Poor destination in Mexico

Carnival Imagination Cruise Review to Mexico

brentcraig

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 28

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

4 Night Catalina & Baja Mexico (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 25, 2015

Ship: Carnival Imagination

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: U58

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

The ship was good, the food was good, the staff were good (the restaurant staff went out of their way to accommadate my diet needs) and the activities/entertainment was good. Catalina Island was a pretty stop and I am glad that I was able to see it. Ensenada, Mexico, is however, an extremely poor destination. It is a very industrial port and the town is set up with rows of really bad tourist stores selling the worst of goods. It wasn't my intention to even get off the boat as I have been to this city before. At the last minute, I did and only stayed about an hour before confirming what I already knew: this town is not a destination that I will visit again. The city lacks any charm of other Mexican cities and doesn't even have nice beaches. For the amount of time the ship sailed in circles we could have gone to Los Cobos or PV (Long Beach to Ensenada is only about a three to four hour trip by car so making it into a 4-night cruise is a stretch to say the least). I would not take this cruise again simply because of the Mexican destination and I do not recommend this cruise to anyone for that reason.

I feel sorry for the people in Ensenada who have a very hard life trying to make a living off the tourist industry when their town does not have tourist resources.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food was good and staff were very attentive to my diet needs

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

I would have liked more dancing opportuniities that started earlier in the day and evening that encouraged latin and ballroom dancing.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

I enjoyed the shows in the dynast louge. It would have been nice to have had another sining dancing show for the last night or at least a repeat of one of the other ones. They are good enough to see more than once. Comedians for me , however, are a hard sell. I find most of them to have humour that is in poor taste.

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The staff work very hard

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The ship was good and it was kept clean. By the way, you need to add good to the selections. There is a big difference between great and OK.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The room was good and kept clean