Mexican Riviera Cruise 03/27/2011

[DisneyHonu]

I started writing this down to OPEN a discussion. If there is a part that you think will not work or do not agree with, please post. After a while, we should vote or come to some consensus.

Each Family is assigned a day.
I figure there are 6 full days to allow delivery and we can distribute them so that there is a nice surprise every day. For example, if there are 12 families, we assign 2 families a day. I believe there are some who want to do more than their assigned day, but that would be personal descretion.

If it's your family's assigned day, you have that day to distribute gifts to each cabin on the list.
I think it should be personal discretion to whether a gift is for the whole cabin or gifts are for each individual within the cabin. The main thing is get every cabin on the list.

Days will be assigned randomly but you have the option to request NOT to be assigned up to TWO days.
I think there would be a day where a family has too much going on such as excursions. I picked two just because its one less than the 3 port days.

Last minute cabin changes can be sent to a designated person up until 4pm on March 27.
We can pick someone with a guaranteed cabin number to leave messages, or I can certainly NOT turn roaming OFF on my iphone until 4 for voice or email. I guess later that night I can deliver the list of changes to each cabin's fish.

The List will be closed March 15th.
Hopefully this will be enough time for people to join and enough time for those doing homemade gifts.

 

[penguinaddict]

DisneyHonu - WOW!!! Thank you so much for thinking this thru!!

Thumbs up from our family!

 

[CalDisfans]

Great job DisneyHonu! Sounds like a good plan.

 

[grmmybtty]

I doubt I will book any excursions through the cruise. My son is too young for most them, and I'd rather just pack a beach bag and a little soft cooler and hit a public bus to a public beach (our crew of 9 is too big for a taxi!). I'm going to pack my own mask and snorkle, inflatable floaties from the 99c store, and some plastic buckets.

I've never been to the Mexican Riviera, though, so if anyone has any good insights - terrific!

There is not much snorkeling on the MR since the water is much rougher than the Caribbean side of Mexico. In Cabo, you can take the tender to the pier and then a water taxi to Medano Beach. The water is a little rough. You may also just walk down the beach to the Melia Resort which welcomes cruisers. We've been able to take advantage of their pool by buying drinks and nachos.

In Mazatlan, you can take a water taxi to Stone Island. They have beach restaurants and several water activities and ATV rentals. You can also take a taxi out to the El Cid resort and walk right through it to a fairly nice beach. The El Cid will also allow you the use of their pool facilities with the expectation that you buy sometime to eat or drink. They also offer an AI day pass for $30 if you stop by the front desk.

In Puerto Vallarta, you can walk across the street to Walmarts and take a bus marked Centro to the malecon. There are a lot of shops, restaurants and beach and boardwalk there. That's the free option. Many of the resort hotels in Nuevo Vallarta and Marina Vallarta offer day passes. I contacted several of them and found these prices: The Dreams resort has an all inclusive day pass for $75 for adults and half price for kids. A bit pricey unless you eat and drink a lot. Crown Paradise has an all inclusive for $35 adults and $18 for kids. Allegro Occidental charges $35 for adults and $11.50 for kids for their AI. The Westin offers a day pass for $35 for adults of which $30 can be applied to food and drinks. Kids are 1/2 price. You will probably have to take a taxi to each of those resorts. You can walk to the Krystal from the ship. They will let cruisers use the facilities for the price of food and drinks. I've heard that others have been charged $30 each which can be applied to food and drinks, but we have gone twice, walked right in and have never been asked for money. All of the PV hotels listed above have beaches.

 

[penguinaddict]

We're planning a zip-lining adventure in Puerto Vallarta and are going to book directly with the company. I'm just waiting to know when people typically make it to shore once the ships docks before I set up the time.

Other than that, the only other thing we really want to do is horseback riding - in Cabo or Mazatlan. Just starting to research that possibility.

Otherwise, we're probably staying on the ship and taking advantage of less people on board (I hope).

 

[Omasgirls]

Wow Betty great ideas!

I like the rules for the fish extender, maybe close it a bit earlier?

 

[DisneyHonu]

Wow Betty great ideas!

I like the rules for the fish extender, maybe close it a bit earlier?

Good suggestion. Any other opinions for earlier?

 

[DisneyHonu]

Is this where the Wonder will dock? I got the above image from Google Maps.

 

[penguinaddict]

We think it's a little further to the east. This is supposed to be the exact address for the World Cruise Center which is the location given on the Disney website: 600 N Harbor Blvd, San Pedro, California 90731 (310) 514-4049

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.746467,-118.275762&spn=0.008671,0.022724&t=h&z=16

http://www.sanpedro.com/spcom/crusshp.htm

Maybe the ship squeezes into the water area right near it. Hmmm.... hopefully we'll hear from others.

 

[DisneyHonu]

Is there more than one terminal?

 

[penguinaddict]

Yes, more than one terminal. We technically sail out of port of Los Angeles. There's also Port of Long Beach and San Pedro.

 

[penguinaddict]

DisneyHonu, I noticed this recent thread regarding the port. Maybe you can gather some useful information from it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2630212

 

[DisneyHonu]

Thank you for responding Penquinaddict.

I can certainly wait until the January 23rd and January 30th cruisers' trip reports.

 

[penguinaddict]

Just booked Palo and a spa thing! Yahoo!!

 

[DisneyHonu]

Good to know it's finally working... Going in now...

 

[Omasgirls]

I booked dinner at Palo, and a pedi for Oma! I also thought I would try the rasul with my sister. Sounds like a great inexpensive way to get a spa fix for us! Has anyone tried it? The price includes 2 people, right?

 

[DisneyHonu]

I think so.

I posted the excursions and spa treatments so we don't always have to login on the DCL website (or if they're offline).

http://sites.google.com/site/disneymexicanrivieracruise/excursions

http://sites.google.com/site/disneymexicanrivieracruise/spa-treatments

 

[CalDisfans]

Hello!
Omasgirls, Great you will be participating in the Fish extenders! (FE). You have listed your 5 children coming in your party, but will your 5 adults also be participating in the FE? If so, could you list their names? If you have which are in which room, & room #'s that will be helpful too. I'm starting my shopping/making for the FEs, and a list.

Jrask,
I saw on our thread earlier that you were considering doing the FE, but weren't sure yet. Let the group know if so, then I will include your William & both you & your spouse on my shopping list!

Any others who are on the list who'd like to participate, just let Penguinaddict know, so I can start to prepare for purchasing/making gifts for your families too! The FE sounds like alot of fun.

It's getting closer!!

 

[penguinaddict]

I saw someone post this video, and it's kind of cool.

The Wonder is leaving Florida headed for California. As it's leaving, lots of people are cheering. As it passes another Disney ship you'll hear the "surprise" that makes this video very cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aVsCsthfs0

 

[penguinaddict]

Just made reservations for zip lining. I was gonna wait, but then fear they'd book up. TripAdvisor reviews were very positive about this "company" and, bonus, they let our six year do it too! The Disney excursion was much more expensive and our young one wouldn't be able to do it. If you're interested, we're going on the 10:45a March 30th through https://www.canopytours-vallarta.com/

~ Lori and Bryce