I wanted to write this review for the benefit of other Caribbean cruisers who are thinking of taking a Mexican Riviera cruise. My husband and I just sailed on the Vision of the Seas April 25-May 2, 2004. This was our eighth cruise, seven of which on Royal Caribbean, one on Celebrity, but our first outside the Caribbean. We are in our early 30's and have been hooked on cruising since our honeymoon 13 years ago. The Mexican Riviera itinerary appealed to us because we have always loved the port of Cozumel and the Mexican hospitality as well as it offered 3 sea days and a change of scenery. I read as many posts/reviews as I could before leaving and hope this review gives some insight and ideas to the area and cruise ship.

LA/San Pedro: We chose to arrive in LA on Saturday, the day prior to our cruise departure, to avoid any last minute stress. Our 4 hour flight from Chicago was a little bumpy, but we arrived on time at 12:30pm. We gathered our luggage and had no problem finding the Super Shuttle rep. We were in the shuttle by 1:20pm and arrived at the Marina Hotel in San Pedro 2:10pm. The cost was $15 per person plus tip. We booked the hotel through Priceline with a $60 bid. The hotel was beautifully located on a marina, our room faced the swimming pool (I was told a water view was $25 extra). We opted not to take the trolley into the Port O Call shop area - I later was told we didn't miss much. The hotel isn't in a business district by any means. We did walk 15-20 minutes to a liquor/convenience store to stock up on water and rum for the cabin.

Embarkation: The hotel offered free shuttle to the pier which we took at 11:30am. It was less than a five minute drive to the pier. Embarkation was a breeze - our platinum member status entitled us to priority check-in - and we were on the ship by noon. Our Category D balcony cabin 7560 was still being cleaned so we had lunch in the Windjammer. We started to explore the ship - to my husband's dismay there was no basketball court, like on all of our previous cruises. There is a rock climbing wall, ping pong tables, shuffleboard, solarium pool and outdoor pool with 4 whirlpools. We found our dining room table which was a four top. Since we were travelling alone, we thought a bigger table would suit us better. The head waiter easily changed us to a 10 top - it was interesting how he was able to view each table and the ages of its occupants. We changed into our swimsuits which we had packed in our carry-on bag and soaked in the hot LA sun. Read more