cruising to Mexican Riviera ????'s

[cruiserstyle]

I am planning a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in Sept. (of 07 of course.) Never been before. Any advice for the ports of call including Cabo, Maz. and PV ? Not sure of the weather and tours to take ( or stay away from). Any advice will be greatly appreciated !!!!! I am new to this forum, and am hoping to make many friends with lots of advice !!!! I know I have time to do my homework on the cruise, but if anyone can help me out on this one. . . . .

[lougee1043]

suggest you start by checking the web site of the cruiseline you are sailing on ---they will have a list of all tours available thru them somewhere on the site --- after you find some that you are intersted in then you can ask specific questions about specific tours and you will get much more help that way rather then a lot of info about stuff you are not really interested in

[Bruin Steve]

I am planning a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in Sept. (of 07 of course.) Never been before. Any advice for the ports of call including Cabo, Maz. and PV ? Not sure of the weather and tours to take ( or stay away from). Any advice will be greatly appreciated !!!!! I am new to this forum, and am hoping to make many friends with lots of advice !!!! I know I have time to do my homework on the cruise, but if anyone can help me out on this one. . . . .

Well, let's start with the Weather...

You may have some rain...and hot, muggy weather in Puerto Vallarta...The "Typhoon Season" generally starts in about late July and runs about three months...Butdon't worry...though I've been through some incredible downpours, they're usually short-lived...and Mazatlan and Cabo, both a bit farther north, have a drier, more desert climate...But, do expect to catch the end of the hot season... LA (I suppose you're cruising out of LA, but much the same for San Diego) might still be quite hot in September as well...but very little humidity...It's actually quite nice around here about 350 days a year...

 

Okay, the ports:

 

Cabo is a great little town...Most of what is there is fairly new and modern as most of the development is fairly recent...pretty pastel buildings against a stark desert/mountain backdrop...Shopping id more expensive than in the other ports,...Water sports are popular...snorkling, deep sea fishing, kayaking...There is incredible scenery--such as "Los Arcos"--that's that rock arch in the water you see on all the brochures...Do some excursion that includes a boat ride out to Los Arcos and to Lovers' Beach...The beach is actually two-sided, really being a sand bar between the Pacific and the Cea of Cortez...This is a "tender" port--the ship docks out in the harbor and they bring you to port on small boats...

 

Mazatlan is a big industrial harbor city...it hjas the best bargain shopping of the three--up in what is known as "The Golden Zone"...A popular excursion is the Sierra Madre Tour--which takes you well out of Mazatlan up to the small Colonial mountain towns of Concordia and Copola and shows you a complete other side of Mexico...We've done it a couple of times and find it very interesting...they leave a little time at the end of the tour for shopping in the Golden Zone...We've also enjoyed the ocean kayaking excursion to Deer Island...This is a remote island with a nice clean beach...afte this excursion, rather than the boat back to the ship, we opted for a speed boat ride over to the Golden Zone for some shopping...

 

Puerto Vallarta is a gem...a very beautiful old fishing village set against a lush green jungle backdrop...Cobblestone streets with great shops and restaurants...We've done several different things here...Beach and Pool day, Tequila Factory tour, the kids did Horseback riding here...One time, we took a very different "Sierra Madre "Unimog" tour--nature hike back in the mountans, beach BBQ and loads of cerveza, rum and tequila at every stop--a load of fun...There are jus lots of choices here...pick one...

 

All in all, it's actually a very nice itinerary...Enjoy...

[ladycaveat]

Well, let's start with the Weather...

You may have some rain...and hot, muggy weather in Puerto Vallarta...The "Typhoon Season" generally starts in about late July and runs about three months...Butdon't worry...though I've been through some incredible downpours, they're usually short-lived...and Mazatlan and Cabo, both a bit farther north, have a drier, more desert climate...But, do expect to catch the end of the hot season... LA (I suppose you're cruising out of LA, but much the same for San Diego) might still be quite hot in September as well...but very little humidity...It's actually quite nice around here about 350 days a year...

 

Okay, the ports:

 

Cabo is a great little town...Most of what is there is fairly new and modern as most of the development is fairly recent...pretty pastel buildings against a stark desert/mountain backdrop...Shopping id more expensive than in the other ports,...Water sports are popular...snorkling, deep sea fishing, kayaking...There is incredible scenery--such as "Los Arcos"--that's that rock arch in the water you see on all the brochures...Do some excursion that includes a boat ride out to Los Arcos and to Lovers' Beach...The beach is actually two-sided, really being a sand bar between the Pacific and the Cea of Cortez...This is a "tender" port--the ship docks out in the harbor and they bring you to port on small boats...

 

Mazatlan is a big industrial harbor city...it hjas the best bargain shopping of the three--up in what is known as "The Golden Zone"...A popular excursion is the Sierra Madre Tour--which takes you well out of Mazatlan up to the small Colonial mountain towns of Concordia and Copola and shows you a complete other side of Mexico...We've done it a couple of times and find it very interesting...they leave a little time at the end of the tour for shopping in the Golden Zone...We've also enjoyed the ocean kayaking excursion to Deer Island...This is a remote island with a nice clean beach...afte this excursion, rather than the boat back to the ship, we opted for a speed boat ride over to the Golden Zone for some shopping...

 

Puerto Vallarta is a gem...a very beautiful old fishing village set against a lush green jungle backdrop...Cobblestone streets with great shops and restaurants...We've done several different things here...Beach and Pool day, Tequila Factory tour, the kids did Horseback riding here...One time, we took a very different "Sierra Madre "Unimog" tour--nature hike back in the mountans, beach BBQ and loads of cerveza, rum and tequila at every stop--a load of fun...There are jus lots of choices here...pick one...

 

All in all, it's actually a very nice itinerary...Enjoy...

 

Thanks so much for the info on the various ports in the Mexican Riviera. We leave next month and really enjoyed reading about the places we will be visiting. We plan to do the canopy zip line tour in PV (well, my son will . . . I'll just wander and sip some foo foo drinks), horseback riding in Mazalan and looking for whales in Cabo. :D

[morriscats]

Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan is a favorite. We have gone 3 times now.

[Kathie44]

Cruiserstyle--we are sailing Mercury on Jan. 29 for an 11-night MR cruise.

We stick to Celebrity and RCI, so those were the ships I researched. For this cruise, Mercury was the best deal and all the ports were in Mexico:

Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Ixtapa and Manzanillo.

RCI offers only a 7-night and we have gotten hooked on longer cruises. Infinity's 11-night was more$$ (so was RCI) per day and not all the ports were in Mexico. Both Celebrity ships have shorter MR cruises if you don't want 11 nights.

For more info after you have narrowed down your choices, check out the roll call threads on CC and find out why others chose their ship. Our roll call thread is the livliest and friendliest one I've ever seen. Two of the posters have organized private tours for us (Rosie in Acapulco and Rissalena Catamaran whale watch in Cabo) and some of us are meeting for dinner in San Diego the night before sailing.

PS --you need to book soon for Sept. because these cruises sell out fast.

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

[MSN-Travelers]

I am planning a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in Sept. (of 07 of course.) Never been before. Any advice for the ports of call including Cabo, Maz. and PV ? Not sure of the weather and tours to take ( or stay away from). Any advice will be greatly appreciated !!!!! I am new to this forum, and am hoping to make many friends with lots of advice !!!! I know I have time to do my homework on the cruise, but if anyone can help me out on this one. . . . .

 

Good advice from all of the other posters. A September cruise would likely put you on the Carnival Pride. Look at their site to get a base-line feel of the excursions they offer. Any excursion offered thru the ship is available thru a third party tour broker at a substantial savings. Two outstanding operations are Johann & Sandra at http://www.puertovallartatours.net/cruise-shore-excursions.htm and Vallarta Online at http://www.vallartaonline.com/.

 

A great source of information (low commercial content) can be found at http://www.vallarta-info.com/. An outstanding place to take a break while shopping in the Flea Market is ROMA. http://www.romamexico.com/

 

Weather in Vallarta (and points south) is Hot and humid in September. The Pride is the only ship that sails the MR route through the summer months so you will never have to worry about crowding in the ports.

 

We can zero in on excursion recommendations if we know what type of activities appeal to you.

 

Enjoy!!