Repositioning Panama Canal Cruisers

[dizneyusa]

Can you believe it is THURSDAY!!! We were curious if there were
any gifts or souv. for the Panama Canal sailing.................

We heard that everyone is suppose to receive a special pin when
they return, from the situation from the beginning of the trip, and
we saw the picture of the return guest gift from Castaway Club,
just wondering what else they might have done for the guests......

Thanks
Dana
dizneyusa
beanie-babies@att.net

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Would love to hear from anyone that took the DCL cliff diver excursion in Acapulco. Thumbs up or down?

 

[ivanova]

My TA is on the May repo - said the Acapulco cliff diving show was awesome.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Susan, did she take the Cliff Divers Show and Restaurant excursion from Disney?

 

[JenKatt]

We are suppose to get pins mailed to us after the cruise and there was a lot of stuff to be purchased in the shops for this cruise alone. The Aug stuff will be different.

I have to say I didn't do the cliff divers but I did not like Acapulco (sorry Roberto!). Jeff called it the Asbury Park of Mexico. It's very true. Once it was a great resort town, but that time has passed. Mazatlan was much better and Cabo was awesome.

 

[Regina]

We got quite a few goodies. We got a sketch by Ducky Williams to commemorate the FIRST passage of the Disney Magic thru the Panama Canal. We were able to select one item for him to sign. Most everyone chose the sketch.

On our last night we got a beautiful litho by Ducky Williams that he already hand-signed of Ariel with the Magic and the castles from DL and WDW titled "Part of Your World Heads West."

We got a book about the Panama Canal, and we also got Mickey Hands to wave as we left Port Canaveral.

Every passenger is getting a newly designed pin mailed to them.

 

[Az Pirates]

Susan, did she take the Cliff Divers Show and Restaurant excursion from Disney?

We went and saw the cliff divers and it was well worth the trip.
Did not do the DCL excursion though. We went on our own - very easy to do.
Roberto's thread on Acapulco is very informative and he explains the different options. (We watched from the restaurant w/the two drinks option)

DCL ended up refunding a portion of the money to those who booked the excursion through them because of so many complaints (about the buffet - not the cliff diving show itself) I would think they will have that worked out for you guys by Aug. but if you're concerned it is really easy to grab a cab and go on your own.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Thanks Sheila. I am just too nervous to grab a cab after reading Roberto's thread about the good vs the bad cab drivers etc. It does sound like you didn't have a problem. What time of day did you go? So, do you think the 2 drink option was probably the best location to view? Thanks so much for helping me overcome my fear.

 

[jragland]

Thanks Sheila. I am just too nervous to grab a cab after reading Roberto's thread about the good vs the bad cab drivers etc. It does sound like you didn't have a problem. What time of day did you go? So, do you think the 2 drink option was probably the best location to view? Thanks so much for helping me overcome my fear.

My wife, DD, and I took cabs in Acapulco and had no problems. Just make sure that you settle on the price BEFORE the ride begins! That's important. We had pleasant drivers who pointed things out to us and were super polite. I wouldn't worry about taking cabs....have fun.
Jim

 

[webray]

Not many of the repo passengers we spoke with enjoyed Acapulco at all, including us.

When you first get off the ship there are men in blue shirts, they want to walk you to the flea market area. Don't even bother. They wanted to charge us $14, the $12 for a shotglass which we got for $1 in Mazatlan. We left the flea market as soon as possible. The prices are way to high. Actually we didn't really buy anything at all in Acapulco. Our best bargain was at a Senor Frogs tshirt outlet, about 3-4 miles from the port area...going right from the top of the dock area. They had many, many styles of tshirts for 1/2 price. So we lucked out. We found the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood in that same neighborhood, and then went to Carlos and Charlies for lunch. Some people we talked with went to Senor Frogs restaurant for lunch which is all the way down..keep going past hard rock, away from the port area. It is on a hill, great photo opps. Other than that..I would save your shopping money for mazatlan and cabo.

Don't pay the big bugs for a cliff diving excursion. It is very easy to do it on your own. When you come up the dock (or at appropriate time), grab a blue/white cab (volkswagons). Tell them you want to go to cliff diver show. Set the price and away you go. The 1st show is usually at 1pm. When you get to the cliffs, you can purchase reserved seating yourself for $12 per person, which is excellent. It comes with two free drinks per person/ticket.
You have the perfect view for photos. After that, there are some places for shopping, don't even bother going in, they are way, way over priced. Grab a cab and head back to the port area.

Acapulco is huge, sprawling, busy, busy city. All I can say, is we have seen and and do not need to return.

 

[webray]

Thanks Sheila. I am just too nervous to grab a cab after reading Roberto's thread about the good vs the bad cab drivers etc. It does sound like you didn't have a problem. What time of day did you go? So, do you think the 2 drink option was probably the best location to view? Thanks so much for helping me overcome my fear.

There are definately no problems taking cabs in Acapulco...get the blue/white volkswagon bugs, settle on price before you get in and you are good to go.

 

[JenKatt]

We had no problems with cabs in Acapulco. We had alot more problems in the flea market which I would not go back to. I would say skip over Carlos and Charlie's and go to Senor Frogs. Same company and menu but an amazing view from up in the mountains.

 

[Regina]

I took the Acapulco Cliff Diver's excursion with lunch at the El Mercado. Traffic is horrendous. First we went to the Chapel of Peace which was lovely and had spectacular views. However, we had to go right back into the traffic mess to get to the opposite end of the city for the Cliff Divers.

We found out about the 25% refund via a phone message when we got back to our room that evening. We hadn't complained about it yet, but we had planned to. It was really bad.

While it was exciting to see the Cliff Divers, we didn't care for Acapulco.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

You guys are the greatest. I am so happy that you responded with all your experiences. Thanks!

 

[debm]

We really want to take our 4 kids (under 12) to the cliff-diving show. I am well aware that it is probably cheaper to do it on our own, however I am very afraid of going out on our own and trying to take a cab etc. What if, what if..... I was planning on doing it thru Disney but is there a reason we wouldn't want to eat the buffet--that is if they still keep that option? I mean, is it safe? Or was it just bad tasting? I am not sure what else we will do with the kids. I really don't need to go out into a busy city with 4 kids, one of which has special needs. Doesn't appeal to me. But I thought it would be a neat experience to see the cliff divers. Just wanted opinions. Thanks!!!

 

[Regina]

The buffet was billed as "authentic Mexican cuisine." It was cold burgers that had onions and stuff mixed into the meat. They were undercooked. They also had hot dogs that had been split in half lengthwise and were swimming in a vat of water. (I don't know if they were hot, but I doubt it.)

There was some kind of mystery meat stew and a fish that was also cold. The soup looked like it was tortilla soup. They must have dumped whatever frozen fries they had around into the fryer since they were all different shapes. Again, they were cold. I was told that the buffet on the upper terrace had chicken that was dry.

The tortilla chips and salsa were the only things that were decent. To make matters worse, the service was awful. It wasn't self-serve and they weren't prepared for how many people there were. There were also a ton of problems getting the drinks.

Due to the problems that we had, I anticipate that it will be done differently for the August cruise.

 

[JenKatt]

Again, my vote is for Senor Frogs. The nachos were really good! The view is amazing. And you can see the cliff divers on El Rio del Tiempo.

 

[SandraLee]

We did hire a car for the day. As you leave the terminal, there are plenty of safe drivers to negotiate with. They have air conditioned suburban type vehicles. I was very comfortable with this solution. There were 10 of us (too many for the car, but we got by) There were 4 adults, 2 teens, 2-9 year olds and 2-6 year olds. We hired the driver/car and he took us to the cliff diving. He then dropped a couple back to the ship and took the rest of us to Cici's water park. He waited and picked up up and took us back to the ship. There was nothing unsafe about it. I liked the idea of having my 'own' car and him being there anytime we needed him. We negotiated once at the beginning -- didn't have to flag down a car.

We did the dolphins at Cicis' on our own and the kids loved that and the water slides. It worked out perfect.

I don't know about the special needs child, but otherwise, I would do it the same again,.

 

[debm]

What is Senor Frogs? Is that somewhere that we could take the kids instead to see the cliff-divers? Thanks all!!

 

[debm]

Guess I am just worried about the car seat issue riding in someone's vehicle. Disney's option may not be much better though. Our youngest still needs to be in a car seat. Did people with young kids bring them? We have taken 4 DCL cruises but never brought it.