Diamond Princess and Mexican cruise

[bingobeach]

Love to hear from people that have done this cruise...never been on the Pacific or on a Princess ship. Is it as calm as the Caribbean in March? Any advice or experiences you would like to share such as shore excursions...or rooms?...we are just looking at the cheapest balconies. It has been a crappy summer in Ontario, so 6 of us(adults) are looking at this cruise or the South Caribbean on the Golden Princess. Please take the time to share and one lucky contributor will win a spot in heaven.

[bcs819]

The Diamond is doing Alaska right now and will not be back on the Riviera until the end of September. You might get more info if you do a search and see the few reviews from when the Diamond was in Mexico in the spring. I will be on the Diamond 9/25 doing the Riviera and will post a review when we return, but that will be October.

Best of luck to you in your decision...

[GayleErmer]

Bingo,

 

My husband and I did a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Diamond Princess in March. The link to my review is posted below. Hope this helps!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=3790

 

Gayle

[elliair]

We've been to Mexican Riveria several times but only on the Carnivorous (Carnival) the "meat-fleet," line. I will say, the cruise line you choose will be the deciding factor. You are on the ship more than you are on land. We are going in January, and we picked Princess because they limit the number of children on board, and our TA recommended Princess after I told her of our bad experience with Carnival. There's something to do in every port. We found a resort in Matzalan that had access to beaches and a pool with a swim to bar, and a restaurant. We were the only ones there, and the charge was $5.00 per person for the whole day. BEWARE! If you decide to go to an out-of-the-way place, be sure to hire a driver for the whole day! One couple took a taxi to this resort, but the taxi wouldn't return to pick them up. They hitched a ride with us to the next town they were staying in. If you feel like sitting through an hour of time-share advertising, some resorts offer free lunch and use of their facilities for the day. Some even offer $$$$ Not my idea of fun, but my son, his girlfriend and mother went and they had a great time.

 

 

I'm looking forward to being on the Diamond in January. Good luck.

[srphnx]

I have sailed this route a lot and have one Diamond sailing there already and two more coming this year. The waters are generally calm, very little weather in general. It isn't quite as vibrant a color (colour) as the Carribean and the ports not as exotic but it is consistantly warm and sunny and relaxing.

 

Common activiites ashore are shopping, beach time and fishing, just LIKE the Carribean. A balcony is not mandatory as most of the time the ship is well off shore and there isn't a great deal to see on the coast line but do as you wish on that point.

Diamond is an amazing ship, even if she never ported at all it would be well worth the sail.

Steve

[Lynda90]

Bingo,

 

My husband and I did a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Diamond Princess in March. The link to my review is posted below. Hope this helps!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=3790

 

Gayle

Gayle,

 

Thanks for referring us to your review. I will be going on the cruise in November and really enjoyed your in-depth review pointing out the positive as well as a few negatives. I can't wait to go. Thanks again.

[bingobeach]

Read the reviews on CruiseCritic and another inferior board...what about cabins aft and for....thanks for taking the time folks...any other excursion recommendations...and what is about the lack of privacy on balconies...how can they not have ceilings?

[1cruiselvr]

If I had a choice between Caribbean or Mexico Riveria I woud take the Caribbean, no contest. Many who come west to Mexico expecting another Caribbean are disappointed. It's really not the same. So do your research and make sure that Mexico is what you want.

Happy Sailing!

[gopher's girl]

Steve (srphnx) - I read that you believe a balcony is not mandatory, and you are making good points that the water is not the same as in the Caribbean - I wanted to know what you would book, especially since saving $600 might be a good thing to do at that time of year. I picked out a mid/aft-ish cabin with a balcony (regular room/not a suite) because of the balcony, then I came home and researched the weather to find out that it might be a little chilly on the first and last days of the trip (January)... I would love to justify the extra expense by saying that I stare at 4 gray cubicle walls the rest of the year, but need to ask myself if I really need the balcony. Right now the oceanview rooms are not much cheaper than the balcony, so they're really not an option.

 

Anyone else with some ideas is welcome to respond of course. Thanks for your help!

[elliair]

Gopher's Girl: We've never had a balcony because we couldn't justify the extra money ($150+) in cruises past. However, the last cruise we were on, my daughter and my sister both had balconies and I must say, they were nice. So when we booked this upcoming cruise, the difference between an ocean view window and a balcony, was minimal. I hear pros and cons on this board about balconies or not. I want the experience just to see firsthand if I'll ever go back to a window versus a door that opens up to a balcony. I like taking the taste test myself.:p

 

P.S. The first and last days of the Mexican Riveria cruise in January is a little chilly. We take a light-weight sweatshirt and long pants to change in to. Also, coming out of Cabo can be very windy. One cruise on the Elation, they made everyone leave the upper decks due to the wind.

[srphnx]

Steve (srphnx) - I read that you believe a balcony is not mandatory' date=' and you are making good points that the water is not the same as in the Caribbean - I wanted to know what you would book, especially since saving $600 might be a good thing to do at that time of year. I picked out a mid/aft-ish cabin with a balcony (regular room/not a suite) because of the balcony, then I came home and researched the weather to find out that it might be a little chilly on the first and last days of the trip (January)... I would love to justify the extra expense by saying that I stare at 4 gray cubicle walls the rest of the year, but need to ask myself if I really need the balcony. Right now the oceanview rooms are not much cheaper than the balcony, so they're really not an option.

 

Anyone else with some ideas is welcome to respond of course. Thanks for your help![/quote']

I agree that at the moment balcony cabins are only about $200 more than outsides in Jan. $400 more than insides. Our back to back in Dec has balconies at $500 more than our unobstructed outside so that is an easy call.

Here is a rationale for your balcony if you want a good one.. it is an "excusion" you can use day and night for a week. That cruise doesn't have any really spectacular excusions that are MUST do's so have yours attached to your cabin. If prices were different I would even think about it and $200 is money, but if you want ok. I see people do things that make less sense all the time.

[bingobeach]

Cruislvr...the six of us have done Caribbean...thanks for the comparison though. We are looking at mid-March so how is the weather then folks...and what about placement of balconies...we are definitely all balcony people...as long as it is not too cool...but being Canadians that could be anything over 60 EH

[nho9504]

If I had a choice between Caribbean or Mexico Riveria I woud take the Caribbean, no contest. Many who come west to Mexico expecting another Caribbean are disappointed. It's really not the same. So do your research and make sure that Mexico is what you want.

Happy Sailing!

 

Oh no, dont tell me that ! :( We have never done Mexico, therefore, we dedice to do it and with Diamond such a beautiful ship. Living in Ft. Lauderdale, we could cruise the caribbean ever so conveniently ... yet we chose to fly to LA to do the Mexican Riviera ?!

 

Truth be told, we know the water at Pacific side has no comparison to the water in Caribbean. We just want to at least visit Baja and Sea of Cortez once. Therefore we are picky on the ship on this itin ! :)

[catmand]

Read the reviews on CruiseCritic and another inferior board...what about cabins aft and for....thanks for taking the time folks...any other excursion recommendations...and what is about the lack of privacy on balconies...how can they not have ceilings?

The Princess ships have been described as "wedding cake" style. If you notice the decks narrow as they go up. The balcony on the lower decks then, are exposed (open, no top) some are half open, half covered (on the carribe deck) and others still as you go higher are completly covered (the aloha deck). We had a covered one on Star and I could look down on the balcony's below. We will have one one Carribe deck next. I did not like being covered, couldn't get much sum but most of all I couldn't look up and see the night sky. Also, although I could look down on the other's there really wasn't anything I cared to see!...:D

 

We went out of San Francisco last March. The first 2 days were chilly but clear. When we got south of LA area it did warm up. The Mexician ports were in the low 80's not humid at all. We went on a horseback ride for several hours in Mazatlan and were very comfortable in shirtsleeves. I have been tracking the current weather as we will be going back in 37 days. I don't think I would care to get on a horse in this weather, all in the 90's.

 

March is a great time to go and if you sail out of the LA area you should have nice weather the entire trip.

[1cruiselvr]

Don't worry, you will have a good time on the Diamond and in Mexico. I was just trying to let travelers know that the Pacific Ocean as well as Mexico is not the same experience as the Caribbean. Believe or not, some don't realize it's not the same vacation, but I'm sure you will enjoy the difference as long as you are aware of it. We personally enjoy both vacation spots.

Happy Sailing!

[jrtmouse]

I've done the Mexican Riviera 3 times, mainly because all we have to do is drive 6 hours to LA to get on the ship. In Mexico, we normally find a van as there are quite a few of us and ask the driver to show us what he thinks would interest us as visitors. We've found it to be well worth our money. They drive us around for hours, showing us the streets of Mexico where people are living, the shopping spots, etc. I think we've paid anywhre from $50 a vanload (7 people) to $20 a person, both VERY WORTH the money.

 

A few points of interest -

 

Puerto Vallarta - Hotel de mismaloya is a very nice drive and has a great view. There is a little market downtown that stretches from one side of town to the other and goes under this bridge. That's kind of fun. There's also this restaurant that is located on a river. I don't remember the name but we just went to walk around the rocks and take some very cool pics.

 

Mazatlan - one time we went to Stone Island and did the horse thing with Randi. That was a blast.

 

Cabo San Lucas - There is a neat glass blowing factory right outside of the main city.

 

FYI - There is a WalMart and Costco in Cabo San Lucas. You must check that out. That is a trip! There is a Sam's Club in Mazatlan.

 

That's all I can think of at the moment. It's too early in the morning.

 

I do try and buy some vanilla each time. It's a great price...and I'm not talking about going to Costco there and buying it either! :-)

 

As far as sailing on the Pacific, I couldn't tell you how it differs from the Caribbean as I've yet to do that yet. But I will tell you that for the most part, it was very smooth sailing on the Star Princess. I would imagine that it would be very similar on the Diamond.

[Lynda90]

Given a choice of the two, I would take the Caribbean. However, living on the west coast, LA is a much easier trip than FLL for me. To get to FLL from Portland, OR it's really an all day trip there and back and I guess I'm not willing to do that anymore. Since I've been to the Caribbean a few times, I now stick with what's closest. That means cruising to either Mexico or Alaska. Since I love cruising in general, I don't really care where I go as long as I go. The Diamond is an absolutely beautiful ship and you will love it. Was on it to Alaska in May and will be on it again in November doing the Mexican Riviera. Regarding a balcony, once I had one, I can never go back. Nothing more beautiful than waking up in the morning, putting on a comfy robe and drinking coffee out on the balcony. Now that's living.

[cruisetoscrap]

this may not be the right place to post but...

 

we are going on the Diamond to the Mexican Riviera in Feb. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the BF rooms on the Baja deck? I was also wondering if anyone can share more info. about the on ship activities especially the pottery classes that are listed in the brochure.

[paradise4ever]

You will enjoy the mexican riviera as the ports of call are great. I've been on this cruise 3 times and love it evey time. We are going again in Nov. Next year we are doing the 10 day out of San Diego. same ports but adding Acapulco and Ixtapa. Plan on having lots of fun. We also go to PV every other year and love that city. Lots to see and great food all around. enjoy

[agreene]

I am booked on a March cruise on this ship and I am so excited. I have been all over the Caribbean and wanted to try something different. The Diamond looks like a beautiful ship and I loved going on the Grand. I think there is something to say about variety in traveling and some of the ports sound very interesting.

[dalwhitt]

GayleErmer,

 

Thanks for the detailed review. My wife is from Grand Rapids. I worked at the Press for several years back in the 70s and 80s. We are sailing on Sapphire Princess Nov. 2005, which is identical to Diamond, so your review comes in handy.