3-night Halloween Baja Cruise

[Phroobar]

We are doing out first Disney cruise from San Diego to Ensenada over Halloween weekend. There is a special Costco discount taking 2/3 off the price. It is on the Disney Wonder. There is a "sing and scream" movie screening, not so scary activities (I assume candy trails), costume contest, etc.. We've done this before with Carnival. That was mostly food, pool and mini golf. What are the don't miss things on the Wonder?

 

[Phroobar]

So no one has been on the Wonder? It's just a boat run by the Skipper and Gillian right?

 

[ChuckElias]

Hi @Phroobar . I haven't been on the Wonder in 10 years. So I'm not current on what's regularly offered. But here are just a couple things that you can't miss.

1) The live shows in the Walt Disney Theater. "Dreams" is DCL's signature and very first show. It literally changed how the entire cruise industry viewed on-board entertainment. It's not my favorite show (and I can share some reasons if you're interested), but it's a true classic and you should see it. "The Golden Mickeys" is an award-style show and this IS my favorite show. I even have a picture somewhere with Ensign Benson. Definitely go see this. (Hopefully, they've removed the Covid-era changes by the time you sail.) The Wonder also has a Frozen spectacular, but I haven't seen it.

2) Tiana's restaurant. Tiana's Place is one of the rotational restaurants and I've only heard great things about it. I haven't been able to get into it yet, but my (ingrate) daughter went on the Wonder without me and she absolutely loved it. The live entertainment during your meal is great. (And you can ask for extra beignets!)

Things to avoid -- Ensenada. It's been a while since I was there, but it was a miserable PIT when I was there. Do not go into the town on your own. Unless you book an excursion that will take you outside of the town, just stay on the ship. There was nothing but squalor and aggressive panhandling around the cruise port.

 

[Phroobar]

Hi @Phroobar . I haven't been on the Wonder in 10 years. So I'm not current on what's regularly offered. But here are just a couple things that you can't miss.

1) The live shows in the Walt Disney Theater. "Dreams" is DCL's signature and very first show. It literally changed how the entire cruise industry viewed on-board entertainment. It's not my favorite show (and I can share some reasons if you're interested), but it's a true classic and you should see it. "The Golden Mickeys" is an award-style show and this IS my favorite show. I even have a picture somewhere with Ensign Benson. Definitely go see this. (Hopefully, they've removed the Covid-era changes by the time you sail.) The Wonder also has a Frozen spectacular, but I haven't seen it.

2) Tiana's restaurant. Tiana's Place is one of the rotational restaurants and I've only heard great things about it. I haven't been able to get into it yet, but my (ingrate) daughter went on the Wonder without me and she absolutely loved it. The live entertainment during your meal is great. (And you can ask for extra beignets!)

Things to avoid -- Ensenada. It's been a while since I was there, but it was a miserable PIT when I was there. Do not go into the town on your own. Unless you book an excursion that will take you outside of the town, just stay on the ship. There was nothing but squalor and aggressive panhandling around the cruise port.

Thank you for the tips. I agree Ensenada is a pit. We've been there before. It's all about the cruise boat in this case. The shows sound fun.

 

[ChuckElias]

Thank you for the tips. I agree Ensenada is a pit. We've been there before. It's all about the cruise boat in this case. The shows sound fun.

Just be aware that with a 3 night sailing, I don't know if they'll do all the shows.

 

[imahistorygeek]

What are the don't miss things on the Wonder?

Definitely eat at Tiana's. It's a lot of fun. The entertainment is great and you can order beignets at the end for dessert.

2) Tiana's restaurant. Tiana's Place is one of the rotational restaurants and I've only heard great things about it. I haven't been able to get into it yet, but my (ingrate) daughter went on the Wonder without me and she absolutely loved it. The live entertainment during your meal is great. (And you can ask for extra beignets!)

Things to avoid -- Ensenada. It's been a while since I was there, but it was a miserable PIT when I was there. Do not go into the town on your own. Unless you book an excursion that will take you outside of the town, just stay on the ship. There was nothing but squalor and aggressive panhandling around the cruise port.

I agree with the don't explore on your own and @ChuckElias describes it perfectly. We did an adults-only wine tour excursion through Disney and it was great. You can see it covered in our trip report here: Baja cruise on the Wonder

 

[ChuckElias]

We did an adults-only wine tour excursion through Disney and it was great. You can see it covered in our trip report here: Baja cruise on the Wonder

This is exactly what I was thinking of by mentioning "an excursion outside of town"!! I just couldn't remember who had posted it.

 

[ChuckElias]

Here I am with Ensign Benson from The Golden MIckeys:

 

[Phroobar]

Just be aware that with a 3 night sailing, I don't know if they'll do all the shows.

I'm ok with that. There will be enough to do. How trapped are you by character M&G? One video looked like you have to run the gauntlet of characters in order just to board the ship.

 

[ChuckElias]

How trapped are you by character M&G? One video looked like you have to run the gauntlet of characters in order just to board the ship.

1) You make running a gauntlet of characters sound like a bad thing.
2) In my experience, there has never been a problem with boarding due to character experiences.
3) There are character experiences all over the ship at various times. But even when there's a big line to see them, the crew members maintain walking paths so that you're never "trapped" by people waiting to see them. I have sometimes felt more trapped during "pin trading" events with the officers.

 

[Phroobar]

1) You make running a gauntlet of characters sound like a bad thing.
2) In my experience, there has never been a problem with boarding due to character experiences.
3) There are character experiences all over the ship at various times. But even when there's a big line to see them, the crew members maintain walking paths so that you're never "trapped" by people waiting to see them. I have sometimes felt more trapped during "pin trading" events with the officers.

We are kind of beyond character meet & greets. At least it won't be a problem boarding. I guess we have to watch a "show" upon boarding.

 

[Phroobar]

Had a great time on board the Wonder last weekend. The food and service was fantastic. The ship looked fantastic too. They really try to keep the ship looking brand new. We enjoyed the shows. I liked the one with Peter Pan the best. Frozen was pretty much the same as the DCA version except with more puppets. Still for a cruise at Halloween I was expecting more villains or at least more characters in Halloween costumes. We got a picture with the Sanderson sisters and watched Hocus Pocus 1 & 2. It was nice to have adult areas to get away from the children on ship. Ensenada is pretty sketchy so we only spent an hour off ship. We didn't care for any of the tours. The next cruise we do will probably be a destination one like to Alaska but not on Disney.