Questions about Mexico Cruise on Wonder Oct 2017

[Mama Lisa 911]

We live in Southern California and have always flown to Orlando to take the Dream/Fantasy. I was thinking about maybe trying the Mexico cruise on the Wonder when its in San Diego this October. It would save us a bunch not having to buy airfare/hotel/bus transportation. My only concern was that there doesnt seem to be too many Port Adventures offered. There are NONE offered when the ship stops in Mazatlan. I wouldn't want to explore Mexico on our own, I'd only trust to do Disney booked excursions. I know that the Wonder is much smaller than its newer sister ships, but is there enough to do to keep busy if we chose to stay on the ship on port days? Has anyone done the 7 nite Mexican Riviera that can offer some insight? Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We live in Southern California and have always flown to Orlando to take the Dream/Fantasy. I was thinking about maybe trying the Mexico cruise on the Wonder when its in San Diego this October. It would save us a bunch not having to buy airfare/hotel/bus transportation. My only concern was that there doesnt seem to be too many Port Adventures offered. There are NONE offered when the ship stops in Mazatlan. I wouldn't want to explore Mexico on our own, I'd only trust to do Disney booked excursions. I know that the Wonder is much smaller than its newer sister ships, but is there enough to do to keep busy if we chose to stay on the ship on port days? Has anyone done the 7 nite Mexican Riviera that can offer some insight? Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about it. Often, excursions for new ports (and Mazatlan is new) don't show up until much closer to the cruise date. I would think there will be excursions offered. But, certainly staying onboard, there will be some things happening, but not very many.

We did the Mexican Riviera twice in 2011 (no Mazatlan, though) and had plenty to keep us occupied.

 

[Mama Lisa 911]

I wouldn't worry about it. Often, excursions for new ports (and Mazatlan is new) don't show up until much closer to the cruise date. I would think there will be excursions offered. But, certainly staying onboard, there will be some things happening, but not very many.

We did the Mexican Riviera twice in 2011 (no Mazatlan, though) and had plenty to keep us occupied.

Thanks PrincessShmoo! Have you been on the newer ships also? Other than not having Aqua Duck water coaster is the Wonder pretty comparable to the Dream/Fantasy? My "kids" are now 18 and 21 so the kids clubs aren't an issue. Our family really enjoys the adult pool area, movie theater and of course the dining!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks PrincessShmoo! Have you been on the newer ships also? Other than not having Aqua Duck water coaster is the Wonder pretty comparable to the Dream/Fantasy? My "kids" are now 18 and 21 so the kids clubs aren't an issue. Our family really enjoys the adult pool area, movie theater and of course the dining!

Haven't been on the Wonder since her re-imagining, but IMO, the Wonder is not anything like the Dream class ships. Smaller, more intimate. I like the classic ships better than the Dream class ones.

The shows onboard the Wonder are, without a doubt, better than those on the Dream class ships. Again, my opinion. I haven't seen Frozen yet, but it's got to be miles above Toy Story.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We cruised the Mexican Riviera before Mazatlán was removed from the itinerary. The teen age kids went parasailing from the beach and had a great time. We took a bus tour of the area and were saddened by all the poverty. One of the stops included a brick making plant. The bricks were hand-made, basically a guy filling molds with mud to bake them in the sun, or in a kiln. We were told the guys spend so many hours working in the sun that most of them die from skin cancer before age 40. Very depressing. We also visited a tile making company, and a wood-burning brick-oven bakery. Small kids offered to let us take pics of them for $1 per pic. Our tour guide on the bus kept miss-pronouncing beaches. Sounded more like britches, without the "r."

We loved cruising on the Fantasy with all its high tech gadgets, but it's just too big. We really prefer the smaller Wonder and Magic.

 

[kiapepito]

We were just on the Wonder over Christmas and the Wonder is significantly smaller than the Fantasy, which we sailed on a year ago. We just booked the 3 day cruise to Ensenada and are planning on staying on the boat during the port call. I was in Ensenada last summer on a Carnival cruise, and it does not exemplify what I know Mexico truly is. I saw so much drinking and binging that it made me sad to see how people's impression of Ensenada is to the rest of Mexico... I looked at past navigators and noticed that they do have activities on board on the different port dates.

Keep in mind that they pools are significantly smaller and no aqua dunk or duck on the Wonder in the family side. But if you are all over the age of 18 the adult pool is great and you will not be missing anything off the boat, consider it an extra sea day!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We were just on the Wonder over Christmas and the Wonder is significantly smaller than the Fantasy, which we sailed on a year ago. We just booked the 3 day cruise to Ensenada and are planning on staying on the boat during the port call. I was in Ensenada last summer on a Carnival cruise, and it does not exemplify what I know Mexico truly is. I saw so much drinking and binging that it made me sad to see how people's impression of Ensenada is to the rest of Mexico... I looked at past navigators and noticed that they do have activities on board on the different port dates.

Keep in mind that they pools are significantly smaller and no aqua dunk or duck on the Wonder in the family side. But if you are all over the age of 18 the adult pool is great and you will not be missing anything off the boat, consider it an extra sea day!

You can also use the Twist 'n Spout (now available for everyone, not just kids).

 

[traveln4fun]

We've done both the 7 night and 5 night out of San Diego and the 7 night was one of our favorites. We've been on 8 Disney cruises. The weather is beautiful and my daughter and I felt safe exploring near the ports on our own. There are many tourists in the area, especially if more than 1 cruise ship is docked. The best part is saving on airfare for a family of 4!

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

We did the 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise in 2012 (Thanksgiving) and loved it. We're doing another one in September this year!

Last time we stopped in Puerto Vallerta and 2 stops in Cabo (no Mazatlan - so we have something new). In Puerto Vallerta the Pirate ship excursion was so fun we're doing it again this year (my kids are 19 & 16)! We forgot to take seasickness meds before this and my son spent the entire time out in the bathroom. We'll remember to take it BEFORE getting on the pirate ship this time!

Cabo we split up and just went shopping/snorkeling/etc on our own and it was beautiful. This time we're going to do the Snorkeling Catamaran excursion.

I was reading up on Mazatlan and it seems they've done some major cracking down on crime and revamped the entire port area to make it more appealing for tourists. Not sure what we'll do there, but I'm looking forward to seeing what excursions Disney offers. It's also really nice to stay on the ship on port days and enjoy how quiet the pools/whole ship are.

 

[dclpluto]

There will be excursions for all ports. Disney is not going to lose out on $$$$!. Nothing wrong with the wonder. Enjoy

 

[crossfitmama]

We are planning on booking on our own in Cabo with https://cabosanlucascruiseexcursions.com/ as i hate big group and would rather do something more private. Still doing research on Mazatlan and Vallarta so any advise there would be great. Is whale watching better in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta?