Mexico 3-4 Day

[cruising_lee]

Carnival would be cheaper, Royal caribbean is better if you dont like the part atmosphere. Both available from Los Angeles, and they go to Ensenada. Great fun!

[kailin]

I've done the Carnival/Paradise twice on the 3 day (weekend Fri to Mon) -- a lot of younger folks; discos (2 of them -over 21 and under 21) are always busy, pool area busy with people of all ages and kids in the jacuzzi. I think whether the atmosphere is too much of a party depends on the activities you select, the people you hang out with, and the parts of the ship you frequent. There were some areas that were quiet or not frequented.

The four day is during the week(Mon to Thurs)and hits Catalina Island. Don't forget, Carnival toots itself as a fleet of fun ships. A friend of mine who did both told me that RCCL was a slightly older crowd and had better food than Paradise, which prompted me to select RCCL for this Labor Day weekend. I do remember that for my first cruise to Baja Mex, I decided to go with Carnival/Paradise because the square footage of the regular stateroom was slightly more than RCCL, but really, I didn't spend a lot of time in my cabin but to sleep and change.

[kailin]

Ok, I'm back from the Labor Day cruise to Ensenada on RCL-Monarch, and it was probably because it was Labor Day weekend that made the Monarch a party ship. There was a wide range in the ages, though most seemed to be in the 20s and 30s. Lots of family reunions. The stateroom on RCL was definitely smaller than the staterooms on Carnival-Paradise. The RCL configuration for the twin beds was definitely weird-the beds were situated against opposing corners but facing the same direction. While one bed allow one to prop the pillows up against the wall, the other bed was situated so one's feet was against the wall, and if not careful, the pillows slid off the bed in the middle of the night. As a tall person, trying to avoid banging my feet against the wall while holding onto my pillows while I slept was not enjoyable. Given my height, I was conscious about rooms with low ceilings and RCL had more common rooms with low ceilings than Paradise. From my past trips, Paradise seemed to have more choices on entertainment in the theater and lounges at night (2 variety shows, 2 comedy shows,karaoke,etc) vs. RCL's one variety or comedy show, followed by karaoke and then the disco. RCL did have the midnight pool party on the second night with mexican food. On RCL's daily schedule, most of the day activities involved either multiple times for rock wall climbing and other exercise classes v. pool activities. My shipmate's biggest pet peeve about the RCL v. Paradise was that on formal night, RCI had no lobster/prime rib on the menu. Although I had no problem, the other travelers sharing my table in the restaurant did not care for some of the food and changed their appetizer and main dish choices. Oh, and for pizza fans, the pizza on the Paradise is so much better than RCL. Our stateroom attendant Sharon on RCL, however, was great. My shipmate and I agreed--if we were to do the weekend Ensenada trip again, it will be on the Paradise for the reasons stated above.

[SD Cruiser]

I did the Monarch 4 day cruise in October, 2006. the ship had been completely refurbished and the beds were extremely comforatble with Egyptian cotton linens. We enjoyed the cruise very much despite the small cabin size. If you are at all claustrophobic, though, I would not get an inside cabin because of the size. Even though the outside ones are the same size, the window or porthole makes a huge difference. Definitely not a party ship for the Monday to Friday cruises-- all ages.