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I believe it's a safe walk during the day. I don't think so. However, Mazatlan's popular baseball team has a shop along the Malecon if you like baseball and want something truly unique to the city.

Loreto is a pretty small town which is part of its attraction in my mind. My recommendations in descending order would be: 1) A trip to the "Loreto Bay National Marine Park" https://simec.conanp.gob.mx/ficha.php?anp=31&reg=1 2) A trip to the "San Javier Mission" up in the mountains. https://culturabcs.gob.mx/recinto/66 3) Walk around downtown for lunch and shopping 4) If you are a golfer, maybe try to play round at the "Loreto Bay Resort" although the course condition might be rough. A visit to "Danzante Bay" for golf would be much better but it's kind of far from town. 5) Beach day somewhere but note the beaches near the port aren't all that great in my opinion 6) Fishing charter

I personally wouldn't waste my time in Old Town. I would expect a tour there is full of at best average Mexican restaurants. Of the remaining two, I would say that I might do Little Italy as it would have a slightly more local vibe than the Gaslamp which is the heart of the downtown tourist / entertainment area. Do the tours list the restaurants involved? That would be key.

i would expect that in the US or Europe the power delivered from land is likely almost always "cleaner" than the power from the ships. Our own local utility reports that 55% of the energy delivered over the year is renewable. My gut suggest that the power delivered to cruise ships while that are in port is even higher than that due to so much solar being sited in CA. https://www.sdge.com/more-information/environment/americas-best-energy-company#:~:text=We deliver 55% renewable energy,highest in California and America. That is what I believe.

Yes - I wanted solar + sail as an alternative. I wasn't all that clear with my use of conjunction "and." Even with solar + sail you would still need a generator to deal with "bad weather" in terms of generation. Just like you need for any off grid system like a house or RV. I do believe if truly "green cruising" comes to any ship it will be smaller, luxury ships - almost yachts. In terms of economic feasibility, the actual cost of "green cruising" would be super expensive and likely radically shrink the market to mostly wealthy people. I realize large ships can't be directly powered by onboard solar cells. Our local cruise port has shore power to meet CA environmental law and the connection to a ship can feed between 6-12 MW of power if I am reading the article correctly. We don't get the biggest ships here and the ship loads must be much higher when the ship is underway. https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2023/01/17/tom-york-on-business-port-expands-cruise-ship-shore-power-to-cut-pollution/

My gut suggests that is likely Tabor Canyon as that is 30 minutes from the Malecon. This is just a total guess on my part and it would be best to check with someone who has done the excursion. Another option which might be easier would be to visit to the San Javier mission which is also up in the mountains and may be offered as a tour. The drive up is great and there are also places to stop along the way. You could actually probably do this via a taxi if you wanted.

My own preferred day in Cabo, if I was on a cruise, would be to simply take some towels from the ship, head to the part of Medano Beach that is at the harbor entrance/jetty. Head down to one of the restaurants - e.g., office, mango deck, etc - for lunch. Maybe spend some more time on the beach and then head back to the ship. You can also hit one of the bars just after the entrance to the harbor walking path. I like the bars at the end as they are a little more relaxed than those in the heart of the harbor. BTW - I don't like to sit on the sand on Medano Beach at any of the restaurants/bars as the vendors become annoying to me after a while.

Certainly LNG ships have gone mainstream in the cruising industry although many view these solutions too dirty because of methane still emitting carbon. I have seen discussion of ammonia as a fuel too where the ammonia is created from hydrogen produced via electrolysis. As you suggest, doing this as a retrofit is economically untenable. One thing that might happen for smaller ships would be the development of new build sailing and solar powered ships. The solar ships would still need backup generators, but are feasible. The link below alludes to a 120 meter ship which would start getting towards the size of smaller cruise ships: https://www.silent-yachts.com/

It's just a matter of time before this gets discussed by policy makers. The net effect of these mandates will almost certainly make cruising more expensive. Interestingly, the Koreans are looking at nuclear powered ships again. https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/South-Korean-partnership-to-develop-SMR-powered-s

Interesting. This makes a lot of sense in keeping the ships hull clean and, I assume, drag minimized.

Cabo would be my choice for a "resort day" if you mean simply hanging out and going to the beach as there is more to do in PV in my opinion. That said, I would defer to others on what hotels to use if you are truly referring to getting a day pass for a resort.

I am curious as to the extent that ships use "cathodic protection" to keep corrosion minimized. This is a common in some other industries such as pipelines and I would expect ships to have similar systems for protecting at least some systems. There is absolutely a demand for what you ask for. This niche seems to be filled by the luxury cruise lines who can by virtue of their higher prices make money from lower passenger counts and ship sizes. That said, the guests that pay these rates probably have high expectations - staterooms, dining, outdoor space -for the onboard experience that can't be accommodated using existing ships. Of course some smaller ships do get recycled with the "R Class" ships being a notable example. Upon reflection some may consider "R Class" ships large...

Passport card has some limited uses and is only good for land crossings. I keep one in my wallet for proving my identity in Mexico along with my Global Entry to return home. That said, I always travel internationally by plane or cruise with the actual book.

I am thinking that the problem with GE is that many nationalities can obtain that card. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/eligibility Of course you I am sure that a computer look up would show the underlying citizenship of the holder, but it's government process. To me REAL ID drivers licenses might be a little tougher as that assumes the state databases are tied to the feds but it is not clear is the state keeps track of citizenship status rather than simply being a legal resident.

Since you mentioned it, my credit card company has given me a conditional credit and is still waiting to here back from the "vendor" for their side of the story. Hopefully this won't result in a loss to me other than some inconvenience. My main issue with the airlines is that they make it so darn hard to find their call center number that you need to resist the temptation to do a search on google. If one does use google, they should limit their search to the appropriate web site. For example: "qantas customer support number site: qantas.com" In dealing with my own issues, an American call center agent said that their whole web site gets "cloned" from time to time by criminals. It's a crazy world that we live in. If you ask, AA will assign seats to you if you have sufficient airline status. No kidding about going with your gut.

@Stickrod I personally like more time on an outbound leg, but 90 minutes is fine for your connection unless there is a mechanical problem on your flight to JFK. If you do miss, I would bet (I don't really know for sure these days) that JetBlue would get you accommodated on another flight reasonably quickly regardless of the partnership with American. Another question to ask yourself is what would happen if you are a day late into London?

If you have global entry and don't mind driving in Mexico, I think simply driving to the airport is a better deal. The parking at the CBX is really pretty expensive and then you need to pay for the bridge itself. The only issue with parking at TIJ is that it is also getting expensive and crowded, but new long term options seem to be opening up all the time. I like the airport long term lot itself for about 200 pesos/day. You can also walk from the lot to the airport in about 5-10 minutes if you don't mind walking. Your view on flights connecting via Mexico City is a bit outdated. Both Volaris and VivaAerobus offer lots of destinations as non-stops. Here is a screen shot showing Volaris direct flights from TIJ that I just captured from the Volaris web site: AeroMexico is still quite focused on Mexico City as their biggest hub. Connecting in MEX is a pain as the airport is really quite overcrowded and can have many delays in my experience. In my opinion TIJ is a great airport and is a real benefit to those living in the area on both sides of the border.

I was in Tijuana for lunch today and saw places advertising less than 17 to the dollar. I was also making a point to buying gas in Baja for a while, but now it's not really worth it unless you need it. I don't know if you use the airport much, but we needed to wait at the airport for a couple of hours and ended up paying about $12.50 for parking which was really a shocker. I don't think we are going to see 20 to 1 for a long time. While I am no fan of AMLO, at least he didn't blow a bunch of money on COVID like we did in the US which has resulted in the inflation that is driving the dollar lower. I could be wrong, but relative inflation is what I think is driving the exchange rate.

And the dollar still seems to be dropping. I am sure this is starting to put a "bit of a pinch" on at least some in the expat community.

I agree, that is a great idea and the only practical way to pull this off with a high probability to making it on time. if you feel like you are up for a challenge, the other alternatives as I see it are: 1) to depend on perfect train travel and connections 2) take a morning flight from FCO to Venice. FCO is reasonably close to the cruise flights and a morning flight to Venice exists. If you miss, remember that you can always catch up to the ship in its next port although that would require last minute travel expenses. Maybe you can get insurance for that eventuality. I don't really know.

Welcome to cruising! Just take it all in and discover for yourself what you like and don't like. I personally like to be on deck when the ship leaves a port. I also like late dining times generally as I never feel the rush to get ready for dinner. That's what works for me and I am sure you will discover what works for you.

It's truly a learned skill/art.

They have two locations the cart on the corner and a sit down restaurant across the street inside a little plaza. The prices at the cart are better as you are basically standing up while eating. The menu inside is somewhat bigger as they have a real kitchen. This is definitely worth a stop if you like seafood tostadas.

I have gone back and forth between the Marriott and the Sheraton at Hyde Park. While this choice is likely only of interest to Marriott Bonvoy members, I picked the Sheraton based on this hotel having a super nice executive lounge. It's a 15 minute walk and maybe half that taking the bus.

It does exist in the Ensenada area and is called "La Cava de Marcelo" - The Cave of Marcelo. Here is the Facebook link to their site: https://www.facebook.com/www.Lacavademarcelo.com.mx/?locale=es_LA Ojos Negros is about 40 minutes +- 15 from the port. You could find someone to take you there for sure in the port. It has some good reviews and your post makes me want to check it out someday as an alternative to the Valle de Guadalupe.