Day 5 of our cruise was the last full day of the cruise and our last port stop, this time at Ensenada. We had never visited Ensenada before, so everybody was looking forward to the visit. The Wonder docked at the main dock in the port, but it is about a mile or so from the main part of town.
We had planned to get off the ship and walk to town. We went to Cabanas for breakfast, then headed off the ship.
There is a small gift shop as you leave the pier. As we exited the shop, there was a shuttle bus that would take people into the main part of town for $4 per person, round trip. There seemed to be some confusion among other passengers who felt the shuttle should be free. We didn’t care and took the shuttle into town. The shuttle was a small passenger bus that was clean and comfortable. They gave us a ticket for the return trip.
There definitely isn’t very much in the immediate port area. Most of it looks like it is under construction.
The main street of Ensenada is a tourist paradise. Lots of street vendors and shops selling various items. We walked from one end of the main street to the other, stopping in a few shops and looking at what the street vendors were selling. I think the main street isn’t more than a half mile or so.
After looking through the various shops, we decided to head to lunch. Nancy had looked up a restaurant, La Patrona, that was a little bit from the main tourist area. La Patrona is a taqueria located a few blocks south.
There isn’t much to the restaurant, it is a small kitchen and outdoor seating. The specials for the day (and the WiFi password) is written on a blackboard attached to a fence. Don’t be deceived by the appearance though, the food and drinks were fantastic.
We started by ordering Coco Cafechata, which was a cold brew coffee with horchata. It was delicious.
I don’t remember exactly what we ordered for lunch, but here are some of the pictures of it. I remember they both were really good.
For dessert, Nancy ordered Pan Frances, which was kind of like french toast. It was awesome! It consisted of bread covered in Nutella, Raspberry sauce, and granola.
After a filling lunch, we decided to head back up the main street all the way to the other end. Nancy wanted to stop in at Papas & Beer for a drink before we got back on the ship.
Nancy got a beer and everybody else got frozen drinks.
We finished our drinks and looked in the shops a bit more. We decided to just walk back to the ship, which was about a mile or so. We could have used the shuttle, but the walk was only about 20 to 30 minutes and it was a good opportunity to see the rest of the town.
There is a small entrance gate you must pass through to get back to the ship, but it is primarily there to stop vehicle traffic. I don’t even know if we were asked to show our Key to the World Card to get through the gate.
Once we got back to the Wonder, the girls and I headed to the pool deck to watch Brave. Nancy headed to the room to start packing since we had to leave the ship in the morning.
After enjoying the movie, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and to watch the Wonder sail away from Ensenada.
We got ready for dinner super early, because we wanted to get to the atrium to meet a special guest. Disneyhad just announced that Captain Minnie would be joining the fleet:
Introducing Captain Minnie Mouse
We know how Disney characters have a unique ability to inspire and connect with children. Now at Disney Cruise Line, Captain Minnie Mouse will encourage young girls around the world to consider a career in the maritime industry. She will spread the message of exploring new horizons, both by land and by sea.
Nancy had managed to get a partial picture of her on Deck 4, but we figured she would be out greeting guests in the atrium in the evening. We wanted to be first in line, so we headed down at 7:00 pm for the 7:30 pm meet and greet. We were definitely first in line! Captain Minnie looked great in her new Captain’s outfit!
After seeing Captain Minnie, we were in for another surprise as well. We were going to dine in Tiana’s tonight with the new menu. We had been in Tiana’s the first night of the cruise, but had a different menu – Let the Magic Begin.
We loved the transformation from the old Parrot Cay.
We also loved the band! If you would like to see the food, check the menu link above where we have pictures of everything we ordered.
Tonight we also got to meet the Head Pastry Chef on board the Disney Wonder, who had been sending us all these fantastic desserts, including this one:
We thanked him for the fantastic desserts he had been sending to us all week. He said our server, Shane, had suggested us as the perfect family for the treats. He had helped to make our fantastic cruise even better. We then headed back to the room to finish packing up. We would carry our bags off tomorrow so we didn’t have to worry about getting them out by 10 pm. Wising up after twelve Disney cruises, we ordered coffee from room service to enjoy the next morning. If you order it late at night, it should still be warm in the morning.
Here was our last towel animal of the cruise:
Tomorrow, we will be leaving the ship, but not the vacation.
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