Ensenada Gold Coast Tour Excursion??

We will be on the carnival elation cruise 6-9-08, and we booked the gold coast tour for 6 of us. Has anyone been on this excursion? Does it seem safe? I have read some reviews of other excursions and they arent that great from ensenada. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

and happy sailing!!

Scenic Gold Coast Tour

As you pass through the outskirts of Ensenada, your guide will provide information regarding the history of the area. Along the way you will have a close-up look at a major earthquake fault where the road is continuously shifting and being redirected. As the tour continues along the coast you will have alternating views of verdant mountain plateau and dramatic ocean cliffs. After a 60-minute ride, the tour will arrive at a resort overlooking the ocean in an area called the "Gold Coast of Baja California." Here you will enjoy a complimentary beverage as well as a beautiful photo stop at the beautiful viewpoint. On the return trip to Ensenada enjoy a 45 minute stop at one of the finest beach resorts in the area with an included beverage as well as a photo stop at our beautiful view point. Finally, you'll visit ensenada's main shopping district and its many shops offering everything from Mexican handicrafts to imported merchandise, or you can return directly to the ship for lunch. Approximately 3 ½ hours.

This is how carnvial describes it in there brochure.

I was just curious if anyone has done this yet? And what it might be like.

MTCruiser, I know you posted this a while back and there weren't any replies, but I'm interested in booking this tour also. I was wondering if you indeed went and how was it? Would you recommend it?

I too am interested in doing this tour as it seems a chance to get out of town and the tourist traps and have a look about -

Its also only $29 p.p

Is there a chance for a swim?

The Rosarito Beach tour looks as those it could be a bit raunchy for my husband and I

we live in san diego, and have driven to ensenada many times; not nice. But we took a cruise ship and a self guided walking tour of the nearby shops was great. I think your tour sounds nice, but I would take an hour or so to also visit Fausto Polanco furniture and art store. It is the most unusual and beautiful mexican furniture and art you could ever imagine, and it is only a few moments walk from the port. Here is a link. And being a guy, I'm real picky about taggin along with Sofi shopping, and this is wild stuff. Gives you a great taste of extremely custom mexican art and furniture. Got a few great small custom artsy xmas gifts cheap. GREAT!

http://www.faustopolanco.com.mx/sitio.html

I did this tour January 2008 with a friend when sailing on the Carnival Paradise. It was pretty foggy, so we couldn't see most of the things advertised. Most of this tour involves sitting on a bus or stopping where people are selling things, so if you don't like that, you probably won't appreciate a lot about this tour. I enjoyed the things I learned and getting to hang out at the resort, although it was brief.

It sounds like the tour is a little different as we had time to eat at the resort (the food was good). I really liked the resort, which is probably why it was the most memorable to me. Nothing fancy, but the food was good and I liked getting to go out and see the ocean. It was pretty cold when I was there, but they do have a beach at the resort, so I would imagine you can swim if you want to, but in 45 minutes, I'm not sure how much you would be able to enjoy it.

As far as being a "safe" tour, you spend a lot of time on the bus and a little time in other places where there would normally be other tourists, so in comparison to other tours I've been on, I don't see much opportunity for something bad to happen.

One thing, if you go on this tour, we stopped at the viewpoint, which had a restroom. Bring your own TP or whatever just in case...

If I had this to do over again, I personally would not do it, but I hate sitting still...especially on vacation. I might have enjoyed it more if I could enjoy the scenery, but like I said, if you don't like sitting on the bus for your excursion, you probably wouldn't enjoy it too much. If you enjoy scenery and it is not foggy, and you are cool with hanging out on a bus, then you would probably really enjoy this excursion.

I hope this helps anyone interested, I will try to remember to check back, so if you have additional questions, feel free to ask.

Reading these threads makes me wonder why the cruise shpis even stop in Ensenada. We were there years ago with our kids and it was pretty boring--nothing to do at all that I can remember. We are planning another trip to take our 6 year old grandson--maybe we better just stay on the ship. I was hoping SOME fun tour would have popped up by now but I guess that's a pipe dream!~

Cathy