Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Things to Do in Orange County 51

So the final stop of this 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise is Cabo San Lucas.  

Los Cabos is located on the very edge of Baja California.  So if you're able to drive straight down from Orange County, this is where you may just end up.  The beautiful peninsula of Los Cabos.

Once in Cabo San Lucas, you have to take a little boat ride to the shores of Los Cabos since there isn't a docking area for a huge cruise ship there.  Be sure to wake up early and get down to the boat station as fast as possible because it gets really crowded.  Everybody wants to get to Los Cabos fast, but there's only two little boats that go back and forth.  We thought we got down early, but had to wait about 30 minutes before being able to get on the boat that takes you to Los Cabos.

Anyway, once you're on Los Cabos, you are welcomed by the beautiful sea and wonderful natural architecture.  Here in Cabo San Lucas, we decided to go on the Land's End Boat, Beach, and Shopping excursion.

This excursion was an awesome deal.  We first start out by getting on the triple decker boat that takes you around the Los Cabos Peninsula.  You're able to see the famous "Arch," a beautiful natural archway, and all the beautiful things around it.

We also saw dolphins, seals, and pelicans as we sailed through the beautiful peninsula.

After your boat tour is done, the tour guide will then take you down to a local resort hotel.  The hotel is located right by the beach where you can relax, enjoy the ocean, and have a wonderful lunch.  As you saw from my previous post, we enjoyed this little spot, relaxing on the sand with some Pacifico beer.  One of those Corona beer commercial moments.

And after you relax and enjoy the beach for about an hour, they take you down to the local shopping mall where you can splurge what you have left of your money to buy souvenirs for your friends, family, and of course, yourself.  I was able to buy some Cuban novelties here myself.

After the shopping, its now time to go back on the cruise ship, and you have two more days of never ending entertainment, all you can eat buffets, and relaxing by the pool.  Can't complain.  :)

I think on this trip, we spent about $2000 for the two of us including the cruise, shore excursions, tips, and alcohol.  The cruise alone turned out to be about $550 a person or so.

One little advice for you to save money when going on a cruise is to bring your alcohol with you when you initially board the cruise ship in Long Beach.  Having a bottle of rum, tequila, whiskey, wine, or anything else that you like will help you to save a lot of money on alcohol.  Of course, we did splurge once on some strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas, but it's always nice to have your own bottle of wine that you can sip to.

The cruise will not let you bring in alcohol once you are in Mexico.  You can buy a bottle of tequila and some Kahlua, but they will take it away from you and give it back when the cruise is all over.  Having your own little stash of booze will definitely help to make your trip even more entertaining while saving a little cash that you can spend elsewhere.

Anyway, it was all fun on the cruise.  We hope to go again sometime soon!

Mazatlan, Mexico - Things to Do in Orange County 50

So this is my 50th post! Nice! I hope to continue blogging about Things to Do in Orange County.

This post is a continuation of my 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise trip that I went on. You can go on this cruise right out of Orange County at the port of Long Beach.

After we visited Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday, you wake up at Mazatlan on Thursday.

Mazatlan is known for their shrimps. After tourism, the shrimp fishing industry is the second biggest industry in Mazatlan. And that means awesome deals on some of the freshest shrimps in the world at Mazatlan.

In Mazatlan, we decided to go on the City and Shopping Excursion Tour. This tour turned out pretty normal. Let's get into it right now.

But before we do, I also wanted to mention that Mazatlan is also the home of the Pacifico Brewery. Come to think of it now, I should have went on that excursion instead. But maybe next time!



On the City and Shopping Tour, the tour guides will show you around Mazatlan. They will drive you around the city for you to check out some of their churches, beaches, and the shopping areas. Matatlan has a lot of European influences, as some of the early immigrants to this land were from Germany and other European countries. The city buildings were very colorful, and the architectural details were interesting to see.



After you go through the city and beach areas, the tour guides drop you off at the shopping area for some free shopping time and lunch. We decided not to shop at Mazatlan since a lot of the places were a bit of a rip off, designed for tourists to drop a buck. Instead, we went by the beach, walked around, and found a restaurant on the sand.



Since we were in the Shrimp Capital of the World, why not try some of the best shrimps around? We decided to go for some shrimps, margarita, and beer at the restaurant that we found.



Got to say, the shrimps here at the restaurant were awesome! Very fresh. The shrimps you see above were actually raw, sort of sashimi/ceviche style dish. Had some lime and hot peppers on it along with the shrimp, and they served it with Saltine crackers. Delish!

Combine this great dish with a mango margarita and Mazatlan's own Pacifico beer, and you're in Shrimp Mazatlan heaven. We also got some chips/guacamole, and an entree dish with three different kinds of shrimps cooked all differently. The total bill came out to something like $30 with tip. Awesome deal.

Shrimps, beach, Pacifico beer... Mazatlan is my kind of town! Love to go back anytime!  I just need to learn how to pronounce Mazatlan.

Next stop is Los Cabos!


(In Los Cabos)

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (Tequila Factory Tour) - Things to Do in Orange County 49

After my morning excursion from the Mismaloya City Tour, we are now off to the Tequila Factory Tour.

The Tequila Factory Tour was one of my favorite excursions that I participated on this 7-Day Mexican Riviera Cruise.  The educational experience of tequila making, experiencing the history and culture of Mexico, and of course, being able to enjoy the Tequila!  It was an awesome excursion!

On the Tequila Factory Tour, you will head the opposite direction of the Mismaloya City Tour.  This was great because we were able to see a wide range of areas in Puerto Vallarta.  Some of the  excursions actually go to the same places as others, so it is better to check before booking double excursions.  

On the Tequila Factory Tour, we visit two Tequila Factories.  

Tequila is made from Blue Agave plants, and the best tequila is made from 100% Blue Agave.  Some of the tequila that give you headaches in the morning blend their Blue Agave mixture with potatoes or other alcohol.  The mixing allow for the prices to come down, but it will give you a nasty hangover in the morning.

The tequila makers will dig up the Blue Agave after 3-5 years old.  They then roast it in an oven or a fire pit over an extended amount of time.  Once the roasting is done, the Blue Agave tasted something similar to a sweet potato pie mixture.

They then can make the silver tequila, resposado tequila, or the anejo tequila.  The difference is the amount of time the tequila sits in a barrel.  The silver tequila doesn't go through the aging process, while the resposado and anejo tequila sit in the barrel for 1-5 years.  The aging process allow the tequila to absorb the color of the wood, and hence you find the golden color in a tequila.  It also smoothes out the flavor.

Well, after the tequila making lecture, its tasting time.  It does become a bit more difficult to focus after a couple tastings of tequila.

And we finish off the day with a nice little meal for about $5 a person.  Awesome.

We did have some time to go shopping after the excursion, but after a few shots of tequila, we figured it was best to retreat to our staterooms.  So we didn't get to go visit the Wal-Mart or other American places by the port.  

Well, the next stop is Mazatlan!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (Mismaloya City Tour) - Things to Do in Orange County 49

My Mexican Riviera Cruise Post 

After a couple days on the cruise ship, your first destination is Puerto Vallarta.  

Surprisingly, Puerto Vallarta is very Americanized, and you'll find a Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Starbucks, Office Depot, Home Depot, Applebee's, and many other American franchise restaurants right near the dock. You won't really feel as though you are in Mexico until you get out of the port area.

Puerto Vallarta is the longest day that you will have during this 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise.  You arrive early in the morning, and the cruise ship leaves Puerto Vallarta at night.  So you have a whole morning, afternoon, and evening to enjoy Puerto Vallarta.

Since we had a long day, we decided to participate in two excursion tours at Puerto Vallarta.  The Mismaloya City Tour and the Tequila Factories and Old Town Tour.

Let's check out what you do in the Mismaloya City Tour.

The first thing you do on this tour is to hit the city.  You see the church, the beach, and shopping areas of Puerto Vallarta.  It is the area where most tourists will hang out when visiting Pueto Vallarta.  

Puerto Vallara is famous for their tiles and jewelry, so the tour guides will take you to a couple of these places for you to shop.

After you enjoy your city portion of the tour, you'll then get to see some of the resort areas of Puerto Vallarta.  They will drive you for about half an hour from the city to arrive at the resort area.  Though this area is suppose to be the resort area, there are still many under developed areas, and for some reason they take you to this little village where you enjoy a little taco meal for $5 a plate. 

The area is full of green trees.  It is definitely a tropical area similar to Hawaii.  The place where you get off looks a little like the picture below.

Not necessarily clean or safe, and I wondered why they brought us here.  You're really stuck in the middle of no where, and there's nothing to do except for eat the $5 Taco Lunch or buy some souvenirs.  I guess its a way that the tour operators make some money.

And on the way back, there's a place where you can bungee jump.  The tour guide dared some of the guests to jump, and two guys took up the offer.  The tour guide mentioned that it was actually the first time a guest took up on her dare.

So we watched a couple guys bungee jump.

Personally speaking, the Mismaloya City Tour was a bit of a disappointment.  The tour company was a bit too focused on getting us to buy souvenirs.  We spend a majority of time at two little souvenir shops, and too little on the nice parts of Puerto Vallarta.  I may recommend trying out a different tour instead of this one.

So that was our morning.  Our afternoon was the Tequila Factory Tour, which I will post next. 

7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise - Things to Do in Orange County 48

I love to go on a cruise.  Why?  Well, of course, the all-you-can-eat food available.  I also like the fact that the cruise ship will take you around the world, while you're enjoying a nice Pina Colada by the pool.  And I really like the fact that you really feel like you're on a vacation when you go on a cruise.

Believe it or not, cruise vacations are probably one of the cheapest ways of traveling around.  The base fee of the cruise vacation which includes food and travel usually start at around $30~50 a day.  Considering you get accommodation, dining, entertainment, and travel, wouldn't you say that's a pretty good deal?

Of course, the cruise ships will try to make money by selling you alcohol, photos, souvenirs, and excursion tours once you arrive at the destination.  But all in all, it's usually an awesome deal, and an awesome vacation when you go on a cruise. 

So today, I wanted to post my 7-Day Baja California/Mexico Cruise vacation that I went last November.  Being able to go on a cruise vacation very easily is one of the privileges that we have as Orange County residents.

Orange County's closest cruise ships are located off the port of Long Beach, about 20 minutes away if you encounter no traffic.  Carnival is docked next to the Queen Mary, and the Royal Caribbean ships are docked in San Pedro.  

Both cruise ships offer the 3 Day/4 Night Cruise that depart on Friday and returns on Monday.  The 4 Day/5 Night Cruise that departs on Monday and returns on Friday.  Or the 7 Day Cruise that departs on a Sunday and returns the next Sunday.

So anyway, here's my experience on the 7-Day Mexico Cruise on Carnival.

Room-wise, we got lucky on this trip.  We reserved an interior room at the cheapest rate, but got a room with a window.  And even better, the room was a special room for the disabled, so it was much bigger than the standard interior room.

As the cruise ship starts to sail, we all have to practice our emergency procedures.  Basically in this drill, they teach you how to wear the life vest and what to do in case of an emergency.  The life vest has a little light and a whistle that is suppose to help you get saved if the cruise ship goes under.  I thought the life vest was a bit out dated, but hopefully, we'll never need to use it.

With the emergency procedure drill completed, you're now allowed to exlore and enjoy the cruise ship.  Carnival had a party ready for us as we kicked off our cruise with a free liquor tasting to start things off.  Exploring around the cruise ship is always fun, and a necessary part of the cruise vacation since you'll be spending the next 7 days on it.

The pool is always a nice place to enjoy and spend your time.

And Carnival will always keep you occupied with something to do.  This theater is used for orientation, daily evening shows, shopping lectures, and welcome parties.  Always something to do on the cruise ship.

Day 1: Puerto Vallarta