Please help with day in Puerto Vallarta

[azkcruizers]

Hello! I am a frequent Caribbean cruiser, but am embarking on my first Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Spirit on February 17th. My family of 13 is going including my kids starting at age 11 up to my parents topping 78. The only other important information is that my Mom can walk short distances but travels with a collapsible wheelchair when we vacation. She seems to rely on it quite a bit just from the exhaustion of the vacation. I am always in charge of planning our excursions and do not book ship excursions. I spend a lot of time researching and usually please everyone and make good decisions where we have a wonderful time.

I have everything planned for this trip but for some reason I just am not settled with my decision in Puerto Vallarta and am hoping some of you frequent Vallarta visitors can help me out!!! :)

Right now I have booked Superior Tours for a private van for 7 hours. Our plan at this point only consisted of a basic city tour to start the day. Then most people choose to go to Las Animas, zipline, botanical gardens or the zoo. Las Animas is not an option because of mobility issues with my Mom. The other options really don't interest us. I am trying to keep cost in mind as well for a few people in our group and with my Mom and a sister with a back injury a lot of more active options are out....

So as I am researching, I am starting to think what the heck are we actually going to doooooooooooo all of this time. Superior Tours has been wonderful in emailing but I like to have a definite plan and they are more plan at the moment. So I am still trying to plan. Here is what I have come up with....and please offer any ideas you have. Please keep in mind anywhere I end up must be accessible to my Mom and would be great if it is a beach if she can stay in shade and off sand.....

1. We can stick with the tour in the am for a few hours and then get day passes at Playa Los Arcos. I believe my Mom could be in shade here. They are $15 per person and that amount is good towards food/drink. When we are done here I would have our guide able to take us back.

2. Is anything I want to really see...malecon, a little bit of shopping, maybe church, or anything you can point out to me......close together and easy for us to just take a cab and reach at a much cheaper price. Would we make out ok with my Mom and is this area close to Playa Los Arcos?

3. I want to see something in Puerto Vallarta, but would love to go to the Dreams Resort as well. This is a little bit pricier than I would like, but...........still considering. I have been quoted $60 for adults and $30 for kids.....and then I would have cab fare......I am worried that this time of year that the place may be packed?????

4. Is there a way to see the Malecon, etc and then go to Dreams? We are in Puerto Vallarta from 9 am to 6 pm shiptime which I am told will be 10 am to 7 pm PV time..............Keeping cost down is very important..haha

5. Any totally different ideas are welcome. I have contacted some others for all inclusives but don't care for their offers. Any other beach/restaurant ideas that would work out well with my Mom would be welcomed too.

Thanks so much for listening to me rant and thank you for any help you can give me!!

4.

[quincytoo]

Hello! I am a frequent Caribbean cruiser, but am embarking on my first Mexican Riviera cruise on the Carnival Spirit on February 17th. My family of 13 is going including my kids starting at age 11 up to my parents topping 78. The only other important information is that my Mom can walk short distances but travels with a collapsible wheelchair when we vacation. She seems to rely on it quite a bit just from the exhaustion of the vacation. I am always in charge of planning our excursions and do not book ship excursions. I spend a lot of time researching and usually please everyone and make good decisions where we have a wonderful time.

 

I have everything planned for this trip but for some reason I just am not settled with my decision in Puerto Vallarta and am hoping some of you frequent Vallarta visitors can help me out!!! :)

 

Right now I have booked Superior Tours for a private van for 7 hours. Our plan at this point only consisted of a basic city tour to start the day. Then most people choose to go to Las Animas, zipline, botanical gardens or the zoo. Las Animas is not an option because of mobility issues with my Mom. The other options really don't interest us. I am trying to keep cost in mind as well for a few people in our group and with my Mom and a sister with a back injury a lot of more active options are out.... Superior Tours are wonderful everyone I know who has used them love them. I would also ask them for suggestions. I have friends (with knee issues) who have been going to PV for years who love their tours

 

So as I am researching, I am starting to think what the heck are we actually going to doooooooooooo all of this time. Superior Tours has been wonderful in emailing but I like to have a definite plan and they are more plan at the moment. So I am still trying to plan. Here is what I have come up with....and please offer any ideas you have. Please keep in mind anywhere I end up must be accessible to my Mom and would be great if it is a beach if she can stay in shade and off sand.....

 

1. We can stick with the tour in the am for a few hours and then get day passes at Playa Los Arcos. I believe my Mom could be in shade here. They are $15 per person and that amount is good towards food/drink. When we are done here I would have our guide able to take us back.

 

2. Is anything I want to really see...malecon, a little bit of shopping, maybe church, or anything you can point out to me......close together and easy for us to just take a cab and reach at a much cheaper price. Would we make out ok with my Mom and is this area close to Playa Los Arcos? We have stayed at Playa Los Acros several times and it is a 6-10 min walk to the malecon.

 

3. I want to see something in Puerto Vallarta, but would love to go to the Dreams Resort as well. This is a little bit pricier than I would like, but...........still considering. I have been quoted $60 for adults and $30 for kids.....and then I would have cab fare......I am worried that this time of year that the place may be packed?????

We were at Dreams late Jan 09 it was busy but not packed. Cab is going to be about 140 pesos to and from the ship per cab, Dreams is wonderful wonderful wonderful but that is pricy and you are not seeing any of PV from there.

 

4. Is there a way to see the Malecon, etc and then go to Dreams? We are in Puerto Vallarta from 9 am to 6 pm shiptime which I am told will be 10 am to 7 pm PV time..............Keeping cost down is very important..haha Yes but not without it costing more then it is worth. I would go to PLA (Playa Los Acros)

 

5. Any totally different ideas are welcome. I have contacted some others for all inclusives but don't care for their offers. Any other beach/restaurant ideas that would work out well with my Mom would be welcomed too.

 

Thanks so much for listening to me rant and thank you for any help you can give me!!

 

4.

 

 

 

 

Answers in black :) I have in one of my 7 day Sapphire reviews a review on the Puerto Vallarta day we had.....it might help?

 

here it is Angies massages are GREAT and the spa is a short 3 min walk from PLA. I think they are about 450 pesos for an hour.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/portreviews.cfm?EntryID=62545

[WINEMANVISALIA]

1. tour operators are at pier for many tours

2. massages can be had there under tent

3. several bars for drinking margarita

4. taxi service to nearby hotels like krystal which allows you to use pool

 

so you can do tour in the morning...hang out at close by hotel in afternoon..and finish at pier area drinking massaging etc...it really is a great port!!!

[MSN-Travelers]

First and foremost, moving 13 people around as a group in Vallarta is problematic. If you book the van for seven hours, it's yours for seven hours. Use it to do anything/everything on your list.

 

A windshield tour of Vallarta won't take several hours unless you venture out of town. Do a brief driving tour and then come back to explore those locations on foot that you want to get a closer look at. The van can drop you off at any location and then pick you up again later at an agreed location to take you on to the next stop. I would start with the sight seeing first, finish at Playa Los Arcos and then head back to the ship.

 

Enjoy!

[bondgirl007]

We had a collapsable wheelchair on our last trip to PV. PV is an OLD colonial town. Streets are not even. They are cobblestone(at least down by the malecon etc). Curbs are not wheelchair excessible. Some areas they drop a foot, some areas 2 feet. Its crazy. It wore us out. My friend then hired a taxi and took a tour of the city. They enjoyed it. I would say use the van to tour. Lots of history and beauty to see. Stop and have a nice lunch and then Playa Los Arcos. We did PLA last March(different cruise from the wheelchair experience) and loved it. Plent of seating by the pool and in the restaurant. There is also a colonial village and a tequila factory that are suppose to be interesting. Have fun. Hope this helps.

[tiffanieb]

Azkcruisers I haven't seen you on the roll call lately it really has picked up!!

[PekingeseLady]

We had a collapsable wheelchair on our last trip to PV. PV is an OLD colonial town. Streets are not even. They are cobblestone(at least down by the malecon etc). Curbs are not wheelchair excessible. Some areas they drop a foot, some areas 2 feet. Its crazy. It wore us out. My friend then hired a taxi and took a tour of the city. They enjoyed it. I would say use the van to tour. Lots of history and beauty to see. Stop and have a nice lunch and then Playa Los Arcos. We did PLA last March(different cruise from the wheelchair experience) and loved it. Plent of seating by the pool and in the restaurant. There is also a colonial village and a tequila factory that are suppose to be interesting. Have fun. Hope this helps.

Absoulutely correct!!! (sp?):p

[MSN-Travelers]

We had a collapsable wheelchair on our last trip to PV. PV is an OLD colonial town. Streets are not even. They are cobblestone(at least down by the malecon etc). Curbs are not wheelchair excessible. Some areas they drop a foot, some areas 2 feet. Its crazy. ....

 

This statement is essentially correct once you get away from the primary tourist draws. The "New Malecon" is very friendly to people with mobility issues.

 

 

This is the northern half of the Malecon completed in late November. Gone are crazy curbs and the gaping cobblestone street. The southern half of the updated Malecon has a ramp, traffic light and tourist cop to assist people crossing from the Malecon to the City Square and on to the Church.

 

The Malecon - Extension South provides a continous wheelchair/scooter friendly route all the way south, along the beach, past Playa Los Arcos and on to the La Palapa restaurant.

 

 

Many shops and restaurants will have a step to two that may present a challenge when trying to enter them with a wheelchair. The further you get from the Malecon, the more likely you may encouter street/sidewalk conditions that aren't wheelchair friendly.

 

Enjoy!

[muffin]

Do you have to book this, or just show up. We would only want the 150 peso arrangement, not the all inclusive. Thanks. I asked in another site on this thread, but no answer yet!

[azkcruizers]

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone! I really want to do it all..haha

We did decide to cancel the tour van. We just don't think we are going to get our money's worth out of it for what we want to do. The thought of getting my Mom in and out of the van with the wheelchair and ecountering areas that she may not be able to go was starting to turn me sour as well.

I believe we are going to get off the ship asap and take cabs to the new Malecon area where I know my Mom will be able to get around a bit. When we tire of that I believe we will cab to Dreams and splurge for the day there. It looks gorgeous and my family is spending a week in San Diego before our cruise so I'm sure some of us are going to be getting cranky! We will keep in mind Playa los Arcos as well if we decide not to go to Dreams.

Can someone tell me with these plans where I should ask the cab driver to drop us off at the Malecon...any certain area?

Thanks again for all of your help! I'm really getting excited about our trip now :)

[MSN-Travelers]

Tell the taxi to take you the Hotel Rosita. It is located across the street from the north end of the new Malecon.

 

 

Enjoy!