Archive for the 'Puerto Vallarta' Category
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.
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 »
Free hotel nights this fall through Expedia sale
September 15, 2009 2:27pm
If you’re shopping for a hotel stay domestically or abroad, take a few minutes to peruse Expedia’s new sale before booking. Its “Fall Free Nights Sale,” though a little unwieldy at times to navigate online, is generating some good deals on numerous properties.
Deal: With this Expedia.com sale, you can reel in your last night for free at more than 1,700 venues internationally on certain multiple-night stays. Though the promotion states discount availability for stays of three, four and five nights, I found one “second night free” offer (directly below) in Mexico. Yet, for some other properties, the deals didn’t turn out to be as good as I’d expected.
Still, it’s a worthwhile exercise to compare current Expedia sale rates with what you’d pay directly with the hotel or elsewhere. I certainly found savings; see below.
* Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: At the 208-unit Playa Del Sol Costa Sur resort, you get every second night free under this deal. 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.
Pleasant Holidays offers cancel-for-any-reason coverage
August 6, 2009 10:26am
Pleasant Holidays, the giant package-tour operator based in Westlake Village, this week began offering cancel-for-any-reason coverage to customers who book its trips to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Costa Rica.
Unlike its regular Protection Plan, which refunds trip deposits if you cancel for reasons such as illness, death or job loss, the new Cancel Anytime Protection Plan Plus covers you for virtually any unforeseen cause, said Jack E. Richards, president and chief executive.
The downsides: Cancel Anytime Protection costs more (starting at $119 instead of $89 per adult) and reimburses you for only 80% instead of 100% for many of the covered causes. And of course, as with all such plans, there’s plenty of fine print.
For plan details, visit Pleasant Holidays’ website, call (800) 448-3333 or contact your travel agent.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawaii. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
Punta Mita, Mexico: $1,234 off Four Seasons stay
July 1, 2009 4:02pm
Yes, hotel rooms in Mexico are still on sale, and that includes the luxury ones, many of which are now available for more moderate prices. Case in point: The Four Seasons resort in Punta Mita is offering an unusual “Experience More” package that translates to rooms for around $220 a night this summer.
Deal: At the 173-room Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, 45 minutes from Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR), you can get a $1,234 credit for every stay of four consecutive nights. And get this — you can apply this to any resort charges, including your room.
Tested: Nightly accommodations rates start at $415 per night (pre-tax) from now through Sept. 30, and at $545 from Oct. 1 to Nov. 18 and Nov. 28 to Dec. 21, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
