Terre

Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Inside:

Day Three, Sea Day: As we got closer to Mexico, the temps warmed up enough to get some sun. After breakfast, we found some chairs and caught some rays until lunch time. For the show tonight, Jeffrey Allen performed A Tribute to Sir Elton John. He did a really great job and I think everyone enjoyed watching him and hearing those great songs by Elton John.

Jeffrey Allen, A Tribute to Sir Elton John:

Day Three, Puerto Vallarta: Here we had booked a city tour through the ship. We boarded the bus along with 30-40 other people and headed to the Tequila Factory first. We did the tour backwards, which I’m glad of, and I’ll tell you why later. At the factory, Hacienda Doña Engracia, we sampled different flavors of tequila and saw how it’s made. It’s actually made from the blue agave cactus plant. We also had lunch there before heading back to town.

From the tequila factory we stopped at a tile factory where you can see how tiles are made and do some shopping. From the tile factory we then traveled to the Malecon. This is the one thing I really wanted to do and spend some time at. Unfortunately, our bus ran out of gas before we got there. Yep, that’s right, it ran out of gas. We had to wait close to 20 minutes, which I know is not long, but it shaved off some our touring time. Had we been on the way to the tequila factory, who knows how long it would have taken another bus to get us!

So, we missed City Hall, which I wanted to see and we didn’t spend enough time at the Malecon. We did spend some time there, though, and it’s a beautiful boardwalk…a must see when you’re in Puerto Vallarta. From the Malecon we walked over to the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is something else that is a must see. It features a gilded crown which is a replica of one worn by Carlota, empress of Mexico. Inside the cathedral is magnificent. Not being Catholic, I was in awe of the large golden candlesticks, statues and altar. We left the cathedral and went to a small shopping mall. I’m not a shopper so I was a little bored and just walked around taking pictures.

Another thing that shaved off some touring time, were those (usually the same ones) people who would never make it back to the bus on time. They were anywhere from 15 minutes late to 30 minutes late. At the mall, the guide had to actually go looking for one lady. Please be considerate of time when you on these tours.

At the Malecon:

Statue on the Malecon, "In Search of Reason"

As promised, here is the start of my review of our Mexican Riviera cruise the last week of February. This is totally my opinion and I realize there will some who will disagree with me, but that's why it's called an opinion.

Mexican Riviera Cruise

Crown Princess

February 21—February 28, 2015

Captain: Heikki Laakkonen, Finland

Cruise Director: Bob Leininger, USA

We are in our 60s and this makes cruise #31 overall, and 5th with Princess

Day One: Our day started very early on the 21st as our flight left Charlotte at around 7:45 a.m. We arrived at LAX around 10:30 and had booked the Super Shuttle to the cruise terminal. By the time we got off the plane, got our luggage waited about 30 minutes on the Super Shuttle, got checked in and onboard, it was close to noon. We found our cabin and our luggage was already there! We unpacked a few things and headed to the Da Vinci dining room for lunch. It’s open until 1:30 and is so much better than going to the crowded buffet.

Lunch was good, I had the avocado & bay shrimp, cacciatore chicken and an orange soufflé for dessert. The soufflé was very good! My husband had the pork tenderloin. Dinner that night was the prime rib and was also good.

We have been on the Crown before, but it was several years ago so we set out to explore. Of course we remembered the International Café, a wonderful little café by the Piazza that has scrumptious pastries and sandwiches. The food is free, but you pay for whatever you drink. This is a must stop for anyone on the Crown.

We set sail around 4:00 and got some good shots of sail away and of the USS Iowa that is located there. Once we were in open waters the night life begins. The Mariachi band, Los Brilliantes, cranked up in the Piazza at 7:00 p.m. and a husband and wife circus act were in the Piazza at 5:00 p.m. and 8:15. They were very good and you have to get video of them, still pictures don’t capture what they do.

After dinner it was around 6:30 and I was ready for bed. Exhausted by being up since 4:00 and flying for nearly five hours and my body being on east coast time, I couldn’t stay up any longer. Mike went to the show and said it was okay.

International Cafe:

Stairs at the Piazza:

Day Two, Sea Day: I really thought LA would be warmer, but it was in the 60s, still it was warmer than the temps we left at home. The sea day was really too chilly (for me at least) to layout in the sun, so we walked around the ship some more. This was also formal night so after dinner we watched some of the champagne waterfall and went to the production show, “Destination Anywhere”. I really wasn’t that impressed with the show, didn’t really like it. From there we headed to Karaoke which is always fun.

Very nice photos. Some have said that the Cabo Arch isn't there. Do you know why the controversy? Looking forward to your review.

Here are two more of the arch we got on the way back:

What is the condition of the MUTS (Movies Under The Stars) I am wondering if they have repaired it.

 

PS, the photos are great, thanks :)

Sorry, we didn't watch any movies and when passing through, really didn't look at the screen.

Susie, click on the whale picture in my signature to open the pictures.

We sail on her 3/28 and I am looking forward to your review. I would love to do the whale excursion in Cabo. Was it thru the ship or independent?

It was with Whale Watch Cabo. You will love it with them as they give you pictures via Dropbox for free. Be ready for a rough ride if the ocean is choppy because we did go very fast at times. I will look for the website and post the link.

Very nice photos. Some have said that the Cabo Arch isn't there. Do you know why the controversy? Looking forward to your review.

Oh yes, the arch is there and I have pictures of it.

I didn't find the whale thing to click on, so I didn't see your photos.

Try this:

Click on the picture to see My Mexican Riviera Cruise: (click the arrow to the left to keep in order)

Thanks for posting the pictures and look forward to the review.

 

Interesting to see that you were on the Emerald Seas.

Past & Upcoming Cruises

Admiral Cruises Emerald Seas ~ 1990 & 1991

I was on 12 years earlier when it was still owned be Eastern Steamship Lines before Admiral Cruises bought it.

The Emerald Seas was our first and second cruises. That was the one that got us hooked!

Got back on Feb. 28th and am working on my review. In a nutshell, loved the itinerary and loved the ship. Will be back soon with my review, in the meantime, click on the whale pic below to see pictures. Click backwards on the left arrow to keep them in order. It's a Photobucket thing, don't know why it does that.

My husband got this in Cabo week before last...

Thanks everyone.

We will be in Puerto Vallarta, Maztalan (sp?), and Cabo the last week of February and I'm wondering about the temps then. We've never been to the Mexican Riviera and I'm not sure how to pack. How cool are the mornings starting out, and how warm will it get during the day? I've read that the average temps are 65 degrees and I don't want to wear layers and end up having to carry around sweaters/jackets all day.

We have seen/purchased white and black lightweight zip-up jackets in Cabo that say 'Los Cabos, Mexico' on the sleeves. Hood and draw string on the bottom. The material has a little crinkle-look. We were wondering if any that knows what I'm describing has also seen them in PV and/or Mazatlan?

How much are they?

Thank you, Pam. Do you know if there are hair dryers in the spa? I like to shower in the spa and get ready there for the evening...more room!

My cell phone stays in the safe as well and I have no desire to keep up with it while I'm trekking around the ship. I'm on a cruise to get away from phones and computers and would prefer to keep the interactive TV. Besides, I'm not too tech savvy and probably wouldn't be able to figure it out!

That's good to hear. I figured I could get by with it since I cut my hair short and I don't spend too much time on it anymore. One less thing to pack and a little less weight!:D

Thanks...that's what I thought. I have my hair very short now so I think those will probably be fine.

Thanks so much for the quick replies!

We were on the Crown in early December and had a great time. But this was the first cruise ever that I had to ask a lady on her balcony to turn her music down ..she did but turned it up later. And a couple thought the balcony was a great place to have a fight .. he hates her family by the way...and the smell of pot was in the air quite often. I dont have a problem with it at all but it surprised me that they would bring it on board. I love Princess but it felt like a cheap Carnival cruise. But I love Carnival also .. I just dont want to pay Princess pricing to get a Carnival feel.

We've never experienced any of this on any of our Carnival cruises, or any other cruise for that matter. We have seen Carnival security escort some passengers off the ship in the past who had been smoking a little weed.

It's been a few years since we've sailed with Princess. My question is are there hairdryers in the cabins? I don't want to pack mine if I don't need to.

Thanks!

You will get a login and a password. No, you won't be able to use it at the same time, but you can at different times.

Sorry, OP, I'm hijacking...Working2Cruise, how did you like the Mexican Riviera? We will be on the Crown to the Mexican Riviera in Feb. Any tips?

We always give extra on the last night. The cabin steward works quite hard and if he/she meets all of my requests, I don't mind giving a little extra.

Since we have been using Anytime, My Time, Your Time, etc. dining we don't tip extra unless we find a wait team we like and ask for them every night after. Then we do give them extra as well if they continue doing a great job.

Yes you will have to be ready early and be in line for tender tickets.

They cleared it pretty early in the morning though. I think if tendering starts at 7 AM, not everyone wants to get up and going that early. We noticed there were a lot of people at breakfast at the time when tendering began ... but by 10 AM, everyone had abandoned ship. There were just a few of us left onboard.

Thank you so much, CR, had not thought about most people still eating or sleeping;)!

We actually stayed onboard that day but heard announcements that others were able to disembark in Cabo around 7 AM. If you get priority tendering, there should be no problem getting to the pier by 8 AM.

In February, I would highly recommend the whale watching....prime time for seeing whales. Don't forget to watch for the porpoises and whales as you sail from Cabo. We were busy wine tasting but others told us the whales were breaching....that would have been awesome to see.

Thanks for the info. We won't have priority, but will try to get off as quickly as possible...do you have to get tender tickets if you are not priority?