Cruising from Ensenada Transportation?

I posted this question on the Ports of Call Board but maybe I'll have better luck here. :confused: I'm looking at a cruise to Hawaii embarking in Ensenada. Has anyone done this? How are you getting to the port from home? I don't see an airport nearby. I live in SoCal but I really don't want to drive there. Driving through Tijuana gives me the willies! Thanks!

I don't how RCCL will do it, but assume they will provide buses (for a cost) to take people down from San Diego. Carnival did this on a couple of cruises over the last couple of years.

I just read about this trip today.....a reverse of what we did in 1997 same ship. On that trip, there were close to 50 buses that made the trip north, with many going through to LAX and others to SAN. We would never do it in that direction again, as the delay crossing the border was 'hours long'.

edit: I remember Celebrity Solstice did the same thing in 2012 (?). I will do a little research to see if there is anything on one of the rollcalls.

From what I've read, most cruise lines starting or disembarking in Ensenada provide bus transportation to/from San Diego. Try reading the fine print and looking at the Port of Call on the website, or call the cruise line or your TA and ask about transportation. The experiences I've read about on various trip reviews have been very mixed - some horrible and some no problem at all. Transportation from San Diego to Ensenada seems to be a less problematic trip than the reverse, as it's generally easier/faster to go through border checks into Mexico than into the US. You can also try a search on the Celebrity forum, as at one time they were doing a lot of the Ensenada trips and there were long threads about the bus trips.

Found the rollcall from 2013: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1641153

Almost 4000 messages on it, so you will have some good reading. There is a lot of talk about the transfers, and talk about having to clear customs at Hilo.

Thanks both for the reply! And I'll see you Dave on the Jewel! :D

We did this trip a few years ago. We took Amtrak to San Diego, the blue line trolly to the border , and a bus from TJ to Ensenada.

We did the Hawaiian trip out of LA our last three cruises. We did have the PVSA stop in Ensenada, but most of the passengers (I can safely estimate it as over 80 percent) stayed on board in that port. Probably most of them, like us, have been in Ensenada many times on the Baja cruises. Personally I would rather do fewer cruises if it means never having to step on to Ensenada land.

I wouldn't mind trying out a Vancouver to Hawaii or vice versa cruise one day, though.