The 'Wonder'ful Mexican Riviera with a nut (allergy) Full report w/pics!

[rrbar]

How did you like Las Caletas? I have this booked but it's so expensive and I'm not sure it's worth it. Did you do the sea lion swim?

It was good but the activities felt a little rushed. The kids enjoyed the entertainment on the boat on the way over- crew danced and they played a game part of the time so that kept them happy. The adults liked the drinks.

For the snorkeling, my boys didn't have the right size fins for snorkeling so by the time we walked back up the steps twice to change them, the group was gone. They had not snorkeled before so they needed more time to figure it out the first time. They had kayaking afterwards which we didn't do and people were swimming. The water was cold as it always in in LA but the weather felt like only in the 70's so I was a little cold so I didn't swim. If it had been warmer that would have been better but I guess they can't control the weather! The food was good and the setting was beautiful. When we got there and set down to eat, our kids were so impressed and said how much they liked the place as it was beautiful and so nice to have a table waiting for you to eat lunch. I thought it was odd that they have BBQ ribs as people who grow up in Mexico don't often like BBQ ribs and they didn't have guacamole but it was good otherwise. We never saw the monkeys but another boy said they had them when we got off the boat but we only saw parrots when we got off with their handlers. The kids did do the nature walk in the jungle and a baby boa constrictor slithered his way across the path so that was exciting for them and that was real, not staged. We are glad we went but wouldn't do it again as it was expensive so would try something else next time. There was no sea lion swim going on when we were there. At Cabo, there were opportunities to swim and snorkel near lovers beach although the boats were close.We would do water activities in Cabo next time to save some money and try something different. We just arranged with some people in Cabo to parasail and go on the glass bottom boat when we got there at Cabo so that worked out fine for us and was less expensive.


Sorry to hijack your thread, Stinkerbell. It is the best review! You are a fun and entertaining writer! We went to Beach Blanket on Saturday and got there at 2:30 when they were closing so never saw all of the seafood that you saw in the pictures above- just the little bit that was left but we were just happy that they stayed open later than on the schedule because they said people were still coming and they had to stay open later. I just appreciated that they were still open for a few minutes longer until they ran out of food. That just goes to show that some people can be on the same cruise and have different experiences- so ignore all of those bad reviews that you saw on other threads! It really was a great cruise.

 

[dinofamilylv]

Thank you, I am glad it's appreciated- it's more work than I had anticipated. The last few posts have been short and to the point because I am a "single mom" this week and I can't seem to find time to write the way I normally do. I brought my iPad along on the cruise and made notes every night, otherwise I would have nothing to report I'm sure there's a ton that I left out, but my goal was to reassure future cruisers that this is a worthwhile investment of your family's time and money

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this TR! We will be going on our first ever cruise on the 2/27 MR. We particularly enjoyed all the food descriptions and pics as we know that will be one of the highlights of this trip for our family.

Happy Cruising!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Hi again Stinkerbell. Sorry to bug you with more questions. I just re-read your TR from the beginning and had a couple more questions. 1) When you went back to the ship after your adventure in PV, did you have to show any type of photo ID (passport, driver's licence) in addition to your KTTW card? 2) When you bought stuff at Walmart and other stores in PV, did you pay in US dollars or pesos? Thanks in advance for your help and your detailed TR is very much appreciated.

When you leave the ship , bring along your KTTWC and a driver's license.
We used our credit card at the stores, but paid the cab driver in USD.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

It was good but the activities felt a little rushed. The kids enjoyed the entertainment on the boat on the way over- crew danced and they played a game part of the time so that kept them happy. The adults liked the drinks.

For the snorkeling, my boys didn't have the right size fins for snorkeling so by the time we walked back up the steps twice to change them, the group was gone. They had not snorkeled before so they needed more time to figure it out the first time. They had kayaking afterwards which we didn't do and people were swimming. The water was cold as it always in in LA but the weather felt like only in the 70's so I was a little cold so I didn't swim. If it had been warmer that would have been better but I guess they can't control the weather! The food was good and the setting was beautiful. When we got there and set down to eat, our kids were so impressed and said how much they liked the place as it was beautiful and so nice to have a table waiting for you to eat lunch. I thought it was odd that they have BBQ ribs as people who grow up in Mexico don't often like BBQ ribs and they didn't have guacamole but it was good otherwise. We never saw the monkeys but another boy said they had them when we got off the boat but we only saw parrots when we got off with their handlers. The kids did do the nature walk in the jungle and a baby boa constrictor slithered his way across the path so that was exciting for them and that was real, not staged. We are glad we went but wouldn't do it again as it was expensive so would try something else next time. There was no sea lion swim going on when we were there. At Cabo, there were opportunities to swim and snorkel near lovers beach although the boats were close.We would do water activities in Cabo next time to save some money and try something different. We just arranged with some people in Cabo to parasail and go on the glass bottom boat when we got there at Cabo so that worked out fine for us and was less expensive.


Sorry to hijack your thread, Stinkerbell. It is the best review! You are a fun and entertaining writer! We went to Beach Blanket on Saturday and got there at 2:30 when they were closing so never saw all of the seafood that you saw in the pictures above- just the little bit that was left but we were just happy that they stayed open later than on the schedule because they said people were still coming and they had to stay open later. I just appreciated that they were still open for a few minutes longer until they ran out of food. That just goes to show that some people can be on the same cruise and have different experiences- so ignore all of those bad reviews that you saw on other threads! It really was a great cruise.

You aren't hijacking anything...I welcome any and all comments, especially when it's helpful to future cruisers. Thanks for your input and it was great meeting you!

 

[IndianaPrincess]

Thank you so much for your trip report! It is beyond excellent!

I have one question - you arrived before your hubby and secured a boarding card. If I went over to the port earlier than the rest of my family, would I be able to get through those first few steps for all of us (6 people total, 2 rooms) and get a boarding card. I am just a bit confused from your first post of what you did before you got that boarding card and what you had to do afterward. Sorry if that's all jibberish!!! Thank you!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Divot wanted to see the boat pull into Los Angeles, so he and BASS were up and out the door before sunrise.

GG was still sleeping, so I watched our arrival from the porthole and bridgecam on the television. L.A. is typically foggy in the morning, especially on the water and this made for some interesting pictures of the port.

Divot and BASS eventually returned, we dressed for the day and left our stateroom for the last time (well, until next year anyway).

We had 1st seating for breakfast(7:30) in Parrot Cay and there was already a line waiting to get in. This was the only time that I felt the stress of the servers- They knew it would be a busy day with second seating breakfast, then a complete turnover for newly arriving passengers for lunch.

I felt a little rushed and things that were possible to order earlier in the week were not available this morning (example: I always ordered poached eggs, but this morning I was told it would take too long). That's understandable considering the hoards of people they have to push through the dining room in a short amount of time... So, basically- order quickly, eat and get out! TIP: If you don’t want to wake up at the crack of dawn, Beach Blanket also serves a buffet breakfast, but you have to vacate the stateroom by 8:30 regardless.

(a little sad to be leaving)

(saying goodbye to Joel)

They had already begun disembarkation and there were massive lines all around the atrium area, so we headed up to an empty deck 9 to wait.

(a rare empty Goofy pool)

It was a little chilly up there, so we grabbed some coffee and hot chocolate from the beverage station and sat at a table by the window.

At 9:00 our luggage tag(Minnie) was called and we were off the ship and standing in yet another line(this one was for immigration). I had read on the boards that there were two lines, one for passports and one for birth certificates. In this case, there were two lines, but they were for U.S. citizens and non U.S. citizens- passports and bcs were in the same line.

After immigration, we went down the escalators to the luggage area and I grabbed a porter to help. TIP: Get a porter, they are extremely helpful, especially when you need to locate your hotel transportation. It took about 5 minutes to identify and load up our bags and then it’s off to customs. The customs agent didn’t give us a second glance, he basically waved us through and we were outside the terminal in record time.

The Doubletree van pick-up is on the other side of the street and I was really thankful that the porter knew this. We would have been in for a long wait if we hadn’t gotten in this line early...We were back in our car heading home within 40 minutes of disembarkation, not too bad.

I want to thank you for sticking with my TR to the end and I sincerely hope it has given you a realistic picture of this cruise. We had an absolutely amazing family vacation and I’m pretty sure you will too...there are a few facts and dishonorable mentions that I want to leave you with though:

Facts(with some opinion thrown in): We had passports(adults) and birth certificates(kids) and had no problems at all, we did not buy trip insurance and had no need to, there were no bedbugs, there was no evidence of noro-virus, the coffee was good, the water was good, an adult can fit in the stateroom tub, and the room “cooler” maintained a temp of 66 degrees- so don’t expect to store perishables in this thing.

Now, for the dishonorable mentions: I was actually impressed with our fellow cruisers and didn’t encounter too many rude people, but I feel these deserve recognition.

-The man and his son who saved the entire row of seats in the theater and shooed people away until their party arrived just as the show began.

-The people that arrived late to the pirate party, then pushed my children out of the way to get a better view-then allowed their kids to eat my son’s candy(after they knocked it out of his hand) off of the floor.

-The people hacking throughout the movie in the theater(...felt like I was in a petri dish)

-The large group of people who walked up the stairs just as the elevator doors were opening and proceeded to rudely push past those of us who had been waiting patiently.

That’s it, not so bad for a week-long cruise!

I hope you enjoyed this TR, look for the next installment in February 2012!!!

 

[cidymom]

Stinkerbell - I forgot to mention the other reason why your TR was so important is that my DS who will just turn 6 before our cruise has a peanut/nut and egg allergy. We already filled out the required DCL medical form. He's actually going today to the lab for his annual allergy blood tests which prompted this post. I'm happy to read that DCL is proactive about dealing with allergies except for your one incident at breakfast (I've taken note of this). I read on the Navigators that they serve light lunches and have cooking classes where they make cookies. My DS doesn't eat sweets as he knows cakes, cookies, muffins are made with eggs. I'll definitely advise the CM at the Kids Clubs in advance of his allergies. Do you know if the Kids Clubs are nut free? Did you leave an Epi-Pen at the Kids Clubs with the CM? I plan to bring 3 Epi-Pens with us on this trip as a safety precaution. Your family totally had a great time even with your DS's life-threatening nut allergy so I'm feeling relieved now and greatly anticipating our upcoming MR cruise!! Thanks again for all the info and your input.

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Thank you so much for your trip report! It is beyond excellent!

I have one question - you arrived before your hubby and secured a boarding card. If I went over to the port earlier than the rest of my family, would I be able to get through those first few steps for all of us (6 people total, 2 rooms) and get a boarding card. I am just a bit confused from your first post of what you did before you got that boarding card and what you had to do afterward. Sorry if that's all jibberish!!! Thank you!

I am really not sure if you could check your husband without him being there because they also take your picture for the KTTWC when you check in. You can just check yourself in and get a boarding card though. I had to show my cruise documentation and I.D. before entering the terminal, so it's probably safer if your DH keeps his I.D. (passport etc..) with him.

All of you can board with your card, if others come later they won't need to get another one, as long as you are walking on together.

 

[caraimee]

Yes, I rebooked onboard and they offer a 10% discount on your future cruise + 200.00 onboard credit + I get 75.00 onboard credit from my travel agent.

Which travel agent did you use? Is it DU? I heard so many good things about Tracey @ DU and would love to use her next time...so do i just give DCL her name while rebooking onboard?

 

[believe79]

-The man and his son who saved the entire row of seats in the theater and shooed people away until their party arrived just as the show began.

-The people that arrived late to the pirate party, then pushed my children out of the way to get a better view-then allowed their kids to eat my son’s candy(after they knocked it out of his hand) off of the floor.

-The people hacking throughout the movie in the theater(...felt like I was in a petri dish)

-The large group of people who walked up the stairs just as the elevator doors were opening and proceeded to rudely push past those of us who had been waiting patiently.

Some people really amaze me.. Some just do not have any manners anymore

 

[rrbar]

One more thing I wanted to mention about the character breakfast, we found out we had tickets ( you don't really need them) but they list the day you go to the breakfast and we noticed them on the desk on the 2nd day but they may have been there all along?

The couple with ate with was not happy that the character brunch was so rushed. An employee came over and had us get the cameras and autograph book ready but they just took one pose with each person or groups of kids. They were gone before you could ask them to take more pictures with a different grouping of people. I saw the size of the room and knew that it would have to be a quicker picture event as they don't have much time to spend with you and the characters didn't take the time to interact with us. When we go to Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland, it is different and they have more time to chat with you so as long as you know that, you won't be disappointed.

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Stinkerbell - I forgot to mention the other reason why your TR was so important is that my DS who will just turn 6 before our cruise has a peanut/nut and egg allergy. We already filled out the required DCL medical form. He's actually going today to the lab for his annual allergy blood tests which prompted this post. I'm happy to read that DCL is proactive about dealing with allergies except for your one incident at breakfast (I've taken note of this). I read on the Navigators that they serve light lunches and have cooking classes where they make cookies. My DS doesn't eat sweets as he knows cakes, cookies, muffins are made with eggs. I'll definitely advise the CM at the Kids Clubs in advance of his allergies. Do you know if the Kids Clubs are nut free? Did you leave an Epi-Pen at the Kids Clubs with the CM? I plan to bring 3 Epi-Pens with us on this trip as a safety precaution. Your family totally had a great time even with your DS's life-threatening nut allergy so I'm feeling relieved now and greatly anticipating our upcoming MR cruise!! Thanks again for all the info and your input.

The club/lab did an amazing job regarding his allergies. The allergies are noted in the computer, so every time he checked in they asked for the epi-pen. He was given a purple bracelet in addition to the regular i.d. bracelet and this alerts the staff that he cannot eat in the club. The clubs are nut-free anyway, but they do feed the kids snacks and meals and this is an extra precaution. You don't leave the epi-pen in the club, they want you to bring it and check it out each time... We really did have a great time and DS didn't feel left out at all, they usually gave him too many options (especially with desserts). I was given inaccurate information regarding Divvies though- they actually have Enjoy Life cookies and not Divvies. DS will not eat EL cookies, so if you want safe cookies, you will have to bring your own box of Divvies onboard.

Hope this was helpful

 

[Magic#]

Thanks again Stinkerbell your report was absolutely amazing. My best friend, my 14 year old daughter, and myself have all enjoyed reading it! We leave on the 27 of February and I am soooo excited! I even ordered pirate costumes after seeing your great pics!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Which travel agent did you use? Is it DU? I heard so many good things about Tracey @ DU and would love to use her next time...so do i just give DCL her name while rebooking onboard?

I did use DU for this cruise and the next one too, but from my experience it does no good to request a particular agent. Twice now I requested Kelsie and I keep getting someone else. I've had a couple issues with the TA regarding the new reservation and I was a little upset, but it's resolved now and I'm planning on sticking it out with DU.

 

[wallyboag]

A standing ovation for Stinkerbell!

Thank you very much for completing this trip report. It has really put my mind at ease about this trip, and I am sharing it with my entire family so they will know what to expect... and know that they will have a good time!

Your report was all at once entertaining, educational, cultural and friendly. It was like an online visit to EPCOT.

Thanks again!

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Thank you so much I vowed to finished this report and no respiratory infection, missing DH(thanks to the Air Force) or busy-ness of daily life was getting in the way...

It was definitely a challenge but it drives me crazy when people take a year to finish a TR I know that there are lots of people going on these MR cruises and all the negative threads were ammunition to write an honest and accurate (from my POV) report to reassure future cruisers.

 

[Lissame]

I also want to say thank you for writing this. Just curious, next year when you go, are you planning to get off the ship/schedule excursions for the ports? I know things will be totally different in Mexico by that time, Mazatlan may even be added back into the itinerary. Just wanted to know if you were considering it for the next trip.

 

[Stinkerbe11]

I also want to say thank you for writing this. Just curious, next year when you go, are you planning to get off the ship/schedule excursions for the ports? I know things will be totally different in Mexico by that time, Mazatlan may even be added back into the itinerary. Just wanted to know if you were considering it for the next trip.

We probably will, although I do like lounging around on an empty ship. I found Puerto Vallarta to be very interesting and that's one place I would definitely consider visiting again. Cabo seemed very similar to Southern California to me, but I would probably do more here as well. I'm hoping the weather will be significantly warmer in April and swimming and snorkeling excursions would then be an option.

 

[Lissame]

We probably will, although I do like lounging around on an empty ship. I found Puerto Vallarta to be very interesting and that's one place I would definitely consider visiting again. Cabo seemed very similar to Southern California to me, but I would probably do more here as well. I'm hoping the weather will be significantly warmer in April and swimming and snorkeling excursions would then be an option.

It really, really depends on the year. DH and I went on a MR cruise in 2007 during Valentine's week in Feb, and it was HOT the entire time. Went snorkeling in Cabo at 8 AM and we weren't cold at all.

 

[jedijill]

Thanks for your report! Sounds like you guys had a great time.

Jill in CO