Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas Cruise Review - Mexican Riviera Cruise
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To take the boardwalk stay to the right as you leave the tender dock, and there will be marina boats on your right and pretty shops, cafes, and apts on your left. You can walk all the way to the upscale Puerto Paraiso Mall, perhaps 15-20 minutes, or you can turn left at several places, marked on the ship map, and get over to Marina Blvd, lots more shops there. A good place to turn left is at the large lighthouse, walk up the cobblestone aqueduct about 30 yards to the Blvd.
We did this area in the morning.
For the afternoon we wanted to have lunch and drinks and maybe a swim at one of the resorts, catch some rays at the pool/beach, and several large resorts in Cabo welcome cruisers as free day guests, including the Finnisterra near the tender dock, and the Hacienda, Melia, and Pueblo Bonita around the harbor on Medano Beach. The beaches are public, and if you prefer you can throw a towel down on the sand anywhere. We chose the Melia San Lucas. This area is a $6 cab ride from downtown, or a 6 peso (60 cent) bus. We took the bus because we got talking to vacationers staying in Cabo who were going that way and suggested we come along, and we wanted to get some local flavor anyway. So we got on with them and used up some of our loose pesos, and had a little “bus route” tour through Cabo.
The Melia was lovely, beautiful grounds, a series of pools, and loungers at the pools and beach (http://www.solmelia.com/sol/hoteles/jsp/CHome.jsp?idSolRes=5833 They also have large rubberized mattresses on platforms with outdoor pillows that 6-8 people can lay on, both at the pools and the beach, but we preferred loungers (although Wendy said the mattresses would be great for tanning on your tummy, more comfy).
When we entered we went to the girl at the pool kiosk, identified ourselves as day use cruisers, tipped her $5 and requested towels and loungers. She quickly scooted off and came back with 2 big resort towels and offered us either of the only 2 mattress cabanas left. We said if we couldn’t find loungers at the beach we’d come back for one, but we found 2 under an umbrella, and ordered drinks and a nacho platter from the waiter for $14. It had lots of great cheese and spicy tomato/pepper sauce and guacamole on the side for scooping. Beautiful view, ship right in front of us, rocks of the Arch to the right. A rope keeps vendors out of the immediate area, but they patrol up and down. We did see one ceramic thing we wanted, and got if for half of the asking price, which is normal.
At the end of the afternoon we decided to walk back to the tender for some exercise, along the beach and then around the harbor to the boardwalk, and along it to the tender dock, which took about 25 minutes. More street vendors, all selling the same things. A lovely full day.
MAZATLAN
In Mazatlan we wanted to do 2 things, see the historical sights in Old Town where the ship docks, and then go up to the Golden Zone (resort beach area) to do some shopping and hit another resort for some sun and pool/beach time.
Tractor-pulled trams take people from the ship across the dock to the terminal where you pick up cabs. We took a $5 per couple cab ($4 because we split it with another couple) to the Mercado Market, tons of flea market shops in a covered square block, but too touristy, then walked 1 block south to the huge historic cathedral and Revolution Park, pretty area. Wendy sews, and found a local non-tourist fabric store to die for, prices about 10-20% of what she’d pay at home. Then we walked down to the ocean boardwalk, might have been a short $2 or $3 cab, then walked north along the boardwalk to see the cliff divers. Here’s a link to a map of Old Town, shows the whole area but many streets not marked: www.advantagemexico.com/mazatlan/images/maz_oldtown.pdf
The cliff divers survived and then we caught a $10 cab to the Golden Zone. We wanted to have lunch with a view of the beach and ocean, and hit El Capitano’s on a recommendation, which was good. Lots of tables facing the surf, some live entertainment and dancers, 2 beers and shared combo platter for $10.50. Then hit some shops and then got a $2 cab to the El Cid Castillo, a resort that welcomes cruisers for free day use. Do not bother with the El Cid timeshare people at the dock unless you think 1.5 hours of your time is worth a free lunch and drinks. Don’t bother with more of them in the El Cid lobby, just go straight to either of their 2 large pools or beach. Even at peak time, about 2pm, we found loungers, and a waiter got us 2 towels and 2 good margaritas for $7 (he needs to leave your ID with the towel attendant, which you get back when you return your towels to the pool … bring any cheap ID).
Page 4 > > Vision of the Seas Cruise Review > >
To take the boardwalk stay to the right as you leave the tender dock, and there will be marina boats on your right and pretty shops, cafes, and apts on your left. You can walk all the way to the upscale Puerto Paraiso Mall, perhaps 15-20 minutes, or you can turn left at several places, marked on the ship map, and get over to Marina Blvd, lots more shops there. A good place to turn left is at the large lighthouse, walk up the cobblestone aqueduct about 30 yards to the Blvd.
We did this area in the morning.
For the afternoon we wanted to have lunch and drinks and maybe a swim at one of the resorts, catch some rays at the pool/beach, and several large resorts in Cabo welcome cruisers as free day guests, including the Finnisterra near the tender dock, and the Hacienda, Melia, and Pueblo Bonita around the harbor on Medano Beach. The beaches are public, and if you prefer you can throw a towel down on the sand anywhere. We chose the Melia San Lucas. This area is a $6 cab ride from downtown, or a 6 peso (60 cent) bus. We took the bus because we got talking to vacationers staying in Cabo who were going that way and suggested we come along, and we wanted to get some local flavor anyway. So we got on with them and used up some of our loose pesos, and had a little “bus route” tour through Cabo.
The Melia was lovely, beautiful grounds, a series of pools, and loungers at the pools and beach (http://www.solmelia.com/sol/hoteles/jsp/CHome.jsp?idSolRes=5833 They also have large rubberized mattresses on platforms with outdoor pillows that 6-8 people can lay on, both at the pools and the beach, but we preferred loungers (although Wendy said the mattresses would be great for tanning on your tummy, more comfy).
When we entered we went to the girl at the pool kiosk, identified ourselves as day use cruisers, tipped her $5 and requested towels and loungers. She quickly scooted off and came back with 2 big resort towels and offered us either of the only 2 mattress cabanas left. We said if we couldn’t find loungers at the beach we’d come back for one, but we found 2 under an umbrella, and ordered drinks and a nacho platter from the waiter for $14. It had lots of great cheese and spicy tomato/pepper sauce and guacamole on the side for scooping. Beautiful view, ship right in front of us, rocks of the Arch to the right. A rope keeps vendors out of the immediate area, but they patrol up and down. We did see one ceramic thing we wanted, and got if for half of the asking price, which is normal.
At the end of the afternoon we decided to walk back to the tender for some exercise, along the beach and then around the harbor to the boardwalk, and along it to the tender dock, which took about 25 minutes. More street vendors, all selling the same things. A lovely full day.
MAZATLAN
In Mazatlan we wanted to do 2 things, see the historical sights in Old Town where the ship docks, and then go up to the Golden Zone (resort beach area) to do some shopping and hit another resort for some sun and pool/beach time.
Tractor-pulled trams take people from the ship across the dock to the terminal where you pick up cabs. We took a $5 per couple cab ($4 because we split it with another couple) to the Mercado Market, tons of flea market shops in a covered square block, but too touristy, then walked 1 block south to the huge historic cathedral and Revolution Park, pretty area. Wendy sews, and found a local non-tourist fabric store to die for, prices about 10-20% of what she’d pay at home. Then we walked down to the ocean boardwalk, might have been a short $2 or $3 cab, then walked north along the boardwalk to see the cliff divers. Here’s a link to a map of Old Town, shows the whole area but many streets not marked: www.advantagemexico.com/mazatlan/images/maz_oldtown.pdf
The cliff divers survived and then we caught a $10 cab to the Golden Zone. We wanted to have lunch with a view of the beach and ocean, and hit El Capitano’s on a recommendation, which was good. Lots of tables facing the surf, some live entertainment and dancers, 2 beers and shared combo platter for $10.50. Then hit some shops and then got a $2 cab to the El Cid Castillo, a resort that welcomes cruisers for free day use. Do not bother with the El Cid timeshare people at the dock unless you think 1.5 hours of your time is worth a free lunch and drinks. Don’t bother with more of them in the El Cid lobby, just go straight to either of their 2 large pools or beach. Even at peak time, about 2pm, we found loungers, and a waiter got us 2 towels and 2 good margaritas for $7 (he needs to leave your ID with the towel attendant, which you get back when you return your towels to the pool … bring any cheap ID).
Page 4 > > Vision of the Seas Cruise Review > >
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