Sailing from Ensenada?

[Dunk]

I remember years ago, Celebrity would list cruises from San Diego, but you boarded the ship in Ensenada. You'd check your luggage at the San Diego terminal, get on a bus, and be dropped off at the dock in Ensenada. I wonder if that kind of thing could work for west coast sailings until the CDC lifts its order? Or, if not that scenario exactly, something similar? I'm desperate! 😉

 

[Ombud]

Wondering if Cabo, Mazatlan, or PV would be the embarkation point. Sort of like how Bahamas is becoming for RCCL.

[Pamster]

Interesting thought.  There probably couldn't be stops in the US, so only Mexico.  

[DrivesLikeMario]

I did one of those Celebrity cruises.  I didn't think it was bad at all.  We checked in for the cruise in San Diego, then boarded busses with a boxed lunch.  We made it down to the ship in Ensenada in reasonable time.  The buses had bathrooms on them.  

The problem arose when a couple of the buses broke down.  Those poor passengers were stuck on the side of the road for many, many hours while other buses were found.  I think one of them was stuck for over 5 hours. 

I don't think this will work until they can contract with buses that are reliable and with a company that has back-up buses readily available.  Perhaps busing companies have improved since then and they're hungry enough for the business now that they can keep their buses in better working order.

[kiwimum]

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

[Shmoo here]

8 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

I was wondering about that.  Thanks.

[skynight]

Don't foresee Princess doing this. Time will come when ships will sail again.

[Dunk]

1 hour ago, kiwimum said:

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

True, but Princess could also homeport in Puerto Vallarta. Its an easy destination to get to from west coast cities. 

[Shmoo here]

6 minutes ago, Dunk said:

True, but Princess could also homeport in Puerto Vallarta. Its an easy destination to get to from west coast cities. 

The point is the BORDER is closed to non-essential travel.  "I'm going to Puerto Vallarta to take a cruise."  isn't essential travel.

 

 

[Incognito1]

1 hour ago, kiwimum said:

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

Is that recent?  We were there a short while ago, and there were no restrictions.  The first time, the beach was closed; second time, completely open.  We flew in; maybe that's the difference??

This is dated 3/18/21: https://www.travelinglifestyle.net/mexico-reopening-borders-tourism/

 

Ensenada is lovely -- has all the conveniences you'd want, but it's still very much "Mexico" (unlike a few of the other touristy Baja cities).

 

 

[Shmoo here]

2 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

Is that recent?  We were there a short while ago, and there were no restrictions.  The first time, the beach was closed; second time, completely open.  We flew in; maybe that's the difference??

This is dated 3/18/21: https://www.travelinglifestyle.net/mexico-reopening-borders-tourism/

 

Ensenada is lovely -- has all the conveniences you'd want, but it's still very much "Mexico" (unlike a few of the other touristy Baja cities).

 

 

OK, possibly the border isn't closed (as such).  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html

 

"Level 3 - Reconsider Travel"

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Mexico due to COVID-19.  

 

And, you have to have a negative COVID test within 3 days of travel if you're flying back to the US. 

[kiwimum]

3 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

Is that recent?  We were there a short while ago, and there were no restrictions.  The first time, the beach was closed; second time, completely open.  We flew in; maybe that's the difference??

This is dated 3/18/21: https://www.travelinglifestyle.net/mexico-reopening-borders-tourism/

 

Ensenada is lovely -- has all the conveniences you'd want, but it's still very much "Mexico" (unlike a few of the other touristy Baja cities).

 

 

The border closed March 2020 for all but essential workers and will remain closed until end of April, 2021.  You can fly into Mexico from many cities but not drive or cross on foot.    
The closure had been extended several times.   Tijuana COVID is far from under control.

[Dunk]

15 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

The point is the BORDER is closed to non-essential travel.  "I'm going to Puerto Vallarta to take a cruise."  isn't essential travel.

 

 

Agreed, but only the land border is closed. Mexico is open to air, sea and rail travel.

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, kiwimum said:

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

That would be a problem. Rats!

[Incognito1]

It adds about $300 apiece to fly in, but since we normally have to fly into Miami or LA, it's probably about the same.

 

I just love Ensenada.  It hasn't yet become San Diego-South.

[jennybenny]

The CDC has issued warnings to not travel to countries in the past, but you could still purchase tickets and no one was stopping you from going to those places. Mexico has often been one of those countries listed as DANGEROUS, but tourism continued and people kept going. These are different times with Covid-19. There are political ramifications for business as well as government. 

 

Let us remember that in the beginning of this Covid Pandemic the CDC claimed face masks were not required because they worried that people would buy up all the N95 masks. Then they changed their tune about masks.

 

I wish we could board in PV or Ensenada.

I wish the CDC would provide guidelines to the cruise lines so that something could be done. Its hard to believe that with vaccines being distributed at the current rate that some concessions cannot reasonably be made to permit cruising to resume from a USA port. The CDC is being cautious and is afraid of saying its OK, and then have a ship with an outbreak. The cruise line requirements to report are much more stringent than on land for things like Noro, and will likely be more stringent for Covid. Having another Princess ship in the headlines for a Covid outbreak would be financial painful for them, and be bad PR for the CDC if the they allowed cruising from a USA port and there was an incident. 

 

I'm starting to think November will come and depending on the world numbers at that time the CDC will make a ruling or push out the date further. 😞 

Edited March 25, 2021 by jennybenny

[jennybenny]

2 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

It adds about $300 apiece to fly in, but since we normally have to fly into Miami or LA, it's probably about the same.

 

I just love Ensenada.  It hasn't yet become San Diego-South.

I'm also a big Ensenada fan. The food there is amazing. It is a foodie destination in Mexico. People in the USA are not aware and don't look for it. 

[AF-1]

Hope it works for everyone.  I think people just want to cruise;  at this point they don't care where.  

Edited March 25, 2021 by AF-1

[Potstech]

15 hours ago, kiwimum said:

The border between San Diego and Mexico remains closed, only open to essential workers.   

Only to some people.  Others have open crossing anywhere.

[c-boy]

10 minutes ago, Potstech said:

Only to some people.  Others have open crossing anywhere.

awwww, come on  man. 

[skynight]

36 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Hope it works for everyone.  I think people just want to cruise;  at this point they don't care where.  

Yes, some cruisers do wish to return without regard to destination. But to many destination and ports are important. Some are willing to sail sooner. Many will not sail until the pandemic is indeed under control, and this probably will take a lot longer than this summer. My thinking is 2023 or later for a more normal cruise experience.  

[AF-1]

skynight;  time will tell.  I do believe it will be summer of 2022 before we see a somewhat normal cruise experience.  

[skynight]

2 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

skynight;  time will tell.  I do believe it will be summer of 2022 before we see a somewhat normal cruise experience.  

Sounds reasonable.

[voljeep]

10 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

skynight;  time will tell.  I do believe it will be summer of 2022 before we see a somewhat normal cruise experience.  

 

26 minutes ago, skynight said:

Yes, some cruisers do wish to return without regard to destination. But to many destination and ports are important. Some are willing to sail sooner. Many will not sail until the pandemic is indeed under control, and this probably will take a lot longer than this summer. My thinking is 2023 or later for a more normal cruise experience.  

" somewhat normal "

 

no mask requirement ?

no social distancing ?

buffets open ?

no mandatory check in times ?

excursions 'on your own' ?

no capacity restrictions ?

 

[AF-1]

voljeep;  yes all the above.  Time will tell