Mexican Riviera Cruise : Travelogue

[RRS]

Like I had mentioned in my Hawaii travelogue 3 years ago, I feel like a small kid submitting trip report immediately after a nice trip. But my memory is not what it used to be. So this is more for me to remember later and reminisce the moments. If it helps few in this process , then it is an icing on the cake.

Went on the Norwegian Star for a 7 days/7 nights Mexican Riviera Cruise last week.

This was our first time with Norwegian cruise Liner (NCL). We have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, so I was kind of expecting similar but NCL itself didn't leave up to my prior cruise expectations but visiting Mexico's 3 port cities was definitely worth the experience. We sailed from LA port.

Pros of the overall trip and cruise:
1. Mexico 3 city coverage on 3 successive days was very good. Mexico (pronounced as Mehico) and Mexicans(pronounced as Mehicans) surprised me pleasantly. All 3 port cities (Cabo San Lucas,Mazatlan, Puerto Villarta (pronounced as portho viyartha) are extremely clean (even the inner city portions and not just the touristy portions). When will India be like that was my immediate thought. Even on Christmas day with no workers around, there was no trash in sight in any of the 3 cities. Ship allows almost 8 hours every day to explore the cities and it is sufficient to cover all major nice spots with plenty of time for shopping souvenirs as well.
2. Mexicans let you negotiate and if you are a good bargainer like me, you get good deal for all your sight seeing : ). For example, a boat ride to see land's end( the famous arch) in Cabo along with few more touristy spots from Taxi, pre-planned trip from cruise was charging $49.99 per adult but I was able to negotiate it for $10 per adult plus your money is reaching them directly as no one knows how much the cruise will pocket and based on guides, NCL is stingy : ). But you need to negotiate with authorized IDed persons to be safe.
3. Mazatlan is less heard than other 2 port cities as portions of the city might be dangerous to tourists. But if you plan it correctly, it is as beautiful as the other 2 cities. Gave me little bit of Goa vibe. Key is to negotiate with authorized IDed person and go as large group of 12-20 people.
4. If you are a tequila lover, in Puerto Villarta, there is occasion to taste very good quality tequila (different kinds) in good sized glasses : ). They showed the process of how it is made from blue agave plant. You can buy up to 2 bottles of very good quality tequila for bargain price as well. Mexicans have very good sense of humor and tourist guides were non-stop laugh riot with their impeccable comic timing and very good spoken english.
5. Entertainment on the ship for all 7 days was very good.
6. No free Wi-Fi. Why I am mentioning it as a pro ? They were charging exorbitantly for Wi-Fi access which allowed me to read 10 thick books I had carried within 4-5 days ! Total detachment from the online world is good else I would have written this post from our cabin. Instead, I was able to read 5 memoirs along with few more non-fictions I was planning to read for a long time but kept postponing it in this 24x7 connection era !
7. Weather was excellent all 7 days allowing us to enjoy sunset and sunrise every single day.

Not so great:
1. Ocean-view cabin was just okay as it had a strange odor of salt water/stale water; Ditto with elevators. Room attendants were not seen too frequently unlike other cruises we have taken.Their service was fair but I have seen better service before.
2. The food was nothing great. Again and again I am reminded that US cruises are not meant for vegetarians like me but my spouse doesn't hear me well before he plans these : ). But even with that caveat, other cruises scored better than NCL in providing tasty vegetarian meals. Service was good but menu choices were everyday similar. Top Chef was Indian but Indian vegetarian food tasted bland and unimaginative made me think was it because top chef was Indian : ) ?

Free serving cafes like Versailles and Aqua: service was good, but food so-so. Food was served at very leisurely pace and not good if you have some other events planned. Other cruises we have taken had Captain's invitational dinner which required us to dress up formally . Nothing like that here. Market Caf?uffet was okay but same choices every single day will make you feel stale. Italian food tasted like airplane food in La Cucina;Asian food was really bad at Ginza. We didn't try Teppanyaki.

Cons:
1. Cruise made it compulsory to bill $12 per person per day tip for all 7 days and this is billed directly. This is in addition to the tips you will give to specialty restaurant's servers, cafes and to room service folks. I prefer to provide direct extra tip to people who provide great service than cruise billing me directly. Now I don't know whether people who provided good service get greater share or not !
2. Ship was old and needs some refurbishing as some of the buttons in elevators had stopped working within just 3 days and needed repair : ). Fitness room was located on the front of the ship on 13th floor, so treadmills and elliptical were continuously shaking. Even one day after the trip, my body has not adjusted to no rocking : ).
3. Embarkation/disembarkation process is not very smooth for a cruise that is running for years as they could improve the process based on feedback. Long lines during entry and exit ( we were all adults but I can imagine the inconvenience for families with small kids when it is cold).

Would I recommend it ? 3 cities visits, definitely but through NCL? Not sure. May be through 'Princess' if they offer all 3 cities in their cruise plan. I personally don't know how Princess service is but we traveled with people from that ship in our Mexico port city trips and they had some invisible superiority halo around them : ).

[GutsyGibbon]

Thanks for the nice trip summary. How would you compare the cruise to - flying to Cabo San Lucas from LA, staying there for a week, and flying back? Both in terms of costs, and the things you can do in Cabo. Beach volleyball, kayaking etc as opposed to limited hours on land excursions. I am told the round trip ferry from Cabo to Mazatlan is not that expensive either.

[RRS]

Thanks for the nice trip summary. How would you compare the cruise to - flying to Cabo San Lucas from LA, staying there for a week, and flying back? Both in terms of costs, and the things you can do in Cabo. Beach volleyball, kayaking etc as opposed to limited hours on land excursions. I am told the round trip ferry from Cabo to Mazatlan is not that expensive either.

One of the friends did that as his trip to Hawaii got cancelled at the last minute due to tropical storm last fall. He said his family enjoyed it. His cost was similar to our cruise as you need to pay for accommodation/food in addition to travel expenses. I felt Cabo was rather small to spend a week as most of the sight seeing could be done within 3 days. Off course tour guides will fill the week with Dolphin encounter, Whale watch, Surfing, Kayaking etc. Boat ride to Mazatlan would be good. But be careful with whom you negotiate as I was told that Mazatlan has some shady areas and could be dangerous if tourists are unsuspecting; OTOH Puerto Villarta is one of the safest cities in Mexico with no record of crime on tourists.

Try visiting all 3 as each is nice in its own way and Dec/Jan/Early Feb are best months as it will start getting hot during kids' spring break time with weather being similar to India's west coast (Goa/Mangaluru etc).

[neeli]

Looking at the cons of NCL cruise, i think my flight trip to cabo san lucas was much better. If you book flight tickets ahead you should be getting a good price. There are all inclusive resorts which might be more cost effective. I went non all inclusive as i dint want to miss out on the local food. ( the fresh tortillas and salsa was the best ever). Fruits taste just like how they do in india. esp papaya. you would see very limited coral with snorkeling - definitely not like hawaii. however the catamaran for the snorkeling trip was amazing.Lounging in the open air deck with great music, the perfect landscape and the cool breeze was an experience to remember. At the end of the trip, all that i wanted was to own a catamaran :P

The glass bottom boat tour to lands end is a great joke. The glass bottom boat is a regular boat with a 8x10 size glass frame in the middle of the boat. biscuit !

The ocean view option in the cruise would be more like glass bottom boat types. may be a room with balcony option would be better.

[FB2020]

Would you mind sharing the costs?

Like I had mentioned in my Hawaii travelogue 3 years ago, I feel like a small kid submitting trip report immediately after a nice trip. But my memory is not what it used to be. So this is more for me to remember later and reminisce the moments. If it helps few in this process , then it is an icing on the cake.

Went on the Norwegian Star for a 7 days/7 nights Mexican Riviera Cruise last week.

This was our first time with Norwegian cruise Liner (NCL). We have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, so I was kind of expecting similar but NCL itself didn't leave up to my prior cruise expectations but visiting Mexico's 3 port cities was definitely worth the experience. We sailed from LA port.

Pros of the overall trip and cruise:
1. Mexico 3 city coverage on 3 successive days was very good. Mexico (pronounced as Mehico) and Mexicans(pronounced as Mehicans) surprised me pleasantly. All 3 port cities (Cabo San Lucas,Mazatlan, Puerto Villarta (pronounced as portho viyartha) are extremely clean (even the inner city portions and not just the touristy portions). When will India be like that was my immediate thought. Even on Christmas day with no workers around, there was no trash in sight in any of the 3 cities. Ship allows almost 8 hours every day to explore the cities and it is sufficient to cover all major nice spots with plenty of time for shopping souvenirs as well.
2. Mexicans let you negotiate and if you are a good bargainer like me, you get good deal for all your sight seeing : ). For example, a boat ride to see land's end( the famous arch) in Cabo along with few more touristy spots from Taxi, pre-planned trip from cruise was charging $49.99 per adult but I was able to negotiate it for $10 per adult plus your money is reaching them directly as no one knows how much the cruise will pocket and based on guides, NCL is stingy : ). But you need to negotiate with authorized IDed persons to be safe.
3. Mazatlan is less heard than other 2 port cities as portions of the city might be dangerous to tourists. But if you plan it correctly, it is as beautiful as the other 2 cities. Gave me little bit of Goa vibe. Key is to negotiate with authorized IDed person and go as large group of 12-20 people.
4. If you are a tequila lover, in Puerto Villarta, there is occasion to taste very good quality tequila (different kinds) in good sized glasses : ). They showed the process of how it is made from blue agave plant. You can buy up to 2 bottles of very good quality tequila for bargain price as well. Mexicans have very good sense of humor and tourist guides were non-stop laugh riot with their impeccable comic timing and very good spoken english.
5. Entertainment on the ship for all 7 days was very good.
6. No free Wi-Fi. Why I am mentioning it as a pro ? They were charging exorbitantly for Wi-Fi access which allowed me to read 10 thick books I had carried within 4-5 days ! Total detachment from the online world is good else I would have written this post from our cabin. Instead, I was able to read 5 memoirs along with few more non-fictions I was planning to read for a long time but kept postponing it in this 24x7 connection era !
7. Weather was excellent all 7 days allowing us to enjoy sunset and sunrise every single day.

Not so great:
1. Ocean-view cabin was just okay as it had a strange odor of salt water/stale water; Ditto with elevators. Room attendants were not seen too frequently unlike other cruises we have taken.Their service was fair but I have seen better service before.
2. The food was nothing great. Again and again I am reminded that US cruises are not meant for vegetarians like me but my spouse doesn't hear me well before he plans these : ). But even with that caveat, other cruises scored better than NCL in providing tasty vegetarian meals. Service was good but menu choices were everyday similar. Top Chef was Indian but Indian vegetarian food tasted bland and unimaginative made me think was it because top chef was Indian : ) ?

Free serving cafes like Versailles and Aqua: service was good, but food so-so. Food was served at very leisurely pace and not good if you have some other events planned. Other cruises we have taken had Captain's invitational dinner which required us to dress up formally . Nothing like that here. Market Caf?uffet was okay but same choices every single day will make you feel stale. Italian food tasted like airplane food in La Cucina;Asian food was really bad at Ginza. We didn't try Teppanyaki.

Cons:
1. Cruise made it compulsory to bill $12 per person per day tip for all 7 days and this is billed directly. This is in addition to the tips you will give to specialty restaurant's servers, cafes and to room service folks. I prefer to provide direct extra tip to people who provide great service than cruise billing me directly. Now I don't know whether people who provided good service get greater share or not !
2. Ship was old and needs some refurbishing as some of the buttons in elevators had stopped working within just 3 days and needed repair : ). Fitness room was located on the front of the ship on 13th floor, so treadmills and elliptical were continuously shaking. Even one day after the trip, my body has not adjusted to no rocking : ).
3. Embarkation/disembarkation process is not very smooth for a cruise that is running for years as they could improve the process based on feedback. Long lines during entry and exit ( we were all adults but I can imagine the inconvenience for families with small kids when it is cold).

Would I recommend it ? 3 cities visits, definitely but through NCL? Not sure. May be through 'Princess' if they offer all 3 cities in their cruise plan. I personally don't know how Princess service is but we traveled with people from that ship in our Mexico port city trips and they had some invisible superiority halo around them : ).

[RRS]

Would you mind sharing the costs?

US$1.1K per person in Christmas week excluding travel to LA/Souvenirs etc. Christmas and New year weeks are 30 to 40% more due to holiday season is my understanding.
After Jan 10, the cost might come down by US$400 per person for the same ocean view state rooms/balcony suites if they aren't filled. Rough estimate. Booking much in advance also might save more.

[desi4ever]

Excellent write up. We cruised last year and my family loved it. It was our first cruise so just went on a 4 day cruise to Mexico. It was on Carnival and we had good Indian vegetarian food for dinner. I'm in the process of planning for another cruise. Was considering NCL and thought it would be a big upgrade , but reading from your post seems like NCL is pricey and not that good as well.

[okonomi]

Excellent write up. We cruised last year and my family loved it. It was our first cruise so just went on a 4 day cruise to Mexico. It was on Carnival and we had good Indian vegetarian food for dinner. I'm in the process of planning for another cruise. Was considering NCL and thought it would be a big upgrade , but reading from your post seems like NCL is pricey and not that good as well.

http://www.cruisin.me/forum/downloads/carnival-cruise-lines-2/carnival-mdr-indian-menu-50.html
I looked at the menu.... no masala dosa (dosay, dosai, doesa?), no idly, no pongal, no uppuma, no sambhar, chutneys.... and no Bisibelahulianna.....none of that stuff of the madrasis... I shall write a note to the Carnival cruise people, :wink and advise them to KYC.

[nova2blr]

http://www.cruisin.me/forum/downloads/carnival-cruise-lines-2/carnival-mdr-indian-menu-50.html
I looked at the menu.... no masala dosa (dosay, dosai, doesa?), no idly, no pongal, no uppuma, no sambhar, chutneys.... and no Bisibelahulianna.....none of that stuff of the madrasis... I shall write a note to the Carnival cruise people, :wink and advise them to KYC.

Thanks for the link. Interesting items in your wish list��. Would be nice to have those choices...I guess Dosa(i)(y) is a time consuming item and may not make it to the list (my guess).

Bisibele-huliyanna - I am thinking you meant Bisibelebath (Pls correct if this is not correct)....while Bisibele....is not in the menu, I did see 'Lemon Rice' - Dinner item on Day 6. I think Lemon Rice is a type of 'Huli' - anna. Huli (atleast has multiple meanings atleast in Kannada). Any other thoughts?

[desi4ever]

http://www.cruisin.me/forum/downloads/carnival-cruise-lines-2/carnival-mdr-indian-menu-50.html
I looked at the menu.... no masala dosa (dosay, dosai, doesa?), no idly, no pongal, no uppuma, no sambhar, chutneys.... and no Bisibelahulianna.....none of that stuff of the madrasis... I shall write a note to the Carnival cruise people, :wink and advise them to KYC.

So what ? I aint no Madrasi . Karnataka was never part of Madras state. The Kannada speaking region was part of Mysore state.Madrasi is a term given by some ignorant people who think all of Southern India speaks Tamil. I didn't regret there was no Masala dosay , Idli or pongal on the menu ? You should write to Carnival for yourself instead of writing for someone who does not really care.