pulledporky

See Riff's comments above. About the same for us.

Absolutely love PV. Perfectly happy walking the Malecon and old town.

In Mazatlan after the blue-line walk we'll grab a pulmonia for a quick 30 minute putt around town then get dropped off at the water taxi. Take it to Stone Island and walk down to Lety's for a shrimp lunch.

Cabo? meh. Desert meets the surf, it's just not our thing. We will indulge on beers and tacos tho.

There is no worst part.

Assuming the new canal is opened, that would be a nice relocation cruise. We sailed the Miracle when it moved to Long Beach replacing the Splendor, be fun to sail the Splendor back to California replacing the Miracle. Kind of a full circle thing.

Deck 8 is right underneath the lido deck, I'd pass on that if I had a choice.

Looks like a muster drill back in the day when you were suppose to wear your life jacket (and DON'T put the whistle in your mouth)

The windows aren't the typical church iconography you'd expect. They will have you asking why and how?

OK. I didn't notice anything special about them last time there. Going back in February, I'll look closer!

....and that's a $250 shareholder OBC also!!:)

I first saw this adventure Thursday evening I think. Nearly all afts and the corners were available. Great, I'll talk over with wife. Looked again Friday and nadda, poof, all gone. Bummer. Checked again Saturday night and there was a single aft opening just begging for me to push the button on.....:D

I kind of like spending my kids inheritance.

Ok, so we are always posting warnings about buying vanilla in Mexico...since a lot of the stuff sold is not even real. But if you truly want to explore the real vanilla options (or buy real beans) we can recommend a small shop in Puerto Vallarta called La Casa de La Vainilla.

 

If you ask the owner about fake vanilla in Mexico....you may get a real ear full (and not of vanilla).

 

Hank

Yep, this is the place. We stop here every time we're in town. Easy to get to, very near the flea market. It's a vanilla shop, not a trinket shop that happens to sell something called "vanilla". As mentioned, vanilla beans are readily available also.

There's a neat old leather shop right around the corner also.

......

 

Mazatlan has a beautiful church with a very interesting history (the answer is in the windows) across from the mercado.

 

.....

OK, I'm interested. Where is the question?

We have done this twice so far.

 

My husband and I jointly own 100 shares of Carnival stock. We booked two different cruises with DH and friend in one cabin and friend's wife and me in another cabin. Since we had different booking numbers, we each submitted for Stockholder obc and we each received Stockholder obc.

 

Upon embarkation we all met at Guest Services and had our S&S cards reprogrammed so the right spouses shared cabins. My husband's obc remained on his S&S account.

^^ this ^^

Not sure about the "cheating" comment. It's Carnival's program, just follow their rules.

As far as the value as an investment, everyone's situation is a little different. We bought at $22 and have easily recouped that amount as OBC and dividends. I'm sure there's some that bought it just for the OBC and then lost that on a down-turn.

OP,

Lots of good suggestions, BUT, don't waste your time with Guy's or the Mongolian wok. That "ain't happenin" on the Miracle.

Go throw your stuff in your cabin (the bulkhead doors may be closed but it's OK to open them, there will be signs posted accordingly).

If you're picky about your MDR assignment, go there and talk to whoever is manning the podium; first come first serve. (Sometimes the MDR doors are closed until about 2PM)

Time for lunch. You could hit the deli before the line gets long, same with Chopstix, both on the port side. Good salad bar on the Miracle, pizza is good. Swing by Taste of the Nations and see what they're serving that day. Or go to the deli and get a pastrami on rye, then go to the burger grill and get a burger patty with cheese and you got yourself a pretty decent pastrami burger.

My MO is to drop off the luggage, call room service and get a big bucket of ice delivered, then go get a burger and chicken strips from the grill.

Sure wish I was hearing that "DONG" sound right now.

Deck 4 aft. Full balcony cover, great views although noisy when moving, and recessed so they are a bit larger. A laundromat back there, plus access to the two staircases that take you down to deck 3.

 

Win win win.

Yep to all the above. Also has a nearly vertical railing which gives you use of the entire deck (deck 5+ has a slanted railing pushing you back a couple of feet). The noise is more of a white noise, which we enjoy. I guess you trade the one deck up to the lido for one deck down to the MDR.

We've had a spirit class deck 4 aft probably 10 times (including wraps). Absolute favorite.

The dividers DO open on the Spirit class aft balconies but the one time I requested to have it opened I was told they could not due to fire restrictions. Ok.....

They will open them when they do their weekly balcony "wash".

Between the Miracle, Pride, and the Spirit I've stayed in all of the deck 4 aft (and wraps) on a Spirit class ship. All four center cabins are identical. The deck 4 wraps are maybe the best cabins in the fleet. Deck 4 has deeper aft balconies and a full overhang over head.

Yeah, really consider Rhythm's of the Night if you haven't already. Perfect excursion with (grand)parents and kids. Nice dinner included. Get you back to the ship about 11PM.

My google maps does not show any letter designations. But, coming into the harbor, on your left, the big thick dock. Zoom in and you should see some shade structures in the middle of the dock.. I think there's a Diamonds International under the cover. Looking at it from the satellite image, they pull around to the left side to dock.

Oh wait, I see the letter designations....but it's none of those. It's marked Muelle Principal, east of "N Dock".

Anyone know how they get the flag on and off the flagpole? Do they have to access your the Deck 4 cabin to do it? Sorry, if this is a stupid question but my brain keeps asking it and I'm trying to shut it up.

No, they handle it from deck three.

.... it's only the best cabin on the whole freakin' ship!:rolleyes::p:D)

The best cabins in the FLEET!!

As far as the prop wash, it's a "white noise". Very relaxing.

As stated above, the flag is presented only when in port, at sea it is taken down.

Spirit class deck 4 aft cabins are our favorite, stayed in one at least 10 times. Our first aft cabin was on the Pride back when it was on the west coast, a few years ago.....

Laundry room across hall on the port corner. Also an external stairwell right off the corners leading down to deck three. One flight of stairs down to the upper dining room, and elevators to aft lido right around the corner. And no hallway traffic. Balcony has a full overhang above and the most useable balcony space (railings are nearly vertical). If you like balcony time you should love your cabin selection.

I don't recall seeing a lot of swimmers off the Malecon until you get near the south end by the new pier, and based on what you are looking for, this is where you want to go. Lot's of beach-side restaurant's have chairs and umbrellas on the beach for their customers to use. So find an area you like (look for happy people), sit down and order up a couple of drinks and something to munch on. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back, you don't want to miss ROTN.

Pulledporkey...we have done the Mexican Riviera quite a few times, but have never had an overnight there until now. We have booked the Rhythm of the Night excursion and would love to have your input on it. Is it very casual...shorts, capris, etc."? How is the boat trip over and back? I'm not sure what weather to expect in April, as we have never sailed at that time. I would appreciate any answers or input you can share. Thanks!

Sure. It is very casual, shorts are fine; same thing you'd wear walking down the Malecon. (You might pack a light sweater or something for the ride back that evening)

When we got off the ship, the excursion meeting point was right there. There will be different groups (maybe 30 people to a group) herded over to the excursion boats (right behind the cruise ship). The ride over to ROTN was about 45 minutes. Open bar over and back if you want. My wife got a little ill going over, but that's normal for her. It was dark when we arrived, the area is very dramatic with all the fire lit torches. When we arrived they asked if we wanted a private table or added to a group. We asked for a private table and were offered a table right on the beach. Very good service, nice buffet, and again an open bar. After maybe an hour we moved to the amphitheater and watched the show. Keep your eyes open, there are characters climbing all over the place before the show. On the ride back the crew does a comedy lip-synch routine for entertainment. I think it was about 11:30 when we returned to the port. A great time.

The ship is open all night so you could go back into town if you wanted.

Any other questions just ask.

Both ports have pluses and minuses. Neither is a mistake.

We've done both. We really enjoyed the overnight in PV, allowed us to see Rhythm of the Nights. But we really love Mazatlan also.

PV we'll take the bus down to Old Town, have lunch near the pier and then work our way back up the Malecon. Usually grab a taxi back. Great time to be had.

Mazatlan we'll walk across the street and follow the blue line into town. Mill around the Church, over to the Mercado, then grab a pulmonia back to the water taxi. Across to Stone Island for lunch at Lety's and an afternoon with our toes in the sand.

It's all in what YOU want to do. We've done the Riviera cruise many times and we've done all the excursion etc we want. Now we prefer just to kick around, maybe walk down some streets we haven't been on before (always staying in the "right" area), finding good eats, and of course cold beverages.

Lety's is just about the last restaraunt. Victor's is next, I think that's about the end. Maybe a 10 minute walk from the water taxi dock.

Walk out the terminal, turn left and walk to the end of the street where you'll veer left on a gravel road about a hundred yards long. I'd guess the pangas are about 18ft? I've never seen a line, maybe one or two other folks waiting on either side.

Several years ago we took an excursion now called Offroad Adventure. From the ship they loaded us up in a zodiac and went across the marina to their (Vallarta Adventures) storefront. We loaded into several unimogs then drove north of town a ways, stopping at a small town (see the plaza, church, tortilla factory, etc) then up into the jungle (guide in Costa Rica said these are actually forests, not jungles....whatever). There we took about a 1 hour walk through the jungle with a nature type guide. Loaded up again and stopped at "Maria's" house in some small mountain village; watched her make tortillas and ate bean tacos. Next stop was a private beach area with an excellent bbq buffet lunch with open bar.

Our jungle guide was a young gal from Michigan or Iowa who graduated with a degree in botany. She took a week vacation in PV and was still there two years later - good plan.

We love the Malecon and the south side as much as anybody, but this excursion was a great way to see the "less touristy" side of the PV area. Go to Vallarta Adventures website and look for Offroad Adventure. As it is quite a ways out of town I highly recommend you book this thru Carnival if offered.

Your ROTN excursion will also give you an opportunity to explore some jungle. When we did this it was dark when we arrived so we didn't get to explore much. Your 4:30 arrival will be early enough to see some trees.

In this case do the Rhytm of the nights. It is a nice boatride to get there, food is good, the show and the location very special.

Agree 100%.

PV overnighters are kind of rare, so if you have a chance to do ROTN, do it.

USD is universally accepted in Mazatlan. We were there last spring and Lety's (on Stone Island) had a very fair exchange rate. There is a cambio in the shopping area of the cruise terminal if you want to get pesos (about half way thru on the left as you're walking out).