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

[disneyfaninaz]

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

Thank you so much for reading! Yes, we will be on the Dream for the eastbound transatlantic in May. I am looking forward to being on a new ship (for us)! I will definitely be doing a trip report for that cruise!

Yes, DD was very excited to be back on a Disney ship after 3 1/2 years (I was too)! She's hoping to cruise on the Wish sometime while she's in Florida!

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

 

[bcwife76]

This was fun to follow along! Enjoy your TA in May! We were actually booked on the 11 night you took in 2022 but we changed it to the 11 night this August.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

This was fun to follow along! Enjoy your TA in May! We were actually booked on the 11 night you took in 2022 but we changed it to the 11 night this August.

Thanks! I hope your 11-night is as awesome as ours was!

 

[cmph]

Great report! I'm sorry you didn't get to go to Catalina Island. That's one of the reasons my daughter and I chose this same itinerary. I'll be bummed if we miss, but I'm sure we'll make the best of it, just like you!

In general, how was the motion on the ship? Kind of a weird question, but the worst I've ever experienced was a Mexican Riviera out of LA. However, it went to Mazatlan, Cabo, and Puerto Vallerta, and this was long enough ago that I can't remember at what point in the cruise the motion got bad enough to make me sick.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Great report! I'm sorry you didn't get to go to Catalina Island. That's one of the reasons my daughter and I chose this same itinerary. I'll be bummed if we miss, but I'm sure we'll make the best of it, just like you!

In general, how was the motion on the ship? Kind of a weird question, but the worst I've ever experienced was a Mexican Riviera out of LA. However, it went to Mazatlan, Cabo, and Puerto Vallerta, and this was long enough ago that I can't remember at what point in the cruise the motion got bad enough to make me sick.

I think the motion on the way to Cabo is more noticeable than the motion from Ensenada. This may be because on the way to Cabo the Wonder was going 22 knots and on the way from Ensenada to San Diego the ship was going 6.5 knots. Makes a huge difference. That being said there was more motion than many people were "enjoying" on our first sea day out of San Diego on the way to Cabo. I'd rank it as more than Alaska, less than a Transatlantic or Pacific sailing to Hawaii.

 

[cmph]

I think the motion on the way to Cabo is more noticeable than the motion from Ensenada. This may be because on the way to Cabo the Wonder was going 22 knots and on the way from Ensenada to San Diego the ship was going 6.5 knots. Makes a huge difference. That being said there was more motion than many people were "enjoying" on our first sea day out of San Diego on the way to Cabo. I'd rank it as more than Alaska, less than a Transatlantic or Pacific sailing to Hawaii.

Thanks! The speed aspect definitely makes sense. I just couldn't place in my memory when exactly everyone got sick, so I wasn't sure if it was the waters themselves in the shared transit zone both routes would have. I will be prepared, in any case, but I wanted to forewarn DD if necessary. She hasn't been on anything really rocky yet.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Great report! I'm sorry you didn't get to go to Catalina Island. That's one of the reasons my daughter and I chose this same itinerary. I'll be bummed if we miss, but I'm sure we'll make the best of it, just like you!

In general, how was the motion on the ship? Kind of a weird question, but the worst I've ever experienced was a Mexican Riviera out of LA. However, it went to Mazatlan, Cabo, and Puerto Vallerta, and this was long enough ago that I can't remember at what point in the cruise the motion got bad enough to make me sick.

Most of the motion we felt was due to a weather disturbance coming in from the Pacific. I don't recall a lot of motion on our PC cruise as we headed towards Cabo.

 

[CTCruiser221]

Thanks for the trip report. We are on the same itinerary next week. I know it wasn’t the best weather, and it probably will be pretty similar for us too. Can you tell me how crowded were the pools, both family and adult, if anyone actually used them? I would imagine they heat the pools, but this will be my first winter cruise.

Also, was Avatar the main stage show on Ensenada night? Are fireworks usually that early (around 7:30pm I think you said)? I want to say my other cruises had fireworks after the pirate show, maybe around 9pm or even 10pm? But that was a few years ago, pre-Covid, and probably when it gets darker later on the summertime cruises.

Any tips for embarkation? We have an 11:15am port arrival time too. Will there be lots of waiting in line outdoors? Or if we are early enough, did they let people inside to wait it out in the indoor waiting area?

Thanks again for your insight!

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Thanks for the trip report. We are on the same itinerary next week. I know it wasn’t the best weather, and it probably will be pretty similar for us too. Can you tell me how crowded were the pools, both family and adult, if anyone actually used them? I would imagine they heat the pools, but this will be my first winter cruise.

The pools are all dependent on the weather for your cruise. On my cruise it was a lot of families with small children and I've never seen the adult pool area of the ship so empty. There was never anyone there. Family area was super busy on the warmer days mid day through just before first dinner seating. It would empty out at dinner and never fill back up.

Also, was Avatar the main stage show on Ensenada night? Are fireworks usually that early (around 7:30pm I think you said)? I want to say my other cruises had fireworks after the pirate show, maybe around 9pm or even 10pm? But that was a few years ago, pre-Covid, and probably when it gets darker later on the summertime cruises.

The fireworks show started at 7:30pm with the actual fireworks happening closer to 8:00pm.

Any tips for embarkation? We have an 11:15am port arrival time too. Will there be lots of waiting in line outdoors? Or if we are early enough, did they let people inside to wait it out in the indoor waiting area?

Thanks again for your insight!

Embarkation..... well it's a zoo at San Diego. People get there and line up hours and hours early for their cruise. Unless you have a reason to want to be into the port area early ( upgrades, first to board the ship to change dining reservations, etc) I would recommend you arrive 10-15 minutes before your PAT. There will be a line, you will stand in it, it is outdoors. But if you arrive 45 minutes before, you will be standing out for those 45 minutes with no shade, no seats, nothing. Arrive just before your PAT and if you don't see a sign for your arrival time, just go to the employee at the front area and explain you are there for your PAT time of 11:15, and they will let you in once the port area can take more people.

I arrived right on time for my PAT, and they had already let our group in, so we had to wait around 5-10 minutes to be let into the port area. It's a crowded metal building with no charm and you just shuffle through one line after another until you get to the waiting area or directly onboard the ship.

If they are going to allow people in early to sit inside and wait it would be the 11:00am and the 11:15 am, so there is a chance they might. I saw huge lines of people lined up at 10:00am for their 11:00 and 11:15am PAT and to me it's just not worth it to stand there in line for an hour to then get let in to sit in a metal building until they start boarding the ship. Get a coffee and enjoy the port area instead.

 

[pelequeen]

I’ll be on the Mar 12 cruise too. Will be curious to see if the change to daylight savings time will change when the fireworks happen (Ie later than 8pm)

Google says San Diego sunset will be 6:54 pm.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Thanks for the trip report. We are on the same itinerary next week. I know it wasn’t the best weather, and it probably will be pretty similar for us too. Can you tell me how crowded were the pools, both family and adult, if anyone actually used them? I would imagine they heat the pools, but this will be my first winter cruise.

Also, was Avatar the main stage show on Ensenada night? Are fireworks usually that early (around 7:30pm I think you said)? I want to say my other cruises had fireworks after the pirate show, maybe around 9pm or even 10pm? But that was a few years ago, pre-Covid, and probably when it gets darker later on the summertime cruises.

Any tips for embarkation? We have an 11:15am port arrival time too. Will there be lots of waiting in line outdoors? Or if we are early enough, did they let people inside to wait it out in the indoor waiting area?

Thanks again for your insight!

The pools were pretty busy on the Ensenada day as we were docked and it was sunny. I didn't notice the other days.

Avatar was shown in the Buena Vista Theater and the Walt Disney Theater because it had just premiered. Not sure if they are still showing it in the theater or not. They might be showing Antman now. Check your app.

Yes, the Pirate Party is now held between dining times so 7:30 will be the time for fireworks.

I wouldn't get there too much before your PAT. You have to wait outside to wait regardless how early you get there. Once they let our time in, it went pretty efficiently after that.

 

[ambula603]

Loved reading this report as I am about to book this cruise for next April! I had one question - did you like your room location? I am looking at getting 7096. We had 7050 on the Magic last month and it was great, but this room is about 500 dollars cheaper because it is more aft.

I don't mind a little bit of rocking at night (in fact, I like that it puts me to sleep!) but we have always stayed mid-ship so I am wondering if it will be much different.

Thanks!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Loved reading this report as I am about to book this cruise for next April! I had one question - did you like your room location? I am looking at getting 7096. We had 7050 on the Magic last month and it was great, but this room is about 500 dollars cheaper because it is more aft.

I don't mind a little bit of rocking at night (in fact, I like that it puts me to sleep!) but we have always stayed mid-ship so I am wondering if it will be much different.

Thanks!!

We have always sailed in this part of the ship on either the Wonder or the Magic, either on the 6th or 7th deck. We love the location. I have never stayed midship so I can't compare the motions, but the rocking and thruster vibrations do not bother us at all.

 

[ambula603]

We love the location.

Awesome, thank you for your feedback! I applied our placeholder to this cruise for next April! Let the countdown begin!

 

[chuff88]

I will say this about trivia events. There was one team onboard this cruise that you dreaded seeing at every event because they won all but 1 event that I participated in. They almost always got all the questions right or only 1 wrong. It just seems like you have to be able to score 100% anymore to win. I also noticed a lot of ties with teams getting all of the questions right. I enjoy challenging myself on what I know, and it is nice to win every once in a while, but when 1 team wins everything, it’s kind of discouraging. They even had new medals with characters rather than the black Mickey head. Anyway, I’ve been on cruises before where a team that won a lot would offer the medal to the next highest scorer. This was not the case on this cruise that I saw.

I was on the 4/23 sailing on the Wonder and we had a group like this on our cruise. They were at every 18+ trivia and they always won and almost always got every questions right. We went to a lot of trivia at the start of the cruise, and I consider myself good at trivia (at one time I was in the active contestant pool to be on Jeopardy and my team wins at our local trivia probably every 3rd or 4th time we go), and we were never fewer than 2-3 questions off from a perfect score. At one of them, hosted by Mallory (I really think that was her name...), we lost on a tiebreaker for the second time in a row at a trivia she hosted and she gave us the luggage tags as a prize anyway, which was very kind of her and appreciated. I also think the other team might have been the same one that beat us in the previous tiebreaker (not the always winning group) and asked her to share the prize.

I haven't been on a ton of DCL cruises, the one in April was our 3rd, but this was the first time I had this experience at trivia and I also found it very frustrating. We were on a 7-night Caribbean cruise in December 2021 where a husband and wife team won at least 2 of the music decades trivias, but I think they only got a perfect score once and they were also a very sweet couple who clearly were playing in a way that was sportsmanlike and they just genuinely did better than everyone else. This group in April were very smug and clearly went in expecting to win, which made it all the more frustrating. I could kind of sense that the crew suspected something was going on that was maybe not in the spirit of polite competition, but I also think they couldn't really do anything.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I was on the 4/23 sailing on the Wonder and we had a group like this on our cruise. They were at every 18+ trivia and they always won and almost always got every questions right. We went to a lot of trivia at the start of the cruise, and I consider myself good at trivia (at one time I was in the active contestant pool to be on Jeopardy and my team wins at our local trivia probably every 3rd or 4th time we go), and we were never fewer than 2-3 questions off from a perfect score. At one of them, hosted by Mallory (I really think that was her name...), we lost on a tiebreaker for the second time in a row at a trivia she hosted and she gave us the luggage tags as a prize anyway, which was very kind of her and appreciated. I also think the other team might have been the same one that beat us in the previous tiebreaker (not the always winning group) and asked her to share the prize.

I haven't been on a ton of DCL cruises, the one in April was our 3rd, but this was the first time I had this experience at trivia and I also found it very frustrating. We were on a 7-night Caribbean cruise in December 2021 where a husband and wife team won at least 2 of the music decades trivias, but I think they only got a perfect score once and they were also a very sweet couple who clearly were playing in a way that was sportsmanlike and they just genuinely did better than everyone else. This group in April were very smug and clearly went in expecting to win, which made it all the more frustrating. I could kind of sense that the crew suspected something was going on that was maybe not in the spirit of polite competition, but I also think they couldn't really do anything.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. It's really a shame what the trivia games are turning into. DCL needs to redo all of their trivia questions. Too much repetition on the cruises results in more opportunities for unfair competition.

 

[chuff88]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. It's really a shame what the trivia games are turning into. DCL needs to redo all of their trivia questions. Too much repetition on the cruises results in more opportunities for unfair competition.

Yeah, I think that's really the issue - they haven't written new trivia in a while so regular cruisers with good memories can get perfect scores just because they've already done them. The music decades in particular I don't think have been refreshed. We love going to those and try not to miss them, and I definitely got some right this time because I remembered them from previous cruises (though still not well enough to get a perfect score...)

 

[NAB]

Yeah, I think that's really the issue - they haven't written new trivia in a while so regular cruisers with good memories can get perfect scores just because they've already done them. The music decades in particular I don't think have been refreshed. We love going to those and try not to miss them, and I definitely got some right this time because I remembered them from previous cruises (though still not well enough to get a perfect score...)

So true I even wrote this on our comment card. The couple we were sitting with was filling out their card even before we started. She was looking stuff on her phone before too.

 

[chuff88]

So true I even wrote this on our comment card. The couple we were sitting with was filling out their card even before we started. She was looking stuff on her phone before too.

Even if there weren't prizes this wouldn't sit right with me and would really put me off. It's really gross to me that people take something fun and a little competitive and suck the air right out of it by violating the honor system.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

So true I even wrote this on our comment card. The couple we were sitting with was filling out their card even before we started. She was looking stuff on her phone before too.

That's awful! Also, they tend to be in groups of more than 4. They win so many times they can spread the 4 medels they get out.