Thoughts on a 4-night Baja Cruise

[shosh1530]

Hello. My family has been on two cruises – Alaska on the Wonder in 2023 and Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy in summer 2024. We have a Western Caribbean cruise booked on the Treasure for this summer as well.

But I'm itching to go on a cruise sooner than that. I keep looking at options over winter break but the cost is pretty prohibitive especially when you add on airfare from Arizona.

So now I'm toying with the idea of taking the Wonder this spring break for a 4 night Baja cruise. I previously have not been very attracted to this itinerary because the ports seem so lackluster and because we have already done the Wonder (my goal has been to try different ships).

But my DS (age 13) has been wanting to do the Wonder again since our trip on the Fantasy (we all missed the smaller ship). We are already planning to go to Disneyland for Spring break so it might easy to add on the short cruise out of San Diego (most likely driving).

Any thoughts from those who have done the Baja cruises? We usually like doing excursions on port days (beach, snorkeling, outdoor things), is there anything worthwhile in Ensenada (it seems mostly I've read stay on the ship)?

 

[Lillebelle]

We've done a couple Baja cruises just because San Diego is much easier for us than anywhere else Disney sails from. We've never gotten off the ship at the ports though so I'm not any help to you there. We've found plenty to keep us busy just enjoying being on the ship (especially with a shorter sailing length) but I recognize that's not everyone's preferred approach.

FWIW San Diego is great to sail out of because the airport is close to the port and then there are several hotels that are literally across the street from port. We've managed to score rooms that have a view of the port and it's such an amazing way to get hyped in the morning when you wake up, look out your window, and boom! there's the ship.

 

[AquaDame]

We've only done one Baja cruise (2016) and so we've only had one stop in Ensenada. We considered it a bonus and didn't stress too much about what to do that day to be honest, and went with a half day tour to La Bufadora. World's largest natural blow hole? Sure why not? Only downside is you have to walk down a street with shops on either side trying to hawk trinkets to get to the actual blowhole. Starts at 2:55 here:

I did wish we had longer at the second stop at a manor as we did not have time to actually look around the museum but it was a fun trip overall!

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/ensenada-mexico-la-bufadora-sightseeing-tour/

 

[holula]

I did a cooking experience in Ensenada and loved it. Then we went to a tequila shop and had three free shots of tequila. Good day all around!

 

[shosh1530]

I did a cooking experience in Ensenada and loved it. Then we went to a tequila shop and had three free shots of tequila. Good day all around!

I've started watching some youtube videos and saw one excursion where they made salsa, guacomole and enchildads that looked yummy and fun. Looks like there are some decent options for a first time visitor.

 

[DWillowBay]

Our family did the 4-night Baja. We loved it!! In Cabo, we did the Salsa and Salsa excursion which was a very fun Salsa dancing lesson (none of us was very good at it, but it was fun) and Salsa making (We were VERY good at both the making and the eating). It was held at a beautiful resort.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

We did a 7-day Mexican Riveria cruise earlier this year and have a 4-day and 7-day Baja/Mexican Riveria B2B booked for 2026. All our previous cruises were 7 day and since my wife wanted to see Catalina Island, and I only want to do 7-day or longer cruises, putting the 4-day and 7-day together worked for us and gets us on the ship for 11 days

We more than likely won't get off the ship on any of the stops but Catalina, but most of that is due to my wife is not a fan of how the indoor plumbing works in Baja. We did enjoy our excursions that we took this year, but how the bathrooms work, really put her off of going on more next time, but she did say she will keep an open mind.

We had table mates this time and they all took different excursions then us and the feedback we had from them, is that they enjoyed the excursions that they took. I know one did horseback riding, and another did salsa making and cultural excursions.

Psy

 

[lorimay]

We did a b2b Baja cruise in January 2023 4 night and a 3 night.
I was dying to see Catalina Island so that was the main reason for booking this cruise and flying in from Florida.
The cruises were great, I love the Wonder but don't you know the seas were so rough on Catalina Island day they were unable to tender us in, I was so sad.
My experience in Ensenada was meh, we just walked around for a bit and headed back to the ship, on the 3 night cruise we just stayed onboard.
I will get back to this Catalina cruise one day.

 

[shosh1530]

We did a 7-day Mexican Riveria cruise earlier this year and have a 4-day and 7-day Baja/Mexican Riveria B2B booked for 2026. All our previous cruises were 7 day and since my wife wanted to see Catalina Island, and I only want to do 7-day or longer cruises, putting the 4-day and 7-day together worked for us and gets us on the ship for 11 days

We've only done 7-day cruises so I do worry I won't enjoy a 4-night cruise. But I at least this is an easy to get to/more affordable cruise to try it out.

We more than likely won't get off the ship on any of the stops but Catalina, but most of that is due to my wife is not a fan of how the indoor plumbing works in Baja. We did enjoy our excursions that we took this year, but how the bathrooms work, really put her off of going on more next time, but she did say she will keep an open mind.

Is the issue the need to put toilet tissue in the wastebasket rather than flushing? I've spent a lot of time in Mexico/Central America so this won't phase me. But I had forgotten about it and definitely something I'd need to prep my 13 year old for (especially if we do a land trip to Mexico this winter).

We had table mates this time and they all took different excursions then us and the feedback we had from them, is that they enjoyed the excursions that they took. I know one did horseback riding, and another did salsa making and cultural excursions.

Horseback riding or the salsa making were two that looked interesting to me, so good to know!

 

[shosh1530]

We did a b2b Baja cruise in January 2023 4 night and a 3 night.
I was dying to see Catalina Island so that was the main reason for booking this cruise and flying in from Florida.
The cruises were great, I love the Wonder but don't you know the seas were so rough on Catalina Island day they were unable to tender us in, I was so sad.
My experience in Ensenada was meh, we just walked around for a bit and headed back to the ship, on the 3 night cruise we just stayed onboard.
I will get back to this Catalina cruise one day.

Oh no. I knew it was a tender port, but hadn't thought about rough seas and possibly not being able to tender. I hope you get to get another try someday soon.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

We've only done 7-day cruises so I do worry I won't enjoy a 4-night cruise. But I at least this is an easy to get to/more affordable cruise to try it out.


Is the issue the need to put toilet tissue in the wastebasket rather than flushing? I've spent a lot of time in Mexico/Central America so this won't phase me. But I had forgotten about it and definitely something I'd need to prep my 13 year old for (especially if we do a land trip to Mexico this winter).


Horseback riding or the salsa making were two that looked interesting to me, so good to know!

I've been the one that has been insisting on the 7-day cruises, mostly due to the fact that I just didn't want to get on the ship on a Friday and have to get off 2 or 3 days later. Just way to short of a timeframe. I want enough time to enjoy the ship and relax, I don't get a ton of vacation time, so I want to make sure when I do take a vacation I can spend as much time on it as possible. So, the shorter cruises have been a no-no for me, but since the 4-day is right before the 7-day and I was able to put them together for a B2B, it kills two birds with one stone. The wife gets her stop at Catalina, and I get the nice long cruise.

Yes, the bathroom issue for here is the toilet paper going into a waste basket. I've been down to Baja plenty of times when I was younger (we use to go to San Felipe for spring break) and I've been to Ensenada plenty of times when my parents owned a Baja Bug, so I knew what to expect and it doesn't bother me, but it bothered her enough to where unless the excursion is something she really wants, we plan on mostly staying on the ship and relaxing.

Psy

 

[holula]

I've started watching some youtube videos and saw one excursion where they made salsa, guacomole and enchildads that looked yummy and fun. Looks like there are some decent options for a first time visitor.

This sounds like the one I did and it was exactly yummy and fun!