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Solstice Mexican Riviera March 4th-11th...Finally...let the saga...ahem, I mean live review begin!

Georgia_Peaches

By Georgia_Peaches,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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"And another from Geoergia_Peaches! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!"

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Greetings CC friends!

 I am excited to bring you this live and unfolding saga of our cruise on the Solstice beginning March 4th-11th.  I’ve followed a few live reviews over the last several weeks in anticipation of:

1. getting back on a Celebrity ship in general, and

2. sailing on Solstice in particular. 

Shout out to all those who have taken time to provide live reviews. I've hung on every word and traveled along vicariously.  Here’s hoping I can return the favor!

 

Brief background: 

DH (57) and I (55) began our lives and cruising journey together in 2004. I’m not happy unless I have at least two cruises on the books and that excitement increases exponentially with each additional cruise.  Since the restart we have been twice on MSC in the YC and we enjoyed both very much! We haven’t sailed with Celebrity since November of 2019 when DH and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary.  We made the mistake of treating ourselves to a Royal suite…so here we are.

 

Book Keeping

For the sake of perspective for those of you who may be in the planning phase of your next cruise, here’s a financial breakdown of how we got here: 

Cruise fare for RS (booked under a buy one/get one 75% off promotion): $7055 all in. 

OBC:  $850 refundable from TA and $600 from Celebrity = $1450 total

Net:  $402 Per person/per day

Airfare:  We are flying American airlines.  Round trip from Atlanta in first class was $880 pp with an itinerary that takes us to LAX and departs us from Long Beach….not…

Flying in a day early, we will stay at the Crown Plaza hotel in San Pedro for $212.

All in for an 8-night vacation:  $9027 

 

The airfare really kills our “good deal” as we are used to being able to just drive to the port.  But DH and I have come to an understanding over the years (as most couples do), and the understanding is not to ask about how much we are spending 💁‍♀️…no, no..the better question asked is how much are we saving??  Compared to most any RS category on most any current itinerary to just about anywhere Celebrity sails, the price for 7 nights would be well outside our budget.  So, I can honestly and confidently assure DH that we saved A LOT.

 

American Airline Woes:  Being the true Georgia Peach that I am, it seems unthinkable that we would fly on any airline outside of Delta but they were super proud of their seats back when I made the reservations such that a pair of first-class tickets on Delta would set us back almost half the cost of the cruise itself.  Thus began my search on other airlines landing me on the American page.  But there’s a saying about getting what you pay for and this situation is no exception.  Recently, as in day before yesterday 😳, I received an e-mail from American telling me to download the app to “view changes to my reservation”, or “check in” and “order a meal”.  Ok, this is feeling familiar so I did just that…download the app.  Easy-peasy.  Except while scrutinizing our reservation in the app I noticed that our return flight out of LGB was now going out of LAX instead.  My “I’ve lost my mind” fears were assuaged when I pulled up our confirmation which indeed said we were flying out of Long Beach.  So, dreading the next step, I picked up the phone to call customer service for an explanation.  To AA’s credit, I was speaking with a live person within minutes.  After the requisite tapping of the keyboard, the live person confirmed that our flight had been changed from LGB to LAX.  She further explained that AA was dropping LGB from service.  The flash of a very stressful, expletive inducing debarkation travel day played out in my mind at the thought of going to the wrong airport.  Both the live person and I agreed that this was a significant change of which AA’s might, should have told us about…Fortunately, no real harm done since I caught it in time and we are now back on track. 

 

But wait, there’s more… last night I did a little research on the American A321 airbus…yes, I did!  And I found out that American, in their infinite wisdom and ability to read the future, made the decision not to put seatback tv screens on planes in most of their fleet claiming that such technology would become obsolete in the “near future”.  While I was planning to leave my laptop at home, this little nugget of intel has thrown me into a repacking tizzy.  I know, I know…boohoo…feel sorry for me and my first world problems..and you’re so right.  But I had to get that off my chest!

 

I'm beyond excited to get back to Celebrity and embark on Saturday....I'm almost giddy...nope, scratch that...I AM giddy!

 

More to follow...

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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The Itinerary

Though no stranger to Mexico, this cruise will mark our first visit from the Pacific Ocean side.  Despite my love of San Diego, I wanted an itinerary that focused solely on Mexico.  To that end, we choose Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. 

 

In Cabo we plan to shop around and eventually buy a ticket for a boat tour that will take us to the arch and other points of interest.  Based on reports found on the Cabo ports of call board, this stop is quite Americanized and specializes in high-end shopping and dining.  I’m a champagne taste-beer budget kinda gal so neither of those activities hold any interest for me.  I’m much more excited to walk around and fall into a local joint for tacos and a margarita!

 

We are also winging it in Puerto Vallarta but will likely make our way to old town for local shopping and sights.

 

Mazatlán is another story, however as I have signed us up for a Segway tour of the town.  The tour comes highly reviewed and doesn’t venture far from the port or tourist areas.  I’m just fine with that!

 

And now, with the dreaded mani-pedi out of the way, I’ve turned my sights on finalizing the packing.  This has been a most perplexing undertaking as the weather forecast in both LA and Cabo, not to mention cool sea days has me packing much more than usual.  With spring in full bloom in my area, the task of digging through my closet to find an appropriate hoodie is counterintuitive to any cruise prep I’ve experienced to date.  An LA forecast of 59 degrees on Saturday has forced me to replace my cute embarkation sundress with long pants and a jacket!  Additionally, I’ve got the full gamut of jackets, jeans, hoodies, shorts, bathing suits, and yes, dresses that have also found a place on the packing list…and don’t get me started on the shoes!  Even still, I’ve managed to get everything is one suitcase…getting it closed is another thing entirely!

 

Next Up…Celebrity’s wonderful Shoreside Concierge…

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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16 minutes ago, S&DMOM said:

Can I ask which Segway company you are using in Mazatlan?  TIA

Of course!  We booked through Viator.  The tour is called Old Town Mazatlán Segway Tour and the bike/Segway shop is called:  Baikas Mazatlán, LLC.  Starting point appears to be less than a mile from the port...

 

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nyonefivetwo

nyonefivetwo

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1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

The Itinerary

I’m much more excited to walk around and fall into a local joint for tacos and a margarita!

 

I highly recommend Captain Tony's in Cabo. It's right at the marina, and it's delicious! The grilled, bacon-wrapped shrimp are my fav, but anything you get is good. And the tacos and margaritas are quite affordable!

And you'll have no problem finding a boat to the arch. If you have time, I recommend having one drop you off at Lover's Beach for an hour and hanging out a bit. You can see both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez from the beach, and it's a beautiful, sandy spot to wander, people watch, and take pictures.

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

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@Georgia_Peaches look forward to you Live report.   So exciting to hear you are doing the Solstice Mexican Riveria.

 

re:  Cabo excursion.     We booked an excursion with https://www.whalewatchcabo.com/   It is a small group excursion of about 12.     The tour begins with a close up visit to the arches and includes free photos of everything the photographer shoots.  At $89 pp it was a real bargin.    The best whale watching ever done and the inclusion of the visit to within feet of the arches for photographs it was even better.

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

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15 minutes ago, nyonefivetwo said:

I highly recommend Captain Tony's in Cabo. It's right at the marina, and it's delicious! The grilled, bacon-wrapped shrimp are my fav, but anything you get is good. And the tacos and margaritas are quite affordable!

And you'll have no problem finding a boat to the arch. If you have time, I recommend having one drop you off at Lover's Beach for an hour and hanging out a bit. You can see both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez from the beach, and it's a beautiful, sandy spot to wander, people watch, and take pictures.

Thank you so much for this!  We will definitely seek out Captain Tony's!  Sounds like it's right up our alley!

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

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2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

@Georgia_Peaches look forward to you Live report.   So exciting to hear you are doing the Solstice Mexican Riveria.

 

re:  Cabo excursion.     We booked an excursion with https://www.whalewatchcabo.com/   It is a small group excursion of about 12.     The tour begins with a close up visit to the arches and includes free photos of everything the photographer shoots.  At $89 pp it was a real bargin.    The best whale watching ever done and the inclusion of the visit to within feet of the arches for photographs it was even better.

Jim, thank you for the link.  This sounds like a great excursion and deal.  Checking it out right now 😊!

 

Your live review a little while back set the stage for our excitement.  I tried to book the jeep excursion you did but it was sold out...this seems like a great alternative.

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Azulann "Live from...." Rare

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I am following your trip report. Love that you are on top of the flights etc during this time of  change which is now normal.

 I love PV  of all the Mexican cities I have vacationed in during the winter. The  absolute best jewelry store in all of Mexico is Alberto's". Their original store is in PV. I have  rings I have treasured for years from their shop. Be sure to have a Sangria. They  pour it with two different colors in the glass. We always tried to  sip it through a straw without mixing the two.  Great Memories of PV and Huatulco , Zihuatenago.

Cabo was ok but  really touristy.

Whale watching in PV, in the bay of Banderos, is awesome during the winter. But you need to go in early morning.

 

 

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Georgia_Peaches

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43 minutes ago, Azulann said:

I am following your trip report. Love that you are on top of the flights etc during this time of  change which is now normal.

 I love PV  of all the Mexican cities I have vacationed in during the winter. The  absolute best jewelry store in all of Mexico is Alberto's". Their original store is in PV. I have  rings I have treasured for years from their shop. Be sure to have a Sangria. They  pour it with two different colors in the glass. We always tried to  sip it through a straw without mixing the two.  Great Memories of PV and Huatulco , Zihuatenago.

Cabo was ok but  really touristy.

Whale watching in PV, in the bay of Banderos, is awesome during the winter. But you need to go in early morning.

 

 

Appreciate the intel.  Love a good jewelry store and when you throw in some sangria...Katie bar the door!  Can't wait to check it out.

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