Historic Towns & Tequila-making excursion on MR

[Tink3815]

Has anyone else taken done this excursion on the MR cruise in Puerto Vallarta and felt disappointed? The tequila tasting was interesting but the towns were awful, not at all like the description on the internet or ship brochure.

 

[minie_meese]

We had 5 people in our group (4 adults and a 7 yr old) and we all really enjoyed this tour. It provided us some of the most memorable things on our trip. I talked to other people on our cruise who enjoyed the tour and others who didn't. In looking at the description of the tour, what we experienced was what was described.

We got to see how people live in the small town in Mexico and not some re-creation of the town without all of the warts. This is what we hoped for. One of the things we especially loved was getting to walk through the place where they made tortillas from dried corn and then getting to taste the hot tortillas just as they came out of the oven. Our guide was very good and explained how important corn is to the people in the area. We loved seeing the churches and of course the tequila tour tour too. I have never been a tequila fan but the high end tequila was very good.

 

[Tink3815]

We had 5 people in our group (4 adults and a 7 yr old) and we all really enjoyed this tour. It provided us some of the most memorable things on our trip. I talked to other people on our cruise who enjoyed the tour and others who didn't. In looking at the description of the tour, what we experienced was what was described.

We got to see how people live in the small town in Mexico and not some re-creation of the town without all of the warts. This is what we hoped for. One of the things we especially loved was getting to walk through the place where they made tortillas from dried corn and then getting to taste the hot tortillas just as they came out of the oven. Our guide was very good and explained how important corn is to the people in the area. We loved seeing the churches and of course the tequila tour tour too. I have never been a tequila fan but the high end tequila was very good.

This tour must vary on the guide or they may have different operators. Our tortilla experience was a stop at a storefront showing a person grinding corn and eating a cold torilla with a piece a cheese wrapped in it that the bus driver bought in the sun.

 

[MAJPLO]

We have this excursion booked and with the deadline approaching, have been debating on whether or not we want to cancel it. It's nice to hear two different opinions on it. Do either of you have any pictures of the places that you went to?

 

[LKFan]

We took the tour the same day as Minnie Meese. There were two buses. We got on bus one and they got on bus two. Our bus didn't even stop at a tortilla factory but, instead, stopped at an ice cream shop that our driver "highly recommended." The majority of the bus bought ice cream there. I'm sure the owner was a compadre of our guide (Miguel).

After we got back on the bus, our driver had a stack of tortillas that he had bought. As we were driving, he walked up and down the bus, passing one out to each person.

ETA: After we got back on the ship and my husband compared experiences with Minnie Meese, we gave Port Adventures our feedback. They contract with companies to provide a certain tour and, unless they get feedback, they don't know what actually happens once you are off the ship.

 

[Tink3815]

We have this excursion booked and with the deadline approaching, have been debating on whether or not we want to cancel it. It's nice to hear two different opinions on it. Do either of you have any pictures of the places that you went to?

I do have pictures,but need to figure out how to post. Sounds like it depends on which tour you get. If you are looking for the quaint shops they mention in the description they do not exist. There were a few booths with women selling jewelry outside the chruch. I was hesitant to walk around the one town as the police were patrolling with automatic weapons on their hips everywhere. The people in these towns did not seem welcoming at all.

 

[Tink3815]

We took the tour the same day as Minnie Meese. There were two buses. We got on bus one and they got on bus two. Our bus didn't even stop at a tortilla factory but, instead, stopped at an ice cream shop that our driver "highly recommended." The majority of the bus bought ice cream there. I'm sure the owner was a compadre of our guide (Miguel).

After we got back on the bus, our driver had a stack of tortillas that he had bought. As we were driving, he walked up and down the bus, passing one out to each person.

ETA: After we got back on the ship and my husband compared experiences with Minnie Meese, we gave Port Adventures our feedback. They contract with companies to provide a certain tour and, unless they get feedback, they don't know what actually happens once you are off the ship.

Would you mind me asking which cruise you were on? I also complained to Jennifer the Port Adventure director. What did you think of the wood carving studio on the tour?

 

[LKFan]

I do have pictures,but need to figure out how to post. Sounds like it depends on which tour you get. If you are looking for the quaint shops they mention in the description they do not exist. There were a few booths with women selling jewelry outside the chruch. I was hesitant to walk around the one town as the police were patrolling with automatic weapons on their hips everywhere. The people in these towns did not seem welcoming at all.

In that town (by the church), our guide told us to stay very close to him. The police with weapons didn't seem to be patroling anything but were just hanging out, chatting with each other on the corner.

I was disappointed in the church and didn't see the purpose of stopping there. The church in the city of PV was much more pretty. It was interesting because, at that stop, the two tables of vendors ignored us as we walked into the church but, as soon as we exited, they were all over us.

I thought the wood shop was a joke. We saw those same wooden figures all over PV, Cabo as well as in Nassau and in the ports in Alaska. Our guide told us a story about how the man sanding down the wooden figure (probably sanding "made in China" off of the bottom) had never seen a bear before but yet he was able to carve an intricate 3D figure after just viewing pictures. It seemed like a lot of BS to me.

 

[minie_meese]

As LKFan said, we were on the same cruise - 2/20-2/27 but on different buses. I talked with someone else from our DIS group who was on the same bus as LKFan and they didn't like the tour either. Our tour guide was terrific. He explained a lot of the things we were seeing like the history behind the partially finished church, the role of churches in people's lives and and how people make their living. We wanted to purchase a few additional tortillas at the tortilla shop. The people in the shop were very nice but had no idea how to convert dollars to pesos so the lady indicated we could have them for nothing. We gave them a dollar.

We gave the tour high marks in our feedback, including the tour guide. I do agree that the wood shop was pretty lame but we were only there for a few minutes. I have some photos from the tour here - scroll about halfway down to Puerto Vallarta. I uploaded some more on the Miscellaneous page starting at the photo of the church bench with a carved corn cob
http://anselm2011vacation.blogspot.com/

I am really glad we went on this tour but I think I would have felt differently if we were on the other bus.

 

[MAJPLO]

Thanks minie_meese, those photos are great and very helpful. That actually looks like what I would expect to see on a tour like this. It seems odd to me that they would have two different busses on the same tour that don't do the same things! Maybe that would be too many people in the same area on one time? Anyway I think we are going to stick with this. We wanted to see some of the "real" Mexico and also with a 4 and 2 year old we are pretty limited on the excursions we can do. We already have a beach resort scheduled for Cabo so we wanted to do something different in PV.

 

[LKFan]

I am really glad we went on this tour but I think I would have felt differently if we were on the other bus.

When we talked to Port Adventures, we made sure they knew that we weren't irrate but were just giving feedback. It was disappointing that we all walked off the ship at the same time but that we received two different experiences on this tour.

 

[Meghatron]

We were disappointed that the towns were just old and not actually historic. Once we got to the tequilaria, however, the tour and tasting was in our opinion worth every penny we paid for the excursion. Just wish they hadn't wasted our time with the towns at all.

 

[Tink3815]

We were disappointed that the towns were just old and not actually historic. Once we got to the tequilaria, however, the tour and tasting was in our opinion worth every penny we paid for the excursion. Just wish they hadn't wasted our time with the towns at all.

Totally agree that the tequilaria was great. The tour guide made that our first stop, so we were into the tasings early in the am. I was very surprised how generous the tastings were.

 

["Got Disney"]

Thanks minie_meese, those photos are great and very helpful. That actually looks like what I would expect to see on a tour like this. It seems odd to me that they would have two different busses on the same tour that don't do the same things! Maybe that would be too many people in the same area on one time? Anyway I think we are going to stick with this. We wanted to see some of the "real" Mexico and also with a 4 and 2 year old we are pretty limited on the excursions we can do. We already have a beach resort scheduled for Cabo so we wanted to do something different in PV.

Wanted to comment on the Beach resort tour you are taking...we go to Cabo at least 3 times a year(we live in San Diego) and you can save yourself money by just walking over to the water taxi's and tell them to take you over to the resorts/beach.....and if your beach excursion includes a meal it will be much cheaper to eat on your own.

Feel free to also use the hotels pools...find a resort that has a Cabana on the beach...they will bring food out to you there.

Also in Cabo be careful in the water(which will be freezing this time a year...burrrr)...they have terrible rip tides.....the Beach is not very big...so look where you see many swimming. In Cabo you will be swarmed by locals when you get off wanting to take you on different tours. The glass bottom boats are fun....and a nice little tour...sometimes you dont see many fish but the little tour is fun.

Be sure to bargain! There will be 50 locals offering the same thing.....

You can also barter with the water taxi. Its always per trip not per person....so dont let them fool you and go with the person that gives you the best rate. Also if you give them a time to come back to pick you up they will always come back at the spot and time you ask ...but only pay one way each time. We have never ever been left and if they do no problem their are other water taxis all the time....