Mexican Riviera - 1st time cruisers, advice please!

Hi everyone.

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children from Australia, traveling to the US for the first time in April next year. After doing 2 weeks of the West Coast US, we have just booked a 7 night Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera to finish of our holiday before flying home. We are so excited but we have no idea what to expect! (We've never cruised before)

Could you please offer some advice and tips? We will be stopping at Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. It would be great to get some insider info on places to eat, ship do's and don'ts, shore excursions, shopping, kids entertainment etc.

We have booked an ocean view cabin and sailing on the Miracle. Thanks in advance :)

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What do you like doing--- sitting in the beach or more city stuff?

In Mazatlan you can hire a Pulmonia (a golf cart taxi) got around $20USD. They'll give you a tour of the highlights: lighthouse, cliff divers, gold zone etc.

We go to the Mercado area, have lunch upstairs and walk around the area. Across from the Mercado is the church. Get a rapasado (sp) or shaved ice from the cart in front.

In PV we take the bus or taxi to the old town area and walk down the Malecon.

Cabo is a tender port. Best to take a ship tour as it can take a while to get off otherwise. A good overview is 'Cabo by land and sea'.

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Hi SadieN thanks for your message. We love beach, markets, shopping, bit of eating/drinking. We don't want to spend a fortune on shore tours either.

What places have beach clubs where you can get a day pass and use the pool and facilities? We'd love to do that somewhere.

And what does a tender mean? Sorry first time cruisers!

Thank you

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Hi SadieN thanks for your message. We love beach, markets, shopping, bit of eating/drinking. We don't want to spend a fortune on shore tours either.

What places have beach clubs where you can get a day pass and use the pool and facilities? We'd love to do that somewhere.

And what does a tender mean? Sorry first time cruisers!

Thank you

 

 

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Tender: Your ship will be at a dock for Mazatlan & Puerto Vallarta. The ship will anchor off Cabo san Lucas and transport passengers to shore in small boats to a marina area. They will use ship's tenders to move passengers to/from the ship.

This Web site is a good resource for Vallarta : http://vallartainfo.com especially the maps. I often suggest people taxi to the "Southside" and walk back north along the Malecon (boardwalk). Along the way you will have a chance to experience the beach, a wide variety of bars/restaurants/stores and the historical downtown area. I would suggest telling the taxi driver to take you to either the municipal pier or La Palapa restaurant. (reference the Southside map).

A city bus to the Southside is also a viable form of transportation but it doesn't take you all the way to Los Muertos Beach.

Enjoy!

We've been to the Mexican Riviera several times. We typically don't do excursions per se, but just walk into the local town. Here's what we do at those ports:

Cabo San Lucas. We usually walk to Solmar Beach via the lobby of the Hotel Solmar, and go south to the end of the beach for a little sunning. We usually go back to the Hotel Solmar for a couple of fish tacos and a beer before returning back to the ship. To get to Solmar Beach, just go towards the Pacific Ocean off of the cruise dock (it's only about 1/4 mile). We saw whales off of Cabo, plus I witnessed a stingray leaping and flipping near the ship on one trip.

On one visit we took the bus to San Jose del Cabo, which (a few years ago) cost 25 pesos each way. The bus ride is about 40 minutes each way, plus walking to and from the bus stops.

Puerto Vallarta is very charming, and an easy bus ride (cost 7.5 or 8 pesos (about 50 cents each way) from the main highway just outside the public dock area. Take the "Centro" bus, which goes as far as the old plaza before turning around. On returning look for the "Walmart" bus. There is also a Sam's Club and Walmart across the highway from the dock. The old town center has great walking, shopping, nice beaches and the old cathedral. We have also just walked south along the beach from the dock and relaxed on lounges at the many resort hotels along the beach.

In Mazatlan you can walk into the old town from the cruise dock, following the "blue line." The locals want tourists to not stray from the blue line route due to an incident a few years ago. Locals supervise and make sure tourists follow the official route. No problem in doing so. There are museums and great opportunities for purchasing jewelry along the malecon. Good and inexpensive restaurants there, also.

Basically, you can visit these ports at very little cost.

How about whale watching from Cabo?

edit: (Ooops, didn't see the dates. They may not be in season.)

Tender: Your ship will be at a dock for Mazatlan & Puerto Vallarta. The ship will anchor off Cabo san Lucas and transport passengers to shore in small boats to a marina area. They will use ship's tenders to move passengers to/from the ship................

 

 

 

Enjoy!

FWIW Carnival uses port tenders. The other lines (Princess) uses their own.

We just did this same cruise with NCL last Feb.

As far as ports are concerned -

1. Cabo San Lucas - was our least favorite port. Very touristy. Be prepared to shoo away pesty vendors. All of the tourist stuff they sell there at the port (t-shirts, hats, cups, buttons...etc) were more expensive there than at any other port.

We asked at 2 different places to make a deal buying a couple of things and neither place would barter. We walked a little bit into the city but really wasn't impressed.

I'd do an excursion to a beach or somewhere out of town if we came back. One thing we did do here was to get on a boat for Whale watching. We made a deal with one of the many vendors who greet you as you walk off the ship. All 6 of us for 150$ US to jump in a boat and float past the arch (good for pictures) and then go see whales and then we could have jumped off at lovers beach on the way back but chose not to (they come back and pick you up)

2. Mazatlan - our favorite. Its a bit of a walk into the city (1.5-2km) but its a real city with a great market and local park/square with street vendors and a historic church. We walked all day throughout the city and never got bored or tired. Lots of fun things to see and do. There are also many US people who now live there and volunteer to help answer questions and to help you fins your way. Great city to explore. Food was cheap and delicious. Fun to shop.

3. Puerto Vallarta - biggest city on the trip. Large Walmart across the street. Prices were similar to US prices. Good way to spend up your last few pesos. Take a bus as others have mentioned. It will drop you off into the city by the Malecon. Great walk all along the ocean. Food was a bit more pricey but very good and lots of places to just relax, have a drink and some good eats. Lots of places to walk around here as well. We enjoyed this stop as well. There are also many places to see and visit if you want to take an excursion out of the city or on the Pirate Ship.

Its a great cruise! We were not sure what to expect. Its not the Caribbean. Water is much cooler and its a dry heat, hot in the sun and cool in the shade. Different vibe at each port for sure. It'll be much warmer in April and you might not see any whales as they all head back to Alaska by late March.

If you can - get a room on the port side of the ship as that's the side you'll see most of Cabo San Lucas on as you come into port around the Arch.

-Sean

Like Wilmingtech, Cabo was our least favorite port but we did have an awesome luck by getting away from the resorts and eating at a little place off of a small street. Sorry could tell you how to get there.

We absolutely loved Mazatlan and it was our favorite city. I would second following the blue line and going to town and seeing the church and Mercado. I also suggest going to stone island afterwards and to relax. Lettys over there has some amazing food.

The highlight of our cruise was probably zip lining in the sierra madre in puerto Vallarta. We book the excursion through carnival and it was done through Vallarta adventures. They were awesome and we would do it again without a doubt. They offer other zip line tours as well but we think this is the best one even though it's only available through the ship because of contracts. Repelled down a couple waterfalls and everything. It was amazing.

It's an awesome cruise. Hope you have a blast!

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Cabo is a purpose built American style tourist city. Built from a sleepy fishing village to what you see today.

Need to get away from the Marina area to get a more Mexican experience.

Go up to the Plaza where the church and museum are. We like eating at Taco Locos (street above the Marina) and La Guayamaca (one street above that). A block down from La Guayamaca is La Michoacana, an Mexican ice cream chain- I like the pineapple popsicle, Sis will get a guanabana when it's available.

Along the street with La Guayamaca and Michoacana are many other restaurants, shops and flea markets. They really bargain here. The more you buy from a single vendor the better your bargaining power.

We love Mazatlán also. We usually horseback ride on the beach on Stone Island. Check out Marias Happy Horses website, I think an hour ride is $30.00 PP, a beer, soda, water at Victors on the beach is included. You must try the coconut shrimp at Victors...it is amazing! Have a safe and awesome trip!!

Hi everyone.

 

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children from Australia, traveling to the US for the first time in April next year. After doing 2 weeks of the West Coast US, we have just booked a 7 night Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera to finish of our holiday before flying home. We are so excited but we have no idea what to expect! (We've never cruised before)

 

Could you please offer some advice and tips? We will be stopping at Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. It would be great to get some insider info on places to eat, ship do's and don'ts, shore excursions, shopping, kids entertainment etc.

 

We have booked an ocean view cabin and sailing on the Miracle. Thanks in advance :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

In Mazatlan...Stone Island is where you want to go with the kids. Letty's restaurant is a good place to park yourselves on the beach(google Letty's and stone island). let your children run to their hearts content. you can even go horse back riding as the horse stable is almost next door. Or rent a couple of ATV's and take off along the wide open and vacant beach that goes forever.

Hi everyone.

 

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children from Australia, traveling to the US for the first time in April next year. After doing 2 weeks of the West Coast US, we have just booked a 7 night Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera to finish of our holiday before flying home. We are so excited but we have no idea what to expect! (We've never cruised before)

 

Could you please offer some advice and tips? We will be stopping at Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. It would be great to get some insider info on places to eat, ship do's and don'ts, shore excursions, shopping, kids entertainment etc.

 

We have booked an ocean view cabin and sailing on the Miracle. Thanks in advance :)

Not sure whether you've ever visited Mexico before, but we tend to avoid excursions like the plague - especially those based around beaches and resorts. As has been mentioned, Cabo is designed to extract dinero from Gringos - usually involving buckets of beer and mediocre margaritas and food.

Mazatlan is by far our favourite. It's easily explorable by foot (just follow the blue line from the port into el centro). Visit the cathedral, the teatro Ángela Peralta, central market (mercado municipal) - yes there are stalls there to extract your tourist dollars - but the 'food court' upstairs is always worth a visit, take lunch in one of the many restaurants in the Plazuela Machado, walk to the Malecon and the Olas Atlas beach, before walking back to the port.

While Puerto Vallarta is also a resort town (and the winter home for many a US and Canadian "snowbird") it is larger enough to have an identity of it's own. We either take a bus to "centro" from Walmart (opposite the cruise terminal - just get a bus signed "Walmart" on the way back) or a taxi to the Malecon. Stroll around the historic old town (Viejo Vallarta or "Zona Romantica" with its myriad of bars, restaurants, ceramic and glass shops...

Have done a variety of this cruise multiple times as well as land based trips. We will be in PV for a week again next month.

Cabo could best be looked upon as LA south. However lots of easily accessible local beaches. Will be popular among your fellow cruisers without kids as a great bar town especially as they wander back to the tenders. Do not wait for the last tender as lines can extend.

In spite of what others have said above Mazatlan is actually a much larger city than PV. The market and cathedral are interesting but with the kids a trip to Stone Island might be best. Have not ridden with Maria but did with Randy before she passed away. One of my DW and my favorite cruise days ever. She met us at the port and escorted us all the way to the island and back, although it is doable on your own.

Lots of PV visits both by air and sea. Take a cab or bus to the Malecon, wander the shops, stop for a little local meal and then reverse the route to get back. If you want to do the bus the main stop for the port is easily visible at the Walmart across the street