Joy 5 Day Mexico Jan '20, Why Bother?

[need2cruisesoon]

Looking at 5 day cruises out of LA.

 

Joy itinerary a joke, more time in Ensenada than Cabo. By the time you tender to port you'll need to do a Uturn and head back to the ship, fail.

 

I'll sail the Royal Princess (Feb '20) and get an overnight in Cabo and no Ensenada....

[Love my butler]

You book the Joy to ride the go carts.  Port time is secondary.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Love my butler

[SeaShark]

So sorry that this happened to you.

[need2cruisesoon]

35 minutes ago, Love my butler said:

You book the Joy to ride the go carts.  Port time is secondary.

 

Thanks and rethink this one....

[LinnieRed]

Personal point of view only: short cruises out of Long Beach/San Diego = booze cruise. Lots of fun, but ports are extremely secondary. 

I spend lots of time in the Ensenada/Rosarita Beach/TJ area and don’t see any of those spots as being an interesting cruise ship destination. 

[coastcat]

I’m booked on this cruise. Many people apparently shared your viewpoint as NCL has been discounting it heavily until recently. I received a good solo cruiser discount, balcony, all the Free At Sea stuff, and an extra $50 ShoreEx. So here’s the plan.

 

• Day 0: Fly from Seattle where, by that point, it’s been 4 months of gray drizzle and I’ve become soggy and translucent.
• Day 1: Board the Joy. Order a Moscow Mule. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 2: Order another Moscow Mule. Maybe a margarita, too. Eat some soft serve. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 3: Get off the ship to look at whales and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 4: See Day 2.
• Day 5: Get off the ship to visit a winery and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 6: Fly back to the drizzle. Read my work email. Plan the next cruise. 

Sounds like a nice vacation to me. All I need is sunscreen, a few Kindle books, and a recommendation for a churros stand in Cabo.

Edited November 19, 2019 by coastcat

[joeyancho]

While Ensenada is not a glamorous port of call, it is still fun.  Take the cheapo Bufador tour offered on the shuttle bus to town.  The Bufador (blowhole ) is a unique natural wonder. The coast line is beautiful there. There is tons of fun shopping (remember to bargain )  refreshing  drinks (cheap too), and the most delicious fish tacos you ever tasted.  All for a whooping sum of $15.00.  

Edited November 19, 2019 by joeyancho
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[hallux]

14 hours ago, need2cruisesoon said:

By the time you tender to port you'll need to do a Uturn and head back to the ship, fail.

The timing in Cabo seems to be about standard.  This Joy trip looks to be 10-6, it was 7-3 when I was there on the Bliss.  Same number of hours, just shifted some.  Yes, tendering cuts your time in port by an hour, if you pull an early tender ticket - we got tender 2 without a ship-sponsored excursion and were on shore by 7:30 if I recall.

 

I tried checking RCI to see what times they're in Cabo for as I know one of their ships didn't show up until we were partway through our excursion.  Maybe they pulled the 10-6 slot that day?

[PianoGary]

18 hours ago, coastcat said:

I’m booked on this cruise. Many people apparently shared your viewpoint as NCL has been discounting it heavily until recently. I received a good solo cruiser discount, balcony, all the Free At Sea stuff, and an extra $50 ShoreEx. So here’s the plan.

 

• Day 0: Fly from Seattle where, by that point, it’s been 4 months of gray drizzle and I’ve become soggy and translucent.
• Day 1: Board the Joy. Order a Moscow Mule. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 2: Order another Moscow Mule. Maybe a margarita, too. Eat some soft serve. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 3: Get off the ship to look at whales and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 4: See Day 2.
• Day 5: Get off the ship to visit a winery and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 6: Fly back to the drizzle. Read my work email. Plan the next cruise. 

Sounds like a nice vacation to me. All I need is sunscreen, a few Kindle books, and a recommendation for a churros stand in Cabo.

Best Cruise Critic Post EVER!

From: A fellow Seattleite

[Diver2014]

7 minutes ago, PianoGary said:

Best Cruise Critic Post EVER!

From: A fellow Seattleite

 

I'll second that!  from a former Bothell - ite.  Note: it was not hard to make the move from Seattle to Miami (via California).  Seattle is lovely but WET!

Edited November 19, 2019 by Diver2014

[cruisekitty22]

Love this post too.

[CruiseMH]

21 hours ago, need2cruisesoon said:

Looking at 5 day cruises out of LA.

 

Joy itinerary a joke, more time in Ensenada than Cabo. By the time you tender to port you'll need to do a Uturn and head back to the ship, fail.

 

I'll sail the Royal Princess (Feb '20) and get an overnight in Cabo and no Ensenada....

If you don`t like it,just ignore it.

If everybody here would open a thread for an itenary he finds useless the board would be flooded.

 

 

[hallux]

Thinking about it realistically - there aren't a whole lot of itinerary options if you're looking for a 5-day from LA.  At top speed (on the Bliss and Joy that's about 23 knots) they can make it LA-Cabo in 36 hours with a little time to spare - I was on the Bliss and they had her all-out for most of the 36 hours from Cabo to LA, I was curious and checked a couple times using a GPS app on my phone that reports position and speed.  What is there between Cabo and LA, just Ensenada isn't it?  Not too much in the way of options there.

 

[need2cruisesoon]

22 minutes ago, hallux said:

Thinking about it realistically - there aren't a whole lot of itinerary options if you're looking for a 5-day from LA.  At top speed (on the Bliss and Joy that's about 23 knots) they can make it LA-Cabo in 36 hours with a little time to spare - I was on the Bliss and they had her all-out for most of the 36 hours from Cabo to LA, I was curious and checked a couple times using a GPS app on my phone that reports position and speed.  What is there between Cabo and LA, just Ensenada isn't it?  Not too much in the way of options there.

 

 

San Diego would be a better option...

[Sweetnspicy]

On 11/18/2019 at 4:25 PM, coastcat said:

I’m booked on this cruise. Many people apparently shared your viewpoint as NCL has been discounting it heavily until recently. I received a good solo cruiser discount, balcony, all the Free At Sea stuff, and an extra $50 ShoreEx. So here’s the plan.

 

• Day 0: Fly from Seattle where, by that point, it’s been 4 months of gray drizzle and I’ve become soggy and translucent.
• Day 1: Board the Joy. Order a Moscow Mule. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 2: Order another Moscow Mule. Maybe a margarita, too. Eat some soft serve. Bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 3: Get off the ship to look at whales and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 4: See Day 2.
• Day 5: Get off the ship to visit a winery and eat churros. Get back on the ship and bask in the not-Seattle weather. Have dinner with wine. Ignore my work email.
• Day 6: Fly back to the drizzle. Read my work email. Plan the next cruise. 

Sounds like a nice vacation to me. All I need is sunscreen, a few Kindle books, and a recommendation for a churros stand in Cabo.

yep! Already super soggy on the Kitsap peninsula!! I would gladly take this 5 day cruise!