Cabo 5 Day - time in port

[BlessedandGrateful]

We are booked for the Dec 9th 5 day to Cabo. Needed a quick get away.

Really struggled between Princess and Carnival because of itinerary, Princess arrives a 1pm departs following day at 1 pm. This makes for very limited choices for excursions.

With the 1pm - 1pm time limit we cannot even get over to Santa Maria Cove or Chileno Bay, so disappointed. We have been to Cabo several times and were hoping to go further out and see new things.

 

The Carnival 5 day Cabo has 2 full days in Cabo and would allow for all day excursions like the 10 hour Sea of Cortez trips. We have never cruised with Carnival and we absolutely love Princess so finally decided on Princess. My question I guess, is does Princess ever offer a better itinerary in Cabo or is it always this limited. Starting to second guess my choice but not sure I am ready to jump ship and try Carnival.

 

 

[idahospud]

I’m on this week's 5 day on the Royal to Cabo. For the 1 pm arrival they started handing out tender tickets at 10 am. They called the last tender ticket group at 3:50, so you may have even less time than you think. Also, last tender the next day was scheduled to leave shore at noon for the 1pm departure. Tenders did run all night long, though.

 

Have you considered booking a hotel or resort for the night? We had some passengers who did that. Maybe it could get you the additional time ashore and out away from things a bit longer?

 

Princess did offer snorkeling excursions to both Chileno Bay and Santa Maria Cove for this sailing. 

 

I'm also on next week's sailing as a 10 day trip with an overnight in Cabo. We arrive again at 1 pm but depart 6pm the following night for that one.

Edited October 2, 2019 by idahospud

[XBGuy]

We did the Princess 5-day Cabo San Lucas cruise a couple years, ago.  Coincidentally, as we were leaving San Pedro a Carnival ship was leaving Long Beach and also headed south.  The next day, that ship was still ahead of us.  Sure enough, we were both headed for Cabo San Lucas.  I would say that it arrived about an hour before we did.  Interestingly, at about 8:00 pm I noticed that the Carnival ship had left port.  A one day visit did not seem surprising at all.

 

The surprise came the next day.  While on my morning constitutional I noticed a Carnival ship approaching.  It dropped anchor and tender operations started.  It was the same ship.  Did it leave port and motor out to international waters in order to open the casino?  I have no idea.  However. it made a two-day visit to Cabo San Lucas.  I have no idea if that is the usual procedure for Carnival ships, but you might want to check that out before you make a commitment, B&G.

 

For what it's worth, the highlight for me on that trip was seeing jumping stingrays--dozens of them--just before our departure.  My brother had told me about this behavior.  I'd never even heard of it, and when I saw them, I knew, immediately, what I was seeing.

[1emerald1]

2 hours ago, idahospud said:

I’m on this week's 5 day on the Royal to Cabo. For the 1 pm arrival they started handing out tender tickets at 10 am. They called the last tender ticket group at 3:50, so you may have even less time than you think. Also, last tender the next day was scheduled to leave shore at noon for the 1pm departure. Tenders did run all night long, though.

 

Have you considered booking a hotel or resort for the night? We had some passengers who did that. Maybe it could get you the additional time ashore and out away from things a bit longer?

 

Princess did offer snorkeling excursions to both Chileno Bay and Santa Maria Cove for this sailing. 

 

I'm also on next week's sailing as a 10 day trip with an overnight in Cabo. We arrive again at 1 pm but depart 6pm the following night for that one.

Would you by chance be able to post the first day Patter?  Thanks.

[Wehwalt]

The Cabo Getaway was exactly the same in 2015. Possibly it was an hour earlier or later, but still the same 24 hours in port. It is a pain to do something worthwhile outside of Cabo especially given early sunset by that time of year.

[idahospud]

3 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

Would you by chance be able to post the first day Patter?  Thanks.

I've been posting them on my Oct 14 roll call here:

 

[1emerald1]

1 hour ago, idahospud said:

I've been posting them on my Oct 14 roll call here:

 

Found it, thanks!

[BlessedandGrateful]

Thanks for the replies. We will have a great trip, will go back to Cabo another time, either land or different ship to have more time to explore.

[Etta1213]

1 hour ago, BlessedandGrateful said:

Thanks for the replies. We will have a great trip, will go back to Cabo another time, either land or different ship to have more time to explore.

I appreciate your attitude, and the reminder that we are blessed and surely should be grateful. I need this reminder.

[riffatsea]

"The surprise came the next day.  While on my morning constitutional I noticed a Carnival ship approaching.  It dropped anchor and tender operations started.  It was the same ship.  Did it leave port and motor out to international waters in order to open the casino?  I have no idea.  However. it made a two-day visit to Cabo San Lucas.  I have no idea if that is the usual procedure for Carnival ships, but you might want to check that out before you make a commitment, B&G. "

 

Yes, It is Carnival's policy to go out to sea and then come back to Cabo on their overnight itineraries.

The tenders stop running in the late afternoon so you need to be back aboard unless you have made arrangements to stay on land overnight.

[vampiress]

i wondered if it would be rough getting a tender on this trip with cabo being the only stop.  we choose to do an excursion to todos santos, so i assume we will get priority on tender. 

[Mike45LC]

7 hours ago, riffatsea said:

"The surprise came the next day.  While on my morning constitutional I noticed a Carnival ship approaching.  It dropped anchor and tender operations started.  It was the same ship.  Did it leave port and motor out to international waters in order to open the casino?  I have no idea.  However. it made a two-day visit to Cabo San Lucas.  I have no idea if that is the usual procedure for Carnival ships, but you might want to check that out before you make a commitment, B&G. "

 

Yes, It is Carnival's policy to go out to sea and then come back to Cabo on their overnight itineraries.

The tenders stop running in the late afternoon so you need to be back aboard unless you have made arrangements to stay on land overnight.

I did not know this about the Carnival trips. 

 

What a nightmare if you spend the night in town and the next day, seas are rough and the tenders are not being run!!

 

[idahospud]

4 hours ago, vampiress said:

i wondered if it would be rough getting a tender on this trip with cabo being the only stop.  we choose to do an excursion to todos santos, so i assume we will get priority on tender. 

If it is a Princess excursion, yes.