Originally Posted by annieway

My husband and I did that 4 day cruise last year. We live nearby in Los Angeles. It was on Carnival. It was not my first visit to Catalina Island because you can take day-trips there from Long Beach on a ferry. It has become something of a cruise port - there's a zip line for example. You can also rent a golf cart and drive around on the island. It's scenic. There is a herd of buffalo left over from long time ago when they filmed Western movies there. The island itself is quaint and pretty. Little restaurants, shops. There's a tiny museum that was interesting. The Casino tour was also interesting. The Casino is not for gambling. Back in the day people came on boats to Catalina for an evening of dancing to big band music, and that is what the Casino was designed for, not gambling. There are also things like glass bottom boat rides and there's a small beach.

On the cruise, the high point was the Chef's dinner where we had a tour of the ship's kitchen and a wonderful tasting dinner with dishes invented by the Chef who was present and explained everything to a small group of passengers. It cost extra $$ but was well worth it. You can sign up for this when you get on the ship.

We didn't bother to get off the ship in Ensenada. Been to Mexico before, not interested.

Overall it was a nice little break that cost us very little. Not the best cruise I've ever been on, but my expectations were not high.