Lots of Questions

[PCruzer]

Although my husband and I have been on many cruises, this is the first time we are cruising the Mexican Riviera/Sea of Cortez (on Holland America's Ryndam in February). We are not sure what the best plan of action would be for us. We are looking forward to seeing lots of Colonial architecture & cobblestone streets. We usually don't like shore excursions but are thinking that this might be the way to go in some of the ports. I know that we are going to do the Copper Canyon excursion, even if it is a very long day! Not sure what to do in Puerto Vallarta - We want to do at least 1 whale watching excursion. Is this the place to do that? Also, does PV have docking facilities or do you tender in? Can you walk to the downtown area or do you need to take a cab? What about Mazatlan? I heard that this a a wonderful old Mexican town with lots of beautiful buildings. Does the ship dock or tender? Is the downtown walkable? In Loreto our ship offers a walking tour. Is this something we could do on our own with a guidebook? We are also going to La Paz. I read that this is not a particularly beautiful city. We thought of doing a ship excursion from here to Todos Santos. It sounds lovely with lots of nice things to see and many artisans selling their wares. Has anyone done this excursion? Our last stop is Cabo San Lucas. The ship offers a coastal cruise/whale watch from here. Maybe this is the place to do that? I see from this forum that lots of people book private tours and don't do the ship tours. How safe is this to do? We are always worried about not returning to the ship in time. Guess we just need to hear from others about what they did in port on this cruise itinerary. Thanks for your help!

[PACURN]

We did this cruise a few years ago over New Years. None of the ports are tender ports. In Mazatlan we went to Copala, a quaint town with cobbled stone streets. It was great other than the fact I was nursing a hangover. It was New Years Day. PV we went with PV Adventures and did a tour thru the forest and countryside ending up at San Francisco beach. A BBQ lunch was served and it was great. Cabo we did a snorkeling tour and then we hired a pedicab and he took us all around town.

At that time I booked my tours through the ship because I had not discovered this wonderful sight. I never book through the ship anymore. I have always had good luck with the tours I have picked. They are less crowed than the ship tours and way more personal. Ship tours are cattle herds. This forum is a great source of information. I have learned so much from it. Check out the treads for the ports you will be visiting and you will find things to do. Cabo will be a great spot for whale watching. We saw whales on the snorkeling tour so that was an added bonus.

Anyway I don't think I answered all of your ??'s but hope I helped a little. Good luck.

[PCruzer]

Thanks for the info. I think I will get a guidebook for the area and just read up on it. I think that we don't want to be tied down to a shore excursion in every port. Some ports we would just like to explore on our own. You are absolutely right about some ship shore excursions being like a cattle herd. It's one of the reasons we just don't like them. We have always been unsure about booking something that is not ship-sponsored, though. Maybe this trip we will try it. Thanks again.

[solita]

Although my husband and I have been on many cruises, this is the first time we are cruising the Mexican Riviera/Sea of Cortez (on Holland America's Ryndam in February). We are not sure what the best plan of action would be for us. We are looking forward to seeing lots of Colonial architecture & cobblestone streets.

We are also going to La Paz. I read that this is not a particularly beautiful city. We thought of doing a ship excursion from here to Todos Santos. It sounds lovely with lots of nice things to see and many artisans selling their wares. Has anyone done this excursion?

 

This is an excellant choice in my opinion. When you mentioned what you were looking for as far as architecture and streets...Todos Santos fits the bill. It is a very small town full of history, arts and culture.

 

Our last stop is Cabo San Lucas. The ship offers a coastal cruise/whale watch from here. Maybe this is the place to do that? I see from this forum that lots of people book private tours and don't do the ship tours. How safe is this to do? We are always worried about not returning to the ship in time. Guess we just need to hear from others about what they did in port on this cruise itinerary. Thanks for your help!

 

Cabo has the best whale watching in the Riveria in my opinion also. Whale watching season is best from the end of November to the end of March. My suggestion is to book a tour on a Zodiac boat. They are fast (to get to the spot where a whale is sighted) and have quiet outboards (so not to scare the whales). I suggest using Cabo Expeditions to book your tour. Since you are coming on Holland, you can book directly through the company since they do not work with Holland. You can check out more info at: http://www.caboexpeditions.com.mx By the way...we saw the first whale yesterday! FABULOUS!!!!

[househunter]

Cabo is defiantly a tender port! We did this cruise in April of this year and loved La Paz. We went specifially to see Loreto but were not impressed at all. We go to Cabo at least once a year on a land trip and are going to spend a few night before or after in La Paz. The beaches were great! I will agree that Cabo is the best place for whale watching.