Wine tours in Ensenada

Hello all. My wife and I are booked on a Princess excursion to Bodegas de Santo Tomas this month. I was just reading some reviews on TripAdvisor that make it seem like you go to a tasting room, not a winery, and it really wasn't that great. But it's hard to tell how many of these people took a cruise excursion and how many went on another kind of tour or just drove there.

Has anyone been on the Princess or other cruise line excursion to this winery? Is the cost of the tasting included? How about the other Princess tour that goes to two other wineries? Any impressions to share? We leave in a week. This tour does have the advantage of being cheap ($29) and so are we (cheap).

Jim

I was unexpectedly pleased with this tour. We visited two wineries, had a tour, tasting, and free bottle of wine at one and snacks at the other. It surprised me to see such a beautiful valley just over the hill from Ensenada.

Hello all. My wife and I are booked on a Princess excursion to Bodegas de Santo Tomas this month. I was just reading some reviews on TripAdvisor that make it seem like you go to a tasting room, not a winery, and it really wasn't that great. But it's hard to tell how many of these people took a cruise excursion and how many went on another kind of tour or just drove there.

 

Has anyone been on the Princess or other cruise line excursion to this winery? Is the cost of the tasting included? How about the other Princess tour that goes to two other wineries? Any impressions to share? We leave in a week. This tour does have the advantage of being cheap ($29) and so are we (cheap).

 

Jim

There are 2 winery tours. The one you are booked is just a tasting room in the city and Riviera del Pacifico (the old casino). You can actually go to these on your own. The Riviera del Pacifico is across the street from the port. I think there is a small entrance fee. You can either walk or take a taxi to the Santo Tomas winery. The winery is about 1 mile from the ship. The address is 666 Av. Miramar.

There is another winery tour that actually goes to 2 wineries. This tour includes a free bottle of wine. Depending on the time of year you go, you might see them processing the grapes.

I have gone on the 2 winery tour.

If you are interested in just tasting wine, then go on the Santo Tomas tour. If you would like to see some of the inner workings of a winery, go on the Casa Dona Lupe, L.A. Cetto and Wine tasting Winery tour.

Dave Miller offers some excellent advice for those that visit Ensenada by cruise ship.

http://davemillersmexico.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/cruising-ensenada-making-the-most-of-your-shore-time/

There are 2 winery tours. The one you are booked is just a tasting room in the city and Riviera del Pacifico (the old casino). ...

Thanks for the info. The Princess tour description states:

"Next, we'll visit Baja California´s oldest, operating winery."

Which appears not to be the case if they go to a city storefront rather than a working winery. Might have to cancel this tour. We're really not interested in the two winery tour because it's twice as much money and my wife couldn't care less about wine.

Jim

Thanks for the info. The Princess tour description states:

 

 

 

"Next, we'll visit Baja California´s oldest, operating winery."

 

 

 

Which appears not to be the case if they go to a city storefront rather than a working winery. Might have to cancel this tour. We're really not interested in the two winery tour because it's twice as much money and my wife couldn't care less about wine.

 

 

 

Jim

La Cetto is a regular winery.

Dona Lupe also sells very good jams, jellies and other stuff.

There are other wine tasting places in Ensenada.

Another option is a tour that goes to the Riviera del Pacifico and the Bufadora.

Just wanted to wrap this up, in case someone does a search, finds this thread and doesn't get an answer.

We took this excursion (Princess tour to Bodegas de Santo Tomas and Riviera del Pacifico) on Oct. 15, 2014. We enjoyed the tour overall, but I think it had a lot to do with the tour guide, Belen. She was great. Local, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and informative.

My concern is that the tour description on the Princess website, repeated in the onboard brochures, still says you "visit Baja California's oldest operating winery." You do not go to a winery; you go to a tasting room in Ensenada, not a winery.

I told a guy at the shore excursions desk a couple days later that I thought this was not quite being straight with us, and he didn't seem to understand that it's kind of like being promised a trip to a dairy and being taken instead to a Safeway, where you could buy some milk.

Jim

Just wanted to wrap this up, in case someone does a search, finds this thread and doesn't get an answer.

 

We took this excursion (Princess tour to Bodegas de Santo Tomas and Riviera del Pacifico) on Oct. 15, 2014. We enjoyed the tour overall, but I think it had a lot to do with the tour guide, Belen. She was great. Local, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and informative.

 

My concern is that the tour description on the Princess website, repeated in the onboard brochures, still says you "visit Baja California's oldest operating winery." You do not go to a winery; you go to a tasting room in Ensenada, not a winery.

 

I told a guy at the shore excursions desk a couple days later that I thought this was not quite being straight with us, and he didn't seem to understand that it's kind of like being promised a trip to a dairy and being taken instead to a Safeway, where you could buy some milk.

 

Jim

Of course, what you say is totally correct. We've been to the Santo Tomas tasting room, on our own by walking the several blocks. It's just a tasting room. We've also done the winery valley tour three times...........much nicer time, plus we keep finding that we're taking more wine home than we started the cruise with???

The "cultural center," which is a short walk from the cruise terminal does not have a charge to enter, although the "museum" located inside the center does charge a nominal entrance fee. We enjoy visiting here, plus the "craft stalls" in the plaza are nice. Also, there is a very nice art center immediately across the road from the cultural center. No fee to enter the art center.