SDPadreFan

Of course you can negotiate anything you want. As far as dropoff - just tell them the Sand Bar and they will get you close.

Solomon's Landing on the marina walk is always a favorite of ours. If you can get a seat along the walkway - it is a great place to people watch cruisers walking by. Try a Damiana Margarita for a totally unique experience. It's like a Cadillac Margarita but made with a Damiana Liqueur floater instead of Grand Marnier. Solomon's Landing makes an excellent one. Another option is Captain Tony's, also on the Marina Walk. Craving some great fish and chips or sushi. The Tiki Bar on the Marina Walk excels at both.

Many videos on YouTube chronicling the hike to El Faro. No tour needed unless you really want to learn about some local plants and a little history.

Hope you have a great time. We actually leave tomorrow (Saturday morning) for our annual week (and sometimes two) at our timeshare, Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach in Cabo. Been going there every year since 2002. Even in 2020 (late Oct) and 2021 (late Oct - for 2 weeks). Was there during the bird flu scare (it was never in Cabo), and also arrived about 5 days after they managed to reopen the airport the year Hurricane Odile struck the Los Cabos area. Our timeshare thankfully had minimal damage. Also sailing on Carnival Panorama right after Thanksgiving so we'll be back there again (but for a short visit). Enough time for my wife to get a massage at her favorite place and a fantastic lunch afterwards at Gardenias Tacos (our favorite place in Cabo for fish tacos).

The Humane Society in Cabo always needs people who will take dogs out for a walk. You could probably get more information about it on the Cabo forum that the website TripAdvisor runs.

Pretty sure they are there whenever the cruise ships pull in. They work for tips so each time a crowd accumulates, they will make a dive. Another way to see them would be to go on a ship sponsored tour that includes them because when the tour stops there, they will put on a little show. It's not like the show at La Quebrada in Acapulco but it's a nice little performance. We saw that one twice on one cruise - the second one being at sunset so the later dives had fire torches and even fire rings they dove into.

You will certainly be experienced in the difference between heading south along Baja and then north. We will probably do some B2B, 7 day cruises down to the Cabo area starting in 2024/2025. We had an Eastern & Western Caribbean B2B canceled by COVID. That would have been on Carnival Magic. So we'll plan it again sometime in the future.

Should also mention. This is a great website for watching the weather in the region. Updated daily. http://www.eebmike.com/

The weather going southbound for the most part should be pretty nice. Could start out cool leaving LA in the late afternoon, but by the next day it should be really nice. While you are down in the Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta area it should be fantastic (both in port and at sea). The caveat being that no further storms/hurricanes develop down by Acapulco (they "shouldn't"). But the storms that are created during Sep/Oct tend to hug the coastline rather than head out to sea. By November, things have generally settled down and no further big storms develop. short sleeve shirts and shorts will be perfect for most occasions. IF - you are planning any evening excursions that are on the water, then you may find it cool and a light jacket (windbreaker, sweater) would be handy to have. Evening activities like the Rhythm of the Night show in Puerto Vallarta would be an example. Perfectly fine during dinner and show but could get cool on the boat ride back. Going north FROM Cabo (back to LA) is a whole different matter. From mostly smooth sailing heading down, going north from Cabo, you will be heading smack into the southbound Alaskan current and also the prevailing winds. The ride will generally be rougher. Being out on deck could be quite uncomfortable and it's not unusual for the Captain to close all weather decks to the passengers (uncovered pool areas, etc.) especially at night (but even during the day is possible as well). The blue/purple area in the below map shows how far down the cold water has reached as of yesterday. By next March/April, that cold water will have reached all the way down to Cabo before slowly receding northward again. The air temps will still be fine for the most part however. Hope you have a great time! We'll be down at our timeshare in Cabo next Saturday (Oct 22). We are also going down on Carnival Panorama for a 7 day cruise right after Thanksgiving.

Mexico is in the process of getting rid of the FMM. It was common to fill one out when flying to Mexico's tourist cities (Cabo, PV, Mazatlan, Cancun, etc). But it is no longer required as Mexico phases them out. The procedure now is that visitors going through immigration control in tourist airports will have their passports stamped and an exit date hand written on the stamp. The exit date is 180 days out from first entry. Cruisers never had to worry about this issue as their stop was always brief. Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about the FMM. But always a good idea to carry at least one form of ID along with your ship ID card. Drivers License or photo copy of passport generally works.

We will have 9 hours in port. With our 7 city itinerary, the minimum time in each city will be 9 hours.

The IKEA one can easily hold 2 plates, silverware, as well as at least 2 of Carnivals small plastic drink cup. Might have to make a second trip for desert though.

You may see them from the ship but they will mostly be at a distance. To get closer there are different options. Everything from a small high speed boat like Ocean Riders, to a larger catamaran like Pez Gato (our favorite), To a private party/small group sail boat charter. I took this picture on the Pez Gato catamaran in Feb 2008. This is a high speed Ocean Rider boat. You sit in a padded saddle. Did this in March 2007.

The whales generally arrive in numbers in December and are around until sometime in April. I've done whale watching in late April and got nothing but a nice day out on the water in a small boat. But March - they should still be around. In February - it is awesome. End of March Sea lion colony was also out on their rock by the Arch February whale shots Took these in 2007 & 2008 with a point and shoot camera. Got very lucky.

We use these at home and they are great + lightweight. These are like tupperware tough. And cheap! https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/smula-tray-clear-40041131/ They can be a little slick so we also use a layer of this to keep things from sliding around. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DQB1Z2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You certainly don't need a 20' roll of this, but the 12" width is about right. Only trimmed a little to fit (width). I just weighed one and it comes in at 1 pound.

I hate it when that happens!

You should prep your older family members, that after leaving Cabo San Lucas on Dec 22nd, the ride will get noticeably worse as you head home directly into the southbound Alaskan currents and winds. By that evening - being out on the open decks will probably be no fun at all. Nothing wrong, completely normal - just the nature of cruising the Mexican Riviera. Enjoy the outside of the ship the first 5 days. The last day & a half is a good time to enjoy the interior. The whales will be in Cabo in December as well as Puerto Vallarta so hopefully you'll be able to take a whale watching tour. My preference is Cabo for whale watching.

I believe the main issue requiring the dry dock is to fix one (or more) of the side thrusters. With those not working properly, the ship has to go old school and use tugs to dock and then to get underway as well. I doubt much else will happen other than new paint here and there.

Here is where the ship should pull in. To the right a short distance is the Fort I mentioned earlier (short walk). To the left is the Malecon and the nice Zócalo de Acapulco (pictures in earlier post). There will be shopping and restaurants in that area. The resorts and beach bars/restaurants are further away and would require a cab. https://goo.gl/maps/gwbvYzSPY57JWg5n7 Also on the map is the fameous La Quebrada Cliffs where you can see the cliff divers. We watched them from the Mirador La Quebrada Hotel (google shows it as temporarily closed). Here is their website. La Perla is the restaurant we had dinner at and watched the cliff divers. https://www.miradoracapulco.com/en/ La Quebrada is a short cab ride from the ship through some neighborhoods. Not walkable as it is a steep hike uphill to the cliff area. You don't have to do the restaurant. There is also a public viewing area with great views. I believe there was a small charge to access the viewing area. After the show - the divers will swim across and climb the rocks to the viewing area to collect tips.

The Kraken was available on our June cruise. That's my preferred and what I stock at home. Easy (for most) to bring a 12 pack of coke onboard. Then just get a rum on the rocks (or straight) and add it to your own Coke.

A little off topic, but wondering if you can use the AARP cards to pay off Fly2Fun. I have used them to pay for CHEERS, excursions, etc but never tried using them for FLY2Fun. Cruise is already fully paid for so the only thing currently due is our Fly2Fun charges on the outstanding balance.

It's not frigid, just not bath water warm. I would guess in the range of 65f to as high as 72f.

There really isn't much to Lovers Beach. It's a very small beach between the huge rocks. On the other side of the rocks is another small beach called Divorce Beach (so called because of a near constant rip tide). Very dangerous on that side. Not unusual to lose a couple of tourists each year. Regardless - as I said, there is really nothing there. No services, no bathrooms, just a little sand.

This is a very useful chart/map. It shows current ocean surface temps. See that blue/purple colored area - that's the Alaskan current migrating southward. It will continue it's southward trek (generally terminating around Cabo in mid April and then slowly start receding northward. Surprisingly - that's also when the whales head home to Alaska. Fun time and play is over and it's time to put on the feed bag up in Alaska until the next Fall when they start heading south again. So May/June is surprisingly the coldest ocean temps in the Cabo area. The air temps are certainly hot, but not the water.

At least in Cabo - the humidity "usually" breaks in late October to early November. Watch the hurricane storm tracks, they generally form around Acapulco and cruise up the coast. If the bigger storms are done (Tropical Storm and above), then generally the humidity will subside further up the coast, but this is not an absolute, just the historical trend we have experienced over 20 years of going to Cabo (mostly in very late October).