Help! First time cruiser to Catalina & Ensenada

[1cruisingal]

We just booked a last minute cruise on the Imagination March 15th. This will be our first time sailing to Catalina & Ensenada. I have a couple of questions that I hope someone who's been there before can help answer.

1)What is the weather like this time of year? Is the water too cold to get in the pool?

2) Is there shopping right off the pier in Mexico like there is in Cozumel? If so, can you find some of the usual items like vanilla, t-shirts, etc??

3) What is recommended to do in Catalina ad Ensenada?

 

Thank you!!

[GradUT]

In Catalina, we took the bus (fare -$1) to the Wrigley Gardens and the hiked the Garden-to-the-Sky trail.  Here’s a link to a very good description of it:  

https://catalinaexpress.com/blog/the-garden-to-sky-hike-a-perfect-island-adventure.html

 

We then ate ice cream, shopped and played Minigolf.

 

Absolutely nothing about Ensenada appealed to us, so we stayed on board and took advantage of the Serenity area, the water slides and no lines for food. 

[Mrs007]

Hi 1cruisingal.  I don’t know if you snuck in under the wire and cruised or if you got canceled. But, Catalina has a few fun things, but mainly shopping and restaurants. I had a great time parasailing on one trip, did the inner island tour one time and saw the buffalo, and a friend said the zip line was pretty good. There is a beach shack at the green pier where you can rent a beach chair and umbrella pretty cheap.  You should probably take beach shoes, it is pretty rocky getting into the water. 
 

a lot of people say they don’t like Ensenada, and it took me a couple of times before I enjoyed it.  But, carnival has a pretty new excursion called “Ultimate Gourmet”. The food was great with lots of tequila at the last stop.  This tour helped me get my bearings for Ensenada and I don’t think I need to book any more excursions since I now know the main shopping/dining strip is about 4 blocks from the ship (an easy walk, cross 1 busy street)

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise.  I can’t wait to get back on a ship again!

[SelectSys]

The weather on the water will unlikely to be very warm - maybe in the  low to mid-60's.  Inland will likely be warmer.  

 

Of course the weather for your trip might be better or worse.  Here are the March 2020 temperatures in Ensenada which is usually a bit nicer than we have in San Diego:

 

https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/Ensenada+Baja+California+Mexico?canonicalCityId=b5a88ebe45b9b1a5f9f7341549feb540d6a6e7dca9120c5a3117fb08cfcb9354

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

The weather on the water will unlikely to be very warm - maybe in the  low to mid-60's.  Inland will likely be warmer.  

 

Of course the weather for your trip might be better or worse.  Here are the March 2020 temperatures in Ensenada which is usually a bit nicer than we have in San Diego:

 

https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/Ensenada+Baja+California+Mexico?canonicalCityId=b5a88ebe45b9b1a5f9f7341549feb540d6a6e7dca9120c5a3117fb08cfcb9354

Pretty sure the OP was planning on going this last March 15, and don't think they went.