Crown Princess Review
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My parents treated me to my 1st ever cruise...a 7 day Mexican Riveria cruise from L.A. We had a mini-suite (Dolphin Deck - deck 9, and mid-ship) so it was a great location for a cabin. I was so not sure of what to expect, I expected to feel the motion of the ship way more than I did. Anyway, the ship was really nice, the cabin was great, big enough for 3 people, but would have been better for just 2, but anyway, the ship was nice, the food was amazing and the crew was friendly, attentive, helpful and always eager to please.
Here are the negatives, at least for me: first, we went on Presidents Day weekend, AND it was also Valentines Day, so as a single, it was all families and couples - so BOO to that, nothing for a single girl to do. Second, the first 2.5 days we were at sea, that was brutal, there was nothing fun to do in the way of things I like, like there was no pool table, bowling alley, karoke bar, not even a big slide for the pool. What there was however, was a art auction (snooze), movies under the starts (played almost ALL kids movies), bingo, line dancing, knitting group meet up, etc, all stuff for old people (and I am 47), but c'mon. The casino was the only saving grace, but they allowed people to SMOKE in there ! Ew - really ? The shows were not really interesting enough to even go see, except the comedian, but he was only on for like 40 minutes.
Overall, the boat was nice, the crew was great, our cabin was pretty big, but if you are a single person, this is probably not the cruise line for you. I will most likely not cruise again, or maybe go with friends and not for 7 days.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
Our cabin, Dolphin Deck, mid-ship, was a mini-suite, and it was nice, the cabin attendant worked his butt off and he was smiling ALL day long. The bathroom had a full tub and shower. The room had plenty of storage space, a refridgerator, hair dryer (although it was fixed to the wall in the cabin, not the bathroom), a queen bed and a pull out sofa sleeper. The balcony was semi-private - the rooms next to you cannot see you but the balconies above you could look down on to yours because of the way the ship was designed.
Port Reviews
Cabo San Lucas
Cabo is beautiful, what I saw of it. To me, it looks like just a strip of stores, that's it. WE had to ride a tender boat in, and we only had a few short horus there, not much time to do or see anything really, except hit the shops on the 'strip'. I would have liked to have had more time in Cabo.
Mazatlan
Mazatlan is dirty, and ugly, and I did not feel safe there. We did the double decker open air bus Hop On/Hop Off tour. The tour guides were awesome, friendly and funny and knew a LOT. They take you to 3 places, shopping in the market and downtown I guess - you get off and walk around. You can get off and any every 30 minutes at your leisure, which was nice. The 2nd stop was near the beach, but they let you off at a jewelry store where you are almost forced to go inside. It's by the beach, and there are tons of stores (touristy trap stores) to go through, end up by the beach. I went parasailing, first time, and last time, scared the crap out of me (but I get motion sickness so that's probably why). I mean, if I wasn't scacred the boat motor was going to fail and I was going to plummet into the water, or lose my lunch from the motion when the wind blew, it would have been fun, I'm sure. The last stop was to see the Cliff Divers, which was a TOTAL let down. One kid, standing on a cliff, far away, waiting for a 'big wave' to come in so he could dive off. It was one kid, one time, lots of people standing around watching and lots of roadside touristy trap street peddlers - and trust me - they are all coming up to you asking if you want this or that, it's annoying.
Of the 3 ports Mazatlan was my least favorite.
Los Angeles
LA port (San Pedro Terminal Island) is dirty and yucky, not much to see or do here, so not much of a review can be written.
Puerto Vallarta
Puerta Valleta is BEAUTIFUL, I could live there ! We got off and just started walking, a guy came up to us and offered us a VIP tour in his van (he was a licensed tour operator) he spoke PERFECT English, and he indeed treated us to a VIP tour, he took us all over and showed us everything .. for $20 a person ! It was about 3 hours long and we were the ONLY people in his van - which was super nice !