Mexican Riviera Question

[espmass]

Can anyone tell me if the end of September (30th) is usually a good time for the Mexican Riviera cruise? Are the seas usually calm or rough then? Sunny or rainy? Temps? Also, does anyone know if Princess runs any sort of bus from from LA to San Diego where the cruise leaves from? We have to be in LA for that weekend and are debating tieing it into a cruise since we have to go all the way out there from the East Coast. Thanks so much for any information.

[Colo Cruiser]

It is a good time to go as Hurricaine season is in the Caribbean not the Pacific at that time.

 

Can't tell you about transportation from San Diego. :)

[DetectiveMom]

Can anyone tell me if the end of September (30th) is usually a good time for the Mexican Riviera cruise? Are the seas usually calm or rough then? Sunny or rainy? Temps? Also, does anyone know if Princess runs any sort of bus from from LA to San Diego where the cruise leaves from? We have to be in LA for that weekend and are debating tieing it into a cruise since we have to go all the way out there from the East Coast. Thanks so much for any information.

 

You could take the Coaster from LA right down to the embarcadero in SD.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We cruised the MR in November 2004, it was rougher water than we have had in the Carribean but not bad and we don't suffer from motion sickness, the weather was good so sure September is even warmer.

[skarletohara]

It is a good time to go as Hurricaine season is in the Caribbean not the Pacific at that time.

 

:)

 

Au contrere:eek: It most definitely is hurricane season on the west coast.

My parents can attest to that. They were in a Category 3 storm in

Cabo in September of '95 and I personally have been to Mexico,

one time from 9/23 to 9/30 when there was a big hurricane off the coast,

and then once at the very beginning of October back in '92 when we were in PV, they were taping

the windows up in all the hotels in preparation for the 'cane but the 'cane smacked into

Manzanillo south of us. It was a Category 2.

Also, hurricane Iniki, the destructive Category 5 swooped into Kauai

Hawaii in September as well.

 

But all that aside, we did book a Mexican cruise 3 years ago from late

September to early October and had great weather

[skarletohara]

oops -- double post

[espmass]

Thanks everyone. I did know it's also hurricane season there although they usually don't get hit as freuqently as the Caribbean. We have never cruised anywhere other than the Caribbean and tha Atlantic I'm a bit nervous about rough seas.

[kendon]

Detectivemom, What is the "Coaster"? My other issue is getting from the San Pedro pier back to LAX.

[txflyer]

In order to use commuter rail from Los Angeles to San Diego, you would take MetroLink from the Los Angeles area to Oceanside, where the Coaster starts. From there you would take the Coaster into San Diego. It would be a short walk or cab ride from the San Diego station to the Pier.

 

The San Diego airport is also very convenient to the Pier...but probably too far to walk for most people.

 

If you have the challenge of needing to be in Los Angeles and then choose to cruise from San Diego, you may consider pricing your air itinerary as a circle trip. Set it up from your originating airport to LAX, then a flight from LAX to San Diego and finish with a flight from San Diego back to your home origination point. It may price out at a reasonable fare.

 

Then, compare the price from home to LAX and return San Diego to home.

Factor in the cost of the train or other transportation from Los Angeles to San Diego and compare it with the circle flight itinerary.

 

Taxi vs Shuttle....between LAX and San Pedro.

Taxi=$54, Shuttle=$17

Thats the rates we paid on our recent trip. If you have 4 or more people sharing, the cab is cheaper than Super Shuttle or Prime Time. If you have less than 4 people, the shuttle is cheaper. Of course, the Taxi fare can increase if there are traffic problems and delays...but less chance of that on Saturday mornings. ..>>jack

[devinc]

Detectivemom, What is the "Coaster"? My other issue is getting from the San Pedro pier back to LAX.

 

Cabs and shuttles will await you with no problem from san pedro to LAX. The wife and I hopped on a shuttle for $30 ttl.

[jayevee44]

In order to use commuter rail from Los Angeles to San Diego, you would take MetroLink from the Los Angeles area to Oceanside, where the Coaster starts. From there you would take the Coaster into San Diego. It would be a short walk or cab ride from the San Diego station to the Pier.

 

Amtrak, in my opinion, is a better choice. Amtrak has 11 trains daily, 12 on weekends, going all the way from Los Angeles to San Diego. Metrolink only have 5 trains daily, 3 on weekends, going from Los Angeles to Oceanside and you have to change trains.

 

For empmass, I assume you are aware of the cruise to Mexico leaving from LA on Saturday, but either it doesn’t fit your schedule or you prefer leaving from San Diego. I’ve seen posts asking about the cruise from San Diego because to poster did not know about the cruise leaving from LA.

 

Jim

[DetectiveMom]

In order to use commuter rail from Los Angeles to San Diego, you would take MetroLink from the Los Angeles area to Oceanside, where the Coaster starts. From there you would take the Coaster into San Diego. It would be a short walk or cab ride from the San Diego station to the Pier.

 

 

Actually I took the "Coaster" three times a week from downtown SD up to Union Station and I never had to switch trains in Oceanside. :confused: Maybe I'm using the wrong "Coaster" term...but that's what everyone I knew in San Diego called the Amtrak.

[espmass]

Yes, I'd love to leave from LA but unfortunately we can't sail till the Sunday and that's why we need to go out of San Diego.

[andrea63]

Yes, I'd love to leave from LA but unfortunately we can't sail till the Sunday and that's why we need to go out of San Diego.

 

Did you know that RCCL sails out of San pedro on Sundays and Carnival out of Long Beach on Sundays as well?

[genoa]

Out of the 10 or so cruises I've done to the Mexican Riviera different times of the year, the 10 day out of SF at the end of Sept was the smoothest. Usually once you make that turn home from Cabo it starts to get rough, but that cruise was the only one smooth all the way back to SF. June-Sept is hurricane season.

[Sailfish]

By the end of September, the rainy season in Mexico is beginning to subside (but it's still very humid with more than the occasional rain shower), and pacific hurricanes can form as late as December along the coast.

 

With that said, the hurricane season tends to be not as bad as the Atlantic during the same time frame, though it rains alot during this time. We once cruised this time of year and although we encountered no hurricane, it rained non-stop all day, every day - on and off the ship! Personally, I woudn't cruise the Mexican Riviera until well into November. That's me, but as long as you are okay with hot, humid weather and daily rain, you will be okay.

[genoa]

Wow Sailfish, you must have hit a bad week, never had a day of rain when we went at that time of year. You just never know what the weather will do!

[Sailfish]

Wow Sailfish, you must have hit a bad week, never had a day of rain when we went at that time of year. You just never know what the weather will do!

 

That's right - you never know during summer what kind of weather you will find along the Mexican Riviera! We vacation in Mexico a lot - even in the summer - as it's an easy, inexpensive trip to Puerto Vallarta for us. Sometimes we can't pass up those last minute summer bargains - believe me, there's a reason why it's so cheap to vacation in Mexico in the summer!

 

Cruises along the Pacific coast, for some odd reason, are not discounted in the summer - I have never been able to figure that one out! I've only hit bad weather once on a cruise - in September aboard the Pride.

[LaJollaCruiser]

The rainy season in the coastal resorts ends the first part of October. Prior to that, it's about 95 and very humid. Hurricane season lasts until the end of October. The problem with an offshore hurricane in the Pacific is that the captain will always detour to avoid it, thus your ports may be cancelled or changed. One ship last season spent the whole week avoiding a hurricane at sea and didn't make any port stops, it just cruised around the Pacific.

 

Most modern cruise ships are not built to cruise through bad storms and thus the cruise lines avoid storms with a passion. The QE2 and Queen Mary 2 are the exception, as they were purpose built for the North Atlantic route.

[NavySis]

Thanks for all the information about the Mexican Rivera. I am going in the begining of October and I have never been to Mexico, so I am looking for all the information I can get before I leave.

 

 

 

NavySis

[Cruisin' Chick]

Metrolink is a commuter rail service so it's not really conducive to bringing luggage.

[AuzzieCruiser]

We sailed on the 7th of October last year, and the seas were the calmest so far. The weather was a bit on the chilly side leaving LA, but the weather was HOT HOT HOT. It was around 33 (or 92 in your language), with high humidity. The heat wasn't so bad, it was the damn humidity.

Mazatlan was my favourite port. I had a full day doing the Sierra Madre tour.

Hope you have a great cruise.:)

[espmass]

To Andrea63- yes, I do know about those, thanks. Since we're sort of adding this cruise on to a necessary trip to LA, we're trying to do it as inexpensively as possible and we have a $150 credit each to use up on Princess so we're pretty much set on cruising with them. Sounds like the weather will be "iffy" that time of year but then again, you can never count on perfect weather regardless of where you go. We have always cruised the Caribbean and although we do not go during hurricane season, we have always had great weather. Let's hope our luck continues if we do this.

 

Another sort of silly question- since I have only cruised the Caribbean, is the attire pretty much the same on the Mexican Riviera cruise? Shorts and polos for the day both onboard and onshore and whatever the ship's dress code is for the evening?

[LaJollaCruiser]

Metrolink is a commuter rail service so it's not really conducive to bringing luggage.

 

Metrolink only goes as far south as Oceanside. The Coaster is Amtrak and it goes all the way to San Diego, within walking distance of the ship. One can take luggage on the Coaster.

[bandpthoma]

What is the weather like in late feb and early march when doing mexican riveria? Also, what time of year is best for this itinerary?