Mexican rivera

[justmestace]

We have booked excursions at PV and Cabo. Wondering what types of things we could do it Mazatlan on our own

We've walked off the ship and gotten a taxi van to take us on a tour, and we had a great time doing that. Or you could just walk around town, that's interesting too, because of the neat architecture.

 

[disney 2010]

We've walked off the ship and gotten a taxi van to take us on a tour, and we had a great time doing that. Or you could just walk around town, that's interesting too, because of the neat architecture.

Do you just hire a taxi van that is waiting at the port? Do you negotiate a price ahead of time and just ask for a tour of the city? Are there any "must see" things in Mazatlan. I'm nervous to venture out on our own but don't want to pay for another excursion if we can plan by ourselves

 

[justmestace]

Do you just hire a taxi van that is waiting at the port? Do you negotiate a price ahead of time and just ask for a tour of the city? Are there any "must see" things in Mazatlan. I'm nervous to venture out on our own but don't want to pay for another excursion if we can plan by ourselves

We did...they have taxi's and taxi vans waiting for people. They wore uniforms and are regulated by the government on their rates, and I think we paid $50 for a city tour, but that's been quite a few years. The van driver had a cooler prepared with sodas and water for us to drink throughout the day. (free)
We drove to where the cliff divers were, and were able to get out and take our time watching them. There were small booths of locals selling tinkets, but our driver told us to not buy the "silver" from any of the booths, rather to wait until we went to an actual shop in town.
We drove all through town, admiring the gorgeous old buildings, and then we stopped in the main shopping area of town, while our driver waited. We could see him keeping an eye on us so that we didn't get lost...or maybe he didn't want us to disappear and not pay him!
In the center of town are a ton of shops, churches, and the marketplace where the locals buy their meat and other groceries. It was really interesting....and I actually felt better knowing our driver was waiting for us.
There were 6 in our group, by the way. I don't think they based the cost of the van on the number of people, I think it was a set rate.

 

[disney 2010]

We did...they have taxi's and taxi vans waiting for people. They wore uniforms and are regulated by the government on their rates, and I think we paid $50 for a city tour, but that's been quite a few years. The van driver had a cooler prepared with sodas and water for us to drink throughout the day. (free)
We drove to where the cliff divers were, and were able to get out and take our time watching them. There were small booths of locals selling tinkets, but our driver told us to not buy the "silver" from any of the booths, rather to wait until we went to an actual shop in town.
We drove all through town, admiring the gorgeous old buildings, and then we stopped in the main shopping area of town, while our driver waited. We could see him keeping an eye on us so that we didn't get lost...or maybe he didn't want us to disappear and not pay him!
In the center of town are a ton of shops, churches, and the marketplace where the locals buy their meat and other groceries. It was really interesting....and I actually felt better knowing our driver was waiting for us.
There were 6 in our group, by the way. I don't think they based the cost of the van on the number of people, I think it was a set rate.

Thank-you it sounds like a great way to see the town

 

[justmestace]

I was actually impressed enough to keep our driver's business card. The tour company who handle all the vans had them made up.
The top of the card says "Van Tours The Best Way" and it has a picture of the vans in port, and the uniformed drivers.

There's a website with information on all kinds of tours, and I think if you click the link to "tours of the city" it tells you the places you'll see and the cost. Which has gone up since we went, but I thought it probably had, since it's been a while.

www.tourguides@mazatlan.com.mx

 

[laurie0099]

We have booked excursions at PV and Cabo. Wondering what types of things we could do it Mazatlan on our own

We are cruising Mex Riv on January 30th. In Mazatlan we are going to Stone Island. If you go to the cruise critic website and search their board for Stone Island there are lots of reviews about it. You can pay for an excursion but you can also just do it on your own for much cheaper.

Now if I could just get PV figured out. I want to do Las Celatas but other family we are traveling with doesn't want to spend the $$!

 

[gichicdoc]

We are doing the MR feb 20-27 and we have booked the following:
In Cabo: Horseback riding along a trail and then the Pacific Ocean with Cabo San Lucas Tours--good reviews on Trip Advisor.
In PV: Surfing lessons with Puerto Vallarta Tours
In Mazatlan: Salsa and Salsa Tour thorugh DCL - would have booked directly but Disney bought them out for the day and that was the only way. The reviews for this place on TripAdvisor are awesome. You do a cooking class where you learn to make 6 kinds of Salsa, Guacamole and Margaritas and then you learn how to do the Salsa dance and then you get to enjoy the resort (Las Flores) which looks really nice.
Our girls (9,14 and 17) are super excited about all of these. Hope I can keep up .

 

[carmie3377]

With kids, or without?
www.cabosanlucastours.com has a lot of things to do. And you can google the other ports for different resorts to go lounge at, or for ideas.

We booked a tour with them in Cabo on our PC cruise and I"m already leery of them. All ashore time is 7:45 and I booked a tour that was supposed to begin at 9:30. Internet says 9:30, email confirmation says 9:30. Anyway, get a personal email stating that the tour actually starts at 9:00 and I most likely don't have time to make the tour. They will refund my money but will charge a 5% fee. I really think I could make the 9:30 (or otherwise wouldn't have booked it) but 9:00 I'm worried because they said tendering can take an hour. Anyway, would have never booked the thing if their site was correct.

 

[justmestace]

We booked a tour with them in Cabo on our PC cruise and I"m already leery of them. All ashore time is 7:45 and I booked a tour that was supposed to begin at 9:30. Internet says 9:30, email confirmation says 9:30. Anyway, get a personal email stating that the tour actually starts at 9:00 and I most likely don't have time to make the tour. They will refund my money but will charge a 5% fee. I really think I could make the 9:30 (or otherwise wouldn't have booked it) but 9:00 I'm worried because they said tendering can take an hour. Anyway, would have never booked the thing if their site was correct.

Is the tour meeting at the pier? Disney has you change your clocks so that you're on local time (not all ships do this) so you should have plenty of time. I don't see how THEY can make you cancel, but still charge you a cancellation fee. I'd either contact my credit card company, or try reaching someone else with the tour company.

 

[carmie3377]

Is the tour meeting at the pier? Disney has you change your clocks so that you're on local time (not all ships do this) so you should have plenty of time. I don't see how THEY can make you cancel, but still charge you a cancellation fee. I'd either contact my credit card company, or try reaching someone else with the tour company.

No, we're not meeting at the pier. They said we would have to take a water taxi (another discrepancy as the website says just "steps away from the tender pier"). They have said that as long as we are there by 9:00, they will let us on the tour but they were worried that we couldn't make it because it can take up to an hour just to tender. I have never tendered so I don't know the procedure but I have read a bit on it. I read that they first tender people on DCL excursions and then start taking everyone else in groups of 200. Do you know if that is first come, first serve? If that is case, I'll be in the Walt Disney Theater at 5:00 if need be! Someone I've "met" on here said they may be able to get an early pass through concierge. I do appreciate their effort but don't know yet if concierge can grant their request.

As far as the canceling, they aren't making me, just suggesting that I highly consider it. If I do end up canceling it, I will be contacting my CC because they are false advertising.

DH is stating we should risk it - that if we can't get the early pass, to just go to guest services first thing to see what we can do. If they can't help, just get to the WDT as early as possible.

So, you think we can make a 9:00 tour? Everywhere I read says it's just a 10-20 min tender it's just the time it takes me to get a tender that is worrying me.

 

[justmestace]

We were lucky and had concierge, so tendering wasn't a problem.
Normally, the concierge team will lead people down to the tenders themselves, passing the lines of people waiting. So if someone is helping you, you'd have to be with them and leave the ship with them and the concierge CM who leads them down.

The only other choice is as you said, get to the theater early. And yes, they hand out numbers for tenders in order of first-come, first-serve. The tenders are really big and hold a lot of people. It really shouldn't take an hour from the time you get in line to the time you hit the pier.
The bigger problem is how far the water taxi has to take you....they are really, really slow. Usually not much more than a four person rowboat with a motor. Where are you supposed to taxi to? If it's just somewhere down Medano Beach, that would only take 10 minutes, tops.

Guest services might be able to help, but I really wouldn't count on it. Imagine the number of people who probably ask that during each cruise. (I'm not saying your idea was bad, just saying what I imagine happens)

 

[carmie3377]

We were lucky and had concierge, so tendering wasn't a problem.
Normally, the concierge team will lead people down to the tenders themselves, passing the lines of people waiting. So if someone is helping you, you'd have to be with them and leave the ship with them and the concierge CM who leads them down.

The only other choice is as you said, get to the theater early. And yes, they hand out numbers for tenders in order of first-come, first-serve. The tenders are really big and hold a lot of people. It really shouldn't take an hour from the time you get in line to the time you hit the pier.
The bigger problem is how far the water taxi has to take you....they are really, really slow. Usually not much more than a four person rowboat with a motor. Where are you supposed to taxi to? If it's just somewhere down Medano Beach, that would only take 10 minutes, tops.

Guest services might be able to help, but I really wouldn't count on it. Imagine the number of people who probably ask that during each cruise. (I'm not saying your idea was bad, just saying what I imagine happens)

Thanks for all the info. It was actually a CM at the DCL 800 number that suggested for us to go to GS. But you're right, I'm sure it is a common request.

Thanks again!

 

[justmestace]

Thanks for all the info. It was actually a CM at the DCL 800 number that suggested for us to go to GS. But you're right, I'm sure it is a common request.

Thanks again!

I agree with your husband, might as well go for it. It's paid for, and you chose it because it was something you wanted to do.
I think you should be fine.