September 26 - Arrived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico early morning
Our first foreign port of call was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It is a port named after the former governor of Jalisco, Ignacio Vallarta. This was the substitute for Cabo San Lucas under seige from Hurricane Odile. PV is one of the few (if not first) Mexican ports for cruise ships to dock since the dangers and criminal activities became so active in recent years.
From this port Princess Cruises offered 16 different paid excursions ranging from easy/light activity to strenuous (highly active) options. Prices ranged from $29 pp to $169 pp. Having been successful on our previous cruise six years ago in the Mediterranean of striking out on our own, we opted to do so in PV.
We were approached by several tour guides as we left the ship; all of whom offered a day’s tour of the highlights of PV. We negotiated with each and selected a tour guide name Johnny…probably Juan…for a four-hour tour at $20 pp. We buddied up with two other couples and struck out in Johnny’s van. We became friends with a couple (Gary and Fran) from Australia and palled around when we returned to the ship.
Johnny first began with a tour of the new high-rise condos he said cost over $1 million each. Since PV is a short two-hour flight from LA there is a natural demand for condos from the Southern California market.
Johnny was fiercely proud of his city and bragged endlessly in a friendly way. After one hour of seeing the highlights of the city over the rough cobblestone roads, Johnny’s van began to sputter and fail. He flagged a taxi driver and in Spanish agreed to turn us over to the taxi driver to complete the tour.
Highlights of the hour were: breathtaking views of the Pacific; pictures of iguanas crawling on Randy’s neck and shoulders; final stop at the Malecon, Mexico’s Boardwalk where the Sea Horse statue is located and the nearby Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Maybe the biggest surprise and most enjoyable was a 45-minute stop at a Tequila Factory. This was a small operation, and we received a private demonstration of the process for making tequila including inspection of equipment (both primitive and modern). We then sampled about 6 tequilas with a discussion of each by the owner. We had never tasted such tequila. No hangovers, sleepiness, etc. It was so smooth unlike some tequilas we buy in the states. The problem was the $90 USD cost per bottle for the best stuff. Nevertheless, we regret not buying a bottle of one of the tequilas we sampled.
From this port Princess Cruises offered 16 different paid excursions ranging from easy/light activity to strenuous (highly active) options. Prices ranged from $29 pp to $169 pp. Having been successful on our previous cruise six years ago in the Mediterranean of striking out on our own, we opted to do so in PV.
We were approached by several tour guides as we left the ship; all of whom offered a day’s tour of the highlights of PV. We negotiated with each and selected a tour guide name Johnny…probably Juan…for a four-hour tour at $20 pp. We buddied up with two other couples and struck out in Johnny’s van. We became friends with a couple (Gary and Fran) from Australia and palled around when we returned to the ship.
Johnny first began with a tour of the new high-rise condos he said cost over $1 million each. Since PV is a short two-hour flight from LA there is a natural demand for condos from the Southern California market.
Johnny was fiercely proud of his city and bragged endlessly in a friendly way. After one hour of seeing the highlights of the city over the rough cobblestone roads, Johnny’s van began to sputter and fail. He flagged a taxi driver and in Spanish agreed to turn us over to the taxi driver to complete the tour.
Highlights of the hour were: breathtaking views of the Pacific; pictures of iguanas crawling on Randy’s neck and shoulders; final stop at the Malecon, Mexico’s Boardwalk where the Sea Horse statue is located and the nearby Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Maybe the biggest surprise and most enjoyable was a 45-minute stop at a Tequila Factory. This was a small operation, and we received a private demonstration of the process for making tequila including inspection of equipment (both primitive and modern). We then sampled about 6 tequilas with a discussion of each by the owner. We had never tasted such tequila. No hangovers, sleepiness, etc. It was so smooth unlike some tequilas we buy in the states. The problem was the $90 USD cost per bottle for the best stuff. Nevertheless, we regret not buying a bottle of one of the tequilas we sampled.