While the size of your ship and the length of the cruise determine the variety and number of ports you visit, so will the type of itinerary and your departure point. Loop cruises start and end at the same point and usually explore ports close to one another; one-way cruises start at one point and end at another and cover more distance. Nearly all Mexican Riviera cruises are loop cruises; one-way cruises are those which incorporate the region into coast-to-coast Panama Canal sailings or as stopovers on the way to Hawaii.

A typical seven- or eight-night Mexican Riviera cruise consists of calls at some of the Pacific coast's most frequented ports as well as two sea days when sailing from San Diego, or three days at sea for cruises that sail from Los Angeles. Generally, these cruises stop at three to four ports, such as Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. Some cruises may go further south to Acapulco and include Manzanillo or Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. Princess offers some eleven-night cruises from San Francisco that visit five ports and spend four days at sea.

Generally a bit longer at ten- or eleven-nights, these itineraries and add ports in the Sea of Cortez, such as Topolobampo, Loreto, and La Paz -- all in Mexico -- to other, more typical Pacific coast ports such as Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta.

Three or four nights in length, these itineraries consist of one or two sea days and one to three port calls. Shorter sailings call at a single port -- Ensenada, Mexico; four-night cruise destinations generally include Ensenada plus Catalina Island in California on Carnival four-night cruises; San Diego is included on Royal Caribbean's itineraries.