cruisinitaliano

The Miracle will leave at a sceduled time.

Last tenders usually an hour before.

Miracle will then slowly cruise around during night.

It will then return for your second day in the morning.

The overnight in Puerto Vallarta can be alot more enticing.

You may come and go as you like.

It makes it great for early tours or whatever you might plan.

If you choose this itinerary, you do need to tender both days.

Have fun!!

I read a post recently in which a cruiser responded that generally their cruises were stressful.

Many others respond with " go with the flow, you are on vacation, don't worry about delayed boarding or VIP lines etc.

My question is... " In general, how are your cruising experiences?"

I understand 30 ft. waves. power outages, Noro etc. can bring stress upon a cruiser, but was the whole experience, from booking, yo planning, to getting onboard, to dining etc, all stressful, or relaxing?

We almost exclusively do Mexican Riviera now. The stress of flying to other ports is something we eliminated.

People often ask.." Are you going there, AGAIN ? "

Yes!! we go to RELAX, no cooking, cleaning. Lots of reading, good food, nice ports.

What are your general experiences, and why?

Blessings

maybe consider calling guest services.

People usually respond quickly when info is known.

My DD is now 16, so do not remember ....

Please , I am so interested in your comment,

Would you consider a new thread with a title like " CRUISING, STRESSFUL OR RELAXING?"

I would like to jear why you feel the way you expressed.

I am quite confident that there are going to be many reasons why our CC members feel one way or another regarding this.

I understand that stuff sometimes happens, adding stress to a cruise.

Your comment led me to believe that in general, yours are stressful.

Please, I am anxious to hear yours and others experiences.

We generally are in the relaxed category, chilling out, reading, sunning, waiting for daughters to finish whatever they are doing and joining us for lunch, dinner, shows, etc.

When in ports, we know enough to make sure to do activities that allow us to get back to port in plenty of time to avoid the stress of rushing and worrying bout missing ship.

Thanks for expressing your opinion, I hope that you will start this new thread, could be interesting.

Many Blessings!!

As for fitness, not much.

Don't worry bout kids, many quite often ride handless, anyway, turning upside down, or throwing hands in air as if on a roller coaster might do.

You are not dependent on holding on. You are strapped in by your back side, and it is kinda like a seat of leather holding you.

You are trained to use your hands for the braking mechanism, but saw lots of folks come flying into the platform, and the guides catch them.

Seriously, look at some videos on you tube!!

so as not to get confused..

the "NEW PIER" mentioned in an earlier reply was referring to PUERTO VALLARTA.

No new pier in CABO.

I just posted some info on the Los Veranos Canopy PV post.

Please check out the info I shared. You may find it useful.

Yes, Los Veranos seems less intense that the extreme canopy tour.

It is a matter of the experience you are looking for.

Los Veranos is strictly zip line : 14 in all and high and fun.

The other places offer ATV, rock rappelling, water slides, etc.

Los Veranos does have a slide into the river off of the restaurant, but not as daunting as needing face gear on Extreme Canopy.

Either way, your day will be filled, and depending on your ship's schedule, you can have the drivers drop you off into town for shopping, late lunch etc, before you head back to the ship.

Enjoy.

My wife and 2 teenage daughters absolutely loved it!!

Most reviews on these boards, and there are many, are very positive.

Los Veranos does not book through the cruise lines. You can go for $67.

Compare that to a cruise ship excursion of $99 or more.

You go to a pick up point, and an open truck picks you up, stops at a few other meeting places, then heads to the main office in the mountains.

Once there, a final group of folks loads up and heads for the 20 minute ride to the sight.

The staff are excellent.

The owner is usually around, and easy to talk with. They have pictures in albums of the sight having been washed away in several hurricanes.

The restaurant and beer are really yummy and tasy, too.

This zip line has the most and highest available in port. GOOGLE Los Veranos and see you tube videos, read reviews etc.

The staff are great, funny and very comforting for the less daring to get them feeling confident.

There is a small cage with tiny monkees, the guides always have smakes and lizards to show.

It is a great day. If you choose to go, I am quite confident you will have had a fun time.

The guys will load you up and return you to the ship directly, with lots of time to spare.

CAUTION: when you book with Los Veranos, your tour time is PUERT VALLARTA time.

You will need to be at the meeting place at say, 9 a.m.

The ship time will be 8a.m.

If you go to meeting place and you did not compensate for local time, you will have missed your ride.

A family on our last cruise did this, had to pay a $30 cab ride to go directly to the sight.

Have a blast!!

They take pictures and you buy them if you choose at the end.

They do solicit tips, but they were so great with my girls and wife, giving them a bit extra was a no brainer.

Yes, the water taxis will be right there and easy to find.

Los Arcos is in the opposite direction of Medano Beach.

It is quite common to have them take you to the arches, and then to drop you off at the beach.

Typical cost to beach alone is about $5 per person, but quietly negotiate that price, if you choose to.

Probably will be more like $ 10 or so person to go to Los Arcos, then to beach.

The drivers will also arrange to pick you up at whatever time you choose, if you decide to taxi back to the pier.

CAUTION: You need to jump off the water taxi into the water..it can be choppy, small waves coming in, and the boat rocking.

Just be aware, hold onto your cameras and valuables. The drivers will be very helpful, but a guy like me with mobility issues has quit using this service.

GOOGLE is very helpful for finding info, the posts on this site are great for other's experiences.

I hope you have the time of your life!!

again, just our experience:

The key is to get PESOS before leaving on trip, say at AAA, or your bank.

Google searches for best exchange rates work wonders.

Today you can get about 15 Pesos per dollar.

In Cabo and other ports, the exchange rate a restaurant or a vendor or tour operator gives you may vary from 10-13 Pesos per dollar.

So even if you save only 2 Pesos ( 15 vs. 13 ) it is a 15% savings on your dollar.

Now if you save 5 pesos ( 15 vs 10 ) that's a 34% savings.

So even if you paid the full price of what they are asking, by paying in Pesos, you save money.

And if you are going on your own, vs. booking through Carnival, my guess is it's to save money.

So you can pay $99 to para sail on Carnival

Or, you can go ashore and pay $50 on your own..

OR, you Negotiate the fee to $40

AND you pay in Pesos using what you paid ( e.g 15-1 ) not their exchange rate ( 10-13 )

so 40 x15 = 600 Pesos, stick to your guns, be willing to say no and walk away, you most often will get your price.

And, of course, be ready to increase your offer if you really do want the tour.

Also, negotiating does not work in restaurants, at least not that I have ever heard.

Once on Medano Beach, you still pay in Pesos for food and drinks, but negotiate all vendors from the trinkets, hats, sunglasses etc. , to the jet skis and paddle boards.

for water taxi, if they say $5 person, quietly so as to not make it obvious to the other guests boarding, offer 100 Pesos.....

You are not cheating anyone out of a livelihood.

They set prices knowing that there will be haggling.

Do only what you are comortable doing. My wife would never haggle, anywhere, but boy she looks for the SALE items at Target and Wal Mart!!!!

Medano Beach is really the only nearby beach to spend time nearby.

Other areas would require a longer drive, and are more remote, less resort like with lots of choices for food and drink.

As for tours, it is always good to get first hand reccomendations, but since you posted, and I see no one has replied, I thought I may offer some suggestions:

GOOGLE- there are many tours from glass bottom boats ( can't really see much ), to inflatables, to water taxis, to catamarans and lots of others.

Just use good old GOOGLE, or TRIP ADVISER etc.

The reviews ought to give you a sense of what works or not.

OUR EXPERIENCE: you CAN book ahead with whatever you decide to choose, however, when you get onto the tender docking area, you will see lots of vendors offering whatever you want:

THIS IS THE FUN PART- this is an opportunity to score a great savings.

NEGOTIATE: if you are comfortable, have some PESOS ( about 15-1$ ),

have an idea of what you are willing to pay, say $ 25 person for a ride for an hour out to Los Arcos etc. then offer that amount in comparable PESOS, in this case 25X 15 =375 PESOS.

More than likely the starting price would be $40 person

As for CABO WABO, a map on their web site will show you where it is, and you can decide if you want to walk or taxi. Most places are easily walkable.

To get to Medano Beach, many use the water taxi, it is cheap and easy, however, you need to jump off and be able to climb back in , and at times the water can be choppy and it can be an adventure in itself getting off and on.

If you have any mobility issues, a short cab ride or even a nice walk around the Marina will get you there.

Again. a google search will tell you all about the different places aling the beach.

Many threads on this site make recomendations for rowdy, good food, family friendly, etc. places.

Have lots of fun, enjoy the MIRACLE.

You will probably have similar questions regarding PUERTYO VALLARTA and maybe MAZATLAN, depending on your itinerary.

I am a fan of negotiating and getting a fair price for what we want to do.

As an example, last August in Cabo, my 2 Daughters wanted to para-sail.

The price was $ 50 each. I negotiated in Pesos and got the US price to $40 each.

Best of luck to you.

I am sure, much like American Table, in which not all ship's have changed over too...Maybe you are referring to PLAYLIST PRODUCTIONS??

On the Miracle, the Legends show, along with several other long time staples, had been replaced with PLAYLIST PRODUCTIONS.

And while the reviews for these shows have been rather tepid in nature, we found the shows las August to be quite good.

Having said that, the LEAD MALE was absolutely amazing in voice, stage presence and performing ability.

I could see how other ships having a weaker lead ( s ) could make the shows less enjoyable.

Playlist is performed with pre recorded music, video imagery projected onto backscreens ( impressive in my mind ).

Folks always complain when things are old and stale and want new, then Carnival does something NEW, and the complainers want ventriloquists and jugglers and magicians back.

Like going to Disneyland, some will watch parades, others not.

Some will watch Aladdin in California Adventure, others not.

Some like the daring rides, others Pirates of Caribbean..

Does Disney do a bad job? Of course not, they are catering to a wide audience to maximize profits.

Kinda maybe what Carnival is trying to do...ya think?

Anyway, I don't know for sure if this is what you meant by a farewell show, when we first cruised 20 yrs ago it was common to see a very specific farewell show in which alot of the ships staff, entertainers, etc. performed, but I have not seen that in years.

So go into the theatre, if you like it, stay, if you like the comedians, stay. If you like the food you ordered, eat it...if not, you have other choices.

You are not forced to endure.

Blessed sailings, have fun!!

i AM CONFUSED:

You specifically said your son contracts with cruise ships...

What part of my post regarding a person booking an excursion on their own, and making sure they were aware of local time..is GARBAGE??

You are Correct, any excursion booked through the ship will ensure return to ship, and be scheduled on ship's time.

My comments, meant to aide the OP regarding PV time vs Ship's time, was to give an opinion based on our 8 cruises on this itinerary....

If you feel my post is GARBAGE, will you kindly explain in more detail so everyone reading this post can have clarification.

Sorry poster, but based on some of the responses in this thread, My EXPERIENCE leads me to fear you are getting conflicting and erroneous information.

Best of luck.

CAREFUL,

the responses have conflicting info:

The first couple indicate it is earlier in port, when in fact it is LATER:

Unless of course some one has a different opinion???

If you are booking an excursion on your own, they will tall you LOCAL TIME.

So, for example:

You have booked Los Veranos Zip Line for 10 am.

Your ship time will say it is 9 am, and you will miss your excursion.

When we were on Miracle in August, 2 families had to pay $30 cab fare to get them up mountain to the zip line, cuz they missed the included transportation due to being on wrong time.

It CAN be confusing, so better be HEADS UP now, as you are trying to do.

Good luck, have fun.

I can see by the multiple posts that you have started that you truly are doing an amazing job of researching, asking questions, etc.

I hope that this cruise meets and exceeds all of your family's wants.

LOS VERANOS:

Yes they take lots of pictures.

Go to the web site.

Call the toll free number.

The owner, a very nice lady, will answer all questions that you do not find answers for on the web sight.

Best NOT to take cameras with you, you will be holding on, some og=f the runs are breathtaking.

I hope that you get all the advise, suggestions, answers you have sought.

I like reading other peoples ideas, too.

We have been on this itnerary over 8 times, but always looking for the latest hot Beach Spot on Medano Beach, or where to go in Puerto Vallarta.

Be Blessed, and maybe just a cautionary word of advise...

With all your planning, be willing and able to be flexible and go with the flow...Rain happens, port delays happen, getting sick happens.

Not being a downer at all, we totally enjoy these cruises, but anticipate that MAYBE all your planning may not go as planned....

When I mentioned $5, I mistakenly read OP as needing 8 people ( 6 adults, 2 kids ) Mea Culpa, ans so, depending on exchange rate, it could be close to $5.

Again....EXPERIENCE shows that whenever we could not fit into a cab, they call a van that arrives very quickly.

It is less expensive than the Vans inside the port gates.

Ine, I am NOT saying one is better than the other...

I am sharing our successful experiences in an effort to guide, suggest, answer and respond to a Poster asking questions.

I have complimented your responses as being very good advise to the many questions that are asked.

SOMETIMES, your added input comes off as dismissive to other points of view.

Express your opinions, then let others opinions go...allow the POSTER and all the others that read the post to make a decision based on their evaluation of the advise / answer/ suggestion given.

No, not recently, but read the posts in this thread...

The ship has the same slide, it is slow, very little water running through to push you down, and even my DD's had a very hard time going down it.

It is highly unlikely to have been upgraded in any way.

The opportunity was when it dry docked last year, and we only got 1.5 upgrades, vs 2.0 ( many complaints about that )

Why are they called " CHARGERS"...?

Cuz they are flat, like the San Diego CHARGERS play most times??

Or, cuz they are "GHOSTLY " , again, much as the CHARGERS play football..DEAD??

Seriously, help me out, why are they called CHARGERS

If you want a beach day with water activities, then there will be time left for shopping.

Most shops sell the same basic stuff. If you are looking for specific things, i.e leather, or silver or art, then research ahead and go to those shops directly.

Otherwise, truly, it will be pretty much identical.

For shopping for us, after a few hours at the beach, we walk to RIO CUALE.

This is a bit more unique as it is on the river ( Rio ), and the experience of a more shaded and different atmosphere, elevates the fun of shopping here.

Kids would like seeing the river, too.

Restaurants:

Are you looking to Bar Hop, get deals on beer and chips and salsa, then definitely stay on Malecon and go to all the different places, that can be fun, and we have done that.

But again, if you are going to spend time on the beach, you have a better chance of palapa huts, loungers, umbrellas at no charge by eating at the restaurant on the beach.

Kinda evaluate the experience you want, or heck, just go and play it by ear.

It may be windy and chilly, so a beach day gives way to more shopping.

The last time we were there, it was 108 degrees with 98% humidity, we could Not walk to shop, the heat drained us.

We were blessed to just stay on the beach.

The Malecon is definitely a great place to walk and shop and browse.

The beach is a great place to chill, get wet, say no to bout a million vendors evey ten minutes.......

Have fun!!!

Again, you got great advise on your direct question regarding the bus...the poster ALWAYS gives great answers...

MY OPINION..

The bus ride will equate to about 5$

for $7, or 105 Pesos, you can grab a cab on the street right outside the port gates, and get a direct ride to wherever you want to go.

No riding a bus in who knows what weather conditions, crowded, etc.

If you know when you want to come back, the taxi will be there to bring you back,

If you want suggestions on where to eat, or shop, they are very good about suggestions.

You will have no problem finding an English speaking cabbie.

Do your research, if you know where you want to go, they will take you.

On our last visit in August, we just asked him to take us to a great spot to hang out for day on Los Muertos. we wanted to jet skl, para sail, eat and lounge.

He took us to La Palapas, introduced us to the owner/ manager...we were given a hut on the beach, and amazing service.

All water activities were right in front of us, no need to go find a vendor.

I know you asked about the bus...forgive me if I am out of line..

This forum is to exchange ideas, share experiences and help a fellow cruiser with information.

I hope this is taken in the spirit intended.

We have done this itinerary at least 8 times.

Best of luck and have a great cruise

Just an opinion, and you will find many posts agreeing...

Try Los Veranos.

$ 67 person online.

Extremely good zip line, and the river, water slides into the river are FUN, not intimidating.

Yiour children will find the zips to be daring, challenging and fun. There is not a rock wall, or rapelling.

Check it out, it May be a great option for you.

we are booked on Miracle April 8 2017....

I just got off phone with Carnival.

They sre STILL booking after October 2016, contrary to OP.

They have no knowledge of Miracle being moved.

Why hasn't anyone else, that I have noticed, mentioned this??

Is th OP referring maybe to after Oct 2017??

Any help is appreciated.

We have 2 girls, now 16, that are major theater buffs.

On our recent Miracle cruise, we had them finding:

Happy and Sad theatre mask faces

Phantom of the Opera

New York skyline

along with some other ideas posted, like life preserver with name of ship

Picture of a performer from a show just relaxing onboard. etc.

It is a way to keep them busy, ( most times the teen clubs are just empty and few show up for organized activities.

Good luck, and it is awesome that you have thought of that.

P.S. a fun thing we have done quite often:

There is usually a roving Magician in the dinner venues- pull them aside and arrange to have come by your table, give him something personal of your child, a favorite hair tie, a fake piece of jewelry, a small picture of their favorite character...something your child knows is theirs...

Ask the Magician to make it appear from nowhere...the look on their faces will last you forever!!!

And, uh-hum..please tip generously ( $5-$10??) I find it well worth it.

Usually you get a few more tricks and they feel very special!!!

Best of Luck!!

Mea Culpa regarding Golden Zone, please forgive.

Regarding English, just talk to the " Cabbie". If you get a feel that you understand well, then no problem.

Again, these are just my EXPERIENCE... they speak good english because their tips and income are benefitted from it.

I would venture to guess the cab drivers working the ports are much more fluent in English, than say a cab or bus driver you may encounter when in town looking for a ride back.

Not being argumentative, your advise is and always is well respected.

I am only suggesting, for a way to enjoy at less cost, using the cab drivers.

Ask if they have aur conditioning. If not, within seconds they will get you a cab that does.

Its sorta like the folks suggesting to save money by NOT booking tours through the ship.

This is just another cost saving tool.

It has to be ones comfort level. If saving money is not high on the priority list, then one has to do what they think is best.