Travel: Set a course for a Mexican Riviera cruise

The Mexican Riviera is the whole enchilada when it comes to vacation destinations for fun and sun. It’s got year-round warm weather, beautiful beaches, fantastic food, specialty shopping and history as rich as mole poblano.

Another plus, especially for those who prefer getting there by water when they’re ready and/or able to during these travel-challenged times, the Mexican Riviera is geographically desirable from Southern California. Only one sea day separates cruises embarking out of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego from Cabo San Lucas, the first port of call on most Mexican Riviera itineraries, and it’s a nautical hop, skip and jump to the other two ports that complete the customary intracoastal triad.

From Cabo, home of Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo and Mother Nature’s El Arco, the next stops are often Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán on consecutive days. Cruise ships usually head home from there, but not before a couple of sea days that are often regarded as a godsend to unprotected sunworshippers and excessive partiers nursing sunburns and hangovers.

The number of holidaymakers livin’ la vida loca was on a record pace before COVID-19 caused a pause on cruising in March 2020. More than 540,000 seafaring passengers had visited Cabo, alone, in pre-pandemic 2019, and surpassed 135,000 only 10 weeks into 2020 when the industry went into what would be a 17-month dry dock. Long Beach didn’t see cruising return until last August, and it was another month before LA’s World Cruise Center also welcomed back paying passengers.

Throughout the stops, starts and ever-changing regulations since the coronavirus’s unwanted arrival, Mexico, at least up to this point, hasn’t required quarantining for U.S. citizens or instituted significant travel restrictions beyond those already in place for air and sea travel.

That doesn’t mean everything has been as smooth as Los Osuna tequila, a shore excursion tasting favorite in Mazatlán. Carnival Panorama, the first ship to resume service in Southern California waters last summer, has since sailed multiple times with positive COVID cases on board. On one trip a scheduled call to Cabo was canceled after local authorities demanded that all debarking guests be tested — a logistical near impossibility, according to Carnival, due to shortness in both notice and stay, and with Cabo being a tender port, where cruise ships don’t dock.

Flotilla for fun

Hiccups notwithstanding, the quasi-new year has eight cruise lines offering three- to 10-day round-trip Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles and Long Beach, and another three out of San Diego. Weeklong itineraries are the region’s bread and butter and while the vast majority consist of a mix of Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and/or Mazatlán, many also make calls to Ensenada, the northernmost port of this coastal collection. Been there, done that? Dig deep and you’ll find SoCal-originating sails paying visits to lesser-visited La Paz, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Huatulco and Loreto, although not usually on round-trip itineraries.

When it comes to seven-day journeys, no ship will navigate south of the border more in 2022 than the 3-year-old, 4,008-passenger Panorama. With 52 weeklong voyages scheduled out of Long Beach this year, Carnival’s second-youngest ship will sail to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán more times than nearly all ships embarking from LA for seven-day trips combined.

Barring changes related to COVID-19 variants, these are ships offering weeklong itineraries from the LA-San Pedro World Cruise Center to the Mexican Riviera in 2022: Norwegian Bliss, 14 sails through November; Navigator of the Seas (Royal Caribbean), 11, year-round; Majestic Princess, 12, through April; Discovery Princess, 10, March-December; Celebrity Millennium, 10, September-November; and Norwegian Joy, 1, December. Most of these ships offer itineraries of three, four and five days as well.

Other L.A. area-based cruise ships making round trips this year to the Mexican Riviera are Carnival’s Radiance and Miracle (Long Beach), and Oceania’s Regatta (San Pedro). San Diego has Disney Wonder, Norwegian Jewel and three ships from Holland America: Koningsdam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam.

‘Love’ Connection

With so many choices between cruise lines, itineraries and durations, it’s hard to believe that none of this might have existed if not for a certain popular, but critically panned TV series that debuted 45 years ago. “The Love Boat,” which aired on ABC for nine seasons, is credited with introducing millions to the concept of contemporary cruise vacations.

The show was filmed mostly on sets at 20th Century Fox Studios and Warner Hollywood Studios, but viewers suspended their belief to come aboard the Pacific Princess every Saturday night. The real-life MS Pacific as it was originally christened, was owned and operated by Princess Cruises, which itself is credited with coining the phrase “Mexican Riviera” in 1965.

For a reunion of sorts, Princess and “The Love Boat” are setting a course for adventure that, at least for fans of classic TV, will be the Mexican Riviera cruise of the year. Oct. 22-29, Discovery Princess will stand in for the long-scrapped Pacific Princess during an expected sold-out seven-day roundtrip cruise out of San Pedro. This is a newly announced date and ship change, as this themed cruise was originally set for late February on the Majestic Princess.

The ship will operate at reduced capacity due to COVID-19, but five planning to rub sterilized elbows with 2,700 or so fans are the surviving original main cast members of the TV show. Barring any changes, special host Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing) will be joined by Cynthia Lauren Tewes (Julie McCoy), Bernie Kopell (Doc), Fred Grandy (Gopher) and Ted Lange (Isaac).

The cruise to Cabo, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta, which was going to take place months after what would have been the 91st birthday of Gavin MacLeod, who died last May, will still sail in remembrance of the actor who played beloved Capt. Stubing and was Princess Cruises’ brand ambassador for 35 years.

“Love Boat” themed cruise activities include a Q&A with the ensemble cast, favorite episodes running continuously in staterooms and on the pool deck’s giant screen, and a groovy ‘70s-inspired disco party – not that every cruise doesn’t already offer passengers the opportunity to dance “The Hustle.”  Staterooms were still available at press time, so if looking to set a course for adventure and your mind on a new romance, let’s hope you don’t miss the boat.

For more information

Carnival Cruise Line — www.carnival.com

Celebrity Cruises — www.celebritycruises.com

Disney Cruise Line — www.disneycruiseline.com

Holland America Line — www.hollandamerica.com

Norwegian Cruise Line — www.ncl.com

Oceania Cruises — www.oceaniacruises.com

Princess Cruise Lines — www.princess.com

Royal Caribbean International — www.royalcaribbean.com