Booking a Mexico cruise; guidance sought...

Ok, sorry if this question is way too broad, but I am a complete newbie to the cruise scene, and I've been asked by my better half to looking into a possible cruise in the April/May timeframe of next year (2016). The rough parameters I've been given are (1) it needs to be a Mexican Riviera cruise, (2) it needs to leave from San Diego, (3) it needs to be 7 to 10 days in length, and (4) it can't be filled with college-aged kids looking to party with other college-aged kids. My wife is thinking of inviting her mom, brothers, and sister along, for a mini family outing; we're all in our mid to late 50s (except mom, who is in her mid 70s), so no spring chickens in the group.

My question boils down to what are our options, and what do you see as the relative pluses and minuses of those options? In addition, do you have any recommendations on when it would be best to book, and how to go about getting the most for our travel dollar? We're a year away from actual travels, so have a bit of lead time and people's schedules are still pretty fluid. Looking for initial recommendations on tours folks have enjoyed (or ones they'd recommend avoiding), the relative strengths of the various ports of call, and any helpful impressions of the crews, shows, food, etc. encountered on various ships. (Yes, I'll be reading through the threads for more information, but thought it might make sense to post here as well). As I say, we're complete cruise newbies, so any guidance will be greatly appreciated..

I do not see any 7-10 day cruises leaving out of San Diego during that time frame. Did you come up with anything?

If not, you may have to consider a ship out of Long Beach (Carnival) or San Pedro (NCL or Princess).

Yup, you're absolutely right, looks like for that time period, we're looking at either Long Beach or San Pedro. Will have to change either the port we leave from or the timeframe we're looking at. (Mom can't go in July/August, but otherwise is open...).

One quick question: do things run pretty much the same year to year? Which is to say, if I see sailing dates of October 2, 13, 24, 2015, can I safely assume they'll sail in October 2016 as well?

I honestly don't know.

We routinely take those Mexico cruises. Right now some of the itins haven't been released. But you are right. There are few of them., and most do not leave from SD.

Since Holland America has moved most of their ships out of SD, we usually take Princess, out of San Pedro. However, we have taken 2 NCL cruises to MR. We do love the suite package NCL has, but there are more 20-30 yr old on NCL.

Be careful to not book during spring break. ! :D

Aside from the departure location, your requests are pretty standard, and you shouldn't have a problem finding a cruise.

I do suggest that you book EARLY. Since there are fewer offered, they will book up. If there is a price drop, you will get it as long as you haven't made your final payment.

We are also looking for one in 2016. I think NCL had a nice one scheduled for Dec, but that's out of your date choice.

Patti

Yup, you're absolutely right, looks like for that time period, we're looking at either Long Beach or San Pedro. Will have to change either the port we leave from or the timeframe we're looking at. (Mom can't go in July/August, but otherwise is open...).

 

One quick question: do things run pretty much the same year to year? Which is to say, if I see sailing dates of October 2, 13, 24, 2015, can I safely assume they'll sail in October 2016 as well?

I saw the NCL Sun from San Diego on Oct 11 and Oct 22 2016 on a popular on line TA website with a similar itinerary as 2015.

Thanks for the info. Pushing things out to December or October is not out of the question, and the NCL cruise looks really good. (Yes, Patti, we definitely don't want to get a cruise over spring break! OMG, the family would probably chain me below decks and make me row the boat! :eek: )

FWIW, we were just on a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise on Norwegian. It was spring break for K-12; no idea for college. But there was no "spreak break" behavior. Staff repeatedly mentioned that there was just about 1,000 children, which I assume included teens. The kids club was insane. But it was otherwise mellow.

NCL and Carnival host a bit more of a party crowd, Princess and Holland are more laid back and tend to have a slightly older crowd.

We live in Puerto Vallarta part of the year and you should also consider the weather. The best weather is going to usually be from late October until April. In the fall you run into the rainy season (which this year extended later then usual) and as you get into later spring it starts to get hot. If you cruise in March-April you are likely to run into some spring break issues (there are web sites which give you the dates of spring break for most schools).

As to your April/May specification the only cruise longer than 7 days I see (at this point) is the April 8...ten night cruise (departing from San Pedro) on the Ruby Princess (we love this ship). At that time of the year there will certainly be a number of spring breakers. And a further look shows that there are currently no April/May cruises (to the Mexican Riviera) leaving from San Diego! Other then that, there are the weekly Carnival Miracle and some NCL cruises (all 7 days) out of San Pedro.

So here is the news. The Mexican Riviera has lost much of its popularity in the past few years due to several factors and next year will see even fewer cruises since HAL is pulling out of that market. RCI left the market a couple of years ago. The real cruise action is in the Caribbean where you have a lot more options.

Hank

What was said about the Caribbean is true but take a few things into consideration. We did and just booked the December 5th 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

First, we live in Northern CA and we can drive to LA (San Pedro port) easily.

The Caribbean has a Hurricane Season.

Prices were excellent and we have not been there before.

The Crown is a twin to the Ruby Princess, which is a fantastic ship.

True, there are many more ports to go to in the Caribbean and many more choices of cruises. There are also some HUGE ships there that we have no real interest in. The Crown is plenty large enough. These HUGE shops cannot pass through the Panama Canal so they are unlikely to show up on the west coast.

Those huge ships also mean even larger crowds. Imagine what it is like when 10,000 people arrive in town the same day. If the Mexican Rivera is less crowded, that is fine with me. We loved the Tahiti cruise on one of Princess small ships (675 passengers) Would love to do it again, but it is a very long flight to get there even from LA.

Wow, Just went to RCI website and it seems that they have retired the Monarch of the Seas. That was the ship doing the Mexican Rivera.

What was said about the Caribbean is true but take a few things into consideration. We did and just booked the December 5th 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

First, we live in Northern CA and we can drive to LA (San Pedro port) easily.

The Caribbean has a Hurricane Season.

Prices were excellent and we have not been there before.

The Crown is a twin to the Ruby Princess, which is a fantastic ship.

 

True, there are many more ports to go to in the Caribbean and many more choices of cruises. There are also some HUGE ships there that we have no real interest in. The Crown is plenty large enough. These HUGE shops cannot pass through the Panama Canal so they are unlikely to show up on the west coast.

Those huge ships also mean even larger crowds. Imagine what it is like when 10,000 people arrive in town the same day. If the Mexican Rivera is less crowded, that is fine with me. We loved the Tahiti cruise on one of Princess small ships (675 passengers) Would love to do it again, but it is a very long flight to get there even from LA.

Your comment about hurricane season (which ends in the Caribbean before your cruise date) is interesting. I seem to recall that Cabo St Lucas was decimated by a hurricane in Sept 2014. And Puerto Vallarta took a big hit in Oct 2002 from a Category 5 hurricane which caused extensive damage. The owner of a condo building near where we live still has pictures posted of the damhit age from that huge storm. As to the Caribbean hurricane season, the main season is Aug-Oct. It is rare to have a hurricane after early November. And there are southern Caribbean islands (our favorite part of the Caribbean) that rarely ever see a hurricane. The ABC islands (Aruba..etc) have not been hit by a hurricane since 1954! Pretty good odds :). In fact, we suspect the odds of you running into an earthquake on your way to the airport might be greater than a hurricane in Aruba :).

Hank

I saw the NCL Sun from San Diego on Oct 11 and Oct 22 2016 on a popular on line TA website with a similar itinerary as 2015.

We looked at the 2015 Sun cruise, and I seriously wanted to take it---but we are booked on another one in late Sept.

If we were not booked, I would jump on this cruise, booked in a suite. I'm going right now to look at 2016.

Thanks for the info. Pushing things out to December or October is not out of the question, and the NCL cruise looks really good. (Yes, Patti, we definitely don't want to get a cruise over spring break! OMG, the family would probably chain me below decks and make me row the boat! :eek: )

 

LOL. We have accidentally booked twice during this time. Luckily, we were in suites, and out of harms way if we avoided the pool. :D

 

Patti

Your comment about hurricane season (which ends in the Caribbean before your cruise date) is interesting. I seem to recall that Cabo St Lucas was decimated by a hurricane in Sept 2014. And Puerto Vallarta took a big hit in Oct 2002 from a Category 5 hurricane which caused extensive damage. The owner of a condo building near where we live still has pictures posted of the damhit age from that huge storm. As to the Caribbean hurricane season, the main season is Aug-Oct. It is rare to have a hurricane after early November. And there are southern Caribbean islands (our favorite part of the Caribbean) that rarely ever see a hurricane. The ABC islands (Aruba..etc) have not been hit by a hurricane since 1954! Pretty good odds :). In fact, we suspect the odds of you running into an earthquake on your way to the airport might be greater than a hurricane in Aruba :).

 

 

Hank

I was just using past experience and not stats. Cancun and Cozumel were devastated in very late 2005 by a major hurricane. We were there in the aftermath in February 2006. I thought the hurricane season ran through the end of December. Must be wrong about this.

Bottom line, Weather is more unpredictable than ever lately like earthquakes ( unless you live in Oklahoma now)

BTW I plan on returning to the Caribbean for another cruise in the future. I really liked the southern part as out cruise was in and out of San Juan. I loved Barbados and St Lucia. BTW I lived on St John for a year after I left college. It is mostly a national park and totally worth spending the day there if you have a stop at St Thomas.

Dixon

We looked at the 2015 Sun cruise, and I seriously wanted to take it---but we are booked on another one in late Sept.

If we were not booked, I would jump on this cruise, booked in a suite. I'm going right now to look at 2016.

The only difference I saw is this year (Oct 13), the Sun is overnite in Cabo, and in 2016, she is overnite in PV. That should make Los Caletas evening available in 2016 for those who are interested.

Thanks all for the info.

Like Matcodixon, the wife and I live in Northern California, with most of our other family members residing in San Diego, so the convenience factor of a SD sailing can't be overstated, especially given the fact that for most of us (myself included), this will be a first. So given all of that, we've shifted gears and are looking more closely at the 11-day 2016 NCL Sun sailings being offered in October. I understand that the Sun is a bit of an older ship, but that the food offerings are very nice, and I gotta say, I really like the itinerary. Anyone have positive or negative comments/guidance on this ship and/or cruise?

You might check the princess website as there are quite a few dates out of San Pedro world cruise center. Most are 7 days but are currently on sale at a very good price The ships are excellent.

You might check the princess website as there are quite a few dates out of San Pedro world cruise center. Most are 7 days but are currently on sale at a very good price The ships are excellent.

There are several 7 days out of San Pedro (LA) starting on October and even a couple of 10 days out of San Francisco.

Thanks Matcodixon.

I'm reading between the lines a bit, but by your response, I take it you'd recommend going Princess over Norwegian? If so, why? (Just getting into investigating things; it's a lot more involved than I first thought...).

By the way, I should ask, would it make sense to book through a travel agent? Normally, I just book things myself, but cruises appear to be a completely different animal from my regular vacation booking escapades...

Thanks all for the info.

Like Matcodixon, the wife and I live in Northern California, with most of our other family members residing in San Diego, so the convenience factor of a SD sailing can't be overstated, especially given the fact that for most of us (myself included), this will be a first. So given all of that, we've shifted gears and are looking more closely at the 11-day 2016 NCL Sun sailings being offered in October. I understand that the Sun is a bit of an older ship, but that the food offerings are very nice, and I gotta say, I really like the itinerary. Anyone have positive or negative comments/guidance on this ship and/or cruise?

We live in SD also. I do like sailing from here. That drive to SP can be annoying.

That said, I would book this cruise in a heartbeat--in a suite :p.. The itin is really nice. Actually, my TA is booking one on the Sun.

My only experience with NCL has been on the Star, and I thought she was an older ship.

We are still looking at this cruise, but we wanted to take DS, DIL, and granddaughter. Not sure about that yet.

And, we are Platinum with PCL, and that has been our 'go to' line.

Patti

Thanks Matcodixon.

 

I'm reading between the lines a bit, but by your response, I take it you'd recommend going Princess over Norwegian? If so, why? (Just getting into investigating things; it's a lot more involved than I first thought...).

 

By the way, I should ask, would it make sense to book through a travel agent? Normally, I just book things myself, but cruises appear to be a completely different animal from my regular vacation booking escapades...

I may be able to assist a little.

Princess and NCL have different ports and itineraries, so you should check the ports and decide which are most appealing to you.

I have made many cruises on both lines and must say there is very little difference in the two. The bigger differences are between the various ships on each line.

A TA may give you a better rate and/or onboard credit that you may not get by booking yourself. It pays to shop around and get quotes from a few different sources.

Thanks Matcodixon.

 

I'm reading between the lines a bit, but by your response, I take it you'd recommend going Princess over Norwegian? If so, why? (Just getting into investigating things; it's a lot more involved than I first thought...).

 

By the way, I should ask, would it make sense to book through a travel agent? Normally, I just book things myself, but cruises appear to be a completely different animal from my regular vacation booking escapades...

First let me say that We have never sailed on Norwegian. I suspect that there are more similarities than differences.

The ships that Princess are using for most of that time period are the Crown and Ruby which are twins and are excellent. We were on the Ruby for our Mediterranean cruise. The cabins were excellent as were the food choices and service in general.

Will we sail one day on Norwegian? Perhaps. We got an excellent deal for the Mexican cruise we booked for this coming December with a balcony cabin at $849 each along with $100 onboard credit. We booked it through a travel agency which boosted the onboard credit from $100 to $150.

The itinerary is almost identical between the two choices they just are run in reverse of each other with the same ports. We are Saturday to Saturday and NCL is Sunday to Sunday.

Bottom line, there is probably no wrong answer. You will have a great time on either. Often using a good travel agency will give you an additional bonus as appreciation.

First let me say that We have never sailed on Norwegian. I suspect that there are more similarities than differences.

 

The ships that Princess are using for most of that time period are the Crown and Ruby which are twins and are excellent. We were on the Ruby for our Mediterranean cruise. The cabins were excellent as were the food choices and service in general.

Will we sail one day on Norwegian? Perhaps. We got an excellent deal for the Mexican cruise we booked for this coming December with a balcony cabin at $849 each along with $100 onboard credit. We booked it through a travel agency which boosted the onboard credit from $100 to $150.

The itinerary is almost identical between the two choices they just are run in reverse of each other with the same ports. We are Saturday to Saturday and NCL is Sunday to Sunday.

 

Bottom line, there is probably no wrong answer. You will have a great time on either. Often using a good travel agency will give you an additional bonus as appreciation.

The cruise the OP is looking at is eleven days. The cruises you are referring to are seven days. Princess has ten day cruises that go to Sea of Cortez and visit some of the same ports as the NCL eleven day, but NCL Sun goes to Acapulco and Zihuatenejo (Ixtapa).

Yes, and the Zihuatenejo (Ixtapa) stop kind of intrigues me.

Anybody know if the stop allows enough time to make it over to the Xihuacan Museum and Archeological Site? The itinerary says 7am to 3pm, which sounds like it might be kind of tight; would love to know if anyone has done it, and whether they thought it worthwhile. (My wife and I honeymooned in Cancun, and made it out to Chichen, where we found a tour guide willing to walk us around the place in the pouring rain. Anyway, we like that kind of thing; we can/do spend hours at museums, learning interesting tidbits...).

(Sorry, should probably move this question to a more port-specific area, right?)