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My Experience of
Ensenada Cruise
Once the ship docks in Ensenada most of the people want to get out and see how
the life in Mexico looks like. Ensenada is an attractive town on a lovely bay,
surrounded by sheltering mountains. It is 84 miles south of San Diego and 68
miles South of Tijuana. It is important to plan your Ensenada stopover nicely
because you have just 9 hours in the city. Most of the financial, commercial and
tourist capital of Ensenada is located near its coastlines because of the
tourist cruises. Ensenada Cruise terminal gets about 4-5 ships every week.
If you want to go to Ensenada shopping area without taking a tour, you could do
that by taking a shuttle/taxi, it costs around $3 per person and is easily
available outside the small shopping area of the cruise terminal.
TOURS IN ENSENADA
There were several excursions offered on our ship for an extra charge, some of which are listed here. Visit this site http://www.carnival.com/ShoreExcursionsSearchResults.aspx?portname=Ensenada%2C+Mexico&portcode=ENS®ion=MB. All the tours listed here were not offered at a given time. We had an option of 4-5 tours.
The ones we liked were
1. A Taste of Mexico
2. Blow Hole Tour
3. Baja Bandidos Horseback Trail
These are mostly 3 hours tours and start either in the morning or in the afternoon. If you decide to take a tour, I recommend taking the morning one so that you have time left for other things. These tours are expensive ($45+) and many people suggest that they are not worth it, I somewhat agree with them. But we still decided to take the "Taste of Mexico" tour because we definitely wanted to do something other than just shopping in Mexico. So on the Day 1 evening itself we went to the information desk of Cruise and booked our seats.
Before the tour started we went to the Paris restaurant in the ship and had a filling breakfast. We also carried a small back pack with water, it was also helpful while shopping in Ensenada.
Our Ensenada Cruise excursion was planned this way.
Just outside the small shopping area of the cruise terminal the buses came and picked us up. The guide was quite energetic and had a good sense of humor. After a brief introduction we were taken to the downtown Ensenada, also the residential area. The bus stopped at Riviera Del Pacifico, once upon a time it was a resort and casino. Now a days there is no activity here, the only thing that seemed to happen in this old building were the tours. We were offered a small complimentary margarita and given some time to see the souvenirs, jewellery and local goods sold in the small shops inside the complex.
Our next step was the winery of Bodega Santo Tomas, founded by the Dominicans in 1888, this is a non-working winery now, the guide told us about the history of the place, how the wines were made and took us to those chambers were wine use to be made. In the end we were taken to the wine tasting room where you can taste 7-8 types of wines with bread and cheese.
In the last part of the tour we were left in the main shopping district for one hour but if you choose to stay in the downtown for longer, you may do so but you have to be responsible for your own transportation back to the ship. Like most of the other tourists, we too decided to stay as 1 hour was very less to see this place. Going back to ship is easy, you can take a 20 minutes walk or preferably pay $3 per person for a cab to take you back, It is not a big area and there are many tourists from your cruise ship itself so you are not left out anyway. Our overall experience of the tour was quite average, nothing very exciting.
I would say this is the main attraction of the area. Shopping in Ensenada is made very easy and is geared towards the tourist. The stores vary from the souvenir and beach wear shops to Mexican handicrafts. You will find good stuff for gifts and traditional Mexican crafts in the city's tourist zone along Boulevard Lopez Mateos and it's side streets. Lopez Mateo spans across eight blocks and lined with shops, stores, galleries, boutiques, stands, stalls, bazaars, carts and even roadside vendors selling all sorts of items. Here, you'll also find leather and jewelry shops as well as duty-free stores.
There are also restaurants and food stalls where shoppers can have lunch or dinner. Shoppers can feel free to haggle with vendors and shop keepers. Credit card and US dollars are also accepted in most stores, however, the peso-dollar exchange rate might vary in each store. Ensenada Cruise trips is a very popular tourist destination amongst US teenagers since the legal drinking age is only 18 years.
CLIMATE:
Similar to San Diego, Esenada has a Mediterranean climate. Temperatures rarely go above 85 degrees F., or below 50 degrees F., all year round. The cool pacific waters moderates temperatures here, but go inland a few miles and temperatures can climb quite high in the Summers. Ensenada Cruise Experience is a great way to visit Mexico.
