Wanderlust Wednesday: Ensenada

A couple of weeks ago we went on a little vacation to Ensenada on the Carnival Imagination. It was a 3 night cruise leaving out of Long Beach, CA. I've been itching to go somewhere but I didn't have much time off so this was just perfect. The cruise started on Thursday and we came back Sunday morning. This would be my 4th cruise and 3rd with Carnival. I've been a big fan of cruises since my very first one because of the convenience. You don't have to worry about lodging, food, or basically anything! Despite getting sea sick on every single one of the cruises I've been on (I took meclizine too!), I was still able to enjoy all of them.

no waiting in a separate line to get our sign and sail cards since our rooms were already ready!

This was the view from our room on the Riviera Deck (Deck 4).

We opted for the beverage program on the ship which was 15 alcoholic beverages (valued at $10 or less) for $50 per day. Each person in that cabin must also enter the beverage program. We weren't able to drink all 15 drinks each day but it was a stress-free way to not have to lug a bunch of alcohol in our luggage.

muster station selfie!

menu on the first night

The towel animals are usually my favorite surprise of any Carnival cruise! You never know what you'll get! On the first night we got this fellow. We think he might be a lobster. What do you think?

We arrived in Ensenada around 9am and would be leaving again at 6pm. We weren't sure what we would be doing that day yet so we decided to check out the shore excursions desk. We ended up deciding to go horseback riding in the mountains. I've only been horseback riding once before (in Santa Barbara for a bestie's bachelorette party) but it should be like riding a bike? lol.

we were wondering why mr. potato head doing there and his significance to mexico lol

Getting off the ship is sometimes a long process so we had breakfast and explored the ship a little since we had some time before our excursion started.

On the ranch

After horseback riding, we wanted to eat some seafood and decided to pick the brain of our tour guide. He recommended Haliotis which turned out to be this really high end restaurant but super delicious food. We felt bad because we were dressed in workout attire and everyone else there was dressed in business attire! Luckily the staff made us feel right at home and didn't look at us like some dirty Americans lol.

fish ceviche

Formal night ended up being on the same night that we were ported! That was really weird but we still managed to do it and snap a few shots around at all the booths. Our photos were much to hideous to post lol.

Formal night means unlimited lobster!

Then we find this cool guy waiting for us in the room.

Mornings started at the omelette station. It reminded me of the good 'ole days at Covel at UCLA.

Overall we had a nice little getaway to Ensenada. We were able to try some really great food. We were a bit disappointed with the quality of the ship as well as the quality of the food on the 3 day cruise (Baja Mexico) versus the 7 day cruises (Mexican Riveria). But if you're not impressed with the food on the 3 day cruises, don't let that deter you from going on the 7 day cruises. The food is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the 7 day cruises. I was also disappointed that there was no sushi bar! That was one of the highlights on the 7 day cruises for me. It was a nice appetizer before dinner especially if you had the later dinner. I would probably do the same cruise again if I had a 4 day weekend to spare and do a different excursion (probably visit the blowhole).

The quality of the ship was also a disappointment. This ship must have been decades old and as much as they tried to maintain it, it still looked really dated. Again, the cruise ships that they use for the longer cruises are also much newer so don't let this kind of cruise deter you from future cruising. You pretty much get what you pay for.

Because the cruise wasn't really up to par with what I had expected, the travel bug is latched on and not letting go. Not sure where we're off to next but we're off to brainstorming!

Happy Hump Day friends! Hope the rest of your week will fly by!