Why the Mexican Riviera
If you live west of the Rockies, this is the cruise you can drive to. Ships sail from Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, which removes the single largest cost and hassle of a Caribbean vacation for half the country.
The classic seven-night run is Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta, and the three are usefully different from one another: a resort town built around a rock formation, a working Mexican city with a beautiful seafront promenade, and a colonial old town with the best food of the three.
Shorter sailings
Three- and four-night itineraries call at Ensenada only, sometimes with a day at sea. They are cheap, they are close, and they are more about the ship than about Mexico, which is a perfectly good reason to book one.
What to know before you book
Pacific Mexico is not the Caribbean. The water is cooler and rougher, the landscape is desert and mountain rather than reef and palm, and the swimming is less of the point. Come for the towns and the scenery.
Ensenada is a legal requirement as often as it is a destination. US-flagged rules mean many round-trip West Coast itineraries need a foreign call, and Ensenada is the nearest one. Expect a short stop.
Hurricane season is June to November here too, peaking rather later than in the Atlantic.
