pulledporky

I'm traveling with a 3 year old AND tendering in Cabo (which can be pretty bad from what I've read on here). This will be our first cruise, but I'm quite certain that FTTF will be worth it for us.

I think your needs get the most bang out of the FTTF program, good call for getting it!

The Cabo tender is quite often a mess with folks waiting 2 hours or more to be called. If they drop anchor around 7AM and you already have your tender sticker you can get off quickly, but by 9AM it is backed up.

Our next visit to Cabo has a 10AM arrival time - almost everyone will be ready to get off the boat. Being platinum we just go to GS when we are ready and they escort us down a crew stairway to the loading area. Should work the same for you. (VERY steep stairway so hang on to the little one. ....Maybe they did have an elevator, there were 4 in our group and they asked if we could all use the stairs and we were all fine with it.)

It has the appearance of a "cart" with a canopy top by design. I know they serve pepper pot soup one night and that is available in the MDR (or used to be).

OP, there's nothing unclassy or cheesy about it, it's a nice offering. And other the the $5 "paired" drink no one is selling anything. Give it a try.

I can share my experience from three years ago....

When you get off the boat they will shuttle you through the dock area to a tourist terminal. Walk thru that out to the gate and pulmonias are lined up down the block. Driver came to us and said $20 an hour or $50 for the "three hour tour". Sounded good so we hopped in. Welllll, that's about all the English he spoke, so he did a lot of pointing. Took us around town, hotel zone, shrimp market, then to a walmart to get some "supplies".

We had him drop us off at the water taxi terminal near the cruise ship and handed him $60. About $3 for the water taxi over to stone island, and spent rest of the day at Victor's.

Now, because of the absence of most cruise ships for the last few years I can't speak to the current supply of pulmonia's. As mentioned, if you can find a recommendation for a good English speaking driver, I'd certainly try to contact them ahead of time.

........ more reasons to choose deck 4.

 

........

Full overhang to keep the weather and sun off the deck

Nearly verticle rail provides more useable deck space

One flight stairs down to MDR doors

Aft elevator empties out between the Serenity deck and the buffet area

4228 and 4237 - best cabins in the fleet.

Wouldn't hesitate for a minute to take the bus. Remember tourism is the bread and butter in Cabo, there is nothing else. They don't want any "bad marks". Can you be taken advantage of? Sure, so party responsibly when out on the town.

You can easily see the town in one day, adding several excursions might take another day. Lots of great places to eat so don't rule out more than one bus ride.

Deck 4 vista suite has the largest usable balcony. also has full overhang for the most shade.

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Can't use a gift card at Bon Voyage, she said credit or debit only. Too bad.

Sweet and sour shrimp first night is pretty good

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Only you can decide on which ship. But looking at the itineraries I'd go with Carnival. A full 12 hours in PV then Two sea days, one day to party then another to ramp down a bit.

We're not big on Cabo either. Was real happy to see Mazatlan back on the schedule.

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Ranchos sounds familiar. They live on Mark.

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Our Feb. 21, 2015 Miracle cruise still shows 2 Cabo days and 1 Puerto Vallarta day.

One day in Cabo is plenty for us, really glad to see Mazatlan.

My sister lives in Madera, actually east of town near 41.

February aft wrap on the Miracle!!! Can't wait to sit on the beach at Victor's.

Any suggestions for souvenirs? Would also appreciate prices that can be remembered. I like to get magnets, shot glasses, plates with the location, among others.

There is a flea market 10 minutes away, there is one 5 minutes away, and there is one as soon as you get off the tender dock. Go past the first one, and right next to Sr Frogs is a large souveniere market with big roll up walls. Walk thru, see what you like and note the prices. This shop is fixed pricing. Now if you like to dicker, go to one of the thousands of stands scattered around and you'll know what it can be bought for. I'm guessing it's mostly chinese stuff, but there are local artisans. Most of the trinket stuff goes from $1 to $5 ea. Not sure how much the hand painted paltes are.

Tip: find Tacos Gus. It's back in town a little (very walkable). Order a carne asada torta and a pineapple fruit juice drink.

It's on the south side of the road, few blocks in from the beach. Has a small footprint so keep your eyes open. You can go to google maps, put in the address and see where it's at. Use the street view and you can "drive by". Use the link in the previous post to get the address.

There's a small bakery a block or two away, same side of the road, that makes a great coconut cheese-cake.

Not sure, every time we have sailed we had to go to Guest Services on the ship to get them punched.

I like to think of it as I GET to go to guest services. Let's see... would I rather be sitting at my desk or going to guest services.....hmmmmm :)

Keep in mind the bottles from Bon voyage are 1 liter, not the standard 750 ml.

They are actually 1.14 litres - printed on the bottle (skyy vodka on the Miracle about 5 weeks ago). I thought that an odd number then I saw where Canadians (I think) could bring back 1.14 l duty free, or something like that.

As mentioned above, the raisen french toast at the MDR breakfast is very good. I wonder if you can get it at the brunch if you ask?

Yes, you can. You can also order an omelette with a side of holindaise sauce.

If you enjoy balconies, the 4th floor is the best. It is also the best value room in the fleet (for suites).

Absolutely the best. HUGE balcony. Full overhang.

This was explained to me when I filled out the OBC form and it was denied:

When you book on-board it is not early saver promotion. You can tell the guy you want early saver and he may say "OK", but it doesn't happen. The price was the same as early saver so I thought nothing of it.

I think it's called the "welcome back" promotion.

That said, my PVP got his manager to switch me to Early Saver and keep the OBC without much problem.

 

I was thinking a burger with a fried egg would be good, but then I checked and saw they're not available at the same time.

Yep you can, done it several times. Go to the late risers buffet, they also make omelettes there. Order a fried egg and get several pieces of bacon. Take that to the burger grill and order a burger. Pile it all together, mmmmm. A real narrow time window for this so you gotta be ready.

Another thing I like is to order a burger with no meat. Slide down and pile several chicken strips on the bun. Great chicken sandwich with honey mustard.

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Haven't seen them this year or last year stacked up on the rocks.:(

Hmmmmm. New taco stand in town?

Sea lions will be stacked on top of each other next to the boat in Ensenada.

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Yep, the other half of the five day cycle is the 9 day. Manzanillo, PV, Mazatlan, then Cabo (or La Paz). That there is a great cruise.

I don't know what the taxis charge, but Super Shuttle and Prime Time are both around 17 dollars per person and are very dependable.

And check their websites. We paid $12 last year using an "internet special".

THey told me you'll see it when you get onboard. That works for me.