Feb 20, 2011 - Presidents' Week - Mexican Riviera

[Mich123]

We booked the Las Caletas port adventure, the All inclusive Beach Resort in Mazatlan, Santa Maria Snorkel and Sail and the Teen Surf adventure. Whew! After our last cruise where we opted to see Nassau on our own with mixed results, we have committed ourselves to booking port adventures through Disney at every port.

Also booked a dinner at Palo on day 4, planning to book a spa treatment or two once we're on board (hoping for a special deal!). I'm also going to sign DH up with the personal trainer since he's worried he'll be bored on the at sea days.

I contemplated the Palo tea and brunch, but decided against them. DH and I really enjoyed the martini tasting and I discovered that most tastings are held in the mid to late afternoon, so I think we'll opt for that instead.

Can't wait!! Would love to hear any other info people have about the port adventures...

 

[Señor DonDuck]

We went for the Paradise Beach Adventure in PV and the Beach Resort Getaway in Cabo. Nothing really caught our eye in Mazatlan (well, that the kids would also like), so we may just walk around a bit and then hang out on the ship. We also got the Palo brunch on the last day.

 

[LKFan]

We booked Palo brunch on the second day (1st day at sea). We have High Tea reserved for day 3 but, after reading reviews, we'll probably cancel that. We have dinner on day 5.

We're also doing the dolphin swim in Cabo.

 

[silence]

We booked the Las Caletas port adventure, the All inclusive Beach Resort in Mazatlan.

I read some great reviews on this one! DH and DM want to stay on the ship and I was not about to venture out with both kiddos on my own!

 

[silence]

planning to book a spa treatment or two once we're on board (hoping for a special deal!)..

This is our first cruise on Disney. I did book two spa treatments (one for me and one for my mom), just for a pedicure. Does anyone know, can they do more than one person at the same time? I wanted to do this together with her, but they only had separate appts available online, so I am going to check when we get on board. Also, if they are running any specials, will we be able to get that price? Sorry for the newbie questions!

Last thing, does anyone know where we go to make the hair braiding appts when we get on board? I really lwant to do this for my DD.

 

[DVC_Chris]

This is our first cruise on Disney. I did book two spa treatments (one for me and one for my mom), just for a pedicure. Does anyone know, can they do more than one person at the same time? I wanted to do this together with her, but they only had separate appts available online, so I am going to check when we get on board. Also, if they are running any specials, will we be able to get that price? Sorry for the newbie questions!

Last thing, does anyone know where we go to make the hair braiding appts when we get on board? I really lwant to do this for my DD.

I know that they can do multiple pedicures at the same time, but that my wife has stopped getting her mani and pedi on board because they are much more expensive and do not seem to last long at all.

Specials are generally on port days and subject to availability, usually it is a package deal.

No kids yet, so I am not sure about the hair braiding, but I think you can make reservations.

 

[samily]

In Mazatlan, I think we are going to take the water taxi over to Stone Island on our own. From what I have been reading, it sounds easy & inexpensive for the day.

On the hairbraiding - in the past, we have been able to make reservations the first day. There is a little stand located on the port side, deck 9, I think it was near the Goofy pool. If you get braids done, remember to apply sunscreen to your scalp! (speaking from painful experience here! )

 

[Beachmum]

Brunch at Palo on the last day at sea and the kids dolphin thing in Cabo. We looked at a couple's massage, but couldn't figure out what they could possibly do to make it worth $500 (although DH and several other men had some interesting suggestions).

Since the high-end spas around here charge around $250 for a couple's massage, we'll probably skip it. At some point, I might get a massage onboard, but I'll figure it out as I go.

The only thing I'm still figuring out is what we're going to in Mazatlan. We're planning on staying onboard in PV since we've been there many times before and the kids are too little for many of the excursions. However, I don't know what, if anything, we'll do in Mazatlan. For now, the plan is to disembark and wander around the town until we get bored.

 

[silence]

In Mazatlan, I think we are going to take the water taxi over to Stone Island on our own. From what I have been reading, it sounds easy & inexpensive for the day.

On the hairbraiding - in the past, we have been able to make reservations the first day. There is a little stand located on the port side, deck 9, I think it was near the Goofy pool. If you get braids done, remember to apply sunscreen to your scalp! (speaking from painful experience here! )

Thanks for the hairbraiding info! I think that will be one of our first stops. I may book 2 appts for her, one for the beginning of the week and one for the end for them to fix it all up so she can wear her hair that way off the ship too.

I did read info on Stone Island. I am just super paranoid about being too far away from the ship on a non-Disney excursion. I know it's silly, I guess I need a few more cruises so I loosen up a bit.

 

[silence]

The only thing I'm still figuring out is what we're going to in Mazatlan. However, I don't know what, if anything, we'll do in Mazatlan. For now, the plan is to disembark and wander around the town until we get bored.

I told DH that we at least had to get off the ship so we could say we were in Mazatlan. Does anyone know, do they have little shops right there at the port or are we going to have to take a taxi somewhere to do any shopping?

 

[AuntAmy]

My niece (DN?) and I are going on this cruise, just the 2 of us. She will be almost 6 and pretty shy, so no dolphin swim or canopy tour for us. But I have heard that there should be good souvenir shopping at each port, which we both love. So we will be shopping, lunching and playing at the beach.

 

[minie_meese]

I indicated I would send out the FE details about the Dec 15th. Well, I just got back from a family shopping weekend in NYC and am in Boston till Friday. My detail info is in Rochester so I will send the details this weekend. There has been a small change - we have one more room of 2 adults. The summary is updated below. Sounds like everyone is getting excited. We are for sure. I can hardly wait to get out of this cold.

20 staterooms
19 women
14 men
17 girls (10 are ages 6-10 and 7 are ages 11-17)
10 boys (7 are ages 5-9 and 3 are ages 1-13)
Food restrictions - 2 families - no nuts, 1 family no chocolate or anything with milk or eggs, 1 family no food items at all

Some additional details:
Birthdays - 1 boy and 1 adult woman
Anniversaries - 2 couples
First time Disney cruisers - 7 or 8

Some things that people indicated their kids like:
Tinkerbell
Lightning McQueen, Hot wheels
Legos
Keychains
Pooh and Mr Potato Head

 

[Pooh Lover]

Sounds like you've been a busy beaver Elaine!

 

[vetbeth]

So far we've booked the Palo brunch on the first sea day. I think we'll probably do Stone island on Mazatlan and may try and book a whale watching trip in Cabo. I'm not sure about PV yet.

 

[Pooh Lover]

Has anyone DONE the whale watching? DDs (6 and 9) want to go, but I'm scared they will be terribly bored. It's not that I'm looking for a reason not to go, I want to. I just not sure it's age appropriate.

Any advice?

 

[Nancy_in_CA]

Hi Everyone,

I am very late to the game but it was touch and go until the last minute whether we could go.

We are a party of 4 - one grandpa, one aunt and two nieces 7 and 9. This will be our first Disney cruise but we are experienced cruisers on many other lines. We usually take the girls to Disney World every year but we couldn't pass up the Mexican Riviera cruise because we are from Northern California and it is great to skip the long plane flight.

I would love to participate in the fish extender program if it is not too late!

 

[minie_meese]

Nancy - We'd love to have you - I've added you to the list - and I promise to get the details together between batches of Christmas cookies this weekend.

I think this brings our totals for the FE group to

21 staterooms
20 women
15 men
19 girls (10 are ages 6-10 and 7 are ages 11-17)
10 boys (7 are ages 5-9 and 3 are ages 1-13)

If I don't have you listed below and you indicated you wanted to participate in the FEs please let me know right away
Dis names for families I have participating are:
AuntAmy
Aurora76
betsy2010

Bruins and LKFan

CeCe

Dishy24

DVC Chris 

Erica G 

gichicdoc 

II_california 

minie_meese 

Nancy_in_CA

Pooh_Lover 

Senor Don Duck 

samily 

silence 

Sweetpeabass

Vetbeth 

winny pooh

 

[Beachmum]

Pooh Lover wrote:

Has anyone DONE the whale watching? DDs (6 and 9) want to go, but I'm scared they will be terribly bored. It's not that I'm looking for a reason not to go, I want to. I just not sure it's age appropriate.


We took my two whale watching in Maui when they were three and five. The older one was bored and the younger one was terrified (it was a rough sea)...until we saw the whales. The transformation was amazing. Suddenly, the little one, who had been glommed on to me like a baby, was shouting about how 'impressive' the whales were. They were about 40 feet from our boat.

It truly was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life. Both kids still talk about it two years later. We keep meaning to go whale watching in Palos Verdes (just south of LA, where we live), but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'd highly recommend it because the whales are just that impressive.

 

[LKFan]

Pooh Lover wrote:

It truly was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life. Both kids still talk about it two years later. We keep meaning to go whale watching in Palos Verdes (just south of LA, where we live), but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'd highly recommend it because the whales are just that impressive.

That's our neck of the woods. Blue whale watching was amazing this year. The grey whales should be in the area in February.

You can go whale watching on a ship with a naturalist from the Long Beach Aquarium. http://www.2seewhales.com/ Adults are $30 and children are $18. Warning, if you go whale watching out of Long Beach in February, prepare for it to be very cold.

 

[Mich123]

Has anyone DONE the whale watching? DDs (6 and 9) want to go, but I'm scared they will be terribly bored. It's not that I'm looking for a reason not to go, I want to. I just not sure it's age appropriate.

Any advice?

We went whale watching with a 2 year old and it was fun just to be on a boat...until she and my DH both got seasick at the same time. Let's just say that it didn't end well. Of course, you'll have been on a boat for days, so maybe they might get bored if you don't see any whales.

A friend of mine is doing the whale watching trip at one of the western Mexico stops on the Panama Canal repositioning trip in a couple of weeks, I'll report back when she gets back in early January. As an aside, her DIS group rented an entire whale watching boat for their group members!