Cruises from San Francisco to Mexico: Ensenada in 4 or 5 nights, Cabo in 11

Most cruises from San Francisco to Mexico go to one port, Ensenada, on the Pacific coast of Baja California. This schedule lists 20 Baja trips of 4 or 5 nights, most of them on Carnival, and each spends a day at sea in both directions around its day in Mexico. The Mexican Riviera, further south, takes 11 nights and is rare from here.

On 3 November 2026 the lowest Baja fare was $513 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed with taxes and port fees included. The table at the end of this guide lists every Baja sailing.

What cruises go from San Francisco to Mexico?

Four kinds of trip, and three of them are short. The Port of San Francisco calls the city the homeport for Princess and Carnival, the two lines that sail them.

Trip	Ship	Nights	Days	Ports	Sailings	When
Carnival, Baja	Carnival Luminosa in 2027, Carnival Legend in 2028	4	Thursday to Monday	Ensenada	16	13 May 2027 to 31 August 2028
Carnival, Baja with Catalina	Carnival Luminosa	5	Wednesday to Monday	Avalon, Ensenada	1	28 April 2027
Princess, Pacific Coast	Ruby Princess	5	Tuesday to Sunday	San Diego, Ensenada	3	24 November 2026 to 25 April 2028
Princess, Mexican Riviera	Ruby Princess	11	Wednesday to Sunday	Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas	1	27 October 2027

Carnival's July 2025 release describes its four-day trips from here as extended-weekend sailings to Ensenada, and they leave on Thursday and come back on Monday. Princess files its 5-night trips under the U.S. Pacific Coast, and this schedule counts them as Baja because Ensenada is the turning point.

Ensenada turns up on other trips too. Every Hawaii cruise from here stops there on the last full day before home, and Ruby Princess's 7-night U.S. Pacific Coast trip of 19 March 2028 calls at San Diego, Ensenada, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Princess's Panama Canal voyage of 28 August 2028 calls at Puerto Vallarta on the way to Fort Lauderdale. Our Hawaii guide and the Panama Canal page cover those.

How long does it take to cruise from San Francisco to Mexico?

A day and a half to Ensenada. Carnival leaves at 4pm on Thursday, spends Friday at sea and reaches Ensenada at 8am on Saturday. To Cabo San Lucas it takes until day 7.

Distance explains why there is no shorter trip. The port of Ensenada says most of the cruise ships it receives come from Los Angeles and Long Beach. San Francisco is much further up the coast. NOAA's table of U.S. port distances puts San Diego 455 nautical miles from San Francisco and 95 from Los Angeles, and Ensenada lies beyond San Diego. NOAA's table covers only U.S. ports, so it gives no figure for Ensenada itself.

The itineraries on this schedule run like this:

• Carnival, 4 nights. Leaves at 4pm on Thursday. Friday at sea, Ensenada from 8am to 5pm on Saturday, Sunday at sea, and back at 8am on Monday. Carnival's own itinerary page shows the same times.
• Carnival, 5 nights, 28 April 2027. Leaves at 4pm on Wednesday. Thursday at sea, Avalon on Catalina Island from 7:30am to 4:30pm on Friday, Ensenada from 8am to 5pm on Saturday, Sunday at sea, and back at 8am on Monday.
• Princess, 5 nights. Leaves at 3pm on Tuesday. Wednesday at sea, San Diego on Thursday, Ensenada on Friday, Saturday at sea, and back at 7am on Sunday.
• Princess, 11 nights, 27 October 2027. Leaves at 3pm on Wednesday. Days 2 to 4 at sea, Manzanillo on day 5, Puerto Vallarta on day 6, and Cabo San Lucas from 10am on day 7 overnight to 6pm on day 8. Days 9 to 11 at sea, and back at 7am on Sunday 7 November.

What is Ensenada like as a cruise port?

It is a docking port, so you walk off the ship rather than wait for a tender. Princess says ships dock at the Port of Ensenada deep-water terminal on Bahía de Todos Santos, with direct pier access, minutes from downtown. The port authority's own pages name the cruise terminal Ensenada Cruiseport Village.

The day is long enough to do one thing properly. Carnival's call runs from 8am to 5pm, and Princess's 5-night trips are in port from 7am or 8am to 4pm.

• La Bufadora. A blowhole on Punta Banda, outside town. Princess's Best of Ensenada tour lasts four hours and allows 50 minutes for the drive out. Carnival's Ensenada page describes the sea spout bursting from the rocks on Punta Banda.
• Downtown. Carnival points to Avenida López Mateos for silver jewelry and handmade pottery. Princess's tour also stops at the Riviera del Pacífico, which Princess describes as a playground for Hollywood stars in the 1930s.
• On your own. Princess says shopping, beaches and wineries are within short drives or walking distance of the pier. A short day of eight or nine hours leaves room for La Bufadora and a walk downtown, but not much more.

Ensenada calls on the Hawaii trips are shorter. Many Ruby Princess dates stop from noon to 5pm, and Carnival's Hawaii sailings arrive at 3pm and leave at 8pm.

Which cruises from San Francisco to Mexico stop in San Diego or Catalina?

Princess's 5-night trips stop at San Diego on day 3, the day before Ensenada. Princess says its ships arrive at the B Street Pier near the Gaslamp Quarter. The call on 24 November 2026 runs from 8am to 10pm, and the 2027 and 2028 dates from 7am to 5pm.

The sailings of 24 November 2026 and 23 November 2027 leave on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, spend Thanksgiving Day in San Diego and are back on Sunday morning. The spring date is 25 April 2028.

San Diego is a U.S. port, and the Passenger Vessel Services Act shapes these trips. The regulation, 19 CFR 4.80a, says that on a voyage only to U.S. ports, going ashore at one of them is a violation, so a round trip from here to San Diego alone would break the rule for a ship without a coastwise endorsement. Adding a nearby foreign port such as Ensenada, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection names as one, changes what counts as a violation. It becomes leaving the ship at a U.S. port other than the one where you boarded. So you cannot end the cruise in San Diego. CBP's own example of a violation is a ship from Los Angeles that calls in Hawaii and at Ensenada, then lets its passengers off in San Diego.

Catalina is on Carnival Luminosa's 5-night trip of 28 April 2027, with Avalon from 7:30am to 4:30pm. When we wrote this, no other sailing on this schedule called there. The Baja page lists every trip with its ports.

Is there a Mexican Riviera cruise from San Francisco?

Yes, on Ruby Princess, leaving on 27 October 2027 for 11 nights. It spends three days at sea each way and calls at Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, with an overnight at Cabo. Princess says Cabo is a tender port, where ships anchor in the bay and passengers go ashore by small boat to the marina, so allow for the wait.

The sailing falls inside the eastern Pacific hurricane season, which the National Hurricane Center gives as 15 May to 30 November. The center notes a peak in activity in late August, so a late-October trip is past the peak but still inside the season.

On 3 November 2026 it started at $1,569 per person, or $143 a night. The Mexican Riviera page shows it with the current fare.

When do Mexico cruises leave San Francisco?

Carnival's short trips run only while its ships are here for the Alaska season, from late April to early September in 2027 and from May to the end of August in 2028. Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Legend come back from Alaska on a Thursday morning and often leave for Ensenada that afternoon, which is why the Baja trips fall about every other Thursday. Carnival's September 2026 release lists Carnival Legend's 2028 Baja cruises as departing between April and August.

Princess's 5-night trips are in November and April, around Ruby Princess's Hawaii season. Between December and March nothing on this schedule goes only to Mexico. Our season guide shows what leaves in each month.

Which pier do Mexico cruises leave San Francisco from?

Pier 27 on most dates. The port's own schedule, which runs to 31 December 2027, puts Ruby Princess at Pier 27, the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal, and Carnival Luminosa there on most dates. Luminosa's 5-night trip of 28 April 2027 and its 4-night trip of 19 August 2027 leave from Pier 35, which the port says is a 6 to 8 minute walk north of Pier 27. Piers for 2028 are not published yet, so Carnival Legend's dates show none.

The port also says Pier 27 is about a 20-minute walk from the Embarcadero BART and Muni station, and that taxis can drop passengers at the terminal entrance. Check the pier on your own row, and see our terminal guide for the rest.

Do you need a passport for a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico?

Not always, but it helps. Every Baja trip here starts and ends in San Francisco, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection calls a closed-loop cruise. On one, U.S. citizens may present a government-issued photo ID with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. CBP adds that you may still be asked for a passport by the countries the ship visits, and that you should check with your cruise line.

The passport matters if you have to fly home from Mexico. CBP says U.S. citizens need a passport to enter the United States by air from Mexico, and that passport cards are not accepted for international air travel. Our documents guide has the rest.

How much is a Mexico cruise from San Francisco?

On 3 November 2026 the lowest fares were these, per person, for the cheapest cabin listed with taxes and port fees included. They change often.

Trip	Lowest fare	Lowest per night
Carnival, 4 nights	$513	$128
Carnival, 5 nights	$802	$160
Princess, 5 nights	$769	$154
Princess, 11 nights	$1,569	$143

When we wrote this on 3 November 2026, the lowest Baja fare worked out at more per night than the lowest Alaska or Hawaii fare. On 3 November 2026 the figures were $128 a night for Baja against $70 for Hawaii.

The extras add up quickly on a short trip. When we checked on 3 November 2026, Carnival's recommended gratuity was $17 a day per guest in a standard cabin, which is $136 for two people on 4 nights by our arithmetic. The port says it provides no parking at the cruise terminals, and our parking guide covers the lots nearby. The short cruises guide weighs a 4-night trip against a longer one.