Mexico Excursions (AND PORTS) w/ a Baby

[snoogiejul]

Does anyone out there have experience bringing a baby on a shore excursion in Mexico? I am crusing in a few weeks with our 5 month old daughter. A couple of excursions sound good to me, very low key. Going to a resort with facilities, food, shade, etc. The thing that scares me is the transportation, which is motorcoaches without seatbealts. I would be interested in talking to anyone who has done this. Also, if you have brought your baby to Mexico and decided not to do shore excursions for this reason, what did you do? I am specifically asking about Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Mazatlan seems to be the most challenging, the boat seems to dock in a more industrial area, far away from the resorts.

 

Please share. And let's all try to keep an open mind:)

[CruisinFinsUp]

Sorry, haven't done these myself. We travelled when dd was 21 months old, so she sat between us in the open air pickup truck with benches in the back that served as a tour bus on Eastern Carrib. tours. (scary, and we all held on tightly to her and the truck!!, but it worked ok).

 

Not sure what you'd do with 5 month old. I would use the bucket carseat (no base) for sure, cause at least then you have a place for her to nap and can put her down for a minute and not have to hold her ALL the time. Strollers are iffy, as on the smaller transports they may not have room for "luggage". If you take a small folding one, you might be ok - GET A SNAP N GO!!!!

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008XL2W/102-4578667-7222527?v=glance

 

basically a frame that the carseat latches onto. (they are GREAT!!!)

 

IF it is a true motorcoach - that would be a big bus with high backed seats. You could certainly wedge the baby carseat on the seat beside the window with parent sitting on aisle seat, rear facing :rolleyes: of course!! Perhaps stuff the diaper bag under the carseat on the bus seat to provide support. Its not great, but it may be the best you can manage.

 

Only other issue is do you dock or tender? The size of your stuff on a tender might be a problem.

 

Have you tried reading the ports boards? They might help.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=203

 

Good luck!!

[snoogiejul]

Thank you for your suggestions. I visited the port message boards, there's a lot of helpful info. Still not sure if I am going to book an excursion. I am doing research. One frustrating thing, most bucket type infant car seats/carriers have a seat belt attachment on top so it can be used without the base, mine doesn't. Ugh. It was an expensive model too. If it could be used withou the base I could at least use it in a cab. Oh well. There's a solution out there somewhere.

[Kerry's Girls]

I just did this itinerary with my year old twins. I think it's easier to take a stroller than a car seat in the ports, since the baby is more comfortable than being carried and you then also have a place to hang the huge bag you need to bring along. Also, NOT dealing with car seats was the one of the greatest parts about cruising with a baby.

 

Puerto Vallarta was the best - it's a VERY easy and safe stroll to the Krystal Hotel, where they have an amazing facility. I brought a little blow up pool to use as a play area and found a shady area to relax and be served food and drinks. If you don't want to sit in the shade, since it's so important to keep your baby out of the sun, Right Start sells sun-safe baby cabanas that are light, fold flat and have backpack straps. Look on the ports of call board for more info on the Krystal. There is also a playground at the hotel with bucket swings you could swing the baby in.

 

In Mazatlan, shuttle buses take you from the ship to the exit and little shopping area of the port. The shuttles have ramps and an area that will hold a stroller- even my double stroller. All we did was walk through the shopping courtyard at the port though as it was an industrial area and I was alone so couldn't hold two babies in a taxi.

 

I didn't get off the ship in Cabo, again because I couldn't handle two babies and a stroller alone on the tenders, but since you're not outnumbered by babies, I know from past visits it's easy to walk around from where the tenders land to the shopping and restaurants. You also can take a water taxi to one of the resorts.

 

I think cruising is the greatest way to travel with babies. You're going to have an amazing time!

 

Best,

Mia

[snoogiejul]

Thanks Mia! (ps- that is my daughter's name:) ) Great info. The Krystal sounds fantastic, perfect! Do you know if you can buy a pass to use their facilities for the day? We are cruising on Holland America, not sure if it matters.

 

Did you take your twins on the cruise by yourself? Awesome. I am so glad to talk to people who have had a positive experience. Thanks.

[Kerry's Girls]

I did take them by myself. I'm a widow and my husband and I were avid cruisers. My friends thought I was nuts to take the babies on a ship, but it turned out to be the perfect way for me to travel and spend quality time with my girls. We had already done a resort vacation that was an expensive disaster. Of course, cruising with a baby is a much different vacation than without children, but it's still the best way to go for all the same reasons - everything is taken care of for you. I thought we'd get a lot of dirty looks, but the girls were treated like princesses by crew and passengers alike. The only negative comment I got from a passenger was "They're not even going to remember this." Obviously the point isn't for them to remember it, but for us to have a great time together, and we had the BEST time. I don't plan to travel any other way with them for many years.

 

The ports of call board here was a wonderful source of information. I learned that in Puerto Vallarta is a Sam's Club within walking distance (just follow the crew). I didn't need to go, but it's nice to know in case you forget or look like you're running out of something (diapers, bottles, medicine). As for the Krystal, I was not asked to pay an entrance fee (and I entered through the lobby), but if you check the Mexico board, you'll see that some passengers have been. Either way, it's really worth it over paying for the ship's beach excursion.

 

The ports were the only part that made it hard with the babies, but since I'd done the Mexico route a dozen times with my husband, I didn't mind missing Cabo and Mazatlan. You should be able to enjoy P.V. and Cabo without a problem. I do think Mazatlan would require a car seat, so if you're not bringing one (are you local to Los Angeles?), it might be a nice day to take advantage of the quiet pool deck.

 

Best,

Mia

[snoogiejul]

You are such a role model for your girls. It is important to get out in the world and share quality time together. I have another thread going on this message board asking about cruising with an infant and some people have been pretty rude. One made the same comment you got about babies not remembering the cruise, so why do it? He suggested my husband and I go on the cruise alone and leave our daughter home with a sitter. My husband works long hours and I am glad we are going as a family. I look forward to spending time together without the distractions of everyday life.

[CatFan00]

Any Chance of getting an update Snoogiejul? I am thinking about the exact same cruise with a 6 month old. WOuld love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

[mnmmom]

Kerry's Girls-

 

I have seen several posts that you have written about your cruising experience with your girls, and I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. I am getting ready to go on a family wedding cruise with my DH, DS (9) and DS (18 mo), and it is not a ship or itinerary I would have personally chosed for an 18 mo. I was very worried about how it would go, but I continue to remind myself that I can do this and have a ton of fun because I know that you did it with your twins by yourself. It is all in what you expect to gain from the trip! You are a very positive example of family cruising.

 

Thanks!

[snoogiejul]

Hi! We just got back from our cruise today and it was a blast! I wouldn't hesitate to do this itinerary with a 6 mos old. We went in to every port and really enjoyed it.

 

In Cabo we walked around the marina and went to the Puerto Paradiso mall, a good place to get out of the sun. After walking to get to the area of the marina with restaurants and shops. We had lunch at a nice hotel, the Marina Fiesta (name?). Every one was VERY friendly, and excited to see our baby. They even let us crash their pool. I found out about the hotel from a woman at a baby boutique in the mall. It worked out really well because most of the resorts in cabo are really spread out and we wanted to avoid taking a cab with the baby.

 

In Mazatlan we did a city tour. It was about four hours and our little one slept through the whole thing! Originally, I wanted to do a shore excursion to a Hacienda style hotel in the countryside, but the shore excursions desk told me that it wasn't a good tour to do with a baby. The tour was in a nice air conditioned motor coach. I brought my car seat but the bus didn't have seatbelts. Having the carseat was more protective than having the baby sit on my lap. I held on to the car seat by the handle, it worked out pretty well. Another bonus of having the car seat was being able to move her from the bus to the stroller without waking her up. Our driver was very good. I would recommend a tour like this, it wasn't something that we would do on our own (we'd be a lot more adventurous), but we got to see different parts of the city and we got to see a little show at the end which was a nice opp to take a feeding break.

 

In Puerto Vallarta we went to the NH Krystal hotel. I found out about the hotel on this board from Kerry's Girls. The hotel was an easy walk from the dock. We paid a $20 fee to use the resort pp, but you get that back as a credit towards food and bev perchases. I am very glad I found out about this place. It was VERY busy because I was there during spring break week but we managed to get a palapa on the beach with lounge chairs. If you decide to go to the Krystal make sure you bring a towel from the boat. It was a real pain to get towels, prob because they were so busy. I had to "rent" towels even though we were legit resort users. They were nice nonetheless. I got to do a little swimming in the ocean. We were in the shade on the beach and our little one was comfy in her pop up cabana tent. The krystal is big, they have a few different pools. We were on the beach and the pool on the beach was very crowded and noisy, on our way out we noticed a much quieter pool area which may have been better.

 

If I were to redo our port visit to PV, I would do an easy tour in the morning, similar to what we did in Mazatlan and then go to the Krystal. Most of the ships don't leave until after 10 pm in this port so there's plenty of time. It nice to see a little bit of where you are visiting.

 

The hardest part (which wasn't that bad) was the tender boats. It was a little scary getting off the tender back at the ship in cabo. There was a lot of ocean movement. We had to tender again in PV because there was already a ship docked. I decide to use the car seat/carrier and it was much easier and safer.

 

Be prepared to have your baby bombared by crew and fellow passengers. A lot of people want to say hi and touch babies. I was happy that people wanted to say hello, but I was also a little nervous about all the touching. A lot of the crew members have young children and they want to say hi because they miss their families. One crew member got teary when he asked how old our baby was and his friend reminded him that his baby is the same age. That made me a little sad.

 

One thing to consider, it was already very hot and humid in Mexico. I agree with Kerry's Girls about the imporance of sun protection. I brought a cabana tent for our baby, the "rayshade" for the stroller, a uv swimshirt, sunglasses, hats, light long sleeve t shirts and sunscreen. I really like the baby cabana (from One Step Ahead) it worked out well and I plan to get a lot of use out of it.

 

Go do it! We had a great time, it was very relaxing.