Thread: Cruise Noobs Need Help PLEASE!!

So, a bunch of my friends (11 total) are going on the Carnival Mexican Riviera cruise in June. We have no clue what to do OFF the boat. We just planned on drinking and eating A LOT. But as soon as we port, we're clueless. We have ideas, but nobody is certain. ATV, zip line, snorkeling, parasailing, etc... We're young (23ish), so "extreme" is a "big" theme for the ideas. And being young means funds are "extremely" limited. A few of my friends are persistent on sticking to excursions provided by the cruise line itself, but those prices are "extremely" high. My thought is that "non-cruise line" excursions are dangerous IF you don't know where to go and who to ask. So I'm asking for some advice/info on how to handle this excursion issue. Should we just nip it in the wallet and do the Carnival approved excursions? Or are there some gems out there that many people do/use and aren't scandals? We'd really like to do 2 of those things that I mentioned earlier, but 3 would be ideal. The budget for most of us seem to be $300. And that's not a lot nowadays. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give this kid some elderly wisdom and advice on the best things to do out there. And the best way to choose them.

Thank You SOOOO Much

Sounds like you're in for a very FUN cruise!

Please, help us out a bit more by telling us your exact ports of call.

Thanks for responding. In order from first port to last port: puerta vallarta, mazatlan, then cabo. Thanks again for helping.

I'm not sure what I'd recommend for the other ports but the one that comes to mind for me in Puerto Vallarta is a private sailing boat that we went on that is BYOB. The price is excellent, its $400 for 4 hours or $500 for 8 hrs! We did the 8 hours and there was a store right by the port so we bought our own booze and snacks and spend the day on the boat. It takes up to 14 but we were a group of 10. Go to Puerto Vallarta Cruise Excursions Puerto Vallarta Cruise Excursions Guide for Shore Excursions and Cruise Ship Tours for Passengers Visiting Puerto Vallarta on the Mexican Riviera and look for the private sailing charter. We LOVED this trip! Hope its still available

You might try for ziplining in Puerta Vallarta:Puerto Vallarta - Canopy Tour: Zipline, ATV, Eco Tour, Rappelling - Mexico

It's $79pp and a terrific time. Just a word of caution, if you book this outside of the ship, get the earliest time you can get so that you don't have any worries about making it back to the ship in time. They just won't wait for you.

In Mazatlan, we went horseback riding on the beach with Randi of Randi's Happy Horses in Mazatlan, Mexico. It was inexpensive but maybe too tame for you.

Hmmm ... drinks are expensive on board the ship. You might decide to avail yourself of lesiure activities on board that are cheap, and hit the bars in port!

I'm only half joking; you'll find your bar bill to be the largest expense if you drink a lot.