NYcruiserNY

A little late to this thread and quite some time since posting on CC but I've just wrapped up a terrific 2 week vacation and would not hesitate ever in returning. As a matter of fact this is the 10th straight year that my wife and I have visited and till 2 years ago we had taken our daughter's as well.

They are too old now to hang with mom and dad lol. Aca has its issues and they won't dissappear tomorrow BUT do leave the ship there is so much to experience we still do so many touristy things.

After the papal visit the federal police returned to there Acapulco duties of protecting the population and of course the tourists. I've seen soldiers since the late 1980'S and I say good morning to them every morning to smiles.

This is a terrific port of call the USD is so strong now and the cost of dining out for a US traveler is wonderful. Unlike other Mexican resort cities Acapulco caters to its nationals not alot of foreign tourist like Cancun, PV and so many others that will raise there prices to compensate for the strong dollar.

In 2 weeks in a high end restaurant my most costly dinner for 2 was about 51 USD plus tip. And cheapest about 20 bucks lol. Wonderful people who are eager to please.

Anyone coming in who wants a good dinner spot Terra Luna right on the golf course is out of this world. I don't check in much here but trip advisor is a great spot as well for reliable Aca news as well.

We just returned from the Panama Canal Cruise and one port of call was Alapulco. We had heard of some issues with drug lords and we chose to stay on the ship but then after talking with a few on the cruise they had a tour booked with Rudy and there was an opening for two in the van that holds 8 comfortably.

 

We went and was so glad we did. Of five tours we did, I would have to say this might have been the best and was so glad we did it. We never felt in danger and felt safe the entire time.

 

The tour was more than we expected. Yes we did a few of the tourist things like the Cliff Divers ( and glad we did). But he took us behind the scenes and we saw the real Acapulco. As we walked in crowded areas, there was Rudy leading the way and bringing up the rear was Roger.

 

Yes there were two guides for 8 of us. They made sure we felt safe the entire time. Rudy did a lot of extras. I don't want to spoil the tour by telling you all the extras he did but I would never hesitate using Rudy.

 

Biggest mistake would have been for us to stay on the ship and have missed this day.

 

If anyone has any questions or concerns you can email me at caribbean5@aol.com and I will try to answer any questions you have.

 

Thanks Rudy for a great tour.

Thanks for telling it like it is and many others share your views....

As I see it, there are two schools of thought on this.

 

 

 

Ship excursions are quite often more expensive, but (and you knew that the "but" was coming, didn't you?)

• Ship excursions are guaranteed. If the ship is late, or the port is missed, you pay nothing.
  
• If you decide that you really don't want to make the excursion, the ship is much more forgiving than the locals might be. You probably will not be charged.
  
• Ship excursions are well managed, in that they will escort you to the excursion, and back.
  
• If the contractor of an excursion has too many complaints, you can bet that the ship will no longer use them.
  
• If there should be a break down, or delay, the ship will wait for you.
  
• Your ship card is charged. That means that no one, but your shipline, gets your credit card number.
  
• With a ship's excursion, you are normally afforded transportation to, and from, the excursion.
  
• If the excursion went horribly wrong, your odds of recovering your money from the ship might be better than from the locals.
  
• Wtih a ship's excursion, you are quite often given "extras" in the form of lunch, or snacks.
  

The benefits of private excursions:

• cheaper.
  
• you are often not "herded" like cattle.
  
• you may be less likely to stop at some odd location to "shop" simply because the small shop paid the ship for that opportunity to sell you more junk that you do not need.
  
• more of your hard earned dollars go directly into the local economy, rather into the ship lines purse.
  

We typically use the ship's excursions for our first trip, and then after we gain a feel for the area, we venture on our own, or with a local.

We, however, are not often adventurers, and like the comfort of a ship's tour.

 

All that being said. There are many, very many, great local outfits that offer excursions for a lesser price than the ship. Watch this board, or Travel Advisors. If you see a local that is highly rated, then consider it.

I like the one about the ship will wait for you if you break down LOL..but that's about it...Most of the others do not really apply for certain private guides.

Many do not even ask you for a credit card so being charged should the ship not port is out of the question.

In answer to your question I would go to trip advisor and the specific city you have questions about and do a bit of research. On the main forum page on the left hand column click on Travel Guide and a field will come up on transportation..Or simple type tour guide in the search box and read some past threads and you can get a pretty good idea..Also feel free to ask people on the forum but be prepared for a wide variety of opinions.

Hello, I feel I would be doing the Cruise Critic members a disservice by recommending Tour by Van without some reservation.

 

After reading so many positive and wonderful reviews, I recently booked a van tour with Rudy. He was unavailable for the day we asked for but assured us that one of his trusted assistants would give us an excellent experience.

 

If you read no further, please take this away: Get Rudy. Or take your chances. He may have good substitute guides, unfortunately we did not get one of them.

 

We saw a lot of sites, like the Chapel of Peace, the shopping and hotel strip, some great views of the city from a couple of hill-top places, were offered some shopping, saw the cliff divers, had lunch at a beach-side restaurant. The vehicle was a new-ish Chevy Suburban. Nice interior. Roomy. But we didn't have that vehicle for the whole tour (read on).

 

We had a driver and the promised Rudy-substitute guide. The guide's name was Oscar. He proved to be a nice enough guy, but not a good guide.

 

Yes, Oscar did act as guide. By saying things like "There's a church." "There's a market." "See the chickens." Very little back-story, history, etc... Very little of what I would expect from a tour guide.

 

First, there were language barriers - at the very least I would have figured there would be enough English comprehension so that when I explained that the car was filling up with car exhaust from vehicles ahead of us (when we were stopped at a light) we could get them to understand that we wanted to have the clime control recirculation button pressed.

 

After about a minute of trying to explain "Press that button!" we gave up.

 

At one point later on the tour, the driver (not Oscar) rolled down his window and yelled a string of expletives at the car next to us. I don't understand much Spanish language, but I understand THOSE words...

 

We were taken to a bit of a run-down little shopping place which felt very predatory. We felt like nothing more than walking wallets. Herded from one little shop to the next. We tried to get out of there as quickly as possible. We told them shopping wasn't our thing but given that we were running way ahead of schedule we agreed to the shopping stop. To browse. But were brow-beaten by the shop owners to the point of frustration.

 

We had INCREDIBLE seats at the Hotel Miramar patio to watch the cliff divers, kudos for Rudy for scoring us an excellent table.

 

Afterward the nice vehicle we were initially in, along with the foul-mouthed driver, was replaced by a scary run-down van which Rudy himself drove, taking us to a beach-side restaurant which apparently he has a stake in.

 

The little bit of info about the cliff divers that Rudy told us along the way was 1000x more informative and better than all of the "guide" services we got from Oscar to that point.

 

Take-away: Get Rudy as your guide. Or go somewhere else.

 

While at the restaurant, both Oscar and Rudy made sure that the service was attentive and that we were serviced well. I appreciated that.

 

The restaurant itself was nice enough. When it was time to leave we were told that Oscar, the guide, wasn't done eating yet and we had to wait. I appreciate that the guide needs time for food, but honestly, they should plan to handle that along the way and not make the paying guest, who is paying a premium price, to wait until they're done. I'm paying, folks, it should be all about the guest -- their comfort, and their schedule. Maybe that's selfish of me.

 

But we were polite and said that waiting would be fine. We didn't want to cause any trouble so we sat back and relaxed in the restaurant, which allowed more time for random people to come by our table and nag us to buy their trinkets. Yeah, that never gets old...

 

In the end, we wanted to use up some Pesos so we asked Rudy if we could use them up. Of course we could, for an exchange rate way different than the banks were giving - in Rudy's favor. In that way, again, we felt taken advantage of.

 

In the end, we did see some great sights but honestly, it was a frustrating day and left saying we'd never go back to Acapulco.

 

At the end of the day, Oscar apologized for the foul mouth of the driver.

 

Rudy, if you read this -- get more personable and knowledgeable guides with a better command of the language your guests are speaking. Take them to better shopping places. Don't drive them around in beat-up 1982 vans.

You more or less stated what I had planned to say quite some time ago. Rudy is an outstanding guide clearly from all the reviews here but does a traveler get a discount when Rudy is not available?? I doubt it and for that I agree with you Guarentee Rudy or go elsewhere!!

Has anyone done the Shot Overjet and Rapid tour with him???

Samben

Shotover Jet in Acapulco went out of business a few months back unfortunately.

Itsanita

The restaurant where the divers perform is not recommended for it's food quality but it can be done if that is what you want. The name is La Perla and while the food is not good it is very nice to look around at all the history and the beautiful view of La Quebrada.

As far as walking around the Zocalo is a very short walk from the cruise terminal and there are many local shops and some good food along the way as well.