PV and Cabo - safe to book on our own - not thru ship?

[nmyorkiemom]

6 of us are on Splendor 5/22 - the 4 college kids want to do the extreme ziplining in PV and would like to ATV one of the days in Cabo. Is is safe to book on our own? Who do you recommend booking thru? In Caribbean, I usually book and am comfortable with that, just not sure here.

 

Also, how strenuous is the extreme ziplining and ATV? DH isn't sure about it. I am hoping he will let me go even if he doesn't!!

[Verde Man]

We have never had a problem booking on our own in PV. Always felt safe riding public buses and walking around town.

 

We did the zip line a couple of years ago, in our late 50's then and did not have too much trouble. A bit of hill climbing but take your time an you should be fine.

 

Gary

[waitn2cruz]

Booked our own in Cabo last year with no issues.

[MSN-Travelers]

6 of us are on Splendor 5/22 - the 4 college kids want to do the extreme ziplining in PV and would like to ATV one of the days in Cabo. Is is safe to book on our own? Who do you recommend booking thru? In Caribbean, I usually book and am comfortable with that, just not sure here.

 

Also, how strenuous is the extreme ziplining and ATV? DH isn't sure about it. I am hoping he will let me go even if he doesn't!!

 

"Safety" is a topic that could generate fifty pages of debate on its own. Keep in mind that tens of thousands of us resort/hotel tourists book all of our excursions independently.

 

70% of all cruise line passengers on the Mexican Riviera book excursions independently or "do their own thing" and that is one of the reasons why most lines are pulling out of the market. They can't make any money selling excursion on the MR compared to other venues.

 

There is only one tour operator that does the "extreme zipline" excursion in Vallarta (Vallarta Adventures). They are under contract with just about every cruise line for many of the excursions sold on the ship. Under the terms of those contracts, Vallarta Adventures isn't supposed to sell direct to cruise line passengers if the ship sells the same excursion. You are welcome to try and book the extreme zipline excursion on your own but don't be surprised if you run into a brick wall while trying to do so.

 

"Strenuous" is all relative to your overall physical condition. Some people report it is a bit of a workout.

 

Can't tell you anything ATVs in Cabo.

 

Enjoy!

[dobiemom]

There is only one tour operator that does the "extreme zipline" excursion in Vallarta (Vallarta Adventures). They are under contract with just about every cruise line for many of the excursions sold on the ship. Under the terms of those contracts, Vallarta Adventures isn't supposed to sell direct to cruise line passengers if the ship sells the same excursion. You are welcome to try and book the extreme zipline excursion on your own but don't be surprised if you run into a brick wall while trying to do so.

If you can't book with Vallarta Adventures, try Mazatlan Frank. I haven't been on his zipline tours (I think there are 3) but I have done another tour with Frank, and have tours booked with him (or his partners) in PV and Cabo. Very reliable.

[csr10236]

If you can't book with Vallarta Adventures, try Mazatlan Frank. I haven't been on his zipline tours (I think there are 3) but I have done another tour with Frank, and have tours booked with him (or his partners) in PV and Cabo. Very reliable.

 

I agree. We just came back from a MR cruise on the 2nd of April. We booked a ziplinning tour thru Mazatlan Frank and Alfred was our guide. He was awesome!!!! It wasn't an extreme ziplinning though. There was 12 of us total and only 6 did the Zipline. Would recommend them highly!!

[thekidsandi]

I just tried to book the dolphin swim in Cabo through Carnival and it is sold out. Has anyone done booked the dolphin swim on their own in Cabo? If so, who did you use and would you recommend them? This is the one thing that my daughter and I wanted to do together.

[dobiemom]

I just tried to book the dolphin swim in Cabo through Carnival and it is sold out. Has anyone done booked the dolphin swim on their own in Cabo? If so, who did you use and would you recommend them? This is the one thing that my daughter and I wanted to do together.

Isn't the dolphin "pool" (I don't know what you call it) right near the marina? Or you could email Mazatlan Fank and see what kind of private tour (that's not listed on his website) he could arrange for you.

[MSN-Travelers]

I just tried to book the dolphin swim in Cabo through Carnival and it is sold out. Has anyone done booked the dolphin swim on their own in Cabo? If so, who did you use and would you recommend them? This is the one thing that my daughter and I wanted to do together.

 

Bad news –

The Cabo dolphin center is run by Cabo Adventures. Cabo Adventures contracts with the cruise industry for quite a few excursions. Under the terms of the contract they can’t sell direct to cruise ship passengers. An independent tour broker might be able to get you tickets but here’s how it works – The cruise ships have the ability to pre-reserve all the time slots that support their passengers. They release the unsold slots 12-24 hours prior to arrival.

 

Good news -

Most cruise lines don’t pre-sell all excursion slots. 50%-80% is common with the rest of the slots sold aboard ship. Head for the excursion desk immediately after boarding the ship and you might be able to book the dolphin excursion.

 

Last ditch hope -

One of the other cruise lines in port that day may have released slots that would be available at the dolphin center. Check there upon arrival if you haven’t found tickets elsewhere.

 

I wish you well!

[Cavners5]

We booked ours through Carnival two weeks ago for Cabo. Are both days sold out??? We purchased ours for the first Cabo Day.

[Bob Saget]

just came back from PV off Carnival Splendor. We tried to book through the ship for the Extreme Zip lines but they were all booked up. We ended up using Los Veranos Canopy Tour instead. They were right outside of the ship in the port selling tours- $60 per person 4 hours of 14 zip lines(with ATV's I think its $80). Glad it worked out the way it did. Los Veranos Canopy Tours was half price plus they were higher and faster than PV Adventures that the ship uses. Can't recommend this enough. Book in port IMO.

[singinglizzie]

We booked a tour with Mazatlan Frank for PV and it was cancelled. Luckily we were able to get one of Frank's partners in Cabo named Rolando Verdin, who gave us an excellant custom tour. I would not hesitate to recommend Rolando, as he went above and beyond. Our party of 4, were driven in a lovely air conditioned van and he took us all over Cabo. I'll try to find his contact information and post it here. If not, contact Mazatlan Frank directly. You can do a google search and his info will come up. You should be able to do something similiar with a zip tour, etc as they will set up a tour with whatever you need.

[aloisia]

We booked a tour with Mazatlan Frank for PV and it was cancelled. Luckily we were able to get one of Frank's partners in Cabo named Rolando Verdin, who gave us an excellant custom tour. I would not hesitate to recommend Rolando, as he went above and beyond. Our party of 4, were driven in a lovely air conditioned van and he took us all over Cabo. I'll try to find his contact information and post it here. If not, contact Mazatlan Frank directly. You can do a google search and his info will come up. You should be able to do something similiar with a zip tour, etc as they will set up a tour with whatever you need.

 

We are booked with Rolando on our upcoming cruise. Glad to hear you enjoyed the tour! Was there anything specific you recommend we see?

We were originally booked with Frank for Mazatlan but switched over when that port was canceled.