Thoughts from those who've taken the Californian Coastal Cruise

Mrs SoCal and I always find ourselves with a few days of vacation to blow before the end of the year (SWMBO has a "use it or lose it" deal) - the past couple of years we've taken a 7 or 8 day Mexican Riviera cruise between Chrimbo and New Year.

This year Christmas week is out, so we're looking at either what is effectively the Star re-positioning California Coastal Cruise (Vancouver - LA) in October or a... Mexican Riviera on the Emerald or Ruby in November. Not really planning any planned activities as such - this vacation is just a battery recharging session...

Trying to think rationally and probably over-complicating but here goes:

California Coastal

Pros - never done it before. Easy and cheap flight to Vancouver and then shuttle home from San Pedro. Never sailed the Star (apparently looking a bit worn around the edges, but don't we all eventually?)

Cons(?) - Weather. Looking at historical (hysterical?) weather data, October could be potentially a bit damp.

Ports of Call. Namaimo. Home of the famous Namaimo bars and really pleasant in summer with lots of outdoor activities (in the rain though?) Seattle. Tbh - planning on incorporating this as a 3 day break when we revisit BC and one day won't do it justice. Astoria, OR. A little research and I'm still none the wiser. SF. Love SF AND you get until 10 pm there. Opportunity to grab dinner at Sotto Mare and a few drinks at La Trappe. Would probably walk to and across the bridge and ferry back from Sausalito.

Mexican Riviera

Pros - "Easy" drive to San Pedro and just park at the port. Weather should be decent. Mazatlan is arguably one of our favourite PoCs and we'll follow the blue line and indulge in a Margarita or three. Getting away from the crowds in PV is pretty straight forward as well. Cruise would definitely tick the recharge button. Know what we're getting with the Emerald and Ruby (good and bad)

Cons - Done this cruise twice and managed to avoid the apparently compulsory Noro outbreak. Cabo in our opinion is a bit "meh" and while we could look at a hurried snorkel trip we'd probably just chill on-board and watch the hordes tender

The answer is that probably no one cruise is better or worse than the other - they're different. Just looking for some pointers...

>>Astoria, OR. A little research and I'm still none the wiser.<<

LOL! I don't think that you are alone. It is not a destination that I understand at all and I'm not really sure why so many ships stop there. If the port time is long enough I would just use the stop to go to Seaside or Cannon Beach. They are little coastal towns right on the beach about 30 minutes away.

Mrs SoCal and I always find ourselves with a few days of vacation to blow before the end of the year (SWMBO has a "use it or lose it" deal) - the past couple of years we've taken a 7 or 8 day Mexican Riviera cruise between Chrimbo and New Year.

 

This year Christmas week is out, so we're looking at either what is effectively the Star re-positioning California Coastal Cruise (Vancouver - LA) in October or a... Mexican Riviera on the Emerald or Ruby in November. Not really planning any planned activities as such - this vacation is just a battery recharging session...

 

Trying to think rationally and probably over-complicating but here goes:

 

California Coastal

Pros - never done it before. Easy and cheap flight to Vancouver and then shuttle home from San Pedro. Never sailed the Star (apparently looking a bit worn around the edges, but don't we all eventually?)

Cons(?) - Weather. Looking at historical (hysterical?) weather data, October could be potentially a bit damp.

 

Ports of Call. Namaimo. Home of the famous Namaimo bars and really pleasant in summer with lots of outdoor activities (in the rain though?) Seattle. Tbh - planning on incorporating this as a 3 day break when we revisit BC and one day won't do it justice. Astoria, OR. A little research and I'm still none the wiser. SF. Love SF AND you get until 10 pm there. Opportunity to grab dinner at Sotto Mare and a few drinks at La Trappe. Would probably walk to and across the bridge and ferry back from Sausalito.

 

Mexican Riviera

Pros - "Easy" drive to San Pedro and just park at the port. Weather should be decent. Mazatlan is arguably one of our favourite PoCs and we'll follow the blue line and indulge in a Margarita or three. Getting away from the crowds in PV is pretty straight forward as well. Cruise would definitely tick the recharge button. Know what we're getting with the Emerald and Ruby (good and bad)

Cons - Done this cruise twice and managed to avoid the apparently compulsory Noro outbreak. Cabo in our opinion is a bit "meh" and while we could look at a hurried snorkel trip we'd probably just chill on-board and watch the hordes tender

 

The answer is that probably no one cruise is better or worse than the other - they're different. Just looking for some pointers...

Hello Neighbor!

I would say go for the Coastal cruise. We did our first one March 2016 and it was a really nice change of pace from Mexico.

It is a cooler weather cruise for sure but being in SF for about 15 hours was great and you have a great view of the Bay Lights on the Bay bridge. Our itinerary was a little different than the one you're thinking of, we went to SF, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Ensenada, so I called it the cruise in our backyard.

Especially since you've never done it before, I would go for it and it can still be quite warm in October.

Hello Neighbor!

 

I would say go for the Coastal cruise. We did our first one March 2016 and it was a really nice change of pace from Mexico.

It is a cooler weather cruise for sure but being in SF for about 15 hours was great and you have a great view of the Bay Lights on the Bay bridge. Our itinerary was a little different than the one you're thinking of, we went to SF, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Ensenada, so I called it the cruise in our backyard.

Especially since you've never done it before, I would go for it and it can still be quite warm in October.

We are doing the 10 day coastal from Vancouver 2018.

Any tips?

I would not worry to much about Astoria. Cute little town, wonder around a bit. Visit the Lewis and Clark site. Maybe rent a car for the beach towns

Anyway 50-50 chance you will not get there as it is the most often missed port on the west coast. Captains and pilots hate taking the big ships across the Columbia bar.

I would always opt for Mexico over California if we were looking for a relax-recharge trip. Even though we've run the Mexican Riviera route a few times, it's always inviting. Mariachis, margaritas and food we love.

Have you looked at the 10-day cruise that leaves L.A. after Thanksgiving? It stops at a couple Sea of Cortez ports that would be new to us, and maybe to you. Unfortunately, it goes to Cabo -- which we agree is overrated -- and not to Mazatlan -- which we love dearly.

Jim

Ports of Call. Namaimo. Home of the famous Namaimo bars and really pleasant in summer with lots of outdoor activities (in the rain though?)

Nanaimo :lips-sealed::lips-sealed:

Astoria itself is...well, its an old lumber and port town that time sort of passed by. Waterfront is kind of quaint/industrial. Same as downtown. The fort and the tower are the big draws, and the locations of the "Goonies" movie from the 80's. We did not actually leave the ship, to be honest; its pretty much a carbon copy of the kind of place I grew up. Weather in late September was outstanding, and the scenery as well.

Cant say enough about sailing into the mouth of the Columbia at sunrise, watching the breakers overrun the seawall, toss the tugs around, and then the fog cleared and like magic we were in a calm, warm, port with a blazing warm sun.

Nanaimo. Well...being a born and bred BC boy, it is just another mid size town in BC to me that I have been to, and been bored in, too many times. My opinion is highly biased (I get sent there for work on occasion) its just nothing special to me since its home, sort of. Minor league hockey, couple sawmills. The harbour is quite scenic and pretty, there is often a street market that caters to ships, and you will find good local produce, salmon, First Nations art. If you do not know it, you will probably find it interesting and scenic enough to visit and snoop around. For reference, I feel the same way about porting in Victoria. Nothing special, but I have been there about 15 times in my life.

We have sailed the coast/PNW in late summer autumn three times, and you can get some serious chop around the entrance to the Pacific, leaving Juan de Fuca strait and passing Neah Bay into open ocean. We had 5-10m seas in HAL's Statendam a few years ago off Washington, which kept us in port in Vancouver and extra day, and we had 5m seas last year for a night on RCL. With the associated rain and cold. If you get past that first day out of Vancouver with no storm, then its just increasing warmth and sun to California and back. I would be prepared for a good chance of the first and last night, at least one of them, will be a bit on the rough seas side of things.

Looking forward to the 10 day trip on the Star this year

Hmmmm....I have a different point of view and maybe it will steer you towards the other direction just based on my likes and dislikes, which seem to be opposite.

First, I dislike Mazatlan so much that I won't even bother to get off the ship in that port ... have been more than 2 dozen times and think it is a pit ... right down there with Acapulco IMO. So ... if you love Mazatlan ... maybe this is the cruise for you. PV is starting to also lose its charm to me and Cabo is not worth the effort to tender.

No flying, though, is priceless! However, neither the Ruby or Emerald has an indoor pool whereas the Star does. I don't mind cool weather and don't really even mind the rain as long as it isn't pouring and windy at the same time.

I've only been to Nanaimo once and Astoria once ... both outstanding ports of call in my opinion. I especially l love Astoria. We walked along the trolley tracks down to the Maritime Museum and did a brewery crawl on the way back. It did pour on us on the way back so my only advice would be to bring a rain jacket or umbrella ... we weren't really prepared but still had a great time there. The trolley, as you can imagine was entirely packed because nobody wanted to walk in the rain. Next time there, I will be smarter and take walking shoes as I would like to hike up to the Column ... or maybe the Lewis and Clark attraction.

Nanaimo had a great little coal mining museum that we found interesting ... and then hit the casino for an hour before walking back to the little shops and restaurants. I thought it was completely charming but probably couldn't tour it too many times.

SF, well ... we can both agree on this port ... we love it!! Funny thing is, it is right in our backyard and the only time we really go play tourist is when it is a port of call on one of our cruises. We've done many new things there because having a home base at Pier 27 (or even Pier 35) makes it so easy.

I would do the Pacific Coastal over the short Mexico cruise in a heart beat. If the cruise to Mexico was one of the longer ones, that included La Paz, Loreto (my absolute favorite) or Manzanillo, then I would choose Mexico.

We are doing the 10 day coastal from Vancouver 2018.

Any tips?

That sounds like a great cruise!

The only tip I can think of is don't miss sailing under the Golden Gate bridge, its spectacular. The other thing that comes to mind is when we were coming from San Pedro sailing to SF, the weather was pretty rough that night, which doesn't bother any of us but I feel for people with sea sickness problems.

Things were falling off the top bathroom shelfs. It looks like you'll be sailing the other direction though so it may not be an issue. Just something to be aware of.

Also, it really isn't a tropical vacation cruise, it is cooler and its possible you'll get rain but so worth it.

We loved that cruise so much that we have another one booked for this March!

I would prefer the Mexican Riviera cruise because when I get away to relax I want warmer weather.

It's what makes me relax. :) I am also one to choose a home port of departure vs having to purchase any airfare to get home.

Going on a California Coastal is new to you, and if you are interested in the ports try it because it's new. If the weather won't affect you, then do something new.

Good luck!

Astoria: beer stop. Astoria Column on a clear day. Fishing trip. Yes, the Lewis and Clark story with close but no cigar Fort Clatsop. A number of movies were filmed there. Watch prior to going? Short Circuit Kindergarten Cop. The Ring.

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I've done the same itinerary as tonit964 and I'm looking forward to my 3rd MR cruise (first time on the Ruby) over thanksgiving. I usually don't bother to get off the ship on the MR itinerary unless it's whale watch season and I'll take the chance to hopefully get up close to some of the beasties.

In Oct. 2015, we did the California Coastal Cruise. We sailed out of San Pedro and stopped in Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Ensenada. It was wonderful and the weather was perfect. We took coats, but only used them once. Most of the time it was actually too warm. We will be doing the same cruise this coming October, with the added port of Catalina. We are excited about our upcoming cruise, and actually hope it will be a little cooler this time! [emoji16]

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Just my opinion I have done both itinerary several times and both cruises are good for their own reasons. Mexico will have the warmer weather but I prefer the ports on the California coastal. Since you haven't done that itinerary it might be fun to try something new.

Astoria is a cute town and it is fun to just walk around and explore. And as an Oregonian I will give you the BIG Astoria sales pitch here...while in Astoria you can visit the Astoria Column, pop into the visitor center and for a buck or so you buy a balsa wood plane (yep the ones you probably had as a kid), make a bet with your travel buddy about who's plane can go the furthest then climb the spiral staircase to the top of the column and sail that plane right off the top onto the lawn below. I hate heights so I won't climb the column but it's fun to watch when folks do toss a plane or two. Of course don't forget to retrieve your plane when you leave... Now isn't that reason enough to choose the Coastal? ;p

I've done several coastal cruises and a few Mexican Riviera cruises. I would pick the coastals any time over the Mexican ones - and I love Mexico. The coastals always seem to have a really good vibe for some reason.

Personally, I really like Astoria. Last time we were cruising with friends there and went to a couple of craft breweries, a really cool distillery in town and then a wonderful little wine bar on the river on the way back to the ship.

And you haven't done a coastal :)

I've done the same itinerary as tonit964 and I'm looking forward to my 3rd MR cruise (first time on the Ruby) over thanksgiving. I usually don't bother to get off the ship on the MR itinerary unless it's whale watch season and I'll take the chance to hopefully get up close to some of the beasties.

The Ruby is a sister to the Crown, so you should like the ship. We were on the Crown for Thanksgiving 2015 also and are booked for this year on the Ruby, however, our adult kids may join us so we booked Carnival as well to save them some $$. We'll decide at final payment, hopefully we'll see you onboard. :)

We've sailed MR so many times, sometimes we just stay onboard and enjoy the quiet of the ship.

We sailed from San Pedro to Vancouver in May on the Island. (Stops in SFO, Astoria and Victoria) The seas were so bad (70 MPH ) from south of SFO to Victoria that the captain had to slow down to keep from damaging the ship--so we by passed Astoria. Would I do it again...yes. Love SFO, Victoria and Vancouver. But I'd make sure I had a cabin mid-ship.

Coastal! Star is a nice ship.

The Ruby is a sister to the Crown, so you should like the ship. We were on the Crown for Thanksgiving 2015 also and are booked for this year on the Ruby, however, our adult kids may join us so we booked Carnival as well to save them some $$. We'll decide at final payment, hopefully we'll see you onboard. :)

We've sailed MR so many times, sometimes we just stay onboard and enjoy the quiet of the ship.

We may have already met, or at least walked past each other! We were on the Crown for the 2015 Thankgiving holiday. :p Enjoyed that one so much, that we booked the exact same cruise on the Crown for Presidents Day 2016 which was right in the middle of whale watching season.

We just did the Coastal on the Star round trip from Vancouver and we loved it !!! Docked in San Pedro then we went to Catalina, just like a little paradise sooo beautiful, then Santa Barbara was fun to shop , lots of fun stores . Last stop was San Francisco overnight was amazing we did Alcatraz, the tour was amazing and pier 39 was amazing tooo . Thoroughly loved this cruise . So much that we talked the in laws to come with us next April to do the Coastal again . And we r on the Star again !!!'n can't wait

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we have done both ca coastal and Mexico . we always have a great time on any cruise but I would go with the coastal especially since you have not done before.

Astoria- we loved our stops 2-3 times there and we are 100% for port stop not being cancelled. once we rented a car and drove at least to the tillamook factory because I remember having yummy ice cream HAHA.

Mrs SoCal and I always find ourselves with a few days of vacation to blow before the end of the year (SWMBO has a "use it or lose it" deal) - the past couple of years we've taken a 7 or 8 day Mexican Riviera cruise between Chrimbo and New Year.

 

This year Christmas week is out, so we're looking at either what is effectively the Star re-positioning California Coastal Cruise (Vancouver - LA) in October or a... Mexican Riviera on the Emerald or Ruby in November. Not really planning any planned activities as such - this vacation is just a battery recharging session...

 

Trying to think rationally and probably over-complicating but here goes:

 

California Coastal

Pros - never done it before. Easy and cheap flight to Vancouver and then shuttle home from San Pedro. Never sailed the Star (apparently looking a bit worn around the edges, but don't we all eventually?)

Cons(?) - Weather. Looking at historical (hysterical?) weather data, October could be potentially a bit damp.

 

Ports of Call. Namaimo. Home of the famous Namaimo bars and really pleasant in summer with lots of outdoor activities (in the rain though?) Seattle. Tbh - planning on incorporating this as a 3 day break when we revisit BC and one day won't do it justice. Astoria, OR. A little research and I'm still none the wiser. SF. Love SF AND you get until 10 pm there. Opportunity to grab dinner at Sotto Mare and a few drinks at La Trappe. Would probably walk to and across the bridge and ferry back from Sausalito.

 

Mexican Riviera

Pros - "Easy" drive to San Pedro and just park at the port. Weather should be decent. Mazatlan is arguably one of our favourite PoCs and we'll follow the blue line and indulge in a Margarita or three. Getting away from the crowds in PV is pretty straight forward as well. Cruise would definitely tick the recharge button. Know what we're getting with the Emerald and Ruby (good and bad)

Cons - Done this cruise twice and managed to avoid the apparently compulsory Noro outbreak. Cabo in our opinion is a bit "meh" and while we could look at a hurried snorkel trip we'd probably just chill on-board and watch the hordes tender

 

The answer is that probably no one cruise is better or worse than the other - they're different. Just looking for some pointers...

Sounds like you should just stay home on your patio.

Any word if there closing Alcatraz?

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We asked when we were there in April & they told us that they're renovating the prison so I don't so

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