Los Veranos Puerto Vallarta - Tour time okay?

[caosonn]

Hey everyone!

 

Long time lurker, first time posting... :D

 

We'll be in Puerto Vallarta on Sept 2... coming on the Carnival Splendor.

 

Anyways, I just booked the Los Veranos Canopy zip line tour and chose the 10:45am tour time (as bookd on canopytours-vallarta.com).

 

Carnival's itinerary says the Splendor arrives in Puerto Vallarta at 9am. From reading other threads, some have said this is 9am Puerto (local) time and 8am ship time.

Or does this mean we'll be arriving at 9am ship time and 10am local time?

 

Ship time vs Local time = me confused :confused: haha.

 

Will I be okay with my 10:45am tour time?

 

Thanks all!!!

caosonn

[littlechief]

I have been going crazy over this exact same thing for months! I am sure I have driven many people on this board crazy with my "time" questions. I am also sailing on the Splendor, but in October. I was told by Carnival that we arrive at 8am "ship" time, but it is really 9am PV time. I also received an e-mail back a few days ago from a fellow passenger through the Carnival site. She had just gotten off the Splendor and she told me they arrived at 9am PV time. I had questioned Carnival about moving the clocks because I as well have read many posts discussing moving the time, etc.. I was told that Carnival has passengers move their clock ahead 1 hour while they are at sea. I hope this helps. I was originally scheduled for 11:45 with Los Veranos, but after receiving many replys, have now changed it to 10:45. I think it will be okay. Let me know how it goes when you get back. Enjoy!!!!

[gottago2mexico]

Ship time will always be equal to or later than PV local time. This means if your ship says it will be there at 9:00 AM, the latest it will be there (unless something unforseen happens) is 10:00 AM PV local time. The earliest it will be there is 9:00 AM PV local time.

 

You should always ask your ship if the time they state they will be in port is PV local time (central time), or if it is Mountain Time. If you can't find out from the ship, your second option is to ask your tour company - they can ask the port captain when your ship is scheduled to arrive, and they won't let you book a time that won't work for your schedule.

 

These are your two excellent resources for this question, and it varies with every ship, so don't rely on someone's past experience in this case, find out specifically for your ship. Better safe than sorry, and these two resources can ensure you are on the right track.

[caosonn]

Thanks for the info littlechief & johann & sandra.

 

I originally booked the 11:45 slot like you, littlechief. Then decided to change to the 10:45 after reading some posts here. 10:45 would give us more time to check out PV after the canopy tour is done.

 

I'll definitely report the PV & ship time when I get back. Can't wait!! :rolleyes:

[Middleager]

Hi.

 

I'm on the same Splendor cruise. The time at PV used to be 10am to 10pm. But just seeing your post saying it's from 9am, I also double checked the Carnival website and see it's 9am. Called Carnival to confirm, it is 9am.

 

That means we can start our dive/snorkel tour 1 hr earlier, and that'll allow us to finish in time to follow with a zip line tour ourselves. I'm going to look into doing that now.

 

Thanks.

[littlechief]

Thanks for the info littlechief & johann & sandra.

 

I originally booked the 11:45 slot like you, littlechief. Then decided to change to the 10:45 after reading some posts here. 10:45 would give us more time to check out PV after the canopy tour is done.

 

I'll definitely report the PV & ship time when I get back. Can't wait!! :rolleyes:

Enjoy!!!!!

[arms4]

looking at doing the zipline tour at end of sept, but have a question for you

 

are you starting at thier office or the disco thing? I am confused about the taxi thing. Any info you have would be appreciated.

[MSN-Travelers]

looking at doing the zipline tour at end of sept, but have a question for you

 

are you starting at thier office or the disco thing? I am confused about the taxi thing. Any info you have would be appreciated.

 

The actual tour starts upon departure from their office on the south side of Vallarta. Morning tours depart the office at 45 minutes past the hour with the first tour departure at 8:45 AM.

 

Somebody (and I'm not sure who) offers a free shuttle to the canopy tour office from various pickup points between ??? and the south side. One of these pickup points is Collage Disco located on the southeast end of the marina (beyond safe walking distance).

 

I understand the Collage pickup time is roughly 30 minutes prior to the start time for the tour. If you book an 11:45 tour, the shuttle is supposed to be a Collage Disco at 11:15.

 

Personally, I don't understand why you would take a taxi to a location where you hope to catch a shuttle that will take you back past the port to the south side of Vallarta. Why not take a taxi direct to the Los Veranos office and arrive 15 minutes before the actual departure time?

 

Hope this helps!

[crzndeb]

Unfortunately, the OP won't be going now since the Splendor has diverted due to Hurricane Jimena.

 

I agree with MSN...I went on this tour last year and going again in Oct. (10:45 tour) We got a taxi all the way to the Canopy office. It is only a 15-20 min drive.

[crzndeb]

Double post

[arms4]

Thank you, how much does a taxi cost to get to their main office for the zips. Can 6 people fit in a taxi?

[crzndeb]

There were 4 of us and it was tight. I'm not sure if they have mini vans. If I remember, I think it was about $12 to go to the Canopy office. We actually caught it in front of the WalMart, since we went over there first.

[akcruz]

We just did the taxi to the Los Veranos office a few weeks ago. We paid $8 for 4 of us (we did get a yellow cab outside the port area). While we were on the Mariner, so the schedule could be different, we made the 10:45 with no problems. We were actually there a little past 9:45 so wandered around the area the office is in for a bit before leaving.

[littlechief]

We just did the taxi to the Los Veranos office a few weeks ago. We paid $8 for 4 of us (we did get a yellow cab outside the port area). While we were on the Mariner, so the schedule could be different, we made the 10:45 with no problems. We were actually there a little past 9:45 so wandered around the area the office is in for a bit before leaving.

Thanks so much for the info. How did you like the zip line tour?

[akcruz]

Thanks so much for the info. How did you like the zip line tour?

 

We loved it. It was a bit more hiking than we expected and with it being August when we were we were dripping wet but worth all of it. The guides are wonderful and keep jokes coming from beginning to end so you forget about how high up you are. If you have the chance try to do a double zip (they will put females backwards and have you go upside down if you want). At the end they have the monkeys that you can feed. Do it if you have the time it was quite an experience. My kids thought this was way cool and they are teens!

[andynlala]

I just booked our tour for our trip in Oct. on the Mariner. We are doing the 11:15 (PV time). How long should I allow for getting off the ship & getting a taxi to make it to the Collage Disco on time? Or a better question would be what time should we plan to leave to make it on time?

[Craving A Cruise]

Andynlala~~We just did this tour with Akcruz. We had a great time!The Mariner arrived in PV at 8am ship time or 9am local PV time.

 

If you go to the Collage Disco location you are kind of back- tracking a little bit. Sorry, I'm not sure how far that location is from the ship, but by taking the 11:15 from there you will probably stop at the canopy office about 11:45 and then it is an hour bus ride to Los Veranos from there.

 

I would suggest doing as we did, as we had plenty of time to make the 10:45 tour leaving from the Canopy office.

 

We left the ship about 9:15am PV time, walked 5 minutes to the main street and caught a yellow taxi to the Canopy Office. (we paid $10 for 4 people.) Arrived there at about 9:45 am, checked in and boarded a bus for the 1 hour trip to Los Veranos at 10:45. Sit on the right side of the bus for the best views on the way there.

 

We did our first zipline at about Noon and finished at approx. 1:45pm. We did not stay to pet the monkeys and were offered the last 4 seats on the bus leaving at 2pm. (there was another bus leaving at 2:30pm.)

We opted to ride the bus back & get dropped off near the ship, instead of getting off at the canopy office. (this saved us $10). We returned to the Mariner around 3pm PV time. So, overall the excursion was approximately 6 hours roundtrip.

 

Have a great time!

 

Craving A Cruise

 

 

p.s. As Akcruz shared, try to do a double zipline with one of the guides. I did this and it was an amazing experience gliding backwards, letting go and hanging upside down.

 

We loved it. It was a bit more hiking than we expected and with it being August when we were we were dripping wet but worth all of it. The guides are wonderful and keep jokes coming from beginning to end so you forget about how high up you are. If you have the chance try to do a double zip (they will put females backwards and have you go upside down if you want). At the end they have the monkeys that you can feed. Do it if you have the time it was quite an experience. My kids thought this was way cool and they are teens!

 

I just booked our tour for our trip in Oct. on the Mariner. We are doing the 11:15 (PV time). How long should I allow for getting off the ship & getting a taxi to make it to the Collage Disco on time? Or a better question would be what time should we plan to leave to make it on time?

[caosonn]

Just got back from the Carnival Splendor. As crzndeb said, the ship didn't stop in Puerto or Mazatlan due to the hurricane :( Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

If it helps, MSN Traveler's advice is good. When I was planning the zipline tour, I called them Los Veranos directly and they said to take a taxi directly to their office as with the 10:45am tour time (which I had booked), there is no shuttle from the College Station.

 

I was really looking forward to it too! Now to work on getting a refund :D

[andynlala]

Another time question for those of you who were on the Mariner.....The itinerary says 8:00 AM. Is that PV time or ship time? Ship time is 1 hour behind PV time, right?

[MSN-Travelers]

Another time question for those of you who were on the Mariner.....The itinerary says 8:00 AM. Is that PV time or ship time? Ship time is 1 hour behind PV time, right?

 

See response #17 above. And yes, ship's time is one hour behind Vallarta local time.