Our Wonderful “Graduation” 4-Night Baja (Catalina Island) Cruise ~ w/ pics ~January 2023 ~ Completed 01/22!

[lorimay]

We were on these cruises with you! The entire reason for me to book these was for Catalina Island. I was so bummed to miss this port.
BUT: We were up in Cove Cafe when I saw the tender boats approaching and the way they were rocking back and forth, I panicked...... OMG the way they were tilting side to side. I said to myself, "self you're not going to do well on that tender."
I was sad and so relieved when the Captain came on and said, it's not safe.
Cruises were great, but Catalina back on the bucket list......

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We were on these cruises with you! The entire reason for me to book these was for Catalina Island. I was so bummed to miss this port.
BUT: We were up in Cove Cafe when I saw the tender boats approaching and the way they were rocking back and forth, I panicked...... OMG the way they were tilting side to side. I said to myself, "self you're not going to do well on that tender."
I was sad and so relieved when the Captain came on and said, it's not safe.
Cruises were great, but Catalina back on the bucket list......

Yep, I had a feeling when I saw the waves and felt the wind. As DNeighbor says, now we just have an excuse to visit on our own!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 4
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Ensenada, Mexico





We had no plans to get off of the ship today. While we weren’t getting off of the ship, it was nice not to be rocking for the day.

Sorry to those that were looking forward to information on Ensenada. I will tell you that our DNeighbors did the City and Shopping Tour (EN01) through DCL. They enjoyed a margarita and a too quick stop to a winery. They did purchase some wine and olive oil. The wine was taken by DCL upon boarding and DNeighbors were able to retrieve it before getting off the ship in San Diego. They did lunch on their own in the city. Overall, they enjoyed their time ashore.

I woke up before 6:00 AM, partly because I knew DD was up prior to 6 to try to obtain a parking pass for her DCP with help from a friend back home, and partly because our room was really creaking. She was successful! Which meant there was no going back to sleep!

At 6:30 am, since we were up anyway, we went out on the verandah and saw this amazing sunrise.



We also saw a small dolphin swimming alongside the ship. DH went to the top decks to see us move towards Ensenada where he got even more stunning photos of the sunrise.



DD headed to the Cove for a coffee and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the verandah. It was a little chilly, but nice to see smooth seas, albeit a bit cloudy with a chance of rain later, but clear for now.







Unfortunately, we had a connecting room and could hear our neighbors pretty well through the walls. Our neighbor was coughing the whole trip. When she came out on her verandah, I went back inside. (Unlike our last cruise, we’ve been home over a week and we didn’t get Covid!)

DD was doing her own thing, so at 8:00 AM, DH and I headed down to Triton’s for breakfast. It was very quiet, no chaos like at Cabanas! Breakfast was nice, I had the French Toast. I love that they put cinnamon sugar on the slices.

Afterwards, we went up to Cove Café and sat outside in the nice comfy chairs and read. Since we had wireless service in Mexico, I caught up with my social media. The Captain announced that because another cruise ship had cancelled their stop in Ensenada, that we were able to extend our all aboard time until 5:00 PM.

As I was sitting there, DH texted me that another ship was coming in. Shortly thereafter The Regent Seven Seas Splendor came in to dock.



Eventually DD met up with me so I joined her while she had some pizza at 10:45. A trip to Daisy's was in order so I could get some fruit and chocolate chip cookies. DD also ordered a Pina Colava. She had wanted to try one. It was 5:00 somewhere, right?

I like to get a picture of the mast with the country’s flag that we are visiting.



At about 11:30, I caught up with DH and we went to Pete's Broiler for some lunch. Then some ice cream cones for dessert.

As I was heading to the D Lounge, I passed through Shutters. I had pre-purchased a 10 photo download package before the cruise. I really didn’t want the prints, but I knew I wanted our embarkation photos of this cruise. There was no one there to talk to about how to obtain my photos, but I did find this sign.



I later did talk to one of the photographers and it was very easy to come home after the cruise and download my photos through the Disney Photopass site. All of my photos were there and I just picked the 10 I wanted to download. Once I reached my limit, it simply wouldn’t let me download anymore. A few of the photos even had the frame around them from one of the restaurants. What a big improvement over previous years where you had to get our photos before you got off of the ship!

At about 12:00 I headed down to the D Lounge to meet DD for Marvel Trivia @ 12:15. Molly hosted again. DD is a big MCU fan and has seen all of the movies multiple times. This trivia was more comic based (I mean specific edition numbers) than movies, so she didn’t do so well. DD was very discouraged.



After Marvel trivia we went down to sit in what became our favorite place on the ship, the French Quarter Lounge. I just love the theming of this location. We hung out, ordered beignets and read.







At 3:00 pm it was back up to the D Lounge for Disney Trivia. We got 17/20, but lost to the same team.

After trivia, DH texted me that he had met up with our DNeighbors, who had returned from their excursion in Ensenada. They were at the Signals Bar in the comfy seats. I went up to Signals to meet them. They had struck up a conversation with one of the Beverage Service officers. He made them his special margarita, and stayed to make me one as well. I don’t know what was in it, but it was good.



I guess all the guests were on board, because we started to leave port around 4:45 PM. One of the things I remember most about our last trip to Ensenada was the sea lions at the end of the pier. They were both a welcoming and farewell committee. Evidently, they are regulars and bark all day long.







And we saw the beautiful sunset.





Tonight we were eating dinner at Palo’s at 6:00 pm. This is one thing DD didn’t get to do on our last cruise, so this was her celebration meal. Alexandru from Romania was our server. He was fantastic and very helpful. We were surprised by our MDR servers when they sent us a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate DD's graduation. It was a very nice gesture!

Alex started us with our small taste (amuse bouche), fried gnocchi in a mushroom sauce. Very good.



We decided on Heirloom Tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella Caprese and Fritto de Calamari e Gamberi for the table as our appetizers. I got the single fried shrimp since I don’t care for calamari.

Alex was able to recommend an excellent red wine blend for the table. DD and I ordered the Osso Buco, which was simply divine. It was so tender it fell off of the bone and the risotto was so good! DD enjoyed it very much as well. But, the piece de resistance was dessert. No, we couldn’t resist the Chocolate Soufflé.



DD said it was good as I claimed it to be and was not disappointed.

After our after dinner shot of lemon sorbet, Prosecco and apple brandy, we were wondering if we would be in time to see the fireworks from the pirate party. Then lo and behold, we looked above us and there they were. We had a perfect view from our seats through the windows at the back of Palo.






It wasn't a perfect view, but it was a nice surprise.

DH and DNM decided they were going to go see Avatar the Way of Water in the WDW Theater. DH was going to relax in our room. After rolling ourselves out of Palo, DNC, DD and I decided to meet at the Crown & Fin to play some games. It was very quiet there (no crowds or trivia games) and we were able to snag a cozy booth to play our dice games. We could definitely hear the roaring of the movie from the pub. DD confirmed it is a very loud movie.

After a few games, we did some shopping. I was not impressed with the cruise merchandise again this cruise. I mean come on, WDW is releasing new 50th anniversary stuff every 3 months, DL already has Disney 100 Anniversary merchandise, yet DCL hasn’t gotten anything new in a year! They had nothing for 2023. Still no specific ship pins, but I found a generic one I liked. I’m really hoping DCL steps up their game for the 25th anniversary sailings this summer!

We headed up to room for bed after that.



Next: Last Sea Day

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Love your TRs! Congratulations to dd that’s so cool about the college program! We loved the French lounge on the wonder! There was a female singer who played the piano that performed there this last summer she was great! We also loved the d lounge and agree about trivia we will never win but we have fun. Sorry about Catalina that’s on my list of cool places to visit.

 

[bcwife76]

You certainly had a nicer day in Ensenada than we did, ours was chilly, rainy and windy. We had no plans to get off the ship anyway but I would have liked to have done more on the outside decks. Beautiful photos though!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Love your TRs! Congratulations to dd that’s so cool about the college program! We loved the French lounge on the wonder! There was a female singer who played the piano that performed there this last summer she was great! We also loved the d lounge and agree about trivia we will never win but we have fun. Sorry about Catalina that’s on my list of cool places to visit.

Thanks for reading! DD is very excited to return to WDW and hopefully start a fulltime career with the Walt Disney Company. They had a duo perform in the FQ Lounge on this cruise. We were always passing by on the way to dinner or a show while they were performing.

You certainly had a nicer day in Ensenada than we did, ours was chilly, rainy and windy. We had no plans to get off the ship anyway but I would have liked to have done more on the outside decks. Beautiful photos though!

Thanks! Yes, Ensenada day was about the only time I ventured outside. The other days were too cold, windy and rainy.

 

[pelequeen]

Enjoyed reading about Ensenada day. I know you were finishing up at Palo, but what time would you estimate the fireworks went off at?

I feel like I’ve been hearing 8ish.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Enjoyed reading about Ensenada day. I know you were finishing up at Palo, but what time would you estimate the fireworks went off at?

I feel like I’ve been hearing 8ish.

Yes, the fireworks were at about 8. The Pirate party started at 7:30 PM between dining times.

 

[greensombrero]

Wow those sunrise and sunset pictures are great! That will be my Ensenada takeaway from your tr, check the skies for good pictures morning and night. We sail there in March.

Thank you for the TR!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Wow those sunrise and sunset pictures are great! That will be my Ensenada takeaway from your tr, check the skies for good pictures morning and night. We sail there in March.

Thank you for the TR!

Grey whale season is December through April in Ensenada. If you leave Ensenada early enough, don't forget to watch for whales. We left Ensenada too late and the sun set so early, we could not watch for them.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 4
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Sea Day



The ship rocked us all night and we actually slept in a little. DD was up and about on her own again this morning.

We got up and headed to Cabanas for breakfast at around 8:30 AM.

DNeighbors, DD and myself had a reservation at 9:45 AM for the Princess Gathering so we headed down to the Atrium. The line was just beyond the piano under the staircase outside of Triton’s and someone from the entertainment staff checked us in. Unfortunately, we did see some people turned away because they did not have reservations. The girls got to visit with Ariel, Rapunzel, Tiana and Belle. I have to say that during this cruise, every time we passed through the Atrium or Preludes, the lines for characters were always long, the longest I’ve seen in a long time. Other than the Princess gathering, we didn’t wait for any characters.

Afterwards, we headed to our favorite hangout place, FQ Lounge. We were just going to chill out when they started Villian’s Quote trivia at 10:15. Crystal was the host. We ordered more beignets, DD ordered an Espresso Martini.



Villian’s quote is not our favorite trivia and we only got 28 out of 40. Our main problem was that we forgot to think outside animated villains when 2 of the answers were from Marvel and Star Wars! Doh!

While we were comfortable, we decided to play Family Intuition at 11:00 AM. Basically, it was Scattegories, but as we were told, they can’t call it that because Disney doesn’t own it. We had six categories:

A Hobby
A Term of Endearment
A Disney Character
Somewhere you eat Dinner
Something you Gift your Grandparent
Something you would find on a ship.

Then Crystal gave us a letter. We had K and D. It took a while because she would go around to each team and determine if more than one team had the same answer. We didn’t win, but we enjoyed hearing everybody’s answers.

Then it was lunch at Cabanas because we had a trivia game at 12:15 PM and a tasting at 1:00 PM and wanted something in our stomachs. Cabanas was supposed to open at 11:30, but when we got there at 11:45, it hadn’t opened yet. So we waited a short bit.

At 12:15 pm I headed down to meet DD at the D Lounge for Theme Park Trivia with Katie. DD was really looking forward to this one. We got hung up on the name of the Water Ski Show on the 7 Seas Lagoon in WDW in 1971.

Shortly before 1:00 PM we headed down towards the Cadillac lounge for our Chocolate and Liquor tasting. This would be my 4th, but DD’s first of any kind of tasting onboard a ship.

While we were waiting for our tasting, DD wore her Cast Member 50th Spirit Jersey and had a nice conversation with Hannah, one of the entertainment staff crew members waiting outside Cadillac Lounge for the matinee showing of Dreams about DD’s time at WDW.

We were greeted by Dani the ship’s sommelier from Romania. We had 4 drinks and 4 types of chocolate. The red sparkling wine was paired with white chocolate. The Lassiter red wine blend was paired with dark and milk chocolate. The Tawney Port was paired with a melted chocolate blend of milk and dark chocolate and the Glenmore whiskey was paired with a melted dark chocolate.



The first 2 were delicious. The port was ok, but I couldn’t get through the whiskey.

After the tasting, we decided we should probably pack as we had to have our luggage out in the hall tonight.

After packing, DH and I found ourselves outside Cove Café in the comfy seats. I did some reading.

At 3:15 PM, I headed down to Disney trivia with Crystal in the FQ lounge. I didn’t do so well again.

Everybody joined me at 4:00 PM in the FQ Lounge for another round of the

Spirit & Spirit Game Show. Leah (Canada) and Emily (UK) hosted. Emily was really getting into the game and would shake the giant magic 8 ball they used as prop.

DD won a round and a key chain. Her final question was: “Q is the only letter not used in the United States of America.” Emily had to read the statement a few times for us to understand she meant the names of the States within the United States. DD was the only one who said yes and won!



Next, DD and I headed up to the D Lounge for yet another round of Disney Trivia at 5:00 PM. We watched the end of Mousketeer Madness. I was looking for Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer in the Navigator. I didn’t realize they changed the name.

Maddy was our host for trivia. We did ok, but got stumped on the third name of one of the hitchhiking ghosts.

We felt the ship rocking and rolling all day long. Right before dinner, the Captain came into our stateroom again over the speaker. The weather was not going to get better. We had very high sea swells and about a 30 knot wind, but he anticipated it getting worse overnight so he made the decision to head straight to San Diego and port there overnight.

We saw another beautiful sunset.



During the day, Pande left our tip envelopes in our stateroom. DH was going to add some cash to the envelopes rather than go down to Guest Services but he couldn’t get into the safe. It had been working fine until then. So, we didn’t have our envelopes ready for our servers tonight.

Dinner was again at 5:45 PM, but we were in Tiana's. I love eating at Tiana’s. The guys from the Crawfish Crooners were fantastic and I loved the music!



Tonight I ordered:

Iceberg wedge
Big daddy's roasted prime-rib of beef
Chocolate gateau for dessert

The servers brought a celebration cake for DD's college graduation. It’s the same as the birthday celebration cake with a different chocolate sign. They wished her a very hearty congratulations, I guess there’s no song!



The Mardi Gras party at the end was crowded as there were a lot of kids in the dining room. Jose took DNM in her wheel chair through the line!



After dinner, we all went up to our stateroom to finish packing and get our clothes out for the next day. DD and I went down to the Cadillac Lounge to wait to be let in for Dreams. This is my absolute favorite show and it chokes me up every time I see it.

While I was sitting in one of the deep porthole benches, I overheard an obvious first time guest ask an officer if this rocking and rolling of the ship was the worst they had ever experienced. She was nervous because maintenance crew members were in “ghost buster” outfits stationed throughout the ship. I inserted myself and told her that the rocking really wasn’t that bad and that the crew was just there to clean up any possible seasickness that might occur. I also informed her, in case she missed the announcement, that we would be docked by 10 pm in San Diego. I later had a very nice conversation with the officer about previous cruises I had been and the new ships.

Stephen introduced the show and stated that we had 1000 crew members representing over 60 countries. The show was phenomenal, with the exception of a few technical glitches we weren’t supposed to see! Oops! However, again, the cast was exceptional.

When we first got to our stateroom, the phone was on the nightstand on the side I usually sleep on. I put the phone on the floor so that I would have more room for my stuff and never touched it again. Evidently, I did something because when DH went to call guest services to fix our safe while I was at the show, the phone didn’t work. Being a resourceful person, DH went to use the phone by the elevators, so guest services came by, fixed the phone and opened the safe! DH was able to deal with tips and also got our luggage out in the hallway to be picked up.

After the show, DD and I went up to Cove Café so DD could get one last free drink. DH messaged me that he was on deck 4. I wanted to refill my water bottle on Deck 9, but it wasn’t working so I went down to use the one on Deck 4 and went to look for DH. I didn’t find DH, but I did run into the entire cast making their way to the D Lounge prior to the Till We Meet Again show in the atrium. I told them how awesome they were!

When I got back to the stateroom, we were positioned just outside the San Diego Harbor at Point Loma. We stood on our verandah and watched us make our way to port. What a difference the water was after we passed the point. It was smooth as glass.

It was then time for bed as we had to get up relatively early for breakfast at Tiana’s the next morning at 7:15 AM.



Next: It was short but sweet!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 5
Friday, January 6, 2023
Debarkation – San Diego



We woke up at 6:15 am. I have to say that I missed the ship rocking me to sleep as we were docked all night. It was a beautiful morning in San Diego.





Breakfast was at Tiana's at 7:15 AM. Usually when we have early breakfast, and on longer cruises when we have more stuff, we will arrange to leave our bags in our stateroom and retrieve them after breakfast. It is usually well before 8 when that happens. However, this morning since breakfast was a little later; we took our carry-on bags with us.

We completed the DCL survey form the night before and deposited it in front of Tiana’s. There was quite the line to get in to the restaurant stretching all the way down in front of the FQ Lounge.

I enjoyed the French Toast again this morning. We had a nice talk with Jacqueline since the large table was not there and she had time. She is very sweet. At about 8, we thanked our servers, gave them their envelopes and went up find a table in the FQ lounge. The lounge was full, but we got the last table in the tram car.

We sat for a while waiting for the announcement for our Grey Daisy tag to depart, but did not hear any announcements. DNC, who had walked towards the atrium, said that were posting tags on the screens in the atrium, including ours. After the line cleared for late breakfast in Tritons we made our way to the exit. We saw a lot of groups of people waiting in the atrium to disembark. Some thinking they were in line. We were able to make our way to the exit, scan our KTTW card and get off the ship.

We walked down the gang plank to an elevator. When we got down to the ground floor, I was surprised to see a huge line. It was pretty cold outside as well, as we could see our breath. We probably waited 30 minutes in line to get inside the building, go through border patrol and get our luggage.

Once we retrieved our luggage, we walked out of the terminal. Shuttles and taxies were waiting for people where we dropped off our luggage a few days before. DH went to catch the shuttle to pick up our car. DD and I walked back across the street to our hotel.

DH used to work for a company based in San Diego. He would travel there occasionally for work. He’s been retired for several years now, but keeps in touch with some of “the guys.” We planned to stay an extra night in San Diego instead of immediately driving home so he could get together with them for dinner.

Earlier, I had received an email from the Springhill Suites to check-in that morning for that night, so I did. I told them we would arrive at 9:00 AM. I was expecting just to check our bags and then maybe go to the Zoo for the day until our room was ready.

When I checked in at about 9:20 am, I was pleasantly surprised that our room was ready! Well, that changed our plans for the day. None of us were terribly excited about going to the zoo.

The Diamond Princess was docked by Wonder today.



We ended up going to the Midway Museum and finally saw the back of the ship!



We then had lunch at The Fish Market.

Afterwards, we went back to the room to hang out a bit. At 4:40 PM, DH and I went up to the 5th Floor outside bar at the hotel to watch the Wonder sail away into the sunset. It was about 10 minutes to 5 when they finally pulled away and I heard that wonderful sound of “When You Wish Upon a Star.”







As I was leaving a couple asked me if I had family on the ship sailing away, I told him that we had just gotten off of her that morning. They then asked me about the Disney Cruise Line and I was more than happy to put in a good word and recommend them!

DD and I planned to eat dinner at Miguel's since it was so close to the hotel. Little did we know DH had planned to meet his friends their as well. We walked over a little after 5:00 PM since they didn't take reservations. I already missed the Wonder.



DD and I got a table outside by the pier underneath a heater. We ordered margaritas. I got the Miguel’s Ultimate Margarita.



We also split an order of steak fajitas. It was all very enjoyable. DD ordered Churro’s for dessert and we dropped off the extras to DH as we left the restaurant.

We are looking forward to our transatlantic cruise in May. As I disembarked the ship this morning, I finally reached Platinum status! Therefore, it timed out that I could sign up for tastings and excursions on our transatlantic cruise tonight.

I clocked in right at 9:00 PM MST, but wasn’t allowed to book. I tried on our IPad and I think I tried on my phone but no luck. Our DNeighbor was also booking, so I texted her and she called to let me know what she booked. We hadn’t linked our cruises yet because we knew we’d be on at the same time booking tastings. Anyway, I linked our reservations. All of the sudden, at about 10:00 PST, I could book stuff. Unfortunately, as this cruise is Platinum heavy, some of the tastings DNeighbor had booked were already sold out. So, I booked on a different day. We’ll see what we can arrange once we are onboard.

Next: Heading home and final thoughts.

 

[bcwife76]

Well that doesn't sound like too bad of a disembarkation day. We were late breakfast and after that it was just pure chaos. They never called tags either on our cruise except for one so we just decided to wait til the line went down a bit and finally got in line to get off at around 10:15/10:30 which is ridiculously late!! It was gone 11am before we were getting our luggage (which was pretty easy to find at that point lol).

Sounds like a lovely way to spend the day in San Diego, what a great night for a patio dinner with your DD

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Well that doesn't sound like too bad of a disembarkation day. We were late breakfast and after that it was just pure chaos. They never called tags either on our cruise except for one so we just decided to wait til the line went down a bit and finally got in line to get off at around 10:15/10:30 which is ridiculously late!! It was gone 11am before we were getting our luggage (which was pretty easy to find at that point lol).

Sounds like a lovely way to spend the day in San Diego, what a great night for a patio dinner with your DD

Wow. That is a late time to disembark. After we discovered our tag had been called, we waited until the line for late breakfast went down. When we walked into the atrium I thought the line to get off was really long, all the way to guest services, however, it was just people waiting around in groups, no formal lines. We walked right up to the crew member to get scanned off after we figured that out.

 

[pelequeen]

thanks for the lovely trip report!

Can anyone clarify for a first timer how breakfast works on disembarkation day? I’m seeing early and late breakfast. Is this assigned? Where do you learn this info? I assume there are both seated options and a cabanas option?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

thanks for the lovely trip report!

Can anyone clarify for a first timer how breakfast works on disembarkation day? I’m seeing early and late breakfast. Is this assigned? Where do you learn this info? I assume there are both seated options and a cabanas option?

Thanks for reading! Yes, your final breakfast is assigned and will show up on your navigator app with your dining rotation information. If you have main dining, you will have early breakfast at the same restaurant you ate at the night before. If you have 2nd seating, you will have late breakfast. The time depends on the itinerary. We've had breakfast as early as 6:45 AM before. I have never gone to Cabanas for breakfast the final morning. It is my understanding that Cabanas is an option.

 

[pelequeen]

Thank you for clarifying! What time is considered late seating? We have second seating only March cruise.

 

[NAB]

Thank you for clarifying! What time is considered late seating? We have second seating only March cruise.

Second seating starts at 8:15 . Gives people time to see the first show in the theatre at 6:15. This show is about an hour so you have time to go change or change first and do pictures after show.

We alway have late lunch or snack around 4:00 to make it to 8:15.

The day you leave your seat down breakfast will be 8:00am if you have second dinner.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 6
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Travel – Final Thoughts

We got up and went to breakfast at about 8:30 AM. The breakfast room was completely full so we found a table outside on the 5th floor deck. The Holland America Koningsdam was in port this morning.

After breakfast, we gathered our belongings, checked out and started our 6 hour drive home. This time, the weather was beautiful.

This was our first 4 night cruise. I have to say that it didn’t seem to go by as fast as I thought it would, but I still prefer the longer cruises.

It was nice just to enjoy the ship and not worry about port excursions. I’m looking forward to 6 days in a row at sea in May.

This cruise was a really special way to celebrate our DD’s college graduation with our close friends.

I found the crew to be very personable and the entertainment staff was a lot of fun on this cruise. I found it more relaxing and easier to chat with the crew members on this cruise than in August, which was a nice bonus. As usual, the performers and the shows were phenomenal. The food was a big improvement over the Magic’s in August.

Overall, if you are anywhere near the west coast and would like a relaxing 3, 4 or 5 night cruise, I wouldn’t hesitate recommending Disney’s Baja cruises.

So until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, cruise on and thanks for reading!

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Day 6
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Travel – Final Thoughts

We got up and went to breakfast at about 8:30 AM. The breakfast room was completely full so we found a table outside on the 5th floor deck. The Holland America Koningsdam was in port this morning.

After breakfast, we gathered our belongings, checked out and started our 6 hour drive home. This time, the weather was beautiful.

This was our first 4 night cruise. I have to say that it didn’t seem to go by as fast as I thought it would, but I still prefer the longer cruises.

It was nice just to enjoy the ship and not worry about port excursions. I’m looking forward to 6 days in a row at sea in May.

This cruise was a really special way to celebrate our DD’s college graduation with our close friends.

I found the crew to be very personable and the entertainment staff was a lot of fun on this cruise. I found it more relaxing and easier to chat with the crew members on this cruise than in August, which was a nice bonus. As usual, the performers and the shows were phenomenal. The food was a big improvement over the Magic’s in August.

Overall, if you are anywhere near the west coast and would like a relaxing 3, 4 or 5 night cruise, I wouldn’t hesitate recommending Disney’s Baja cruises.

So until next time, stay safe, stay health, cruise on and thanks for reading!

Aloha! I believe you said you are planning a TransAtlantic cruise in May. We were on the May 13-28, 2017 Eastbound TransAtlantic on the Magic. We loved every minute of it and I am already looking forward to your trip report!! We are going on this Baja cruise this May and we are very grateful for your fun trip report and beautiful pictures!! My favorite is of you and your Disney Daughter, so happy and excited to cruise!! Karen and Ron