Help with PV and Mazatlan Excursions

[cruiseformel]

Hi

I'm hoping to get some ideas from all of you knowledgeable people. We'll be in MR on Royal Princess over Thanksgiving. What excursions can we do with my MIL who is not able to walk very far, 3 energetic kids ages 6, 8 and 11 and a SIL who won't go on smaller boats?

 

Last time DH and I were in Mazatlan, we spent a delightful day on Stone Island, but I question whether we can get my MIL on the ferry. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for either PV or Mazatlan that will satisfy all audiences?

Thanks!

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, cruiseformel said:

Hi

I'm hoping to get some ideas from all of you knowledgeable people. We'll be in MR on Royal Princess over Thanksgiving. What excursions can we do with my MIL who is not able to walk very far, 3 energetic kids ages 6, 8 and 11 and a SIL who won't go on smaller boats?

 

Last time DH and I were in Mazatlan, we spent a delightful day on Stone Island, but I question whether we can get my MIL on the ferry. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for either PV or Mazatlan that will satisfy all audiences?

Thanks!

Ok, I will tackle this with some humor (humour for you Brits).  In your situation (for PV) I would probably leave the MIL and SIL on the ship to fend for themselves.  For the rest of you, since you mentioned excursions, we would suggest you look into the excursion to Las Caletas.  It is essentially a beach day, where there is plenty of food and drink.  The kids will have the beach and water not to mention the nice facilities.  There are some other excursions such as to swim with the Dolphins (not sure this is open yet) but with a 6 year old I think that Las Caletas makes the most sense.

 

Over the years (actually decades) we have seen many unhappy folks on our cruises (all over the world) when they had larger family groups and tried to find a port solution to satisfy everyone!  Sometimes it does work and many times it results in folks who no longer want to talk to each other (but hopefully get beyond that).

 

As to the MIL and SIL, they might want to venture into Puerto Vallarta.  They could take a shopping excursion or simply grab a taxi and go to town.  Once in PV they can simply walk along the Malecon (PV's boardwalk), do some browsing/shopping and stop somewhere for lunch/drinks (we have hundreds of places to eat and drink).

 

Hank

[cruiseformel]

Thanks for your humorous reply, Hank! I need the humor to survive this trip! Unfortunately, separating the pack is not an option for this trip at all. MIL is not well, and this is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing to do with her kids and grandkids, so I'm stuck figuring out an option that will appease everyone. Personally, I'd love to do Las Caletas. It's sold out for my sailing, but I don't think they all would have done it anyway.

 

Do you know if there are any beaches with amenities we could taxi to, or if some of the hotels do day passes? I know there's an option through the ship, but it seems over the top pricey...

Thanks for your help!

[Hlitner]

Just hang on and keep your eyes on this thread until our friend Ine replies.  She usually has the latest info on day passes.  We have no clue since it is not something we do (unless Ine takes us :).   Just understand that if you simply go to a hotel/resort in Puerto Vallarta or Nuevo Vallarta you are going to get a hotel, pool and beach.  While this will satisfy some folks it has very little to do with the real Mexico.

 

Hank

P.S.  Ine, where are you?

[Ine]

Time difference Hank! When you wrote we were still sleeping....

Yes many hotels offer daypasses, but if there is a high occupancy they simply donot as hotelguests come first. So phone or mail ahead to check. 

Close to the cruiseterminal - walking distance -  is Hotel Krystal which was (and maybe still is) a favorite to cruise passengers. Due to the Hilton hotel that took over a large part of the ground and pool it is not as nice as before. They used to offer a free pass to cruise passengers, check if they still do. Of course they expect you to eat and drink at the hotel. 

Otheriwse hotels like Marriott and Westin at the Marina area offer passes at a certain rate of which a certain portion is for food and drink. They are on the beach with nice pools. Swimming in the ocean for small kids differs due to the tide or waves. You need cab or Uber to get to/from those hotels. Just a short ride, but to far to walk.

In town along Playa los Arcos are various restaurants right on the beach. While eating and drinking you can most o the times stay for free. Donot expect showers or towels to be offered, but you can enjoy a nice affordable beachday there. Also here you need a cab or Uber to get there. With cabs always make your price before entering.

The nicest beach is at Nuevo Vallarta, a much longer cabride away. Here unfortunately only a few hotels offer daypasses. Our favorite beachclub there is closed since last winter.

This list from last year gives you more optons: https://issuu.com/vallartatribune/docs/daypass_list_2018__1_/1?ff&e=8637784%2F63117433&fbclid=IwAR2lmTFx2FV53bsFBHXJj7t0CCQ_X1HHBwiylgwy9EGZbKdPOumS_9uqfpM

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Ine

[GradUT]

The link that Ine posted to the hotels with day passes is an excellent resource.  Based on the information in that brochure and some posts I had read on this forum, we chose to go to the Westin Resort when we were in PV last week on a cruise.  I had contacted the Westin by email in advance and was told that normally they require prospective day guests to contact the hotel a day in advance to see if day passes are available.  (As Ine said, if it’s busy, they don’t issue day passes.). However, in our case since they knew it would be a quiet time of the year, they assured us day passes would be available.  (But don’t count on that being the case in November!) 

 

We thought the Westin was great!  The taxi ride was less than 10 minutes and cost about 150 pesos. We had access to loungers and umbrellas on a quiet beach and loungers around a beautiful  huge pool.  Although we were not traveling with young children, I noticed a playground next to the pool. 

 

The day pass cost 800 pesos for adults with a credit of 300 pesos for food and drink.  For this amount of money, I got a huge hamburger and a soda at the beachside cafe.  There is also another restaurant open for lunch on the premises. 

[snowdogsmm]

We recently went on the Sensation Catamaran to Deer Island in Mazatlan.  Not sure what your SIL considers a small boat but this one was sparkling clean, great crew, and great food & drink.  They have a lot of water activities for those that want to, or you can stay on the boat and enjoy food/drinks, and music.  We really had a great time.  You can check out reviews on Trip Advisor to see if it would be a good fit for your family.

[cruiseformel]

Thanks to all that posted. After further consideration, we have decided just to try to find either a hotel day pass, or take a taxi to a beach with some amenities. It seems like the easiest way to go. Are there such beaches?

[lstrong]

Stone Island beach in Mazatlan is our go to beach day. Very easy to do it yourself

[Mike45LC]

Istrong, you overlooked that Sister In Law won't take small boats.  The "ferry" to Stone Island would distress her.  Better a golf cart to Golden Zone and a day spent there at one of the nice hotels there.

 

[cruiseformel]

I thank everyone for their responses! I've been to Stone Island - it is absolutely everything people make it out to be; a wonderful day. The SIL would take that boat, but I'm worried about the MIL being able to get on the truck to go to the beach.

 

As uncomfortable as it is for my type A personality, I think we're going to just wing it!

[KarmaCruisers]

We’ll be on that same cruise and we’re definitely doing stone island and day passes at Now Amber (Thanks Sherry)

[cruiseformel]

Richardsk2011 - I'll look forward to hopefully meeting you! What's Now Amber?