Mexican Reviera port adventures.

[narsibvl]

which Mexican reviera port adventures would you recommend for a family is not very adventurous ?We are planning to cruise in Jan and the party is My wife, DS6, DD3 and self, would like to do general sight seeing, relaxing by the ocean / pool, Been looking at the

puerto vallarta paradise hotel getaway
The whale spotting trip.
The beach getaway in cabos.

Any other recommendation ?

 

[molarman]

which Mexican reviera port adventures would you recommend for a family is not very adventurous ?We are planning to cruise in Jan and the party is My wife, DS6, DD3 and self, would like to do general sight seeing, relaxing by the ocean / pool, Been looking at the

puerto vallarta paradise hotel getaway
The whale spotting trip.
The beach getaway in cabos.

Any other recommendation ?

We just recently did the Puerto Vallarta Paradise hotel getaway and were very impressed by it. Beach and pool and food/drink was good. Also did the Resort/Beach excursion in Cabo and was pleased with it (except that the Cabo stop is short on one day and we weren't ready to leave). Don't waste your money for the Catamaran tour of the bay in Cabo. Our ship anchored right beside the beautiful rock formation and Los Archos, and that's all the Catamaran tour goes to see. Have fun!!

 

[narsibvl]

We just recently did the Puerto Vallarta Paradise hotel getaway and were very impressed by it. Beach and pool and food/drink was good. Also did the Resort/Beach excursion in Cabo and was pleased with it (except that the Cabo stop is short on one day and we weren't ready to leave). Don't waste your money for the Catamaran tour of the bay in Cabo. Our ship anchored right beside the beautiful rock formation and Los Archos, and that's all the Catamaran tour goes to see. Have fun!!

Doesn't the catamaran trip include whale watching ?

 

[jdb in AZ]

I don't know if Cabo will be a two-day stop when you cruise, or if they will be doing Mazatlan again by then, but if you don't feel too rushed in Cabo, the whale-watching is fun, especially in January when so many whales are in the area. Our shore excursion was called a whale-watching tour, and it was also on a catamaran. We did see a lot of the area as we looked for whales. There are several whale watching boats out at the same time from different tour agencies. This is both good and bad. The good is that the whale boat captains are in constant communication with each other, and when one boat sees a whale they notify the other, which greatly improoves your chances of seeing lotsa whales. The downside is that several boats will converge around the whales and it's hard to see the whales when another boat comes between you and the whales.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I did the catamaran whale watching excrusion in March and had a great time.

Here's the link to more pictures from that cruise:

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/g1253-mexican-riviera-disney-cruise.html

 

[Makayna]

What is the likelihood of seeing whales and dolphins from the Disney ship?

 

[drparoo]

What is the likelihood of seeing whales and dolphins from the Disney ship?

In the winter, probably pretty high. It's one of the reasons we got a verandah for our MR trip this December. I plan to watch for them frequently!!

 

[narsibvl]

I did the catamaran whale watching excrusion in March and had a great time.

Here's the link to more pictures from that cruise:

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/g1253-mexican-riviera-disney-cruise.html

Is the surf rider 100 the catamaran you are talking about ? My idea of a catamaran was something on wood and just about manages to keep itself afloat and needs to be manually managed..the pics more like a motor boat...

 

[narsibvl]

In the winter, probably pretty high. It's one of the reasons we got a verandah for our MR trip this December. I plan to watch for them frequently!!

Yipee...now my choice of a verandah for our jan cruise is being vindicated...

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Is the surf rider 100 the catamaran you are talking about ? My idea of a catamaran was something on wood and just about manages to keep itself afloat and needs to be manually managed..the pics more like a motor boat...

Yep. That's it. A very nice catamaran.

 

[molarman]

Doesn't the catamaran trip include whale watching ?

The tour we took was a "sea and land" tour. The "land" portion consisted of a bus ride around the bay to stop at a closed restaurant, served a soft drink or beer from an ice chest, 30 minutes to wait around and take pics of the ocean and back to the ship. The catamaran was a very large boat, two levels I believe, with an inside seating area and bar. No whale watching as it just went from the marina out to the famous rock formations, cruised slowly by the rocks for pics, went just barely into the Pacific ocean-side of the rocks, then quickly sped back to the marina.

 

[Makayna]

In the winter, probably pretty high. It's one of the reasons we got a verandah for our MR trip this December. I plan to watch for them frequently!!

That's kinda what I thought. That's why I think we're gonna skip the whale watching tour... chances are we will *probably* (read *hopefully*) see quite a few from the ship!

 

[crafty91]

In Cabo if you want to just hang out at the beach don't bother with an excursion. Just tender in and get on a water taxi over the The Office or Mangos. they are right on the beach looking out at the bay where the ship is docked. Food and drinks are separate though but its a great beach day. Water taxi is $2 per person, then the food and drink are up to you. Mangos has lounge chairs as does the place on the other side of The Office. Overall a good area to hang out. No pools but just depends on how much you want to pay for a hang out day.

 

[QuiltTeddy]

We just got back from this cruise 2 weeks ago.

In Cabo we took the motorized catamaran out to Los Arcos. It was nice, but had we known that we would be "anchored" in the harbor just off Los Arcos we probably would not have spent the money and done this excursiion. (The anchor wasn't down the entire time we were in the harbor since the stop was so short. We basically floated around.)

In Puerta Vallarta we did the 'City Tour'. This was a great excursion. We stopped at a small "market" area and had some time to walk around on our own. We then took the bus to the heart of PV, had a short walking tour with our guide who pointed out the major attractions, and then we had some time on our own to wander around before meeting up with the bus again. After that we took a ride along the coast. We stopped at a scenic spot and were able to see where "Night of the Iguana" was filmed. We ended up at a restaurant that overlooked the water where we had a snack and drink. The view from here was breathtaking. There is a bit of walking in this tour, but it is certainly something even the least athletic can handle. We really liked this tour.

 

[skylynx]

We did the Cabo whale watch and did see a couple of whales. The smaller boats get closer than the large catamaran we went on. It was a really nice smooth excursion, and we did not go very far out of the harbor. Drinks (alcoholic and non) were included in the price, as were chips and salsa.

We definitely saw whales right from our verandah, along with sea lions and the biggest pod of dolphins ever...at least 30, all leaping out of the water together. Our verandah cabin was on the port side of the ship; we saw lots of whales between the ship and the Cabo peninsula when we were sailing into Cabo.

 

[QuiltTeddy]

We did the Cabo whale watch and did see a couple of whales. The smaller boats get closer than the large catamaran we went on. It was a really nice smooth excursion, and we did not go very far out of the harbor. Drinks (alcoholic and non) were included in the price, as were chips and salsa.

We definitely saw whales right from our verandah, along with sea lions and the biggest pod of dolphins ever...at least 30, all leaping out of the water together. Our verandah cabin was on the port side of the ship; we saw lots of whales between the ship and the Cabo peninsula when we were sailing into Cabo.

Very cool picture. Thanks for sharing.

We were "out of season" when we went on 04/03/11. They did spot one whale on the port side, but it was a quick sighting and we were on the starboard side at the time, so missed out.

 

[hamm1207]

Did anyone do the horseback riding (either PV or Cabo) or the canopy adventures at PV or Cabo?

 

[CalDisfans]

We went on this cruise in late March. We did the Paradise Hotel excursion. We thought it was fantastic! The bus ride over wasn't that long, and was air conditioned. The huge resort sports a massive pool with "alligator" water slide, and there is a beautiful beach right past it with built in palapas, grass mat rugs & lounge chairs to use, a wonderful buffet & free drinks on the beach! Our family of 6 got great fruit slushies for the kids, and bahama mammas/frozen daquaris for us (x2!). We only had to tip, no other charge. They also have live animals towards the entrance that you can walk over and see (birds, a tiger!, and some others.). The bathrooms in the resort were very acessable and very clean also. For the $$, it was a fantastic deal.
In Cabo, we decided to do it on our own. We got off and found a deal to go on a boat ride around the Arch, to Lovers Beach, then to Medano Beach. The boat can get rocky, so take some dramimine beforehand! But it was beautiful!! We ate at the Office. It was good food, not too expensive, but not cheapy either. Then we hung out at the beach right out of the Office. It was nice, there are though alot of vendors selling things. Our boat driver came back when we had asked him to, then we went back to the drop off spot to catch the ferry back to the ship. He also had a "glass bottom" boat where he threw out bait and fish galore of every kind came under the boat for us to see. For our family of 6, we spent about $150 for ALL of that. So it was also a great deal.

 

[lcvb]

DH and I did this itinerary on RC in Feb 2009. We went horsebacking riding in Mazatlan thru a private company, Randi's Happy Horses. I would recommend them. In PV we did the Outdoor Canopy Adventure and absolutely loved it! Would definitely do it again. We booked thru the ship and the company they contract to is Puerto Vallerta Adventures.

We're sailing this itinerary again in Jan 2011 but this time on the Wonder and with the kids.

 

[twindaddy]

Anyone try the swim/play with dolphins in Cabo? That looks like a must do for the twins....