Mexican Riviera on the Diaamond

[askdad]

My wife and I have just booked a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Diamond Princess leaving LA 3/26/05 (Easter week). We have been on several Carribean cruises with Princess but this is our first on this itinerary and boat. All our other trips have ironicallty been on the Golden. We are just looking for any suggestions on must see and do things at the ports of call (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo) as well as tips for about the Diamond. We enjoy this Chat.

[askdad]

My wife and I have just booked a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Diamond Princess leaving LA 3/26/05 (Easter week). We have been on several Carribean cruises with Princess but this is our first on this itinerary and boat. All our other trips have ironicallty been on the Golden. We are just looking for any suggestions on must see and do things at the ports of call (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo) as well as tips for about the Diamond. We enjoy this Chat.

[Oggy Boy]

Be sure to check out the port review for those ports in www.MexicoPortReviews.com. You will find a lot of information there. Let us know if you have any specific questions as there are many choices in each port. Beach, shopping, fishing, etc.

You will have a great cruise!

Tom

[askdad]

Thanks for the quick reply. We're both educators so relaxation is in order that time of year. We most interested in some shopping, strolls around town, places for a drink or two (or eight) and beaches close to the ship. Just about anything. I did check out the reviews, they are helpful.

[farmerjohn]

Last year in Puerto Vallarta my wife and I did the canopy adventure. They take you about an hour up into the mountains where they have a rope course laid out in the tops of the trees. You are strapped into a climbing harness and then you glide on pulleys from tree to tree. You start off about 10 feet off the ground and eventually are about 90 feet off the ground. At the end you repel to the forest floor. We found in to be a very different and enjoyable tour.

We have also done the mountain biking in Puerto Vallarta. We rode from the center of town, up through the outskirts of town, and into the mountains. Eventually we stopped at a waterfall for lunch before returning to town. This was also a very enjoyable tour.

Puerto Vallarta also has a very nice malceon(?) that fronts the ocean. It is a very pleasant area to stoll and shop.

Out of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo, we found that Mazatlan had the most reasonable prices for shopping.

[Oggy Boy]

Got it. In Cabo, take a water taxi to Mendano beach (the Office is always pretty busy) and then walk back through town.Best Bar - Giggling Marlin.

In Mazatlan, take a taxi to the Golden Zone, Set up camp in front of the Hotel Playa Mazatlan or one of the bars to the south, and then shop in the Golden Zone for stuff. Mazatlan's most notable bar would be Senior Frogs just south of the Golden Zone.

In Puerto Vallarta, taxi into the old section of PV for shopping and then hit any of the bars along the Malecon. You can beach it up anywhere along the coast there.

Have a great cruise!

Tom

[RIDGID]

To be a hit with the folks back home you have to visit Sammy Hagger's Cabo Wabo Cantina and get some momentos even if the cardboard coasters from the bar. When you come from the dock area you will see a little upstairs bar in a small mall, this is just an extension you need to go into the big club that is downstairs and behind.

Don't be in a rush to get off the ship. We left at 7:30 and nothing opens until 9:00. On the Diamond you do not get a ticket number or color for the tender. When you are ready to leave you go to the Explorer lounge and you are seated in a group. The group is then taken to the tender. The process is a lot better than the ticket thing. It was very fast for us, about a 5 minute wait.