OurMsBrooks
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2006
- Messages
- 456
Getting ready for our Mexican Riviera cruise, it was a little tough to find out about what to do ashore since this isn't one of DCL's normal routes. Some 2005 cruisers were very helpful, but even so it was tricky making decisions. I thought I'd share what we did ashore as information for those lucky ducks who still have Mexican Riviera cruises coming up this summer.
Our group was me, DH, DD12, DS8, and DD5. We were traveling with another family, also with three kids. We did three staterooms: two with veranda, and one inside stateroom across the hall. Our family spent three fabulous days at Disneyland pre-cruise, and the other family came in to LA the day before. As WDW regulars we really enjoyed the different things at Disneyland, though we learned to avoid Disneyland on Saturday afternoon and evening at all costs! After the cruise we had two days to explore LA a little bit: we stayed in Marina del Rey, watched surfers at Venice Beach, and did the obligatory drive through Rodeo Drive and Hollywood, and took the tour of the Kodak theatre (I'm a big movie fan).
So back to the issue at hand: what we did ashore.
Cabo San Lucas was our most unstructured day. We slept in and then tendered ashore late-morning, after the crowds. We actually thought the tendering process was pretty enjoyable, with nice views of the ship and the shoreline. Once we got ashore we had our first experiences with the vendors and people offering tours and boat rides. While I did hear a number of people complain that they were too aggressive and it made guests uncomfortable, the vendors must have been getting tired by the time we walked through. A simple "no gracias" was all it took, and it was no big deal at all.
We had a scavenger hunt of sorts in Cabo. A good friend at home had requested shot glasses from Cabo Wabo Cantina and Hard Rock Cafe, so we decided that would be a nice way to see a little bit of the city. We walked around the waterfront and up through the town a bit. We didn't stay at Hard Rock, just stopped in the shop. We did stick around a while at Cabo, and in the process discovered that our five year-old is a big fan of the bar scene! She LOVED the band and would not stop dancing. We thought the Cantina, though a bit expensive, was great fun. It's decorated in a fun way,had a fantastic band, and was perfectly kid-safe since we were there mid-day. We thought the little alcove tables along the side wall were cool. We enjoyed chips and salsa and a couple of drinks, and just relaxing out of the sun. We got our shot glass and a few pictures, and continued our walk.
The kids bought a couple of trinkets from vendors in the port, and then we headed back to the tendering dock, where we were greeted with scented washcloths to freshen up, as well as lemonade and water.
All in all, we really liked Cabo and enjoyed the unstructured day.
Our friends did the dolphins and adored the experience. The bought some neat pictures, and were really happy with their day too. It would be really easy to do the dolphin experience and still explore the town; the dolphin center is right at the port, very close.
Mazatlan was probably our best day. Thanks to a tip from a DISer, I checked out Cruise Critic and found out about Stone Island (Isla de las Piedras). Getting there was interesting, and I kept thinking I couldn't possibly be going the right way, but everything was exactly as described on Cruise Critic. Here's what you do: exit the port on foot, despite the extremely aggressive drivers and vendors. Here I was actually uncomfortable, because they really harassed us and even followed us to the gate out of the port area. They were definitely unhappy that we were leaving on foot. We were all clutching the kids' hands pretty tightly!
Once you pass through that gauntlet and get out the gate, turn left. You will walk a couple of blocks on a sidewalk with a large brick wall on your left. It will feel like it's the wrong way! Just keep walking. When you come to a street, go straight across and walk out until you come to the little blue hut where they sell the water taxi tickets. It only costs $2 a ticket round-trip to go over to Stone Island. Board the small boat for the quick trip, maybe ten minutes. When you disembark, there are guys with a truck with benches that will give you a ride, but it's really not far so we just walked. Go straight off the dock and up over the hill, and in front of you will be a wonderful, rustic, "old Mexico" beach. Walk, walk, walk down the beach until you come to Lety's. Here you will be greeted warmly, and you can choose lounge chairs under large umbrellas which you can use for the day if you buy some food and drink from Lety's. Let me say right up front that there were ten of us, and our total food, drink and boogie board bill was $50 US!!!! We had buckets of Pacifico beer (YUM!!) served with a plate of limes and salt, and hands-down the BEST, most wonderful salsa I've ever tasted in my life, made by Lety in the back of the place. Lety speaks great English and will tell you about her food. The chips were made fresh, and also the best I've had. The kids had buckets of Coke in glass bottles, the good Mexican Coke that uses real sugar instead of corn syrup.
We stayed all morning and afternoon, and had just a perfect beach day. The waves are big enough for great boogie boarding, and the beach is really something to see. There's a big rock island out in the bay, and there really were no crowds at all. The vendors were extremely polite and not pushy. There were a lot of them, but we didn't mind it. In fact, we bought necklaces, bracelets, and the kids got henna tattoos, which looked cool. There are showers you can pay a little to use, but we didn't bother with it. We also rented three four-wheelers and rode down the beach. I'd never been on one before, and once I figured out you have to shift the darn thing, I was fine. Tip: wear sneakers to ride the four-wheeler. The gear shift has wicked teeth in it that dig into your foot if you're wearing flip-flops. (Found that out the hard way!)
This place is pretty rustic, so if you're the high-class resort type, you might not be too happy. We adored it: the beach, the snacks, the Pacifico, the boogie boards, the whole scene. At about 3:00 or so we headed back to the water taxi dock, retraced our steps, and were all getting room service before 4:00. What fun!!!
Puerto Vallarta was our only official Disney excursion. We all went to Las Caletas, which is sort of the Mexican Riviera's answer to Castaway Cay. OK, it's NOT Castaway Cay, but it's the same general idea. You take a nice one hour catamaran ride, with a great view of the coastline. On the boat the crew introduce themselves, and there are pastries, juice and coffee. Once you arrive at Las Caletas, you have your choice of hammocks, beach chairs, bars, picnic tables, etc. It's really stunningly gorgeous, with all kinds of paths and stairways up the hillside, and everywhere you turn there's a pretty view and a hammock to enjoy it in.
There's a lot to do that's included in your excursion price: kayaks, snorkeling, swimming, inner tubes (there weren't many, but it didn't ever become an issue...people would just leave them on the beach by the kayaks when they were done, and it didn't seem like anybody wanted one and couldn't get one), and encounters with animals. We held an owl, a spider monkey, and a small green bird (sorry, didn't get the name). There was also a cooking class you could go to, but none of us did it. Some of our group went on the nature walk, and while the host was friendly, the nature walk was a half-hour they would have rather spent on the beach or in the shade of the bar. Speaking of the bar, it's open bar all day. In the morning they had a big vat of coffee with a bottle of Kahlua by it.
A major highlight here was the lunch! We were delighted! There was chicken, paella, rice, beans, ribs, and on and on. All was served in a charming dining area, with nice plates and blue Mexican glasses. Great food!
Our kids all paid $6 each to do clay pottery, and they really enjoyed it. It's not anything formal, just a lady at a picnic table with a bucket of clay, but the kids loved it. They made some cool projects that were set out in the sun to dry. We picked them up on the way back to the boat, and all of the projects except one survived the journey.
If I had to come up with some drawbacks, I guess it's that, just like on DCL, your eye is on the clock a lot. There's definitely a sense that your time is very limited. We were all pretty gritty and sandy by the time we left, too, but we didn't mind. Also, there are numerous tip jars around, as well as a request for tips as you're leaving for the boat, and on the boat, and once you get off. It wasn't terribly pushy, but we were really conscious of it.
The boat ride back was a lot of fun. Some people looked tired, but we had a blast. They played "party" music, and our kids danced on the deck. Guys came around serving Pacifico, and there were other drink options at the bar. Again, I loved the views from the boat.
So those were our three port days, and I'd go back and do any of them over again. Sorry I'm so long-winded! If anybody has any questions, I'm happy to answer if I can. My only question is: when can I go back?!?!
Our group was me, DH, DD12, DS8, and DD5. We were traveling with another family, also with three kids. We did three staterooms: two with veranda, and one inside stateroom across the hall. Our family spent three fabulous days at Disneyland pre-cruise, and the other family came in to LA the day before. As WDW regulars we really enjoyed the different things at Disneyland, though we learned to avoid Disneyland on Saturday afternoon and evening at all costs! After the cruise we had two days to explore LA a little bit: we stayed in Marina del Rey, watched surfers at Venice Beach, and did the obligatory drive through Rodeo Drive and Hollywood, and took the tour of the Kodak theatre (I'm a big movie fan).
So back to the issue at hand: what we did ashore.
Cabo San Lucas was our most unstructured day. We slept in and then tendered ashore late-morning, after the crowds. We actually thought the tendering process was pretty enjoyable, with nice views of the ship and the shoreline. Once we got ashore we had our first experiences with the vendors and people offering tours and boat rides. While I did hear a number of people complain that they were too aggressive and it made guests uncomfortable, the vendors must have been getting tired by the time we walked through. A simple "no gracias" was all it took, and it was no big deal at all.
We had a scavenger hunt of sorts in Cabo. A good friend at home had requested shot glasses from Cabo Wabo Cantina and Hard Rock Cafe, so we decided that would be a nice way to see a little bit of the city. We walked around the waterfront and up through the town a bit. We didn't stay at Hard Rock, just stopped in the shop. We did stick around a while at Cabo, and in the process discovered that our five year-old is a big fan of the bar scene! She LOVED the band and would not stop dancing. We thought the Cantina, though a bit expensive, was great fun. It's decorated in a fun way,had a fantastic band, and was perfectly kid-safe since we were there mid-day. We thought the little alcove tables along the side wall were cool. We enjoyed chips and salsa and a couple of drinks, and just relaxing out of the sun. We got our shot glass and a few pictures, and continued our walk.
The kids bought a couple of trinkets from vendors in the port, and then we headed back to the tendering dock, where we were greeted with scented washcloths to freshen up, as well as lemonade and water.
All in all, we really liked Cabo and enjoyed the unstructured day.
Our friends did the dolphins and adored the experience. The bought some neat pictures, and were really happy with their day too. It would be really easy to do the dolphin experience and still explore the town; the dolphin center is right at the port, very close.
Mazatlan was probably our best day. Thanks to a tip from a DISer, I checked out Cruise Critic and found out about Stone Island (Isla de las Piedras). Getting there was interesting, and I kept thinking I couldn't possibly be going the right way, but everything was exactly as described on Cruise Critic. Here's what you do: exit the port on foot, despite the extremely aggressive drivers and vendors. Here I was actually uncomfortable, because they really harassed us and even followed us to the gate out of the port area. They were definitely unhappy that we were leaving on foot. We were all clutching the kids' hands pretty tightly!
Once you pass through that gauntlet and get out the gate, turn left. You will walk a couple of blocks on a sidewalk with a large brick wall on your left. It will feel like it's the wrong way! Just keep walking. When you come to a street, go straight across and walk out until you come to the little blue hut where they sell the water taxi tickets. It only costs $2 a ticket round-trip to go over to Stone Island. Board the small boat for the quick trip, maybe ten minutes. When you disembark, there are guys with a truck with benches that will give you a ride, but it's really not far so we just walked. Go straight off the dock and up over the hill, and in front of you will be a wonderful, rustic, "old Mexico" beach. Walk, walk, walk down the beach until you come to Lety's. Here you will be greeted warmly, and you can choose lounge chairs under large umbrellas which you can use for the day if you buy some food and drink from Lety's. Let me say right up front that there were ten of us, and our total food, drink and boogie board bill was $50 US!!!! We had buckets of Pacifico beer (YUM!!) served with a plate of limes and salt, and hands-down the BEST, most wonderful salsa I've ever tasted in my life, made by Lety in the back of the place. Lety speaks great English and will tell you about her food. The chips were made fresh, and also the best I've had. The kids had buckets of Coke in glass bottles, the good Mexican Coke that uses real sugar instead of corn syrup.
We stayed all morning and afternoon, and had just a perfect beach day. The waves are big enough for great boogie boarding, and the beach is really something to see. There's a big rock island out in the bay, and there really were no crowds at all. The vendors were extremely polite and not pushy. There were a lot of them, but we didn't mind it. In fact, we bought necklaces, bracelets, and the kids got henna tattoos, which looked cool. There are showers you can pay a little to use, but we didn't bother with it. We also rented three four-wheelers and rode down the beach. I'd never been on one before, and once I figured out you have to shift the darn thing, I was fine. Tip: wear sneakers to ride the four-wheeler. The gear shift has wicked teeth in it that dig into your foot if you're wearing flip-flops. (Found that out the hard way!)
This place is pretty rustic, so if you're the high-class resort type, you might not be too happy. We adored it: the beach, the snacks, the Pacifico, the boogie boards, the whole scene. At about 3:00 or so we headed back to the water taxi dock, retraced our steps, and were all getting room service before 4:00. What fun!!!
Puerto Vallarta was our only official Disney excursion. We all went to Las Caletas, which is sort of the Mexican Riviera's answer to Castaway Cay. OK, it's NOT Castaway Cay, but it's the same general idea. You take a nice one hour catamaran ride, with a great view of the coastline. On the boat the crew introduce themselves, and there are pastries, juice and coffee. Once you arrive at Las Caletas, you have your choice of hammocks, beach chairs, bars, picnic tables, etc. It's really stunningly gorgeous, with all kinds of paths and stairways up the hillside, and everywhere you turn there's a pretty view and a hammock to enjoy it in.
There's a lot to do that's included in your excursion price: kayaks, snorkeling, swimming, inner tubes (there weren't many, but it didn't ever become an issue...people would just leave them on the beach by the kayaks when they were done, and it didn't seem like anybody wanted one and couldn't get one), and encounters with animals. We held an owl, a spider monkey, and a small green bird (sorry, didn't get the name). There was also a cooking class you could go to, but none of us did it. Some of our group went on the nature walk, and while the host was friendly, the nature walk was a half-hour they would have rather spent on the beach or in the shade of the bar. Speaking of the bar, it's open bar all day. In the morning they had a big vat of coffee with a bottle of Kahlua by it.
A major highlight here was the lunch! We were delighted! There was chicken, paella, rice, beans, ribs, and on and on. All was served in a charming dining area, with nice plates and blue Mexican glasses. Great food!
Our kids all paid $6 each to do clay pottery, and they really enjoyed it. It's not anything formal, just a lady at a picnic table with a bucket of clay, but the kids loved it. They made some cool projects that were set out in the sun to dry. We picked them up on the way back to the boat, and all of the projects except one survived the journey.
If I had to come up with some drawbacks, I guess it's that, just like on DCL, your eye is on the clock a lot. There's definitely a sense that your time is very limited. We were all pretty gritty and sandy by the time we left, too, but we didn't mind. Also, there are numerous tip jars around, as well as a request for tips as you're leaving for the boat, and on the boat, and once you get off. It wasn't terribly pushy, but we were really conscious of it.
The boat ride back was a lot of fun. Some people looked tired, but we had a blast. They played "party" music, and our kids danced on the deck. Guys came around serving Pacifico, and there were other drink options at the bar. Again, I loved the views from the boat.
So those were our three port days, and I'd go back and do any of them over again. Sorry I'm so long-winded! If anybody has any questions, I'm happy to answer if I can. My only question is: when can I go back?!?!
. We did see some whales the first day.
.
I was wondering if I was missing out on something. 
