Talk to me about the 10 day Mexican Riviera cruises

[mkcurran]

If I go in March will there be lots of kids?

How are La Paz and Lareto?

Anything someone new to Princess should know before going?

[cr8tiv1]

This is my favorite 10 day Mexico destination cruise.  La Paz and Loreto are towns that are small, unencumbered by large jewelry stores, and the locals are friendly.  Loreto is a tender port.  La Paz is a long bus ride in, but free.  

 

I did a fantastic tour to San Sebastian in PV.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

I wouldn't think that there would be many kids unless some school districts have an early spring break. You didn't state whether it was early or late March. If late...who knows?

[mkcurran]

3 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I wouldn't think that there would be many kids unless some school districts have an early spring break. You didn't state whether it was early or late March. If late...who knows?

I'm looking at 3/15/25. So right in the middle of March. 

[cr8tiv1]

I forgot to address kids:

 

Cruising in March and April is a tough call.  A 10 day cruise is less likely to have kids or college students.  But Spring Break is no longer connected to Easter.  So school districts will pick a week to close depending on when the school year started or ends.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

I think that's probably a bit early for most spring breaks...but I'm certainly not an authority on the subject!

[Cruise Raider]

24 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I think that's probably a bit early for most spring breaks...but I'm certainly not an authority on the subject!

We went in February once and it was spring break for schools in Canada.  It was an 8 day cruise and spanned two different weeks so we thought we were safe. Nope!   May is actually safer.  
 

Edited January 27 by Cruise Raider

[skynight]

Very few youth on 10 day cruises. They usually don't get that long off from school.

[startedwithamouse]

Expect lots of kids and young people - that's spring break for a lot of school districts and colleges.  

 

Spring break isn't tied into Easter holiday, and some colleges are ending semesters early May, so Spring break is earlier. 

 

For those saying it's 10 days, they only need to take one additional day off school since the cruise covers two weekends.

Edited January 28 by startedwithamouse

[GoDucksNation]

Some school districts. (Temecula) also get 2 weeks off for spring break 

[trbarton]

6 hours ago, mkcurran said:

If I go in March will there be lots of kids?

How are La Paz and Lareto?

Anything someone new to Princess should know before going?

I’m on the April 3, 2024, Solar Eclipse Cruise from San Pedro & there are still staterooms available. It’s a special cruise, that someone from Cruise Critic, got Princess to change the itinerary, to make it a special Solar Eclipse Cruise.  Since it’s a special cruise, there is a “Meet & Greet” meeting organized to meet other Cruise Critic members, that I have organized with over 100 people attending, one of the largest meetings I have ever planned. 
 

Please consider to join us. We would love to have you. 
 

Here’s our itinerary:

 

It’s also on one of their newer ships, The Discovery Princess. 

 

Tom😀

Edited January 28 by trbarton

[Thrak]

We didn't enjoy La Paz. We waited in a line for 30 minutes or more to get on a bus that took forever and a day to get to town. There was very little to do in town so we decided to go back to the ship. We waited another 30-40 minutes to get on the bus for another very loooooong bus ride back to the ship. We found that the market area right outside the ship was more interesting and a better value than the town.

 

We were maybe the second year that Loreto was a cruise port. It was (at that time) a wonderful little village that welcomed us with open arms. There was a mariachi band in the town square. (I had always thought I really didn't like mariachi music but these folks were good! The beach was totally clean and pretty much nobody using it. We absolutely loved the port stop. (No idea what it is like now. Hopefully it hasn't changed to a commercial tourist trap...) We just walked around the town and found that, even though we hadn't booked any Princess excursions, the excursions seemed to follow us around town. If Loreto is still like it was back when we visited in 2014 I would rate it 5 stars. (No idea how it is now but, based on our past visit, I would love to visit again.)

[jennybenny]

So, while it “might” be spring break for some kids, most kids get a week off. So the weeklong cruise will definitely have more kids but the 10 day will have less. Most parent won’t take the kids out of school an extra half week, at least we wouldn’t have. Love the itinerary @trbarton!! We really enjoy Cabo so DH would jump on that cruise, but we are already doing something for spring break with the kid! Lol can’t do two vacations in the same month. Oh, and that work thing keeps getting in the way! 

Edited January 28 by jennybenny

[Cruise Raider]

5 hours ago, Thrak said:

We didn't enjoy La Paz. We waited in a line for 30 minutes or more to get on a bus that took forever and a day to get to town. There was very little to do in town so we decided to go back to the ship. We waited another 30-40 minutes to get on the bus for another very loooooong bus ride back to the ship. We found that the market area right outside the ship was more interesting and a better value than the town.

 

We were maybe the second year that Loreto was a cruise port. It was (at that time) a wonderful little village that welcomed us with open arms. There was a mariachi band in the town square. (I had always thought I really didn't like mariachi music but these folks were good! The beach was totally clean and pretty much nobody using it. We absolutely loved the port stop. (No idea what it is like now. Hopefully it hasn't changed to a commercial tourist trap...) We just walked around the town and found that, even though we hadn't booked any Princess excursions, the excursions seemed to follow us around town. If Loreto is still like it was back when we visited in 2014 I would rate it 5 stars. (No idea how it is now but, based on our past visit, I would love to visit again.)

Loreto is still a very quaint town and nobody is beckoning you to check out their wares.  I love that.  It is clean and has grown a bit but in town under the canopy of trees, it’s still the same as before.  It’s my favorite port in all of Mexico and one where I will usually break my ‘no tendering’ rule.  It’s just worth it for that port.  They usually do have dancers performing at the town square.  The Royal was dodging a hurricane in Sept 2022, so they had to make a schedule change rather last minute.  Even then, they welcomed us all with open arms, a great show and absolute wondering food and service.  
 

La Paz is rather so so if you catch that bus into town but if you like more physical activity, the tour for kayaking through the Mangroves in the other direction from town is simply breathtaking.  It was only about 15 minutes away from the port as I recall.  There are zero services out there but gorgeous turquoise water and beaches.  
You are so right, haggling at the shops right there at the port is so much better than in town.  While I rarely buy souvenirs anymore, I got such a nice hand carved miniature musical set in a case there years ago.  Even if it was made in China, and I don’t think it was, it’s a nice trinket we’ve not seen elsewhere else in Mexico.  

 

[edspec]

March 10 day will probably have a lot of kids.

1. Easter and spring break are no longer tied to each other.

2. Huge increase in homeschoolers since Covid.

3. Parents are very different in regards to attendance since Covid.  There is a feeling that since schools were shut down so long and kids learned (theoretically) that it is okay to take them out for vacations.

I'm a school admin for a homeschool organization here in California so lots of experience with the above three points. 

Also, we did a 7 day DCL the week after Thanksgiving, in years past a pretty good week for cruising without a lot of children.  Many, many kids and none of them appeared to go to the clubs.  We've cruised DCL a lot and you used to see the kids up through dinner the first day, and then they were in the clubs till late afternoon of the last day.  No more. So I wouldn't count on them staying in the Princess clubs either. 

[nini]

Spring break in Oregon begins on Saturday, March 23rd. Depending on when the 10 days fall, conceivably, it could work out with 2 full weekends (4 days) and the 5 weekdays. Close......

[konatyme]

When our 10-day Mexican Riveria cruise went to LaPaz, we did an amazing snorkeling trip with whale sharks. The company picked us up by boat right at the ship, took us into town to pay, and after the excursion, the boat returned us right next to the ship. 

[waltd]

Googled spring break for Los Angeles.

March 25th to March 29th

 

[DCThunder]

Easter is March 31st this year, so the week of March 24-March 31 would be Holy Week.  I was in Aruba on Good Friday last year and most everything was closed except for the big chain stores. Is Holy Week a big deal in these parts of Mexico?

[Auntiejo]

We've done this cruise 3 times over the years and absolutely loved it! Loreto and La Paz are fantastic ports and 7 days cruises go by SO FAST, so we always choose 10 day when possible. The kids question has been covered thoroughly above and I agree that March/April is a real flex time as far as kids being out of school. I'm sure there would be a decent amount of kids but probably not over run with them. 2 of the 3 times we've done this trip have been in March and there were definitely some kids but not crazy amounts of families.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

On 1/27/2024 at 8:52 PM, trbarton said:

I’m on the April 3, 2024, Solar Eclipse Cruise from San Pedro & there are still staterooms available. It’s a special cruise, that someone from Cruise Critic, got Princess to change the itinerary, to make it a special Solar Eclipse Cruise

No one from Cruise Critic did that. This cruise was always billed as TSE. But there is somebody claiming credit for changing our eclipse day from being in port in Mazatlan (center line ) to at sea. Not everyone agrees that is a plus. 
 

I was in La Paz January 2023 and thought it was very nice. We grabbed a cab into town and arranged for the same cab to bring us back. It was a posted fixed rate. We felt it was reasonably priced. We really loved the art  museum in town and would definitely go back. 
 

‘Loreto is my favorite Mexican port. Very charming town. These are pictures of La Paz