Horseback riding Cabo vs. Acapulco

[CindyinSeattle]

Greetings fellow cruisers!

 

We just got off of Celebrity Mercury on 12/17/04. The cruise was excellent, but please!!! don't take the shore excursion for horseback riding in Cabo San Lucas. We did this tour, and were very disappointed! Not only did the guides whip the horses on a regular basis (saw this actually happen!), all you do line up single file and go from one end of the beach to another and back again! So much for the "romantic beach ride" the cruise line advertised! A total waste of money and time! The only good thing about this excursion was being able to use the beach after the horse ride!

 

We also went horseback riding in Acapulco, which we absolutely LOVED! You can imagine our surprise when only 4 of us showed up for the horseback riding excursion! (thank goodness Celebrity didn't cancel this tour!) We were met on the pier by Selena (pronounced Si-lena) and escorted to the van, where our driver Rudolpho (Rudy) was waiting for us. Rudy pointed out interesting sites and facts about Acapulco during our 45 minute ride to the horsestable. He was absolutely EXCELLENT!!!! Once we got to the stable, there were our horses ready and waiting. MY DH ended up changing horses before we started (not a problem) as his was really high spirited! Then we found out that since it was the festival of the Saint of Guadeloupe (sp?) the stable was hosting a rodeo later that afternoon! No wonder the horses were wound up! Our guide spoke no english, so Selena translated all of our many questions along the route. We were out in the country, walking through fields of Palm trees and trying not to trip over coconuts!

 

So, if you have a desire to go horseback riding on your Mexican Rivera cruise, hold off on horseback riding until you get to Acapulco. Even though it was 94 degrees outside, it was definitely the best horseback riding we have ever done!

[CACREW]

Did you book this through the cruise lines? We are traveling there in March 2005 aboard Carnival Spirit and the horseback riding excursion has age limits of 12 or older.........too bad because our daughter is only 9. We have done the horseback riding in Mazatlan with Randi's Happy Horses on another cruise and it was absolutely fabulous. I guess my hesitation is that no one could measure up to Randi's and we would be disappointed, not to mention the age restrictions. Does anyone know of any other horseback riding excursions that would accomodate children 9 years old? Ports of call this trip are Acapulco/I/Z/Manzanillo?????????:confused: