Mexican Reviera port adventures.

[Pooh's Pals]

As long as they dont cancel it due to undersubscription! They are offering KGF on it now so hopefully a few more will sign up

 

[LKFan]

As long as they dont cancel it due to undersubscription! They are offering KGF on it now so hopefully a few more will sign up

There are a couple other people on this board who are going on that cruise. I know Samantha Mommy posted something about it a couple of weeks ago. You might start a thread in the Meet section and see if any lurkers join in.

 

[deebs]

great info....thx

 

[girl_barrie]

I guess that it must really depend upon how booked the resort is as to what the Pool Resort Get-Away is like because your experience is exactly the opposite of ours!! The place was empty and we had our choice of loungers, were often the only ones in the pools and had the waiters attention so easily - he was there with new drinks anytime we even got close to the end of ours!!

Well, because of our previously GREAT experience with this excursion, we booked it again for our Halloween cruise - and eagerly anticipated going!
We got on the same bus... seemed to be going up the same street - but turned out the NEW Pool Resort is NEXT DOOR to the place that we had gone to - and is a WORLD of difference!!
On our excursion in March, the hotel that they held the Pool Resort Getaway is the Playa Grande. A gorgeous place that is pictured in my previous post. Completely in-line with Disney standards - marble entryway - a Chihuly chandelier - just like the Wonder. Lovely, sparkling clean pools that are vast!
AND it is no longer the hotel where this is held!!!
The new place is the Hotel Finisterra - and the place is just a dump in comparison!! Filthy, murky "hot" tubs that were cold. Debris floating on the water of the pools - including no less than 3 HUGE cockroaches!! Just awful!!! After looking forward to our pool day - and attempting to have a positive attitude about the change of venue - we lasted about 30 minutes before we left & went back to enjoy the ship!!
Lesson learned. Until they change the Cabo Pool Resort getaway back to the Playa Grande - or some other place that is as nice - don't bother!!

 

[magicmaker1]

We too are celebrating 25 yr anniversary on the Wonder MR 1-22-12!

 

[Tink lives with me]

Thank you SO much for the picture of the "glass bottom boat". Was this a feature that is more expensive? Wow.

 

[Merryweather11]

Thanks for all the info, my husband & I are on the Wonder in Jan for our silver wedding anniversay and I was wondering about talking an excursion my myself. My husband is a wheelchair user and so can't manage the tenders. I dont suppose any of you January cruisers are on the 1/22/12? It seems to be the only Wonder cruise of 2012 that doent have a cruise meet thread!

There is a thread going on now for that cruise in the meets forum--I think that cruise is going to be very full since they started offering the kids sail free in the January and February. We just finalized everything last week! We'll see you there!

 

["Got Disney"]

Thank you SO much for the picture of the "glass bottom boat". Was this a feature that is more expensive? Wow.

you can do the glass bottom boats on your own and they will also take you on a tour.....when you get off the dock in Cabo you will be inundated by many that want to take you on the tour....all the glass bottom boats seem to be much the same....they float

WE have done this a number of times and it is fun and inexpensive...than we take the water taxi over to one of the hotels and hang out at the pool for the day.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I saw a picture of Senor Frogs on the last page. I am glad it is so close to port. This place looks like a lot of fun. Anyone been there? I plan on taking the kids during the day as a fam. Have others done this???

Yes. What happens in Cabo stays in Cabo. However, I don't see it as a family place, though.

 

[mkmommy]

Do you know if this is a permanent change?

Well, because of our previously GREAT experience with this excursion, we booked it again for our Halloween cruise - and eagerly anticipated going!
We got on the same bus... seemed to be going up the same street - but turned out the NEW Pool Resort is NEXT DOOR to the place that we had gone to - and is a WORLD of difference!!
On our excursion in March, the hotel that they held the Pool Resort Getaway is the Playa Grande. A gorgeous place that is pictured in my previous post. Completely in-line with Disney standards - marble entryway - a Chihuly chandelier - just like the Wonder. Lovely, sparkling clean pools that are vast!
AND it is no longer the hotel where this is held!!!
The new place is the Hotel Finisterra - and the place is just a dump in comparison!! Filthy, murky "hot" tubs that were cold. Debris floating on the water of the pools - including no less than 3 HUGE cockroaches!! Just awful!!! After looking forward to our pool day - and attempting to have a positive attitude about the change of venue - we lasted about 30 minutes before we left & went back to enjoy the ship!!
Lesson learned. Until they change the Cabo Pool Resort getaway back to the Playa Grande - or some other place that is as nice - don't bother!!

 

[Handbag Lady]

We went on the 11/6 MR Cruise last week.

We decided to do the City Walking tour of Puerto Vallarta.

I thought I'd share our thoughts so that others may decided to take or not take this one.


We met at 9:15am in Diversions and were taken in groups to a waiting set of buses. We were driven straight to a jewelry store and were let out directly into a very high sales area for jewelry. I personally prefer to research my jewelry purchases first for prices in a foreign country so I wasn't going to buy anything.

We walked from one jewelry store to another, and found a souvineer shop where we did buy hot sauces.

As we were leaving, I saw a ring I liked and was told it was $441. I had no way of knowing if it was real silver or what have you, so I got it down to $250. Again, I didn't really care for the high-sales pitch and kinda have second thoughts now. The ring is pretty, however.

After that, we continued through the city on the bus and was dropped off with our guide on a corner. He walked us through the Malecon facing the ocean and we were able to see the sculptures, which was nice. We then walked up a few blocks to see the city church, which was very pretty and quite busy.

We then walked further on the city streets taking in the sights and got back on the bus. We then headed to a restaurant called La Set that was high up on a cliff over-looking Puerto Vallarta. It had gorgeous views and we were seated outside with a cliff view. They include a quesadilla in the cost of the tour, but you can order a proper meal. We ordered the full meal. Frankly, it was just okay and we have much better Mexican food in Los Angeles. It was rather bland and perhaps toned down in flavor for tourists.

After we ate, our tour guide assembled the kids for the whole group and took everyone upstairs for a pinata bashing. The kids seemed to have fun and enjoyed the candy.

After that, we went back on the bus and were told we could either ride back to the ship or opt to be dropped off in town to explore on our own.

We opted to be dropped back in town and enjoyed exploring on our own. We did a few tourist tequila tastings and bought more stuff. There is an outdoor aisle or vendors near the river that we really enjoyed. They let you argue the prices down so I was able to pay prices I wanted to pay.



I don't know if this helps anyone, but I was looking for more info on this excursion before we took it and didn't find too much before we booked.

 

[twindaddy]

Rather than start a new thread, I will bump this one.

I am leaning towards the Cabo Resort getaway because my girls LOVE to swim in hotel pools and I think the ship might be a tad crowded.

Does anyone who did the Cabo excursion, or even the PV Resort excursion, remember if the water was heated, or atleast not ice cold? I have one twin who is a skinny minny and will last 3 minutes in a cold pool and be done (cue sound of money going down the toilet)

 

[silence]

Rather than start a new thread, I will bump this one.

I am leaning towards the Cabo Resort getaway because my girls LOVE to swim in hotel pools and I think the ship might be a tad crowded.

Does anyone who did the Cabo excursion, or even the PV Resort excursion, remember if the water was heated, or atleast not ice cold? I have one twin who is a skinny minny and will last 3 minutes in a cold pool and be done (cue sound of money going down the toilet)

When we were there in February, the pool water in PV was warmer than the POOL resort (which has apparently changed per the earlier postings) in Cabo. It obviously felt cooler in the morning when we arrived, even our loungers were in the shade at that point.

We are rebooking the PV excursion for our upcoming April cruise and we are going to try the Cabo BEACH resort (with pools!) this time around, for the very reason you listed. My kids love POOL swimming (they can see under water vs ocean swimming) and the pools on the ship are always so packed.

 

[magicmaker1]

Thanks for all the info, my husband & I are on the Wonder in Jan for our silver wedding anniversay and I was wondering about talking an excursion my myself. My husband is a wheelchair user and so can't manage the tenders. I dont suppose any of you January cruisers are on the 1/22/12? It seems to be the only Wonder cruise of 2012 that doent have a cruise meet thread!

We are also celebrating our silver anniversary on the 1/22/12 MR cruise. My husband walks with a cane so we are able to tender. I'm sure that the cast could help with wheelchair access.

 

[girl_barrie]

Do you know if this is a permanent change?

From what the Port Excursions desk told us, it is for now. They lost the contract with the Playa Grande and re-contracted with the Finesterra. Maybe with enough negative feedback they will change it, but how many cruisers know about the change to say anything about it???

 

[twindaddy]

From what the Port Excursions desk told us, it is for now. They lost the contract with the Playa Grande and re-contracted with the Finesterra. Maybe with enough negative feedback they will change it, but how many cruisers know about the change to say anything about it???

If you complain enough, politely and with facts and photos, will they refund your money at the excursion desk?

 

[girl_barrie]

If you complain enough, politely and with facts and photos, will they refund your money at the excursion desk?

When we returned to the ship after only 30 minutes at the Finisterra and told Guest Services of our experience there, as well as asking them about what happened with the Playa Grande - they knew that we knew what we were talking about!! Our Port Excursion fee was refunded by that night!!! No hassles or problems with it at all. They even offered us any other excursion that we wanted. We preferred to stay on the ship and absolutely do not regret that choice!!

 

[Queenk333]

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.

Was there a glass factory there too? I am looking at a land/sea tour in Cabo next Oct. TIA!

 

[bcwife76]

Was there a glass factory there too? I am looking at a land/sea tour in Cabo next Oct. TIA!

There *is* a glass factory in Cabo where you can do tours (I know because we did it when we were staying at an all inclusive in Cabo a couple of years ago), but I don't know if they have a port adventure for it. I'm sure you could look it up on the DCL website under port adventures. We did a Mexican cruise this past March but didn't get off in Cabo (we had just been there a few months prior). Going again later in 2020 and I think we're looking at doing the camel excursion this time ;-)

 

[Queenk333]

Thank you!