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If you are ever on a cruise to Ensenada, "Birrieria La Guadalajara" has a good reputation and serves birria de chivo. It's about a 20 minute walk from the cruise port.

Good menudo is tough to find as tripe needs to be cleaned well. I only will try menudo in restaurants where someone has specifically recommended it. I am sure I definitely agree with this perspective. We make pozole at home and it's a great anytime. For a hangover, my preference in Mexico would be to get birria assuming I was hungry.

@Pbob20 - sorry, I have no experience with cruise line air as I have always purchased it directly from the airlines. Good luck! Maybe some information in this thread might be helpful: This search on google will uncover lots of previous threads as well: https://www.google.com/search?q=cruise+critic+viking+air&oq=cruise+critic+viking+air&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRg8MgYIAhBFGDwyBggDEEUYPNIBCjExNjA0ajBqMTWoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

@mitsugirly Here is a Google search that uncovers more results. https://www.google.com/search?q=cruise+critic+dear+island&oq=cruise+critic+dear+island&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigAdIBCjE2MzY5ajBqMTWoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1

Sounds like marketing to me and the prices quoted by Viking don't mean anything. What flights have were suggested by the cruise line? My gut suggests they will simply assign you to whatever inventory they have available at the moment regardless of the actual price currently being quoted online. Good luck! Also, can you get your flight money back or are you committed to taking what they give you?

One of my favorite places to eat in PV for lunch or dinner is Barcelona Tapas. It is a bit north of the malecon up on the hill with great views of the bay. It's a very lively atmosphere and as a result would be a good place to go with kids. I doubt they have any specific tequila flights, but the proper tasting order is from light to dark - blanco/silver, joven/gold, reposado/aged, anejo/more aged. I would think any waiter could help you out if you want to try 4 drinks over lunch. Just make sure everything is 100% agave. BTW - I would make reservations in advanced as it is a popular restaurant in my experience: https://barcelonatapas.net/restaurante-puerto-vallarta/

The problem with tequila is that much of what is sold is not really pure tequila. Unless the bottle says it's 100% agave, you are drinking some deadly blended mix with probably 50% being distilled sugar cane and flavor additives. Additionally, people tend to drink tequila many times in too sweet margaritas. I prefer drinking tequila neat after dinner and not simply as a shot. If you stick with a good brand of 100% blue agave-based tequila, you will do OK. I am not saying it's as clean as vodka, but it's definitely not rock gut alcohol either.

I would take the alternate cruise - especially if you haven’t been in Cape Town and Durban previously. The opportunities for extending your cruise with a great visit to South Africa would be something I wouldn’t pass up on. You will be visiting in early fall so I think the weather should be pretty nice. It could be you will be in time for the wine harvest as well as visiting one of the game reserves and seeing the other local sites. Good luck with your decision! BTW - Are you planning on flying business class? I wouldn’t be worried with the long flight times in business class as you will be well taken care of. In economy, I would at least try and buy preferred seats with extra space.

That’s a very generous offer from Virgin Voyages in my opinion. “Hats off” to them.

@MBP&O2/O - that's a cool calculator! It certainly looks feasible to make the trip only canceling two cruises assuming there are a couple of locations along the way for refueling. I can't imagine the ship can travel 11566 nautical miles without taking on additional fuel. Since there really isn't time to make an extra port stops, I would bet that it will be done without passengers if the cruises are cancelled.

@TheShag Maybe this link can help you: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/air-new-zealand-boeing-787-business-class If this article is to believed, the first flights with the new product start in September when new aircraft are to be delivered from Boeing with retrofits to existing planes happening towards the end of the year.

It really depends on what you want to do. Just don't plan on a beach day! From the San Diego perspective I would pick October for clearer skies and sun.

That's a really good point. Lots of contracts that I delt with when working had "force majeure" exclusions. The next cruise goes from Dubai to Singapore in 14 days and the one I am interested in has 15 days to get from Civitavecchia to Dubai. Maybe 29 days is enough time to go around Africa to Singapore without port stops. Here are the cruises in question for anyone interested:

They definitely get them: Cabo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baja_California_Peninsula_hurricanes Puerto Vallarta - https://www.aol.com/weather/tropical-storm-lidia-threaten-western-153715430.html Mazatlan has fewer than the other two cities/areas

Actually. the date coincides with a milestone anniversary event for my spouse and I. That is why I was looking for something. I was also looking for an itinerary that includes places we have never been previously. This includes Dubai which is the ending port for the specific cruise as well as transiting the Suez Canal. Maybe it will become a deadhead transit without guests. I have done some more searching since and found this story: https://maritime-executive.com/article/more-cruises-cancel-red-sea-electing-to-deadhead-around-africa Since both MSC and the Royal Caribbean Group are taking this approach, it does seem that cruises in this area are indeed suspect to even happen right now.

The ship somehow needs to get from the Med to Singapore later in the year. I guess they could take it around Africa as an alternative as some of the freighters are doing. This is largely true. My only assumption is that if the cruise's ending port is changed, I would have the option to get a refund. How so? That the line will cancel it? This is actually OK by me. I really only am thinking about the airfare expense being somewhat at risk. BTW - as you can imagine, the price is really good.

What is the consensus of the CC community regarding a cruise transiting the canal and the Red Sea at this time? I see an itinerary that I like for October and wonder if it makes sense to book such a cruise at this time. It seems that at least some cruises are still making or planning to make the transit. I guess this is the time, if ever, to buy trip insurance as I am not so much worried about the cruise but of all the other items such as flights.

San Diego tends to be cloudy along the coast during May. Locals have expressions for May and June - "May Grey" and "June Gloom."

Weather would be a big one for me on the Pacific Coastal route. I would prefer the nicer weather of Mexico. What time of year are you considering?

I would bet there is almost a 100% of this being available I did the HOHO bus in Rome and can attest that the bus has a stop in front of the train station. I don't think the loop is much more than 2 hours if you actually stay on the bus for the full loop. An issue with this approach is that some, maybe most, of the key sites require walking a few blocks from the bus.

I have stayed at the Quinta Bella Huatulco both as a guest and purchased a day pass once when not staying near town. For the day pass, we simply walked up and paid something like 300 pesos a person at the front desk. All drinks and food were purchased separately and at the time (pre COVID) and everything was really nice. The Quinta Bella has two separate pools as well as a beach. Food and drink are available at the pool as well as an outdoor restaurant. Here is the link: https://www.quintabellahuatulco.com/ BTW - would say it’s about a 20 minute walk from the cruise terminal.

I never knew this. I would assume this is only for cruises arriving into the US.

You are actually referring to passing through immigration. If you see a pattern of every time you enter the country, you could be getting your name confused with someone else that the government is looking for based on a similar name and birthdate. The more common your name, the more likely this could be happening. If it happens again, simply ask the immigration officer what's going on and they will likely tell you. If it becomes super annoying or you end up spending lots of time being processed when entering the country you can apply for a "redress number" from the federal government.

You also might want to hit up Bar Andaluz for a margarita as well. It's a completely different atmosphere than Hussong's, but is definitely worth a visit too. https://www.discoverbaja.com/2021/04/30/bajas-battle-over-the-birthplace-of-the-margarita/