A 4 ship day in Puerto Vallarta

[Vexorg]

While doing some research on our upcoming MR cruise, I see that our day in Puerto Vallarta (January 29th) will have four ships in port (Royal Princess, Emerald Princess, Norwegian Joy and Carnival Panorama). Should I expect that there might be issues getting around that day?  I would assume that some ship is going to have to use tenders (probably Emerald since they aren't there regularly) since there are only places for three ships to dock.  Our current plans would have us going down to Mismaloya (which would hopefully cut back on the crowds) but it sounds like traffic could also be an issue getting there and back.  Should I plan on extra time to get around?

Edited December 20, 2019 by Vexorg

[Hlitner]

4 ship day!  OMG, how are we going to survive?  :).  But seriously in PV we can easily absorb the extra folks :).  You are correct that one of those ship will have to tender.  I doubt if those ships will have any real impact on the traffic to Mismaloya or anywhere else.  For us (we live there) that many ships simply means there will be more tour buses in the Old Town/Romantic Zone and more walking tours clogging a few of the shops that specialize in handling walking tours (they likely pay kick-backs to the tour guides).  And I guess Diamonds International will have a good day (that store is usually empty unless there are ships in town).   The other impact will likely be in the afternoon at the Cheeky Monkey which, for some reason, is very popular with cruisers.

 

Hank

[pppiglet]

The traffic around the Malecon area was bad when we were there in November on a one ship port day. The day that had 3 in port we avoided that area and stayed at our hotel.  I could only imagine how bad a 4 ship day would be. Just think of all the extra taxis, Uber's, buses, etc.... I would allow some extra time just to be sure.  

[KroozNut]

It'll be a zoo, especially with all four of those MEGA ships there at the same time. Holland America is reversing the order of ports visited on most of their Mexican Riviera itineraries this season for that very reason... too many ships in each port at the same time.

 

The typical order of ports visited (at least with HAL) from San Diego is Cabo/Maz/PV, which is what it was when we booked our sailing for March '20.

 

I did the same thing you did, and discovered that there were going to be 3/4 LARGE ships in each port while we were there, and I wasn't real excited about it.

 

Then, lo and behold, we received an email from HAL advising us that our itinerary had been reversed (for 'operational reasons'), so now were hitting PV first, then Maz and Cabo last. With this schedule, there are only two ships max in each port, and in one port, our ship will be the only one there. 🙂

[Ine]

On 12/20/2019 at 11:41 PM, Vexorg said:

While doing some research on our upcoming MR cruise, I see that our day in Puerto Vallarta (January 29th) will have four ships in port (Royal Princess, Emerald Princess, Norwegian Joy and Carnival Panorama). Should I expect that there might be issues getting around that day?  I would assume that some ship is going to have to use tenders (probably Emerald since they aren't there regularly) since there are only places for three ships to dock.  Our current plans would have us going down to Mismaloya (which would hopefully cut back on the crowds) but it sounds like traffic could also be an issue getting there and back.  Should I plan on extra time to get around?

I would skip Mismaloya since traffic in  and through town might  be a mess. Why not go to a different place like e.g. Bucerias, or Punta de Mita?   Assuming you want  some time on a beach? Both north of Vallarta and you will not see many cruise passengers there.

Indeed HAL has changed their itinary in a good way for their passengers.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Ine

[Vexorg]

Apparently this isn't going to happen now since I just got notified by Princess that they are changing the itinerary for this cruise to swap the PV and Cabo port calls so on this cruise we will be in PV on the 27th instead of the 29th.  It is possible that Carnival Panorama (on the same itinerary as Royal Princess this week) may be swapping as well, but I can't tell from the info I have.

[Hlitner]

9 hours ago, Vexorg said:

Apparently this isn't going to happen now since I just got notified by Princess that they are changing the itinerary for this cruise to swap the PV and Cabo port calls so on this cruise we will be in PV on the 27th instead of the 29th.  It is possible that Carnival Panorama (on the same itinerary as Royal Princess this week) may be swapping as well, but I can't tell from the info I have.

Makes sense since ships prefer to avoid getting into a tender situation.  In PV they most anchor well outside the protected Marina (cruise port) and utilize their own tenders (now called "Water Shuttles" by Princess).   Funny thing about those "water shuttles."  They seem an awful lot like "tenders"   :).

 

Hank