We just finished our 5-night Baja cruise last week. My kids (and we parents) loved Salsa and Salsa in Cabo. The staff was friendly and fun, everyone had a blast, and my wife and I got blitzed on endless margaritas (quite happily). And after visiting Ensenada... well... I'm happy I walked around there once but if I ever go back I'll probably stay on the ship.
I attached a photo of the Ensenada Cruiseport terminal. They built this square island out into the bay for the cruise ships to park. In the cruise ship terminal building like 50 feet away from the ship, there will be a small indoor marketplace with little trinket stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs. You could theoretically just check those out, walk around, take pictures of the ship from land, take pictures of the GINORMOUS Mexican flag on the shoreline, and then turn around and get back onto the ship. I think we'll do that the next time we go, if we ever go back.
If you are not doing an organized excursion that picks you up, there are two options for getting into Ensenada proper. We walked half a mile from the ship to the Museo de Historia to start our self-exploration. Alternately, there are multiple shuttle bus companies that just wait around outside the dock that will charge you something like $5/person round-trip to drive you downtown (with a return voucher). I didn't do that myself, so can't say for certain. My family walked around the museum, along the shoreline to the Malecon, and a bit of downtown before walking back to the ship. The whole thing took us about two hours of exploring. The shops downtown are better quality than the trinket shops at the cruise ship terminal building, but just okay. Nothing really impressive. I'm really not trying to be a snob, but Cabo San Lucas was modern and clean. Ensenada was just kind of... dirty...
I attached a photo of the Ensenada Cruiseport terminal. They built this square island out into the bay for the cruise ships to park. In the cruise ship terminal building like 50 feet away from the ship, there will be a small indoor marketplace with little trinket stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs. You could theoretically just check those out, walk around, take pictures of the ship from land, take pictures of the GINORMOUS Mexican flag on the shoreline, and then turn around and get back onto the ship. I think we'll do that the next time we go, if we ever go back.
Endless margaritas??? Were these included in the price?We just finished our 5-night Baja cruise last week. My kids (and we parents) loved Salsa and Salsa in Cabo. The staff was friendly and fun, everyone had a blast, and my wife and I got blitzed on endless margaritas (quite happily). And after visiting Ensenada... well... I'm happy I walked around there once but if I ever go back I'll probably stay on the ship.
Endless margaritas??? Were these included in the price?
My family has never been to Mexico and will be stopping in Ensenada and Cabo. I am not really excited about any of the excursions offered in Ensenada....so you would advise to just look at the shops in port and that's enough?
Did you have a bad experience there?I would advise not even getting off the ship.
I would advise not even getting off the ship.
Looking for recommendations for excursions on our 5 day Mexico cruise or should we just enjoy the shopping at each port.