Hawaii

[messymarie]

We are going to hawaii. What I would like to know when the ship stops in ensenada from 8p.m to midnight can we get off the ship?

[Roz]

My understanding is that it is a service call, so no, you can't get off the ship.

 

Roz

[kryos]

My understanding is that it is a service call, so no, you can't get off the ship.

I don't know about that, Roz. Are you sure HAL doesn't let people get off? I took a Princess cruise to Hawaii last year, and we had a four-hour stop in Ensenada strictly to satisfy the Jones Act. While they didn't run any excursions because of the short port stay, people were free to get off the ship and explore. Of course, with a stop that short, you wouldn't want to go too far from the immediate area of the pier. I personally did not choose to get off the ship at that stop, but from people who did, I heard there was some shopping and watering holes close to the pier.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Roz]

When I was on a Caribbean cruise, we did a "service call" to pick up some passengers who were on a shore excursion that took them to another island. We weren't allowed off the ship. Since HAL has Ensenada marked as a service call port on its website, I assumed it was not a passenger port call, but merely a way to satisfy the Jones Act. Some itineraries stop in Victoria, BC for 4 hours, but they're not marked as service calls and passenger do get off the ship and excursions are offered.

 

The bigger question is why anyone would want to get off the ship in Ensenada? :D

 

Roz

[SDHALFAN]

Actually the Amsterdam did stop in Ensenada this past January for the required stop. We were there from 8:00 p.m. to midnight and were indeed able to get off the ship. Ensenada has spent a small fortune on new port facilities and there was a rather large indoor area with a dozen or so vendors doing a brisk trade.

 

Oh, I almost forgot - the shore excursion desk did also offer a tour. I think that it was pretty much a Folklorico Show with maybe a few sights of Ensenada by night. The tour lasted about 2-1/2 hours I think.

 

Valerie:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I asked this same question in January about our up-coming cruise on the Amsterdam.

 

And we were told exactly what SDHALFAN said.

[GAJE]

Ditto. You can get off the ship in Ensenada. There is a "new shopping center" there, but we found little other than the usual tourist stuff. It was good to put our feet on dry land though, after 5 days at sea.

Betty

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree with that - like to get my feet on solid ground after a few sea days.

[cruzn single]

When the Statendam docked in Ensenada in November on our return from Hawaii (prior to San Diego the next day), anyone who wanted to could get off. There was at least one "excursion" to some type of show, and from what we could see there was a very lively "market" right at the pier. Also there were several large businesses within walking distance that were open during the time we were there.

[Boriiiing]

Just got back from cruising to Hawaii on the Amsterdam. We were able to get off in Ensenada. They did not supply us with information about the port as they had on the other stops, but there were buses waiting there to haul us into town, which was about 5 minutes away. There were also a few shops at the port. In fact, on the cruise we were on, there was an excursion that some people took part in. We enjoyed walking around downtown and checking out some of the stores. I was a little uncomfortable that it was night in a strange city, but unlike other Mexico towns I have been in, we were not approached by any beggars. We were one of the few people on the ship that chose to go into town for some reason (was probably partly because we docked at 5 pm, and most people had early seating for dinner).