Our Pre-halloween Oct 25th 5-day Mexican Riviera Cruise in Cabin 18100 (DOS) on the Bliss

[Grimix]

13 hours ago, natefish95 said:

This was a GREAT review! You family anecdotes are hilarious. You'd be a great drinking buddy! I'll be on the lookout for your Alaska cruise review hopefully!

 

One quick question, for the Luxury Day Sail in Cabo, how much shade was on the boat and how did you like the schedule overall? I'm considering it for my cruise in April, but I'm also pale as hell and burn easily. 

Thanks for the nice words. We might have spent more time in the bar, but that was only to recoup our investment, I promise!

 

I guess this depends... There was basically no shade. They have cushions set out around the edge of the boat for everyone on the sail. You essentially sit there. They do have an enclosed cabin. I heard them warn passengers they would be happier outside as they might get sick inside. There were two bathrooms down there (one for each gender.) They aren't that large of a boat; I would say about 20-25 passengers, so they definitely move more than the ship! (Not being prone to sea-sickness I had no problems.) We had the family do the sunscreen and we were ok.

 

I think the whole trip was close to 3-4 hours. It probably takes around an hour each way to get to Santa Maria bay. (On the way out the motor by the archways and show the all the rock formations then you sail east over to the bay to snorkel.) You spend about an hour and a half at the snorkel location. Then head back where they raised the sails on our excursion (don't know if it depends on wind, and direction...)

 

Open bar both ways, and they also feed you snacks. My wife thought it was a little long, but I thought it was about right.

[debbyma]

Thanks for sharing this.  We are booked in The Haven on the Bliss later this month.  Grateful for the tips!

 

(We live in Lincoln, CA-- neighbors.)

[Grimix]

1 hour ago, debbyma said:

Thanks for sharing this.  We are booked in The Haven on the Bliss later this month.  Grateful for the tips!

 

(We live in Lincoln, CA-- neighbors.)

We're as close to Lincoln as you can get; we're in Whitney Ranch and I do most of my shopping in Lincoln. Everyone's experience is different, but if they haven't changed the people you should have a wonderful cruise! (and probably a great cruise even if they did!) Make sure to say Hi to Al, Carlo, Miko, and Joana in the Haven bar area!

[natefish95]

10 hours ago, Grimix said:

Thanks for the nice words. We might have spent more time in the bar, but that was only to recoup our investment, I promise!

 

I guess this depends... There was basically no shade. They have cushions set out around the edge of the boat for everyone on the sail. You essentially sit there. They do have an enclosed cabin. I heard them warn passengers they would be happier outside as they might get sick inside. There were two bathrooms down there (one for each gender.) They aren't that large of a boat; I would say about 20-25 passengers, so they definitely move more than the ship! (Not being prone to sea-sickness I had no problems.) We had the family do the sunscreen and we were ok.

 

I think the whole trip was close to 3-4 hours. It probably takes around an hour each way to get to Santa Maria bay. (On the way out the motor by the archways and show the all the rock formations then you sail east over to the bay to snorkel.) You spend about an hour and a half at the snorkel location. Then head back where they raised the sails on our excursion (don't know if it depends on wind, and direction...)

 

Open bar both ways, and they also feed you snacks. My wife thought it was a little long, but I thought it was about right.

It would be foolish not to use something you paid for! Drink packages are a necessity!

 

Really appreciate your thoughts on the excursion. I'm not prone to sea sickness either, so I'll keep this excursion as a contender possibly. We're only in Ensenada from 7:00am-1:00pm, so I probably won't even get off the ship there. I'll watch sailaway from the thermal spa haha

[Grimix]

Forgot some thoughts on the elevators! If staying in the Haven proper the read elevators won't you get you home. The fore elevators is a bank of 8. 4 of them will only take you to 16. Of the other 4, 2 top out at 17, and the other 2 will get you to 18. Be sure to look at the numbers on the elevator if you don't want to take the stairs (I often took the stairs even when going up/down to deck 5. Good exercise!)

 

Inside the Haven there's an elevator that takes you between level 17 (the bar/lounge area) and 18 (the restaurant/lounge area). On the other side there is a spiral staircase that goes between the same two floors. (And don't forget the spiral staircase in the Horizon lounge which will also get you up and down between the floors!)

 

Other than the Haven elevator the remaining lifts are pretty crowded, and did seem to stop at almost every floor. As Haven guest going down it will be mostly empty, but quickly fill up as you descend. There was no haven priority on the elevators, however, the concierge and butlers seem to have a key card that enables priority on them, and if they are escorting you they will often use that if not using a staff elevator.