This was a new port for us.

Because of several emergencies - we left San Diego 1 and 1/2 hours late and also had to make an emergency stop at Cabo - will explain all this on another thread - we arrived at this port very late. This was our first port call on the second segment of our cruise. The afternoon before - anyone who had booked tours for here got a letter from the shore excursion office. There were only 5 tours offered for this port and 3 had to be cancelled. The 2 tours that could be taken because of our shortened time in this port was the fishing tour and the city/shopping tour (which we had booked before we left home). Since 3 tours were cancelled, 4 more buses were added to the city/shopping tour and a couple of extra fishing boats were made available. We enjoyed the tour as we were taken all around the area and shown where some of the very best hotels are. To get to the beach from nearly all of the hotels you have to traverse a COUPLE HUNDRED steps - definitely not for us. We also stopped at a straw market - the majority of us felt that it was a waste of time - just a bunch of cheap vendors. Then we had a quick stop for a refreshing drink at a restaurant along the beach. For a Sunday, we were surprised to see that quite a few of the stores in town were open - selling mostly t-shirts, shells (tons of them) and ink pens (tons and tons of them). Since the tour started late our shopping time was cut and was supposed to have ended at 2:15. But we had 3 ladies on our bus who never got back until 2:40 (25 minutes late). A couple of men said something to them as they got back on the bus and one man asked them if they bought watches so that they could keep track of the time - they acted as if they could have cared less.

Since some of the tours were cancelled, a shuttle bus was arranged for those to go into town. I got a quick glance at the cost as we were leaving on our tour but since we got back barely in time to catch the ship, the sign had been taken down - I think it was $4 per person round trip.

Our port shopping ambassador told everyone that it would be a short 7 - 8 minute walk into town from where the ship was docked. Well we didn't dock where she said we would - the new cruise terminal won't be ready for at least another 9 months to a year. We were at the freight docks - a good 30 - 40 minute walk to town.

It was also announced that you could go out to the Las Hadas Hotel & Beach and use their facilities. They charge $25 per person. But they refund your money back in the form of coupons to be used at their place - souvenirs - food, etc. We passed that hotel on our tour - a lot of steps to get to the beach.