New Cruise Line Offers S.D.-Ensenada Voyages

Daily cruises between San Diego and Ensenada will be offered beginning July 3 by Ensenada Express, a subsidiary of a San Luis Obispo company, it has been announced.

The Mexican city was served from San Diego by Crown Cruise Lines until last year.

Ensenada Express, a subsidiary of Sylvester Tug of San Luis Obispo, was set up to fill the void.

The new shuttle cruises will cost $80 for adults and $30 for children round trip. Ships will leave the B Street terminal at 8 a.m., be out at sea for three hours and dock at Ensenada at 11 a.m. Passengers then will have the option of venturing on their own for the six-hour port of call or of taking a packaged tour set by Ensenada Express for an additional charge.

According to Rebecca Milkey, the firm’s promotion and sales director, Ensenada Express is working to come up with special package deals for its riders who want to stay in Ensenada overnight. One tour already set up will include visiting La Bufadora, a well-known blow hole; Bodegas de Santo Tomas, Baja California’s oldest winery, and shopping and dining before heading back to San Diego.

Milkey said day cruises have been offered before by cruise companies but none has been successful.

Dick Kelsey and Loyd Stallcup, co-owners of Sylvester Tug, are willing to tackle the cruise market because they believe the market has changed, Milkey said. The company has been operating vessels along the California coast since 1957.

The principals in the San Diego-Ensenada venture analyzed for more than 18 months the research and marketing studies done by the San Diego Cruise Industry Consortium.

The findings showed that the cruise venture should be successful, given the increase in San Diego area conventions and the allure Mexico holds for visitors.

“The one-day cruises are a good tag onto conventions for those who don’t want to get insurance and drive into Mexico,” said Carolyn Bosco, account executive of Harrison Enterprises, which represents the consortium. “The getaway cruises also will be good for those who can’t afford that seven-day cruise down the Riviera.”

An average of 80 riders a day is anticipated on the Lucille, a 100-foot-long, 147-passenger vessel, which cruises at 22 knots. Lucille was built in New Orleans by Halter Marine not as a cruise ship but as an experimental vessel--a vessel designed for speed and equipped with airline-type seats, a bar, stereo system, and a movie viewing area.

Dedication ceremonies have been scheduled for July 18. Beginning at 10 a.m., San Diego city and company officials will board the ship for Ensenada, where they will be greeted by the Mexican governor for a buffet lunch and exchange of gifts before heading back to San Diego.