Why cruise ship passengers stand out!

[Hlitner]

This is really a fun thread with interesting comments. Regarding the water and heat, its actually been a pretty cool winter in PV. Daytime highs have usually been in the upper 70s and at night back in Jan it was dropping to the low 50s. I guess global warming is responsible for the coldest Jan on record in PV, the coldest winter in 100 years on China, and one of the coldest winters ever recorded for much of South America. Getting back to the Cheeky Monkey, keep in mind its only a plain and simple bar. As to where to go if you want to walk around, the Malecon is kind of like the local boardwalk and you can stroll that area and the couple of streets parallel which have lots of shops, bars and restaurants. If you keep walking on the Malecon (its about 3/4 or a mile from end to end) at the South end (you are walking away from the area where the ships are docked) you cross a bridge into the Romantic Zone (also called Old Town) where its more Mexican, and there are more shops, bars and restaurants. There is a beach in the Romantic Zone called Los Muertes and its possible to rent chairs on the beach, eat, deal with beach venders, etc. But the water is a bit rough and the Pacific is also a little chilly this winter (but swimable). I can honestly say that since we arrived here on Jan 3, we have never carried a bottle of water or even drank any water in town. With all the beer and margaritas who needs water (better yet, who wants water). But we still buy 5 gallon jugs of water for our condo and actually found it yesterday for only 21 pesos (that is about 2.00) which is not bad when you consider folks on ships pay more than that for a tiny bottle and we bought 20 liters. We did see some "water people" walking on the Malecon this morning from the Golden Princess. Now, if they had margaritas in those water bottles they would be in the proper frame of mind for PV.

 

Hank

[mytime53]

I know it was not as warm as usual in December. I usually swim a couple of miles each day, and I hardly swam at all. I prefer to sit in the shade, but I had to sit in the sun most of the time. There was one December about 10 years ago that was chilly, too. I have pics of my sisters and myself wearing sweaters on the beach that year!

[RockyMtnMama]

Any idea what a private taxi tour around the city might run? Just trying to figure out if I want to board the tour bus at the pier with everyone else, or set out on our own and see what PV is about. Once you are downtown, what bus do you catch to get back to the ship?

 

We were there less than two weeks ago. We asked about a taxi tour since we had very tired children, but quickly decided that the bus would work just fine after getting quoted $200 for six hours. There were 2 adults and 4 children in our group, which may have affected the price. He was very nice and flatly said that the price would be lower if we weren't on the first of 3 ships in port that day.

 

You need the bus labeled Walmart to get back to the ship. It is just written on the front window, so don't bother looking at the actual sign on the front of the bus. But the stop for the pier was actually BEFORE you hit Walmart. I was glad some locals let us know, and we didn't have to walk back, considering we ended up carrying two sleeping children off the bus!

 

Obviously they could pick us out as cruise ship passengers, lol! I was very grateful. We ended back at the ship 6 hours early, but didn't want to push tired children. I wish we could have seen more of the town, but enjoyed the flea market, flyers, and the church nearby. We also fell in love with the art gallery that is on the Malecon near Diamonds International. We bought a beautiful pot with a beaded lizard on it there for an extremely reasonable price. It was the work of an indian tribe from the nearby mountains.

[SWACK]

Reminded me of a funny story i had while in Paris.

 

We were getting on a bus and I gave the driver my fare and said "merci" as he handed me my change, my mom gave the driver the fare and just smiled and bobed her hear, a girl that was traveling with us gave the driver the fare and replied "gracias" upon getting her change.

 

 

LOL..

 

I speak some German, which did me very well in Europe last spring. Howver, the trip to Cancun last summer was different, as my german clicked in when I heard a language I did not undersatnd, and said "Danke Sehn" Thank you, several times... 20 year old daughter rolled...:eek:

[mytime53]

LOL..

 

I speak some German, which did me very well in Europe last spring. Howver, the trip to Cancun last summer was different, as my german clicked in when I heard a language I did not undersatnd, and said "Danke Sehn" Thank you, several times... 20 year old daughter rolled...:eek:

 

I know the feeling. After spending several weeks in PV, when I get home I just automatically say "gracias" when I'm dealing with anyone with an accent (embarrassing in a Chinese restaurant, let me tell you). And sometimes when I'm in Mexico, French that I don't even know I remember (or remember knowing!) comes rolling off my tongue:o . And yet last year in France, I had the most difficult time getting any French out of my mouth.

[Hlitner]

Regarding taxi tours, it really does not make a lot of sense unless you have something specific in mind that is not really in PV. The downtown PV area (Centro and the Romantic Zone) are very walkable and it makes no sense to ride around in a taxi. If you use a taxi within town the cost is $3 (no tip necessary). From the Marina area into town would probably cost about $7 for a taxi, but that would be one of the yellow taxis (avoid any white taxi or van since they charge a lot more money). The yellow taxis are not allowed into the port area, but you will find them right outside on the street or you can always find yellow taxis sitting at SAMs or Walmart across the street from the Marina. But most of us that live in PV think the buses are much more fun (and cheaper) and the buses from the Marina area into Centro run about every 2 minutes. I already mentioned this, but the main streets for browsing are simply the first 2 or 3 streets that run parallel to the water.

 

Hank

[pegleg00]

You are, for the most part, correct in your being able to pick out the shore landers from the other tourists. In some small defence of them, many carry a multitude if items due to probably several different things they plan to do for the day, given that they have 8 to 12 hours ashore, etc. Although they've also been told the PV have the best H2O anywhere around, it's not difficult to understand that the uninitiated would grab a bottle or two, "just in case". Having said that, we've eaten, drank, drank and eaten some more all over PV with not so much as an unanticipated belch. We did, however, have to carry a pretty big bag full of sunscreens, hats, towels and other garments when the breeze picked up and clouds came rolling in.

[househunter]

I think what the OP meant about taking water making no sense is that there is no reason to purchase the very expensive water that the cruiseline sells at the pier when there are stores and restaurants everywhere. I'm pretty sure she didn't mean that it didn't make sense to drink water:eek:

[SWACK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SWACK

LOL..

 

I speak some German, which did me very well in Europe last spring. Howver, the trip to Cancun last summer was different, as my German clicked in when I heard a language I did not understand, and said "Danke Sehn" Thank you, several times... 20 year old daughter rolled...:eek:

 

I know the feeling. After spending several weeks in PV, when I get home I just automatically say "gracias" when I'm dealing with anyone with an accent (embarrassing in a Chinese restaurant, let me tell you). And sometimes when I'm in Mexico, French that I don't even know I remember (or remember knowing!) comes rolling off my tongue:o . And yet last year in France, I had the most difficult time getting any French out of my mouth

 

I know! My French is limited even more than my Spanish or German, but I must be able to say Hello (Bon Jour, almost my only word in FRENCH!) ok.. was in Quebec and walked into a store to buy a pop. I had grown tired of trying to communicate, so simply put it on the counter as I said hello. The woman quickly blasted out hello, and then went into a quick phrase.. I looked confused, and explained the I did not speak French, and she rather rudely asked me if I wanted a bag! LOL.. She seemed surprised!

 

BTW, I was really confused in Cancun, at a Chinese restaurant run by Mayans...

 

 

We'll see which "Tongue" I speak in next week! :rolleyes:

[Head Shot]

Umm...the water bottle found on the ship is free. So why not:confused:

 

PVs boardwalk - BBQ corn on the cob, yum. The magnetic bracelet for $2 and stateside is $ 15.

 

There's more tourist at the strand than there are locals until about time for ships to leave. I think I captured that streetside essence in my video.

[pwandersen]

Hank, thanks for the tips! I've been to PV three or four times on cruises and just walked from the dock to the shopping area (stopping in the big church along the way) and then played tourist. Now I actually have some destinations!

 

Question: Cruise tickets are significantly less expensive in March and early April. Is that because you have rough seas there, or just less traffic?

 

One more sign of the American: the silly hats!

 

Patrick in San Francisco

[doularose]

Ah! Someone from San Diego I have a SD question for y'all. Do you know if the 7-11s or possibly Hilo Hatties sell the beach mats that fold up like we can get at any ABC store in Hawaii for under $5? I like them so much better than taking a towel to the beach but I've always given ours to in-coming tourists as we are leaving. Are they an Hawaiian phenom or do y'all have them too? (Yes we spent enough time in Texas that we use a second person plural.)

 

Some do around the beach, you may want to try Longs, CVS, Rite Aid drug stores ( your ABC's) have fun.

[Hlitner]

Hank, thanks for the tips! I've been to PV three or four times on cruises and just walked from the dock to the shopping area (stopping in the big church along the way) and then played tourist. Now I actually have some destinations!

 

Question: Cruise tickets are significantly less expensive in March and early April. Is that because you have rough seas there, or just less traffic?

 

One more sign of the American: the silly hats!

 

Patrick in San Francisco

 

Patrick, We generally prefer staying in PV during Jan and Feb in order to escape the winter. But we do have friends who stay there through March, which still is a good weather month (we never had a day of rain from Jan 3 to Feb 16). If you have been just hanging in the marina area you have actually seen nothing of PV (other than the Marina). The seas in March should be fine, and PV is actually a very popular place for spring breakers. Remember, it only costs 5 pesos (50 cents) to grab a local bus from just outside the marina to downtown. You will find that the Americans and Canadians almost outnumber the Mexicans, so you should have not trouble if you have questions.

 

Hank

[98Charlie]

Our Dawn Princess cruise docks in PV on May 1, Mexico's Labor Day celebration. Do you have any idea how much of the city's venues in shopping & dinning will be closed on that day?

 

We were in Cozumel on May in 2006 and found almost everything closed until about noon and then only about 1/2 of the stores opened in the afternoon.

 

Dianne

[becca23]

Thanks so much for the PV info...

 

What is the best way to do the Liz Taylor tourist traps....????? I need some where to dump my girlfriend while I do a Zipline. BTW Which is the best Zipline....????

 

David

[Jsme]

This is meant as a fun post, so please do not flame me. We are very frequent cruisers (about 70 days a year) and also are fortunate to spend a good part of the winter in a Puerto Vallarta condo that overlooks the bay, the Malecon (the local boardwalk) and has a view of the ships as they come and go from the Marina. Sometimes we sit on our balcony and look down on the Malecon and pick-out the cruise passengers (very easy from 3 stories up). Many of them carry bottles of water....which makes no sense in a town where there is a bar and restaurant every 10 feet. They also love their fanny packs (I know the Brits laugh when we use this term) and sometimes carry so much stuff it looks like they are ready to trek in the rain forrest rather than in a very tourist friendly city. And than there are the ones who take some kind of silly walking tour that you can always spot by their little number tags as they walk on a street that is like any street in any resort. Of course on their walking tours they get to go to stores that open just to serve their tour (nobody else goes to some of those stores). I actually tried ,to help a lost family today (on one of our local buses) who, when I asked the which ship, quickly replied, "how did you know we were on a ship?" When I pointed out that nobody carries water bottles here when they can get a Margarita for $1.00 (at the Cheeky Monkey) they just blush. Anyway, enjoy your cruise, have fun in the ports, and treasure the memories (even if you look like cruise passengers).

 

Hank

 

 

Hank you left one very important detail out. What are the directions to the Cheeky Monkey?:D

OK I read the entire thread and I found the directions.

 

About the buses, are you saying to walk outside of the Marina and we will see the buses? For 50 cents I will do it. Do we tell them we want to go downtown or do they just take you there?

[becca23]

Hank you left one very important detail out. What are the directions to the Cheeky Monkey?:D

 

Not to worry....We will be drinking at the swim-up bar at the Krystal Hotel after the massages, after the zipline. If you want a view go para-sailing with me. On the beach just out side the Krysal Hotel. I will get us a two for juan deal.

 

 

 

David

[Jsme]

Not to worry....We will be drinking at the swim-up bar at the Krystal Hotel after the massages, after the zipline. If you want a view go para-sailing with me. On the beach just out side the Krysal Hotel. I will get us a two for juan deal.

 

 

 

David

 

 

LMAO...I am rolling here...wonder if I am acting like Kim?