In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico now

[DonnaD]

I arrived at Club Regina in Puerto Vallarta on 2/5 and I feel very safe here. Staff is following safety procedures and guests are checked for temperatures when arriving at lobby even from the grocery store. Hand sanitizer is available even in elevators. Walmart will not allow anyone over 60 to shop there. Other grocery stores do allow you to shop without regard to age. We have stayed on resort grounds other than our outing to grocery store. Either we eat in our units or we eat at our resort restaurants. We want to give them the business to help keep staff employed and resort open. I heard today that the Mayan Palace at marina is going to close for at least a few weeks.

We wear our masks any time we are moving about resort. Lounge chairs are grouped in twos and then spaced out to allow social distancing. Once seated, we can remove our masks. We do not have to wear them in the pool but keep our distance from other guests when chatting in the pool. We can also remove our masks once seated in restaurants. Staff is very happy to have us here but occupancy is about 30% of normal, I think. Pool is warm even though air temp is in mid to low 70s right now. Sun is beautiful and I have seen a lot of whales from my balcony. I am so happy to be at my home away from home.

 

[bankr63]

That's good to hear, we really miss travelling. But I am shocked by the Walmart rule. Do they maybe have different hours for those over 60? Most stores near me have early hours for seniors before opening to the general public, but I can't imagine banning them outright at other times or worse at ALL times? If everybody did that, they seniors would die of starvation before COVID got them!

 

[DonnaD]

That's good to hear, we really miss travelling. But I am shocked by the Walmart rule. Do they maybe have different hours for those over 60? Most stores near me have early hours for seniors before opening to the general public, but I can't imagine banning them outright at other times or worse at ALL times? If everybody did that, they seniors would die of starvation before COVID got them!

Walmart dropped the restriction and we shopped there yesterday late morning. We stepped into sanitizer, social distancing from person in front of me, then we got hand sanitizer and had our temperature checked by holding our hand in front of scanning thermometer, then we shopped normally wearing our masks.

 

[x3 skier]

Thanks for the report. I have a reservation mid April and am definitely looking forward to it. Any additional info about buses, taxis, the Marina or Downtown would be appreciated.

Enjoy the stay.
Cheers

 

[Blondie]

Sooooo miss PV and our 8 weeks at Club Regina this year. We just did not want to risk it, but it sounds as if they have it under control. Looking forward to next Feb. Thanks for the update, Donna. I, too, am wondering about the marina restaurants and what is operational. Have a great, safe time!

 

[Rene McDaniel]

What is required to go in and out of Mexico, returning to the US? We will have our 2nd dose of the Moderna vaccine this week. Do we need to get negative PCR COVID tests before flying to Mexico, or returning to the US? Or do we just show our new COVID vaccination cards? I have some weeks I will lose if I don't use them in the next 2 months. Thanks

 

[DBS1968]

What is required to go in and out of Mexico, returning to the US? We will have our 2nd dose of the Moderna vaccine this week. Do we need to get negative PCR COVID tests before flying to Mexico, or returning to the US? Or do we just show our new COVID vaccination cards? I have some weeks I will lose if I don't use them in the next 2 months. Thanks

CDC says vaccination cards do not fulfill the negative requirement. You still need the rapid or full lab test (either) to show negative within 3 days of flight home.

We went to PVR in June and October last year, no one got sick. Just be careful and have fun folks.

 

[DonnaD]

You do not need to get a Covid test to come into Mexico by air. You will have your temperature checked at airport in US and in Mexico. I think we filled out a form about our health before checking in at airport in USA. You will need to get a Covid test 2 days before you are to fly out of Mexico to the USA. Our temperature was checked upon arrival at resort and also at grocery stores. We can now shop at Walmart which was limited to those younger than 60 years old. I used Uber to go to store for groceries. We walked from Club Regina to the marina and we had dinner at Terraza de Roma in open air. Other restaurants were also open there but it seems some of the stores are vacant now. I did not try shopping there so did not pay attention. I have stayed at our resort where I feel safer from Covid exposure by limiting my travel, but we have plans to go with friends to a restaurant in town that is open air.
More people have arrived at Club Regina but pool is not crowded and that is where I spent my afternoon.

 

[x3 skier]

Leaving for Club Regina PV Saturday. Looking forward to another good visit after almost 3 months of living and skiing in Steamboat Springs CO.

My companion and I are both COVID Vaccinated

Cheers

 

[x3 skier]

Arrived yesterday after a long flight from Chicago. Other than forgetting to fill out the COVID Questionnaire, and the usual line at Customs, we entered the Time Share Shark Pool. One Bozo claimed to be from Guest Services at Club Regina but was hustling Vidanta (?). I asked to see his Club Regina credentials and naturally he didn’t have any. Met our driver and waited a minute or so while they sprayed disinfectant on our bags.

When we arrived at the Club, bags were again sprayed, temperature was checked and checked in. I arranged for the free COVID test before return to the States, got my member discount card and a couple of other freebies and went to the room.

So far, I’ve been impressed with the precautions and noticed few missing amenities or services at the Club. After a trip to the Marina and town later in our stay, I’ll have some other observations.

Cheers

ETA. ALL of the towels, toiletries and glasses in the bathrooms were in heavy plastic wraps.

 

[x3 skier]

Last two days we went to the Marina, Downtown and the Tour to Rhythms of the Night. All had masking required and plenty of hand sanitizer everywhere. As far as I could tell, everything was open for regular business and were about 50% of what I had experienced before as far as crowds were concerned.

One thing I was sort of disappointed about was the old Jitny type busses has been replaced with more modern busses. No more fringe curtains, shrines and other personalized “styling” of the interiors. They do still paint major stops on the windshield.

The Rhythms of the Night is a new show since my last visit three years ago. Fantastic acrobats, costumes, props etc. Food is the same basic buffet style. If you do go the VIP way, you get first boarding at the port and good seats at the show, open bar but not much else. Debarking and Reboarding is the usual zoo. Still it was worth it to us for the seating.

Basically, PV is mostly back to more or less normal except the crowds are way less. If you’re vaccinated as we were, I wouldn’t hesitate to visit. The population is genuinely glad to see tourists and not a few were sad Canadians are few and very far between as they make up a good percentage of tourists.

We get our free COVID Tests tomorrow on site at Club Regina and depart Saturday. (Hopefully). A very good trip and other than the normal guideline stuff from the CDC, no hassles at all.

Cheers

 

[x3 skier]

A final note. The COVID test results done at Club Regina were available in 10 minutes and were negative. Paperwork was provided 3 hours later and reviewed the next day at the airline checkin. Simple process and no glitches. We did have to fill out the Mexico COVID questionnaire again at the Security station but that took all of two minutes.

From my perspective, if you enjoy PV and are vaccinated, there’s minimal risk in enjoying the location and people.

Cheers

 

[bjones9942]

... One thing I was sort of disappointed about was the old Jitny type busses has been replaced with more modern busses. No more fringe curtains, shrines and other personalized “styling” of the interiors. They do still paint major stops on the windshield...

You need to visit Acapulco! They have disco/party buses!