May 28, 2005 Mexican Riviera

[challada]

Hi Challada,

What is pay-it-forward exchange?

There is a continuous thread on the Disboards cruise forum about pay-it-forward postcard exchange (ie you do something nice for future cruiser and hope they pass it on to next person and so on). Here's the thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=629204

 

[carriep1657]

Hi everybody, we tried to book the 12:40 pm Paradise Beach Adventure in Puerto Vallarta but it was sold out. I'm afraid that 7:40 will be too early for us with the time change. I had read about it being already sold out on other dates so I wasn't surprised.

Do any of you know if Disney does wait lists for the excursions?

 

[grammiegail]

Hi everybody, we tried to book the 12:40 pm Paradise Beach Adventure in Puerto Vallarta but it was sold out. I'm afraid that 7:40 will be too early for us with the time change. I had read about it being already sold out on other dates so I wasn't surprised.

Do any of you know if Disney does wait lists for the excursions?

I just called and found out that the dolphin stuff in PV is totally sold out. No waitlisting was offered, but they did say to call back in case there were cancellations. Yeah, right! I tried to circumvent Disney and called the place directly. No luck, Disney has the whole day booked. Well, see you all at the pool! I guess, it's a good thing I'm bringing adult beverages!

 

[wmjivey]

We are doing the Pirate Sail & Snorkel in PV (if you don't want to snorkel, I believe you can just go to the beach). It can be booked through Disney or directly by searching the web for Marigalante. We got it through Marigalante itself and saved about 20%.

Sorry about the dolphin stuff. They are probably offered only in small groups at one time. I would keep trying because everyone has until 2 days before sailing to cancel any shore excursions.

 

[grammiegail]

wmjivey - Thanks! I have a group of 12 women (ages 50 - 70 with me being the baby of the group) that I travel with each year for a long weekend. The group is called the Bimbos (Don't everyone get in a huff...I was adopted by the group about 15 years ago and the name was already there. Besides, there only 1 bimbo in the group...unfortunately, the position seems to rotate on an annual basis.) Last year was our 20th anniversary of travel and we went to PV for 5 days. A group of us swam with the dolphins (it seems that there were about 20+ people in the pool at a time) and it was one of the coolest experiences I've every had. I am really bummed that I am not going to get to swim with them and share the experience with my DH, DD, and DGrandkids. ARG!!!!!!! I know, oh boo hoo for me, but, if the pity party works and anyone wants to give up their reservations for me and the family, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pm me.

 

[wccruiser]

hello,

sorry to hear Dolphin tour sold out. Did you try the following: websites: vallarta-adventures.com or puertovallarta.net or phone numbers respectively 1-866-256-2739 and 1-800-709-8774. It may only be sold out thru Disney. These are websites and phone numbers I found on a web search for the Dolphin tour. Good luck.

 

[suesings]

I can't believe these excursions are sold out already? I really thought we could just book on the boat? Especially the Paradise Beach one. Isn't that one just going to a hotel and hanging out by the pool or beach? I guess I'd better get on the ball and try to book something?? Or I guess we could just get off and go to lunch somewhere, take lots of pictures of the kids in the different Mexican cities and then get back on board the boat and enjoy the empty pool!!

Thanks to Challada, wccruiser, & carrie for the PMs and photos!

Grammiegail, I hear you are from Half Moon Bay. We love it there. We stayed at the Ritz for our wedding anniversary.

I was thinking of maybe bringing a really good bottle of wine and maybe a bottle of champagne. We have a real little one so we won't be able to drink much of course.

 

[grammiegail]

OK, it's 9:15 and there are no new posts. I live by the ocean and I immediately think of surfing (the Disboard). Here's what I have found for the novices (like me) or kind of novice cruisers...a board with helpful hints. Here's the link => http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=468132 . WARNING - It appears to be an unedited list from several people; some of the stuff is geared towards the eastcoast cruisers; it's really long. Enjoy!

 

[wccruiser]

There is a thread : West Coast Cruisers-Puerto Vallarta shore excursions? see info from pppiglet. Krystal Hotel in PV sounds like you just walk over.

 

[first timers]

I can't believe these excursions are sold out already? I really thought we could just book on the boat? Especially the Paradise Beach one. Isn't that one just going to a hotel and hanging out by the pool or beach? I guess I'd better get on the ball and try to book something?? Or I guess we could just get off and go to lunch somewhere, take lots of pictures of the kids in the different Mexican cities and then get back on board the boat and enjoy the empty pool!!

Thanks to Challada, wccruiser, & carrie for the PMs and photos!

Grammiegail, I hear you are from Half Moon Bay. We love it there. We stayed at the Ritz for our wedding anniversary.

I was thinking of maybe bringing a really good bottle of wine and maybe a bottle of champagne. We have a real little one so we won't be able to drink much of course.

Excursions
Don't give up on excersions that are currently sold out. Keep trying once or twice a week to see if anyone cancelled. Also, DCL sometimes holds some slots on excursions that can be booked on board. As soon as you board, go to the excursion desk (immediate right when you board) and check to see if any spots are available. Alex

 

[first timers]

Thanks for the great info! More dumb questions..Ok, so I'm bringing a backpack with documents,toiletries,swimsuit,etc and can do the wine in stryofoam in a small tote..are 2 carry-ons per person OK? Also, with all the security these days, can we bring a wine opener or does the room provide one? We are planning on only drinking this wine we bring in our stateroom.

Wine
You can carry on as many bags as you would like to check through secrurity, drag on to the ship, and carry around the ship until your cabin is ready(usually between 2-3PM). The limiting factor for carry ons is more the airline limits. We live an hour for Port Canaveral so we can drag a bunch of stuff onboard. You need to bring you own corkscrew, there is not one in the room. You could order a bottle of wine to be in the cabin on your arrival and there will be a DCL corkscrew as well as two wine glasses. If you want to use the wine glasses for the rest of the cruise you have to hide them form the room host or they will send them back. We have the wine we bring in our room as well. Alex

 

[challada]

I'm LOL at the idea of hiding your wine glasses and corkscrew so they don't get stolen by the room attendant!


wc...we tried booking direct w/the pvadventures people but they have to day reserved for the Disney boat. I'm going to keep trying!

Thanks everyone for pics! My kids are really excited!
THANKS!
Chris

 

[wccruiser]

Wine
You can carry on as many bags as you would like to check through secrurity, drag on to the ship, and carry around the ship until your cabin is ready(usually between 2-3PM). The limiting factor for carry ons is more the airline limits. We live an hour for Port Canaveral so we can drag a bunch of stuff onboard. You need to bring you own corkscrew, there is not one in the room. You could order a bottle of wine to be in the cabin on your arrival and there will be a DCL corkscrew as well as two wine glasses. If you want to use the wine glasses for the rest of the cruise you have to hide them form the room host or they will send them back. We have the wine we bring in our room as well. Alex

Alex,,,,I am very detail-oriented, so I love all your info! Thank you so much. One last thing then I promise not to bug anymore about wine. Do they have water glasses and an ice bucket in the room like hotel rooms? I don't have to drink my wine out of real wine glasses, water glasses would do, then I wouldn't have to hide them! We live in Southern Cal, so we'll be driving and bringing our own corkscrew then. Thanks again...great tips!

 

[first timers]

Alex,,,,I am very detail-oriented, so I love all your info! Thank you so much. One last thing then I promise not to bug anymore about wine. Do they have water glasses and an ice bucket in the room like hotel rooms? I don't have to drink my wine out of real wine glasses, water glasses would do, then I wouldn't have to hide them! We live in Southern Cal, so we'll be driving and bringing our own corkscrew then. Thanks again...great tips!

Ice buckets and water glasses are in each cabin. My we prefer wine glasses but would use paper cups if necessary. I never mind question that I can help with as we have been on some 20ish DCL cruises and several on other cruise lines. Alex

 

[suesings]

Ice buckets and water glasses are in each cabin. My we prefer wine glasses but would use paper cups if necessary. I never mind question that I can help with as we have been on some 20ish DCL cruises and several on other cruise lines. Alex

Alex, REALLY? Have you really been on 20 DCL cruises?? wow!!

 

[challada]

Ice buckets and water glasses are in each cabin. My we prefer wine glasses but would use paper cups if necessary. I never mind question that I can help with as we have been on some 20ish DCL cruises and several on other cruise lines. Alex

20 cruises! Do you want to adopt an adult child to cruise with you? My expensive college is all done. Don't tell my mom!

Oh, good dolphin news for anyone who cares...our clan will have 2 swimmin' w/the fishes and 3 pettin' 'em. Hopefully we can upgrade our petters to swimmers onboard if there are openings.

 

[first timers]

Yes, I think the 14 day repo cruise will be 23 and the west coast cruise 24. We were fortunate to be able to be on the "firsts" for DCL and sort of kept going back. We love Disney and living an hour from Port Canaveral made it easy to get to DCL. We still like DCL the best. Alex

 

[grammiegail]

20 cruises! Do you want to adopt an adult child to cruise with you? My expensive college is all done. Don't tell my mom!

Oh, good dolphin news for anyone who cares...our clan will have 2 swimmin' w/the fishes and 3 pettin' 'em. Hopefully we can upgrade our petters to swimmers onboard if there are openings.

UMMM, a little birdie told mom! But, I want to know if they will also adopt me. Not only are my college expenses over, but soon I will be able to contribute my Social Security to household expenses....just something to think about.

 

[wccruiser]

20 cruises! Do you want to adopt an adult child to cruise with you? My expensive college is all done. Don't tell my mom!

Oh, good dolphin news for anyone who cares...our clan will have 2 swimmin' w/the fishes and 3 pettin' 'em. Hopefully we can upgrade our petters to swimmers onboard if there are openings.

So glad you got the dolphin excursion. How did you get 5 spaces? Grace will be petting and DH and I observers.

 

[grammiegail]

So glad you got the dolphin excursion. How did you get 5 spaces? Grace will be petting and DH and I observers.

I called last night and got 2 spaces for the dolphin swim on our room (Grammie and Grampa). I tried to also get reservations for Chris and the grandkids, but the operator couldn't pull up their reservation by last name. By the time I called Chris for her reservation number and called back, I was told all the dolphin encounters had been taken, but they said to keep trying because folks sometimes cancel. When I called back this morning, I was able to get Em the kids encounter and Chris and Alex the adult encounter. I'm not sure whether there were cancellations or the first person was mistaken when she said there were no spaces left. I'm just glad that we all get to pet a dolphin, because Grammie let it slip to Em last night that we were going to do it. If we hadn't gotten the other reservations today, Grammie may have had to stay in time out the whole trip! YIKES!!!!