Just back from the Pride

I just want to say thanks for all the help I received from Cruise Critic Members when planning this cruise. You guys (and gals) know how to have a great time and save loads of money!

PUERTO VALLARTA:

Two years ago we did the canopy tour through Los Veranos http://www.vallartaonline.com/tours/CanopyToursdeLosVeranos/

It was a lot of fun, but I wanted to do something different this time.

So with the suggestions from folks on here we made reservations at the Krystal resort for massages with Mellinium Massage.

http://www.go2vallarta.com/milleniummassage/

This was my first time getting a massage, so thought I would get the whole package! We had a Massage (I think 90min), a facial (75min?), a pedicure and a manicure, a total of 4 hours of pampering for $100.00 ea! I can not wait to go back! Next time I will probably only do the facial and massage for $75.00. I was getting tired of lying around by mani/pedi time. For those that are wondering, this place was professional and discreet. I felt very comfortable the entire time. Not a bunch of small talk either, just laid my head down on the bed and went into my own little world.

Directions I copied from here sound strange, but were easy to follow when we got there.

Find the big round building on the dock, it was right at our gangway but your ship might be at another spot. Walk around the round building and across the road to a square in front of the flee market. Walk across the square toward the big white wall with the yellow wall behind it (hope they haven't repainted it :-) Go through the gate at the left end of the white wall, and down the backstreet past timeshares and condos to the dead end, that's the Krytsal back entrance. You'll see a big sign welcoming cruisers, and a guard will eyeball you and greet you as you go in. Then it's a walk for a few minutes through the pretty grounds to the pools.

-Bob, (who wishes he was there, not here :-)

(Thank you Bob!)

MAZATLAN:

Last trip we did Randi's Happy Horses, this was fun...but we were into relaxing this trip.

We had made no plans for this port. When we got off the ship Ramiro Garzon Padilla met us and invited us to join his tour. He spoke understandable English and was a wealth of information. Everyone that went with us loved Ramiro! He took an extra 2 hours showing us around. He stopped where they were making flour tortillas and bought a bag. We all had a couple, fresh and hot! One of the stops was at a restaurant. It seemed that a lot of the tour guides met there. Some of us ate, some didn't. We were each given a free drink of our choice whether we ordered anything or not. I ordered a shrimp cocktail for $7.00. It was great and I had wanted to try the shrimp after going by the open air market and seeing them for sale. There is a beach right outside the restaurant. Wear your swimsuit under your clothes. The ones that did enjoyed playing in the surf. To make this tour even a better value Ramiro offered us all the beer, soda and water that we wanted free of charge! All of this for only $20.00 ea! Of course with the great service we had we tipped generously.

*So I would highly recommend that you email Ramiro at

ramirostours@hotmail.com

and make a reservation and he will pick you up at the dock! If you have enough people in your group, he can put together a tour special for what you want to do.

CABO SAN LUCAS:

From recommendations off this board we went to the Melia Resort. The workers there quickly set us up with lounge chairs and a bed with an umbrella. No Charge! We bought Corona's during the Happy Hour special 2 for $5.50. We also had chips and salsa, which were not that great. We had a fantastic time and were sad when it was time to leave.

When you get off the boat ask a water taxi to take you to the Melia, it is $3.00 ea. We walked over, it was a long walk...much better to pay the 3 bucks.

Let me know if I can be of any further help. Thanks to all of you that participate in this forum. Cindy

So glad you had a wonderful cruise.

We have booked the Krystal for two massages as well. Looking forward to it. So....you rec. getting the facial as well???? $75 for 90 min. massage and 75 min. facial...right? Wow this sounds really good. I might add the facials to our massage if you say sooooooo! Thanks :D

How long did it take you to walk to the Melia and how did you get directions? Is there much to see on the walk?

Sharen

The walk to Melia must have taken about 30+ minutes. I do not know for sure, we were in a fairly large group. I think it is a nice walk around the harbor. Some of the people that had started off with us, never made it to the Melia. They thought it was to far. When you get off the ship go to the right. Walk until you hit sand, then keep walking until you see it. The Melia is the hotel with the beds, kind of a light brown color, right before the all white resort.

I personally recommend you get a water taxi over, they can show you where it is, and then walk back. You will have plenty of opportunities to buy souvineers on the walk back.

Hi Cindy,

Glad that you had a great time. It's so nice of you sharing your tour experience with us.

For the Ramiro's tour in Mazatlan, how big is his car(open air, mini Van or others). Our group is 6 adults and 2 kids, might be two more adults. Can Raminro take about 10 people group? Does he belong to tour a company?

many thanks,

nancy

He is with a tour company. We had 8 in our tour. You might just email him. He seemed very nice. Cindy

Thanks Cindy for your great review and specific directions to Krystal for the massages (we have appointments for this coming Wednesday). I read that we do not get charged $20 by the hotel if we are going in for a massage, but would you know if we could stay at the resort after our massages without a charge?

Thanks,

John

cindy

was that randis email address ive got a few questions id like to ask?

John,

We did not stay at the resort for long after our massage, we wanted to get a taxi into town.

We did get shown to where the gate was when we left the massage, because we asked for the way out, not because they were pushing us to leave. We said our goodbyes. We decided on our way to the gate that we would like to check out the pool area, so turned left and went over and walked around the pools and down by the beach. We stopped and had a couple mango margaritas. No one said anything to us. So I don't really think that it would be a problem to just hang out by the pool afterwards. The pools looked very nice.

Randi's Happy Horses email that I have on file is

http://www.randishappyhorses.com/index.html

Cindy, was is the difference in the massages offered? Also, is everyone in a separate room or one big room? What do you wear? Thanks much!

Cindy, the published time the ship gets into Cabo is 7:00am ship time (8:00am Cabo time). What time did the tendors actually start taking people ashore? Do you think I could be at the dock by 8:45am?

Also, did the Pride keep Los Angeles time for the whole week, or change the time each day to match the port you were in??

Thanks!!