The Mexico cruise in October is probably the most reliable Atlantis cruise. It might not be as crazy as the popular January cruise these days, but it’s a better cruise for first time cruisers. If you’re thinking about hopping onboard, keep reading for everything you need to know!

WHAT: The only Mexico Atlantis cruise of the year, and the only one to sail from the west coast.

WHEN: October 20-27, 2019

WHERE: Sails from and returns to Los Angeles, California, USA

Itinerary & Ports

October 20 Los Angeles

October 21 At Sea 

October 22 Cabo San Lucas

October 23 Puerto Vallarta

October 24 Mazatlan

October 25 At Sea 

October 26 At Sea 

October 27 Los Angeles

Should I Go on This Cruise?

Atlantis charters several cruises each year. Having been on several of them, I think the Mexico October cruise is for you if:

• You want to go to Mexico, particularly Puerto Vallarta. It’s usually the only cruise each year that goes there.

• You prefer a smaller cruise ship that sails out of the US. Most of the other US-based cruises use larger ships.

• You want to sail out of the west coast. It’s usually the only cruise each year that does, though plane tickets are fairly cheap these days if you plan ahead...

• You’re a first time cruiser. The October cruise is a good mix of partying and relaxing, whereas, say, the January cruise is a bit crazier.

What’s This Cruise Like? 

You get a mostly American group of guests, with many coming from California and throughout the west cost. Other than that, I think the Mexico cruise has the most diverse set of guests. Expect broad diversity in terms of age, not just tons of younger guys in their 20s and 30s. There’s a good mix of people who party hard and those who’d rather wake up early to catch the sunrise. You don’t get a lot of hooligans on this one.

The parties are cozy in the best way possible - there’s enough room to spread out but enough people around to feel like the partying’s pumping. You can actually find your friends at the party if you need to - on the much bigger ships that is difficult to do. Another advantage of a smaller ship is that you’re more likely to run into people you’ve met before, so you’re more likely to build actual connections than if you saw them just once.

Ship

This year’s Mexico cruise is hosted on the Celebrity Eclipse, launched in 2010. 

In recent years, the Mexico cruise has favored Norwegian’s Jewel Class ships, mostly the Jewel and the Pearl, with a capacity of around 2400 guests. To be honest, those ships were alright but hardly the best, so I was excited when the Eclipse was announced for this year, as it's a decent upgrade IMO over the NCL ships. Eclipse is a touch bigger, with space for 2850 passengers, and it’s a newer ship with a slightly more modern design. Last but not least, Celebrity has a reputation for good food onboard.

Staterooms

If you’re getting a suite, you’re clearly better than the rest of us and this section doesn’t apply to you. Oh, and please invite me to your suite parties :)

The rest of us will be staying in regular staterooms. Here’s the 411 on what kind of room you’ll get and where on the ship you should stay.

What type of room to get?

Most rooms on Eclipse are ocean balcony rooms, the rest are interior rooms (with no windows at all) or rooms at the very front or back of the ship that have a window. 

On most cruises, the interior rooms sell out first, as there’s relatively few of them and they’re the cheapest. The cost difference between an interior versus an ocean balcony room is around $100-300. Balcony rooms tend to be a smidge larger and of course you get a private balcony. 

If you’re on the fence between an interior or balcony room, check with Atlantis or a travel agent and see what the current availability is - it could be that the cost difference between the available interior and balcony rooms are minimal, or perhaps all the interior rooms are sold out.

Where on the ship to stay?

All of the regular staterooms are on decks 6 through 11. My personal rule is to pick a deck that’s at least 3 levels away from the pool deck and any possible party venues, unless you like the sound of bass pounding through your stateroom at 3am. On Eclipse, this means I would ideally choose decks 8 or 9. 

Next, I like to be close to the elevators for convenience, and preferably in between the front and rear set of elevators. It’s not fun to have to walk past 25 staterooms every single time you want to leave or head back to your room. 

Parties

This section will be updated once Atlantis announces the official party schedule and themes, probably 2-3 weeks before the cruise.

Every Atlantis cruise has a whole series of dance parties. There’s one every single night plus a few daytime parties also. Every party (save for the ones on the first and last nights) has a theme and it’s common for partygoers to don outfits that fit those themes. Themed outfits are optional - there’s no fashion police business - but it’s fun to dress up a little, even if just for one or two of the parties.

Atlantis doesn’t announce the themes until 2 or 3 weeks before the cruise. However, there are some parties that are Atlantis staples and occur on every cruise:

Sunday, Oct 20 Nighttime party (no theme, name varies)

Monday, Oct 21 Dog Tag T-dance (military theme)

Thursday, Oct 24 Classics party (no outfit theme, but music from the 80s/90s/00s)

Friday, Oct 25 White party (wear all white)

Saturday, Oct 26 Classic Disco T-dance (disco theme)

Saturday, Oct 26 Last Dance (no theme)

Inside Info: 1st Night Underwear Party

Unofficially, the un-themed party on the first night is an underwear party.

Which Parties to Go to?

The great thing about cruises is that you don’t really need to decide ahead of time what you wanna do. You don’t need to get tickets in advance and the parties never get so full that you can’t get in - you can show up whenever on a whim. So don’t stress out about which parties you should go to - when the party is on, go if you want to, don’t go if you don’t want to :)

I don’t recommend “closing down” every single nighttime party - that is, partying until the party ends, which is usually around 5am to 7am. I personally would prioritize the t-dances and white party, and for the other parties, just see how you feel that night.

Getting There

In Los Angeles, the cruise sails out of the World Cruise Terminal in San Pedro. Note that this is not that close to LAX airport, and definitely not close to West Hollywood, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to fly in early to explore LA beforehand. Also consider flying into Long Beach Airport (LGA), which is significantly closer and a MILLION times less busy than LAX (literally!)

Preparing For The Cruise

The prep for this cruise isn’t much different than for most other gay cruises. Check out these series of my YouTube videos for advice!