Cruising...

I recently took a 3-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, with friends aboard the Carnival Paradise ship. The ship sets sail from the Port of Long Beach, docks at a port in Ensenada for about 8 hours, spends a day at sea, then heads back to Long Beach. When in Ensenada, you have the option of doing excursions (e.g., tours/activities around the city offered by the cruise line) or exploring on your own. It was my second time taking this particular cruise, and my third cruise overall.

During my first time taking the Ensenada cruise, my family and I spent the day taking tours but this time around my friends and I spent the day exploring Ensenada's "downtown" area on our own. Once we got off the boat and took the shuttle into town ($2 each way), we found tour guides offering us a $20 All-You-Can-Drink special at Mango Mango Restaurant and Bar. It was a 15 minute walk through Primera Street from the shuttle stop to the bar  (that was the extent of our sightseeing in Ensenada..hahah!).

Mango Mango is located just across the street from Papas&Beer, which seemed to be the more popular of the two. Unfortunately, Papas&Beer didn't have the All-You-Can-Drink special, so Mango Mango was the better value. It was less crowded which made getting drinks and bathroom access a whole lot easier. Our group was the first one in, so we had prime seating and could people watch, not to mention we had a GREAT view of all the debauchery happening at Papas&Beer without being surrounded by d-bags. The D.J. was pretty good and took requests.The mixed drinks weren't super strong, but it didn't matter after 5 hours. Plus shots were included in the drink special so I'd say I definitely got my $20 worth and then some. We did end up checking out Papas&Beer before we headed back to the boat. By then all of us were drunk as skunks. We didn't spend too much time there because we wanted to do some drunk eating before getting back on the ship. We found a local taco shop and chowed down on freshly made tacos (YUM!). Somehow, we managed to get our drunk asses back on the boat in time for dinner.

The last day before getting back to Long Beach was spent at sea. Albert and I made an appointment for a Couples Massage (more details to follow on that experience in a separate post) and then met up with the rest of the group. Coincidentally, this was the same day as the Finals match of the World Cup: Spain vs. Netherlands. Neither team had ever won the World Cup, so it was a historic match either way. Albert was determined to watch it while we were on the cruise and luckily it was on all the TVs in every bar. I wasn't following the World Cup very closely, so I lounged at the pool with the girls and Albert watched with the boys. I was definitely cheering for Spain though (David Villa rocks!) and they ended up winning!

Word to the wise, this cruise isn't really ideal for families. The 3-day cruise to Ensenada is basically a booze cruise. Yes, there were families there and I've been on it with my family, but it's very much a party boat for 3 days. There were several bachelor/bachelorette parties on board as well as friends going on a mini-vacation (like us) to cut loose for a couple days. It's loud, it's rowdy, and a little (okay, maybe a lot) inappropriate. Would you expect anything less from a bunch of twenty-somethings on a boat surrounded by several full bars for 3 days? Nope :)