Going on a Mexico cruise...need some activity advises?

Question

My gf and I are going on a Mexico cruise with Royal Caribbean for 4 days in Jan 2008, and will stop at 3 locations: San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada. This is our first time going on a Mexico Cruise. Has anyone been on the same cruise? Any advise on what to do at each stop location? Any advise will be great and thank you for your help in advance.

Answer 1

OMG; YOU DEFiNATElY NEED TO GO SNORKliNG. i DiD iN AUGUST THiS YEAR WiTH MY MOM AND DAD AND SiSTER.. AND iTS AWESOME. NOO SHARKS BECAUSE THE WATER iS TOO WARM. iTS JUST PERFECT (=

Answer 2

The water will not be warm in San Diego in January nor will it be warm in Catalina. It will be in the high 50's or very low 60's. I don't know about Ensenada. You should plan to do activities that are not in the water for long periods of time or you will freeze. I'm sure you'll have fun though.

Answer 3

We have taken this cruise 3 times and have the following suggestions...

San Diego - You will have the option of visiting Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, unless you want to rush the park in 6-7 hours don't waste your money, you'll be tired and disappointed.  The ship docks on the edge of downtown but is not the most conviniently located spot but there are free shuttles provided to two shopping areas.  We took the shuttle over to the old town area and wandered around there for a few hours.  Since San Diego is well, San Diego, another option is to just stay on the ship.  You will get some nice views of the port and naval activity and can just enjoy the day on ship, which is what we have done for 2 of our visits there.

Catalina - The ship will drop anchor in the bay outside of Avalon and you will take tenders over to the island, the tenders dock at one end of the downtown area but it is small enough to walk all over.  Snorkling may be an option as they will have wetsuits available, but it will be cold anyway.  Another way to see the sealife is the glass-bottom boat tours or the submarine tours (We prefer the submarine tour as the windows are actually under the water and you can get a longer view, it isn't a real submarine, more like the submarines at disneyland that never actually go underwater.)  A great way to see the island is to rent one of the golf carts that are available downtown, I believe there are 3 vendors but they all have the same prices.  They will all give you a map of the Avalon area of the island and the "suggested" tour route.  You can get some great views and you control how long you stop at places along the way.

Ensenada - There are three main options available in Ensenada, tour La Boufadora, the wine tour, or just wandering around downtown.  If you are mainly looking to shop you can wander the downtown area and get some reasonable prices, several stores carry the same things so you can shop around for prices and sometimes you can get the vendor to drop their price.  La Boufadora is a water blowhole on the coast, as a tourist destination it can be a letdown, it is kind of neat to watch the water shoot in the air but after a few blows you are done.  The walkway leading to La Boufadora from where th bus drops you is lines with shops and you can get some real good deals from these vendors, they will all offer you the best deal around, all you can do is shop and if you find something you want dicker with them.  When it seems like they have hit their lowest price put the item down and start to walk away and they will often drop it a little more, this is usually the lowest price you will get from there.  Your options for getting to La Boufadora is the ship excoursion tour, a tour you can get a few blocks away from the ship, taxi, or renting a car yourself.  Basically with the tours you are looking at around $13 each on the ship, $10 each away from the ship, $40 for the taxi, or $30-$50 for a rental car.  The tours and the taxi's will all tell you that you can get the best prices from X, Y, and Z vendors.  These are usually relatives or friends, they are getting a cut of any purchases that they refer, so take their advice with a grain of salt.  The wine tour is available on the ship but I dont remember what it costs, I cant remember if it is an adult only tour, it might be, I do know that it includes a bottle of wine and the wine is quite good.  The one time we took this tour the bus broke down and it took them 2 hours to get us a replacement bus and the cruise line never compensated us for the inconvinience.  It may be possible to find this tour away from the ship, we just have not checked.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

this site can help you

http://allcruiselines.info