Mazatlan:
Mazatlán, Mexico, is a historic Pacific coast city in Sinaloa known as the "Pearl of the Pacific," famous for its long boardwalk (Malecón), golden beaches, vibrant culture, seafood, and mix of colonial architecture and modern resorts. Key attractions include its historic center (Centro Histórico) with the Angela Peralta Theater and Basilica, the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone) for nightlife, big-game fishing, and fresh local food like tacos. We have been to Mazatlan – on cruises and at resorts – about 7 times – it’s our favorite place to visit in Mexico.
Well, here is where we ended up with a problem – we had wanted to go to the El Cid Marina on an excursion but the excursion was cancelled due to lack of people wanting to go. So the excursion desk booked us on an excursion to Dreams Estrella del Mar – supposedly a five star resort with everything included. It was about a 45 minute drive to the Dreams (it’s out close to the airport) which was nice, but a little boring. The tour guide was completely inept – or just didn’t care – and pretty much us to ourselves the whole time we were there ☹. There was no designated seating area for us – as promised – it was almost impossible to get a drink, but Kelly and I are good at this and we found a barman that served us beer in cans 😊 – and the 5 star buffet lunch was mediocre and at best a 2 star ☹. The hotel was rather sterile, the pools and lazy river a disappointment, and Kelly and I would never go back there again ☹. We’ve been spoiled too much by the El Cid Marina 😊 – so maybe next year we can go back to El Cid 😊. We headed back to the cruise terminal, took a look around the shops, and went back to the ship. A very disappointing day as we love Mazatlan so much.