Archive for the 'Cabo San Lucas' Category
Cabo San Lucas: Luxe ‘Thanksgiving in the Sun’ 4-night package (with football!)
November 13, 2009 5:58am
If you’ve never thought about leaving town for Thanksgiving because there was no way your family could live without the tradition of watching football, this splurge of a deal is for you. I bet you didn’t even know you could watch NFL games in Mexico. The brand-new Hacienda Beach Club & Residences in Cabo San Lucas knows what you want. It has put together a Thanksgiving package complete with turkey dinner, the NFL, and if you can break away from the bar — a sunset cruise on the Sea of Cortez.
Deal: Four nights in a one-bedroom residence for two people comes to $740 per person, or $1,480 before the 13% tax. When I called, there was plenty of availability for Wednesday, Nov. 25 through Nov. 29. If there are four people staying in a two-bedroom residence, the cost is $640 per person, pre-tax. The package includes a traditional turkey dinner prepared in your residence by a personal chef and butler, a margarita and chips & guacamole welcome, a sunset cruise on Friday, and a tailgating party at the Palapa Bar at the Beach Club, where NFL games will be shown. If you’re feeling guilty about the big turkey dinner, a personal trainer is also included one day during your stay. It’s worth noting that one-bedroom residences are priced at $575 per night after their grand opening in January.
When: Valid through Nov. 30, 2009, based on availability.
Note: The Hacienda Beach Club & Residences has a vacation rental component to it, but because there is no minimum night requirement it operates like a hotel.
Contact: Hacienda Beach Club & Residences, (949) 388-8590
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Photo credit: Hacienda Beach Club & Residences]
Where Americans die abroad, and why: By the numbers
November 9, 2009 5:58am
Of course you should beware of crime while planning and making your next international trip. But the numbers say that if you’re among the unlucky few to die, a car, bus or motorcycle is more likely to kill you.
Death by traffic is a recurring theme in a fascinating State Department Web page that I came across last week.
For instance, by the department’s count, of at least 126 Americans who died of “non-natural causes” in Mexico in the first half of 2009, at least 45 perished in vehicle accidents. The figure for homicides: 36. The figure for drownings: at least 22, 10 of them in Baja California Sur (which includes Los Cabos and La Paz) and seven in the state of Quintana Roo (which includes Cancun and Cozumel). Other types of accidents, and suicides, accounted for the rest.
Keep in mind that during that spell from January through June 2009, about 2.6 million Americans boarded flights to Mexico and many more visited by car or ship. The odds overwhelmingly suggest that your vacation will be nonfatal.
7-day Mexican Riviera cruise for $299 from Norwegian Cruise Line ‘Deals of the Decade’ sale
October 6, 2009 8:29am
Norwegian Cruise Line is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of Freestyle Cruising with a big sale. Check out the “NCL Deals of the Decade” sale and find special offers up to 82% off the brochure price. Choose from itineraries that sail to the Bahamas and Florida, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, Mexico and through the Panama Canal.
I had a look at Mexican Riviera cruises out of Southern California and found a seven-day cruise on the Norwegian Star with rates starting at $299 per person.
7-Day Mexican Riviera round-trip Los Angeles
This cruise aboard the Norwegian Star includes calls on Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. The departure dates that you could choose starting at $299 were Oct. 17, Oct. 24, Oct. 31, Nov. 7 and Nov. 14. Other dates were available at rates that started at $449 per person.
Normal waits reported at San Ysidro after Mexico border checkpoint reopens after shooting
September 23, 2009 10:02am
If you’re driving to or from Mexico today through the San Ysidro Port of Entry near San Diego, you can expect the usual waits of 45 minutes to an hour, not the hours of backups that plagued the checkpoint last night after a shooting incident, officials said this morning.
After the shootout involving U.S. agents and a convoy of suspected smugglers Tuesday afternoon that injured several people, all 24 northbound lanes were shut, said Angelica De Cima, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. At 8 p.m., half the lanes were reopened, and at 4 a.m. today, the rest were reopened. Southbound lanes were not affected by the closures, she added.
As of 9 a.m. today, Customs and Border Protection was reporting 45-minute delays for passenger vehicles at San Ysidro, after posting hourlong delays earlier this morning, which is pretty normal there, the spokeswoman said. The agency regularly posts and updates a chart showing wait times for commercial and passenger vehicles and pedestrians at various checkpoints.
—Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: A federal agent with a security dog watches vehicles waiting to enter the U.S. on Tuesday at the San Ysidro border crossing near San Diego. Credit: Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press
SkyTeam’s new Mexico Pass a boon for intra-country travel?
September 17, 2009 2:04pm
To see a whole lot of Mexico in a little bit of time, you’re probably better off traveling by sky than road. To help make ventures by air easier, global airline alliance SkyTeam has just added a Mexico Pass to its cadre of discounted-flight packages for various countries and continents internationally (like Italy and Asia, for instance).
Though the Mexico Pass program doesn’t seem to be up and running smoothly just yet, those eager for a long-winded, exploratory look at the country — rather than a quick one-resort stay — might want to keep this option in mind for future travel.
The pass allows passengers from the U.S. and other international departure points on any SkyTeam airline to obtain discounted intra-Mexico flights on Aeromexico. To take advantage of the special rates, you must buy at least three flight coupons for travel within Mexico (there is no coupon maximum), and these can be booked anytime before your departure to Mexico. All coupons must be booked outside of Mexico.
Some of the 42 destinations included in this pass offer are Acapulco, Cancun, Campeche, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Zacatecas. Read the rest of this entry »
Disney Cruise Line ship headed for L.A. and Alaska in 2011
September 11, 2009 9:32am
Disney Cruise Line’s on-again, off-again romance with the West Coast is back on for 2011, when the Disney Wonder will split its time between Mexico cruises out of Los Angeles and Alaska cruises out of Canada, the company announced today, Sept. 11.
Best known for its Caribbean itineraries out of Florida, Disney Cruise Line had summer flings with Southern California in 2005 and 2008, when the Wonder’s sister ship, Disney Magic, sailed to Mexico from Los Angeles. But Alaska will be a first for the family-friendly ships.
In 2011, the Disney Wonder will do seven-night, round-trip Alaska itineraries out of Vancouver from May 3 to Sept. 6, with stops at Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Fares will start at $939 per person, double occupancy.
5 fall cruises under $79 per night (yes, some during hurricane season)
September 4, 2009 11:01am
CruiseCritic.com recently listed a number of cruises, on various ships, being offered this fall for less than $79 per night. A handful on the list depart from Los Angeles.
While the website’s list links to deals by third-party providers, I looked at the cheapest dates available on some of these (as well as one other cruise) via the cruise-liners’ websites or telephone reservations desks, and I found similar or less expensive prices. If you research the offers out there, you might find slightly lower sale rates, or other incentives such as shipboard credit, through third-party providers.
Of course, Hurricane Jimena (now a tropical storm) was a severe reminder that, yes, it’s hurricane season in the Pacific. As Cruise Critic points out, some of the discounted sailings take place at this potentially iffy time, so you’ll want to be flexible in case the cruise line alters its dates due to weather. Through CruiseCritic.com, you can keep up to date on cruise-related hurricane news.
$51 >> Seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise on Royal Caribbean
On the Mariner of the Seas, this cruise calls into Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico before returning to Los Angeles. Via the Royal Caribbean website, I’m seeing departures on Sept. 13 and Sept. 20 offering interior staterooms as low as $299, pre-tax, but this rate level was available over the phone only, according to the website. So I called reservations, and the total, including taxes and fees, came to $356 per person (based on double occupancy) for either of those dates. Read the rest of this entry »
Hurricane Jimena: Travel waiver/change policies from airlines
September 1, 2009 10:35am
Our friends over at the Outposts blog report in a Hurricane Jimena update that Cabo San Lucas is no longer in the path of Hurricane Jimena, which is just short of being just short of a Category 5 hurricane. However, the Baja California peninsula is still on alert. “The Mexican government has extended a hurricane warning northward on the Pacific side of the peninsula from Cabo San Lucas to Punta Abreojos, and along the gulf side to Mulege,” Outposts reports.
Many of the airlines are trying to accommodate customers who are altering their travel plans because of the hurricane. Find out more information here:
American Airlines: If you are traveling to, from or through Cabo San Lucas Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD), Mazatlan, Mexico (MZT), Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR), Aug. 30-Sept. 2, and your ticket was purchased no later than Aug. 30, you may change your reservation without penalty as late as Sept. 3-8, 2009. To change travel dates, contact Reservations, (800) 433-7300, within the United States or Canada. American Airlines Hurricane Jimena information page.
Cruise ships shift course to avoid Hurricane Jimena in Baja California, Mexico
August 31, 2009 5:42pm
At least four cruise ships sailing out of Southern California are making last-minute itinerary changes to avoid powerful Hurricane Jimena, which today, Aug. 31, is heading toward Baja California, a resort-studded peninsula in Mexico. Although Jimena’s course is unpredictable, landfall could occur by Tuesday, forecasters said.
In Cabo San Lucas, part of the area under a hurricane warning, workers this afternoon nailed sheets of plywood to storefront windows in the marina, and hotels and restaurants cleared away umbrellas, chairs and other outdoor furniture, the Associated Press reported. Jimena has been classified as a Category 4 hurricane.
Among the ships being rerouted:
Carnival Elation, which left San Diego on Aug. 29 for a five-day cruise, will call on California’s Santa Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico, rather than Cabo San Lucas.
Mexico travel alert from U.S. State Department
August 21, 2009 12:16pm
Citing rising violence, the U.S. State Department’s latest Mexico alert urges travelers to delay trips to parts of Michoacan and Chihuahua states.
The alert, issued Thursday, advises U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to those areas and to exercise “extreme caution” if a visit is necessary.
The alert notes the abduction and killing of two resident U.S. citizens in Chihuahua in July. It gives no details from Michoacan (which includes the city of Morelia and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which draws many visitors), and a spokesman said he was not immediately able to supply more than was in the posted alert.
