Hey Michele, I thought I had the entire excursion thing planned and now I am undecided. I have googled so much and read so many different excursions. Now my kids are talking about the dolphin! I plan on booking by next week. I did find the pirate ship excursion through expedia. I know that many people have commented about not taking excursions outside of Carnival. However,this excursion is actually offered by Princess cruises. I like this excursion because we would be back in plenty of time to explore P.V. It is not very expensive either 69.00 for adults and 39.00 for kids. It includes food, snorkeling, banana boats and a pirate show. You should check it out on expedia.com. Type in Pirate Ship at P.V.

I'm with you Andrea. I want to enjoy this trip without rushing from here to there to make sure I don't miss the ship! I want the sun, and sand!

Diana, I'm not completely knowledgeable on if you can join in on an excursion offered through Princess if you're a passenger on Carnival. I, myself, have never heard of such a thing. You may want to check with Dave or Penny on this. I thought you have to do the excursion with the cruiseline you're traveling with or an independent guide. Maybe I'm just confused. I know you mentioned Expedia.com. Let me know. As for Lover's Beach, we did not go there, but we could see people sunning there from Pride's deck. A'ndrea

I have googled SO much I can't remember where it all was!!!! I started writing things down...put now I have a notebook of post its! Then that leads to the endless comments from family and co-workers! Geez won't they all be surprised when the cruise is fun, relaxing & we won't be standing around at the excursion desk with kids crying because everything is BOOKED!

I did see a company that was doing the Pirate Ship and it looked WAY fun. Even the Carnival's trip sounds fun. Can't go wrong with the words..."open bar", steak, shrimp, red/white wine AND a firework show! Whoo Hoo!!!

The only reason why we are not booking with Carnival for the Sea Life Park in PV is that I have talked with the park directly and I know that there are cabs onsite for our transportation. Carnival's price is ALOT more expensive than booking directly with the park...and we have a little bit more time. Just my son and I are going to do the Dolphin Swim. They include the "foot push" too so he is very excited about that. DH won't have to pay the fee for the dolphin thing...but he can come in and take pictures and he and my younger son can watch. And we all get to use all the water slides. Just a fun day!

Didn't have any time last night for my "googlin". Hope to look up some Cabo info tonight and see what I can find out about Lover's Beach - or someplace else we can hang out for awhile. We can bring our own snorkel equip and find some nice fishies!

If you forget to bring your snorkel and mask, they sell them on board. I believe the snorkel is $5. Not sure about the mask. Probably around the same. We always bring our own equipment too. You can't be too sure.
You've got plenty of time to make your final arrangements. You were smart to start early and do your research. It will pay off when you're cruising.
I can't believe my eyes. The sun is shining and we're heading towards 55 today. A'ndrea

LOL, And I was complaining that it was cold this morning at 63 degrees!

Hey Michele, post the website for the park. I would like to get further information. That sounds like fun!

Andrea, I am not booking through princess. I went on to their site to see what they offered. They just happened to offer that excursion so I knew it was legit since you never know about some of these websites. Anyways, I then went onto the expedia website and found that excursion that is who I would be booking it through.

Diana, okay it all makes sense to me now. That sounds like a plan. I find that you do get more bang for your buck when you book with an independent. A'ndrea

Diana - The website for the park is www.sealifeparkvallarta.com. Let me know if you need the prices, etc. Got them all in my little notebook What is nice if you go through the park directly is they have been offering a second Sea Lion encounter for free. They must have a dozen different water slides, tobagon runs and floatly things to float down a river of sorts. It really does look like a fun day. I know it's a long way to go for a "water park"...put my son and I will do the dolphin swim. AND do the Dolphin SWIM not the ENCOUNTER. Someone advised they don't do as much when you do just the encounter.

63 degrees...wow you are cold today! We are just a little spoiled sometimes here in California. I thought I saw a cloud yesterday...ooops I was wrong!

The reservation line also clarified that cabs are waiting onsite at their location and they said it's about 20 minutes from the ship...$7 (US)

A'ndrea - is that USED snorkel equipment they rent on the ship...ewwwwwwww yuck! Like I'm sticking that in my mouth. No thanks!

Also...is it me or does this little guy seem to be flippin me off. HOW RUDE!

DIANA!!!! I just did some "googlin"!!! OMG - you can go to http://www.cabosanlucastours.net/Lovers-Beach-Cabo.htm. This is that same tour group I referred to you before. Here they will take you out to Lover's Beach in a glass bottom boat and drop you off at the beach. You can stay for 1-5 hours...what ever works for your schedule...then come back and get ya. They provide (ok...used - ick!) snorkel equipment for you...blah blah blah. I am getting excited...I might be able to get the beach and SAMMY all done in CABO!!!! Oh yeah the price...$19.50 for adults. Check out their website. They do the other beaches too but they are for a set amount of hours. The Lover's Beach tour you can tell them how long you want to stay! It stated the tours run every few minutes from 9am-3pm.

Michele, you're right about the smiley guy. How rude !

The snorkel is brand new in a package. I'm not fond of the excursion snorkels. They claim to "clean and sanitize" between excursions. But, I don't trust anybody. That's why we travel with our own gear. The mask fits my head. The snorkel fits my mouth and the fins fit my feet. I'm happy !
BTW..... 72 degrees here today. Predicting great weather all weekend. 80 on Monday.

Geez...now I have to go purchase snorkel equip for us all. You have me freaked out on all the icky stuff those things could have in them. YUCK.

I take it I now have to go get some contacts so I can actually SEE the little fishies. I would assume glasses don't fit too well under those things!

BTW...what did do A'ndrea blow your rainy weather our way. It's 60 and drizzlin now here in NorCal! Must be the end of the world...

I can't believe how excited I am....snorkeling and Cabo Wabo...what a happy little girl I am. Now off to get Mazatlan dealt with. 1 down...2 ports to go!

Michele, Don't go crazy. Those are just my little nuances. Bring spray hand sanitizer. It's mostly alcohol anyway. Spray the snorkel with the sanitizer and you'll be fine. I don't think anyone has died yet from a rented snorkel.
As for the glasses, you can't fit your eyeglasses under the mask. Although, that would be nice. I wear my contacts when I snorkel. You don't have to buy them especially for the cruise. You should see the fish okay. Again, totally your call.
BTW... I also worked for lawyers. Then I went back to school and became an aesthetician/cosmetologist. I'm so much happier now.

Thanks Michele, I was on the site last night and found that out quickly. For the price you pay you would think you would do more in an encounter. I am deathly afraid of getting into the water with them and just thinking about it gives me the creeps! But I have to face my fears! I am still trying to figure out what to do in cabo and P.V. I have quite a few ideas but I guess when the time comes I will make my final decision. But maybe I should get my husbands input. He doesn't know what we are doing yet. He will just tag along and say okay!

lol. michele you are nuts. I think if we go snorkeling I will buy my own equipment. GROSS!

You are so funny. Everytime I read your posts, I am laughing out loud and my husband is asking what's so funny. I checked that site out too. I am really interested in that. The only question is...are some of these companies legit? Keep me posted on any new info on this company. They also have a website for puerto vallarta and mazatlan. It is a huband and wife owned company. I got a little nervous because I went to their website and tried to google their address. It came up as a shopping center address and their business in not located in the center? Try it and let me know.