Fox Studios Foxploration?

Does anyone have any info on the Fox Studios Foxploration tour from Ensenada? Any tips on what to see and any other helps?

Thanks

Me too, please. We're looking at this shore excursion for our 12/04 Monarch of the Seas 4-day cruise. Has anyone else been on it? And is it fun?

TIA,

Patti

I'm also looking for information for our 6/20/05 cruise. Could really use some info and tips.

We bit the bullet & booked this excursion anyway for our 12/20/04 Monarch of the Seas cruise. So, I'll let you all know when we return how it was.

Happy Sailings!

We are planning to cruise on Monarch also but in Aug 05 so any comments would be great. Thanks and Have Fun.

Sightcrr

I'm curious about this also. I'm booked on the Paradise 5/9/05 and would like to know if I can book this before I go...outside of Carnival. I went on this same cruise last year, and we took the "City Tour and Wine Tasting" .. what a joke!

Thankfully I only paid $20.00 for it...but it was not even worth that. I'm considering the Blow Hole this year but the Fox tour sounds interesting too. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!!

We went in September and it was OK. It had some interesting stuff but nothing spectacular. You start the tour with a movie about the studio and then tour a couple of buildings that have special effects, props, etc. You then visit the set of titanic and the ship for officier and commander (I think that was the name of the movie).

My biggest complaint was that there was really no "free" time to just wander around and look at stuff on your own (the amount of time you have depends on how quickly your group gets through the tour part - our group was kinda slow so we only had about 15 minutes or so).

If you have specific questions I'll try to answer them

Any new updates?

Thanks

Sightcrr

I did this tour in May and I have to agree with the other poster this tour is just ok. If you are a Titanic or a Master and Commander fan then it is worth seeing since they have props from the movie that are interesting, but other than that there isn't much to see. There was an area to look around in that had information on how movie scenes were shot and some props from other movies to check out. Outside there were some cars that were used in movies and while we were there a guy was doing acrobatics. There was a snack area and a gift shop and that was it. I don't think Ensanada is a very good port so it was something to do, but I wouldn't go again. This is one of those tours that I wouldn't recommend, but I wouldn't not recommend it either. Honsetly the best term I can think of to describe it is that it was ok.

We just did the tour on our sailing a couple of weeks ago. The bus ride is about 45 minutes up the coast on a private highway rather than one of the public roads. The private highways are essentially toll roads that are in better condition than public roads. You'll have a view of the ocean the entire trip.

Fox Studio's is in Rosarita Mexico and it's about a 45 minute narrated drive. Our tour guide narrated the ride up and let us sleep, read or just look out the windows on the way back. Once back in Ensenada, we were given the choice of being dropped off in town or back at the ship. You'll have a couple of hours to shop if you want to.

The studio was a very nice tour for the price. There was nothing in production while we were there but it remains available as an active studio. The Titanic set pieces, Planet of the Apes and Master and Commander sets take up a majority of the studio. there is a mock up of the HMS Surprise that you can get up on. There are also several sets from the Titanic that you have access to.

There are sections that teach about special effects and sound effects. The gift shop was lacking in selection as far as I was concerned and was a little expensive. There was a Subway and a couple of other fast food eateries if you feel like you want something to eat while there. Most of the tour is a guided tour with a little free time to wander around on your own.

I'm posting pictures from our trip on my webshots page if you want to see them to get an idea what you'll be seeing. http://community.webshots.com/user/dougp26364

Doug,

Thanks for the info and links to the great photos. For best viewing on the way up with the naration which side of the bus is best? If you did or are doing a cruise review please post a link. How did you get so many good photos without many people? We like to find empty spots with good views to hang out. We go in Aug 05.

Thanks again

Sightcrr

You're heading north going to Fox studio's so sit on the left hand side of the bus.

How did I get picks without so many people in the pictures? That should tell you something about how many people where actually there the day we were. When we arrived, the studio wasn't open yet. It didn't open until 10 AM and we were there at 9:45 AM, so we had to sit for a little while. The only people that were there was our tour bus at that time. There were approx. 50 of us on the tour. Very few individual cars came in while we were there and I think maybe only one other bus came along during that time. I suspect that bus was from the Carnival cruise ship docked in Ensenada.

I'll have to search for my review. It was done long enough ago that it's probably on page 20 by now. The cruise was not what I had hoped for but, it was a 3 nighter to a rather unspectacular port. We were also terribly disappointed in the food on this cruise but, they served the two menu's that neither my wife nor I like, so there wasn't a lot we were going to like about the food, even if it was perfect.

Eat in the dining room for breakfast. The Windjammer ain't all that good but the breakfast we had in the dining room was very good. Unfortunately, we discovered this on disembarkation day.

Doug,

I found your review. Thanks for it and the advice it gives.

Sightcrr

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=123319