Mexican Cruise
Pearlin and recently came home from a 7-day Mexican cruise. It was a Carnival Cruise on a ship called the Carnival Pride. The food was amazing! In the formal dining room, they served $50/head type food every single night. On the first night, I ate two New York steaks. Add appetizers and dessert, and whoa, I probably ate an $80 meal. Of course, it was a cruise, so outside of the ridiculously low ticket price for the cruise, I didn't spend anything for the food :-) On other nights, I ate prime rib and lobster tail, angus burgers, t-bone porterhouse 24-oz steak, salmon, filet mignon...and a ton of dessert. Yummy! Can you believe that the base price per person was $469? I ate that cost in food, and yet we had a wonderful stateroom, live entertainment, 3 ports to visit (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas), and many memories.
In Puerto Vallarta, Pearlin and I went on a canopy tour that we booked on the Internet. It was the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. To book a canopy tour through Carnival Cruises, you'd have to spend about $130, but by booking it ourselves, it cost about $70 each plus $10 for the cab, so we saved a bunch of money and had a great experience! After the canopy tour, we had time to find an ATM to withdraw pesos, which we then used to eat some delicious fish tacos. Yes, we braved the taco stands in Mexico and lived to tell the tale... In fact, we didn't even get sick. We used an Internet recommendation that mapped out a bunch of taco stands in Puerto Vallarta, and we selected a place that was known for its smoked marlin tacos. Pearlin isn't even into Mexican food, but she was very impressed by the taste. Afterward, we did some shopping and finished our evening in the city at a tapas restaurant that featured an ocean view with a sunset. We then got back on the ship and headed to Mazatlan.
Our Mazatlan experience started out with a bang. Actually, it was a little embarrassing... Pearlin and I wanted to go to Isla de las Piedras (Stone Island), and as we walked off the ship toward the street, we probably had 10 different taxi drivers ask us if we wanted a lift. We were probably one of the only couples on the entire cruise that wanted to walk on our own without taking a cab. The problem was, in order to get to the water taxi station, we turned left instead of right. At that intersection were some cab drivers that were amused by the fact that we didn't want a lift. As we walked along the street, we didn't feel like we were headed in the right direction, so we asked some locals how to get to the water taxi station. This was actually kind of fun because I can speak some Spanish and they couldn't speak any English. Well, it turns out that we were headed in the wrong direction, so we turned around and had to walk past those same taxi drivers! Oops, at least we made their day by looking like confused tourists. The good news is that after reconfirming with a few locals as we walked, we found the water taxi station, which was a bargain!!! A round-trip ticket cost only 15 pesos, which is about $1.50 per person. So for $3, Pearlin and I got a round-trip to Stone Island! We also spent an additional 20 pesos for cab rides to and from the beach, so in total, we spent about $7 for transportation. In comparison, if we booked the same trip through Carnival, it would have cost us more than $100! We stayed at a restaurant called Victor's. They gave us an umbrella and chairs and only charged us for food and drinks. They didn't hassle us at all, so I recommend Victor's for future visitors. Pearlin and I simply relaxed and read books on the beach for a few hours. On the way back, we hitched a ride on a cab along with some local musicians. The same musicians were on our water taxi, and I had a fun conversation with guitarist. It turns out that although he was kind of old, he had only been playing guitar for 3 years, but has played lots of piano in the past. He plays by ear, and cannot read sheet music, so he was impressed by the fact that I could read sheet music. The funny thing is, because I can't play by ear, I wish I had that skill! You always want what you don't have or can't do, I guess...
Pearlin and I didn't really take Cabo San Lucas very seriously. This is probably because it is logistically difficult for both of us to swim in the water and protect our valuables at the same time. Instead, we just perused the shops and purchased some local artwork. A guy was painting on tiles with his fingers, and I liked his work, so I offered my remaining 127 pesos for 3 tiles. They were asking $10 per tile, so I think we got an OK deal.
Anyway, if you want to go on a cruise, make sure you go on a 7-day or longer cruise (shorter cruises have inferior ships), and if you want a good deal, book a cruise for the week or two after Thanksgiving. It's cheapest at that time, and rates jump up considerably once you get close to Christmas. The downside is that there weren't too many young people on our ship. I can imagine that you'll find a younger crowd during peak season when kids are out of school.
In Puerto Vallarta, Pearlin and I went on a canopy tour that we booked on the Internet. It was the Los Veranos Canopy Tour. To book a canopy tour through Carnival Cruises, you'd have to spend about $130, but by booking it ourselves, it cost about $70 each plus $10 for the cab, so we saved a bunch of money and had a great experience! After the canopy tour, we had time to find an ATM to withdraw pesos, which we then used to eat some delicious fish tacos. Yes, we braved the taco stands in Mexico and lived to tell the tale... In fact, we didn't even get sick. We used an Internet recommendation that mapped out a bunch of taco stands in Puerto Vallarta, and we selected a place that was known for its smoked marlin tacos. Pearlin isn't even into Mexican food, but she was very impressed by the taste. Afterward, we did some shopping and finished our evening in the city at a tapas restaurant that featured an ocean view with a sunset. We then got back on the ship and headed to Mazatlan.
Our Mazatlan experience started out with a bang. Actually, it was a little embarrassing... Pearlin and I wanted to go to Isla de las Piedras (Stone Island), and as we walked off the ship toward the street, we probably had 10 different taxi drivers ask us if we wanted a lift. We were probably one of the only couples on the entire cruise that wanted to walk on our own without taking a cab. The problem was, in order to get to the water taxi station, we turned left instead of right. At that intersection were some cab drivers that were amused by the fact that we didn't want a lift. As we walked along the street, we didn't feel like we were headed in the right direction, so we asked some locals how to get to the water taxi station. This was actually kind of fun because I can speak some Spanish and they couldn't speak any English. Well, it turns out that we were headed in the wrong direction, so we turned around and had to walk past those same taxi drivers! Oops, at least we made their day by looking like confused tourists. The good news is that after reconfirming with a few locals as we walked, we found the water taxi station, which was a bargain!!! A round-trip ticket cost only 15 pesos, which is about $1.50 per person. So for $3, Pearlin and I got a round-trip to Stone Island! We also spent an additional 20 pesos for cab rides to and from the beach, so in total, we spent about $7 for transportation. In comparison, if we booked the same trip through Carnival, it would have cost us more than $100! We stayed at a restaurant called Victor's. They gave us an umbrella and chairs and only charged us for food and drinks. They didn't hassle us at all, so I recommend Victor's for future visitors. Pearlin and I simply relaxed and read books on the beach for a few hours. On the way back, we hitched a ride on a cab along with some local musicians. The same musicians were on our water taxi, and I had a fun conversation with guitarist. It turns out that although he was kind of old, he had only been playing guitar for 3 years, but has played lots of piano in the past. He plays by ear, and cannot read sheet music, so he was impressed by the fact that I could read sheet music. The funny thing is, because I can't play by ear, I wish I had that skill! You always want what you don't have or can't do, I guess...
Pearlin and I didn't really take Cabo San Lucas very seriously. This is probably because it is logistically difficult for both of us to swim in the water and protect our valuables at the same time. Instead, we just perused the shops and purchased some local artwork. A guy was painting on tiles with his fingers, and I liked his work, so I offered my remaining 127 pesos for 3 tiles. They were asking $10 per tile, so I think we got an OK deal.
Anyway, if you want to go on a cruise, make sure you go on a 7-day or longer cruise (shorter cruises have inferior ships), and if you want a good deal, book a cruise for the week or two after Thanksgiving. It's cheapest at that time, and rates jump up considerably once you get close to Christmas. The downside is that there weren't too many young people on our ship. I can imagine that you'll find a younger crowd during peak season when kids are out of school.
posted by Steven | 5:07 PM
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