was so chill! And beautiful!! They charged us $15 for a day pass and was again reimbursable through the pool bar. There are three pools BTW. Here are a few pics to help you decide...

 

CABO:: FINESTERRA RESORT

 

MAZATLAN: STONE ISLAND

 

PUERTO VALLARTA: NH KRYSTAL RESORT

[EsaTraveler]

pkrfan - couple things to consider:

 

- If you go on Princess, reserve the special dinning rooms a few nights. They are worth it and, later in the cruise, it will feel like a big treat for your wife. They booked up fast...be sure to book on the second sea day.

- the Los Veranos zip line tour in PV is awesome and they have a very cool outside bar with great drinks after the adventure.

-having a few (free) beers while shopping for jewelery isn't a bad way to beat the heat if you have no other plans.

- there are some spring break like activities around the pool on sea days. Watch the patter.

- taking a rum runner cruise/snorkel trip can be fun party. the drinks can be stiff...be sure to hydrate!

[pkrfan]

Thank you everybody, your past experiences are very helpful. We just booked the Mariner on RCCL for Jan. 24th and are very excited as are our friends. You guys rock!!! Because of you our first cruise will be awesome!!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

You will love the Mariner. The big RCI ships are perfect for people of all ages, but I would not recommend Princess for a younger group that likes to party. Carnival is another option to consider in the future. I personally love Princess, though.

 

Be aware that RCI does NOT allow booze of any kind brought onto the ship. If found it will be held until the end of the cruise by security. All liquor bought in port will be held and returned to you before you disembark. On Princess each person may bring one bottle of wine or champagne onboard to consume in the dining room or in your cabin. I just saw an article regarding this on Cruise Critic, but I am not sure where.....

[razzinger]

Hey Guys,

First time cruisers doing Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo- on undecided ship (Sapphire Princess Winning) Any other ships that you can recommend is cool. We are traveling Late Jan. 2010 for our 10th anniversary with two other first timers. My wifes maid of honor & her BF joining us. Everybody late 30's. Want to know what to do at each port. Sounds like booking you own excursions the way to go financially. We still like to party so keep that in mind. Whale watcing is a must. Any Helpers?!?!?! Trying to please my well deserving wife with the best time ever.

 

We have just booked on the Jan 23 Sapphire Princess. Having never been we are also interested in whats out there. We are alittle older :), celebrating our 32nd Anniversay, but still love to have fun! And we hear whale watching that time of year is awesome! Good luck!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We have just booked on the Jan 23 Sapphire Princess. Having never been we are also interested in whats out there. We are alittle older :), celebrating our 32nd Anniversay, but still love to have fun! And we hear whale watching that time of year is awesome! Good luck!

You will love the many different types of evening entertainment available on Princess. I went on the Golden in January of '08 to the MR with my Mom and we had a wonderful time!

 

Because the Sapphire has only a half day in Cabo you may find it easier to book whale watching through the ship, which is what we had to do. None of the recommended private operators had schedules at that time that worked with our port times. It is a tender port, so you have to allow extra time to get off the ship and to the meeting place. We did have a nice whale watching experience, though.

 

Cabo is the port known for the great whale watching, although Puerta Vallarta also has some good sightings. A friend on our cruise went whale watching in both ports and she actually had better sightings in PV. She did the zodiac tours. It's just the luck of the draw.

 

If you are interested here are my pictures from that cruise:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/562311829vTFOQg

[heyjude27]

Hi Packer Fan,

We just returned from the Mexican Riviera. It's hard to try to do it all! Check out WildlifeConnection.com. We went out to find dolphin. In the winter they said they focus on whales. We weren't disappointed. We were with them for almost three hours -- and we were in the water also. The big tour boat came by one spot we were in and they only stayed for five minutes. We tooled around the entire time finding members of the dolphin group they are studying. I didn't hear about them on this website but on another. The tour sounds like it won't fit into the ship schedule but I wrote to him (Eduardo) and he scheduled for us. My husband and I were the only two people on the boat -- it was very affordable.

 

We went for a couples massage at Aromaspa.com in old town Mazatlan. I booked in advance and they were great about keeping the reservation and being on time. Very funky looking place but very professional. $50 for two people for two hours (not a typo). For 50 minutes on our ship it was $269 for a couple's massage (not a typo). We tipped them a lot. With taxi both ways we still spent less than $100. Had the taxi take us to the Stone Island ferry stop -- spent the afternoon there. Plenty of time to do both. The ferry to Stone Island is $2 (unless you are carrying pesos, then it's less). Walk 10 minutes back to the ship -- you can see the ship from where you are.

 

I met a few couples from the Mariner at the beaches. They were loving their cruise. Cabo is beautiful. The Mariner will stay here almost all day so that will be fun; the Princess ship leaves at 2pm which is too bad (but I did love the Princess ship). There are a gazillion people on the dock asking to take you by boat on a short tour out to the arches, Lover's Beach etc. and then they will bring you back over to the other side of the bay and drop you off in front of the hotel beaches where Billygans and Mangos and a bunch of other eat/drink places are with umbrellas and lounges. They ask $15 for the boat tour and drop off at the beaches but some people try to talk them down. It's a bargain no matter what. They'll come back and get you also. The whole thing is a no-brainer. You'll have a great time.

 

Hope this helps.

J

[twinopin]

Hi everyone!

 

I am thinking about doing a Mexican Riviera cruise in late January also, departing from San Diego. Can anyone give me any advice on the winter weather both in the Riviera and while onboard the ship? Is it freezing during sailing days? Is the water rough?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

Micha Pino