Some Final Observations

After our visits to the three ports on the “Mexican Riviera”, we were amazed at how totally different they are! Cabo is a “party town”. The port is quite small, we had to “tender in” from the ship into the smallish marina. There are lots of bars and restaurants along the Melacon (boardwalk). Many options for short boat excursions out to see whales or the famous “Arch”. Other than that, not a lot to do.

Mazatlan is a large, industrial port city. We got a good overview with our van tour, including the Cathedral and shopping districts. I'm sure there are nice resorts and beaches away from the downtown but not within easy reach of the pier.

We liked Puerto Vallarta the best! Interesting things to see and do within a short cab ride from the pier. We thought the Church here was much more interesting than the cathedral in Mazatlan (maybe its because we caught a wedding!) The Malecon is really a fun walk!

So, of we just wanted to fly down here for week in the winter, skip the cruise, find a condo/hotel in Puerto Vallarta!

Now that we've completed our first real “cruise”, we make some observations:

•                  Since was not a spring break season, there were hardly any young people on board, most of                    the passengers were widows, far out numbering the old guys.

•                  The crew were mostly Indonesian or Philippino. To a person they were courteous and most                      helpful.
 .          We had no internet access, which was a real hardship! Internet was available, but VERY                          expensive. We did have some TV news - MSNBC, CNN....a movie channel. So we could at                least keep up with Trump's antics.

•                  There was no shortage of food to fit anyone's taste. It was mostly very good - 4 stars, not 5.

•                  For some reason, people did not seem interested in the swimming pools, including us. The                      pools were quite small. Maybe the water was cold?

•                  There is entertainment everywhere at all hours. The Westerdam Singers, piano bar, BB King                   jazz band, violin and piano, and more.

•                  The old folks like to sit around and play bridge.

•                  Many of the old folks have cruised a lot!

•                  There's a casino, which is of no interest to us!

•                  Lunch time is pretty hectic!

•                  The shore excursions are good, but can be pretty expensive.

•                  You can spend a lot on liquor!
                 The cruise will cost more than you thought!  (Total cost was about $3,700)

.