Just back from West Coast Cruise - any questions?

[skeegan]

Hi, We're also doing the Sierra Madre tour. Could you tell me a little about it? What made it better than you expected? Were there any kids on the tour? I hope my DD7 enjoys it. She's into seeing "new stuff".

There were plenty of kids on the tour. My kids and I weren't really excited about this tour when it was booked (this was my husband's pick) but we all commented on how much we liked it (including my 16 year old son). It has Disney influences although Guest Services didn't even seem to be aware of it. You are on a full size air conditioned bus. Your first stop is the adobe brick yard (so-so). The next stop is a village with a bakery (each person gets a free selection) and a tile maker (each family gets to select a free tile). The next stop is the town of Concordia. You visit the town square, 200 + year old church, mexican restaurant (beverage stop - complete with Disney pinatas hanging from the ceiling), and a hacenida. This is a nice town (sidewalks and lights) as the local industries are furniture making and mining. The next stop was a small town in the Sierra Madre Hills called Copala, much different town. There are children trying to sell you donkey rides and wood carvings, cobblestone streets. This is your lunch stop for a mexican plate and world famous banana coconut pie. Kids can have a hamburger and fries. The food is okay and the pie is good. There is an older church and a smaller town square. The last stop is a furniture maker and a pottery maker. The children get to make a clay mold of Mickey Mouse and to select a small finished piece to take home. Each stop had some type of vendor selling items. They were not overly pushy and the prices were very reasonable. The items were purchased were almost three times as much when we saw them in Cabo. We didn't bring enough one dollar bills/pesos with us as we didn't understand there would be so many purchasing opportunities. We would also bring a bag next time to put all the free stuff in as we all had our hands full coming back to the ship. It was not a "beach break" like our other two excursions but very enjoyable.

One other thing there are clean bathrooms as most every stop (except the first) reserved for only guests of this tour company. It was evident that many of these had been put in or upgraded recently. Some even had motion activated towel dispensers. We asked about this and they said that Disney had come through about one year ago, picked which things would be included and what things needed to be changed.

Let me know any other questions you have.

 

[skeegan]

Was there a lot of pin trading on your cruise? Thanks!

Much to my disappointment there was almost no pin trading on our cruise. One night we went looking and could not find anyone.

 

[skeegan]

skeegan- we are doing the exact samre excursions for the July 2 cruise. 9except I'm not snorkeling- men and boys in our group are- we;re doing the beach escape in Cabo. How was the Sierra Madre tour and Las Caletas? Thanks

Please see the note about the Sierra Madre tour above. The Las Caletas reminded us alot of Castaway Cay without the Disney characters, photographers, and game area. You could kayak, lay around in a hammock, swim with a sea lion (extra $$$), snorkel, sit in a beach chair, take in a cooking demostration, have a massage, go on a nature walk, have a spider monkey or macaw (?) climb on your arm. There was a lunch, barbequed ribs, chips and salsa, fish, dessert, etc. The bathrooms didn't have electicity (candles) but were clean. Remember to put on lots of sunscreen, my daughter sat in the front of the catamaran (away from us with friends) on the way back to the boat and her legs were burnt! Let me know any specific questions you have.

 

[ThreeJ's]

Skeegan - thanks for the great info regarding the Sierra Madre tour. I'm really looking forward to it.

After the tour was over, did you have to board right away or did you have some free time?

 

[skeegan]

Skeegan - thanks for the great info regarding the Sierra Madre tour. I'm really looking forward to it.

After the tour was over, did you have to board right away or did you have some free time?

They drop you off at a market (all tours do) and you have to catch a tram to the ship. We went straight back to the ship. I think you probably had about 1.5 to 2 hours before you had to be back at the ship.