ENSENADA – The Port of Ensenada recorded 27 cruise ship calls in February 2026, its busiest single month on record, bringing an estimated 185,000 passengers through the city’s downtown cruise terminal at Muelle 1 on Boulevard Costero. Major lines including Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Disney Cruise Line all had vessels docking during the month, with some days seeing two ships in port simultaneously.
Carnival accounted for the largest share of February traffic, with the Carnival Radiance, Carnival Panorama, and Carnival Firenze making repeat calls throughout the month. Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, one of the largest vessels to regularly visit Ensenada at over 168,000 gross tons, docked on February 26 alongside Holland America’s ms Zuiderdam. The dual-ship days pushed passenger counts above 8,000 in a single day, straining taxi availability and creating long lines at the popular La Guerrerense seafood cart on Avenida López Mateos.
Ensenada’s cruise terminal sits within walking distance of the Avenida López Mateos tourist corridor, the fish market at Mercado Negro, and the Riviera del Pacífico cultural center. Local tourism officials estimate that each cruise passenger spends an average of $80 to $120 USD during a typical six-hour port call, with the top draws being wine tasting tours to Valle de Guadalupe, street food walks through the Centro district, and shopping along the First and Second streets near the waterfront.
The record February follows a strong 2025 season in which Ensenada handled over 300 cruise calls for the year. The port is positioning itself as the primary short-cruise destination from Los Angeles and Long Beach, with most Ensenada-bound voyages running three to four nights. For shore excursion planning, the Ensenada Tourism Board maintains an English-language visitor center inside the cruise terminal building, and licensed tour operators are required to display orange SECTUR credentials.