uwsid14

Here's what I wrote in another similar thread re: Mazatlan. Obviously, this wouldn't necessarily suit your needs, but: While my wife and older daughter did a tour (via NCL excursion), my other daughter and I took a cab to Joe's Oyster Bar and set up on the beach there. We rented a table, umbrella and four chairs on the beach for $20 (US) and then rented a jet ski from one of the guys ($90 for 30 minutes) on the beach. We also ate there (solid, but not spectacular). Good beach, good waves, good place. If that's your sort of thing, it was a solid stop. Everyone was friendly and, to me anyway, weren't looking to rip me off. Even the cab rides (along the Malecon and through historic district) were interesting.

I find that while the bars are busy, they do a pretty good job to keep up. If you're looking for quicker service, try the bar in the buffet, or in Spice H20, or many of the smaller bars whatever deck (Deck 8 is most likely) has them all -- the specialty bars ... there's even one outside on some ships. They all still serve a wide array of drink even if it's a "wine bar" or a "mojito bar."

While my wife and older daughter did a tour (via NCL excursion), my other daughter and I took a cab to Joe's Oyster Bar and set up on the beach there. We rented a table, umbrella and four chairs on the beach for $20 (US) and then rented a jet ski from one of the guys ($90 for 30 minutes) on the beach. We also ate there (solid, but not spectacular). Good beach, good waves, good place. If that's your sort of thing, it was a solid stop. Everyone was friendly and, to me anyway, weren't looking to rip me off. Even the cab rides (along the Malecon and through historic district) was interesting.

So, I just got off this cruise yesterday. Both Mazatlan and Cabo were one hour ahead of Pacific Time, and the ship's time matched. But in Puerto Vallarta, the time on land and ship's time were an hour apart, as Puerto Vallarta is on Central Time (or the Mexican equivalent), 2 hours ahead of Pacific. So, for instance, we were able to leave the ship at 7:00 ship time, but it was 8:00 PV time, etc. As I recall, we had to be back on the ship at 6:30 in PV (5:30 ship time), 5:30 in Mazatlan and 1:30 (last tender at 1:00) in Cabo, which was not great (i.e., too early).

Just got back from a cruise on the Bliss only yesterday. Cabo was the last stop and we had only from 7:30 - 1:30 in port (last tender was to have left at 1:00 p.m.), which was disappointing. Things ran pretty efficiently, but the line at 12:30 (and past 1:00) was several hundred yards long at the end of the day. It moved okay, but was very long. Obviously, had the "all-aboard time" been in the evening, it wouldn't have been like that.

FWIW, just got off the Bliss. FWIW, we all thought the buffet was excellent, with the daily (all three meals) Indian food really top notch. I thought the main dining rooms had their ups and downs. Entrées were all mostly good. Appetizers and salads, and desserts to a degree, were hit and miss. I had maybe the worst Caesar salad I've ever had and the spinach and artichoke dip is nearly tasteless (and devoid of artichoke, as best as I could tell), and our lava cakes lacked anything resembling "lava." On the other hand, I had several excellent soups and other appetizers that were quite good.