Emerald, Ruby or Grand Princess for California to Hawaii RT?

::waves from 1½ hour up the 14::

 

 

If we're not doing a Park and Sail at a San Pedro hotel, your Palmdale $2/day

Flyaway parking is tempting...?

I will never leave my car at that lot. Over the years, I've taken a number of reports of cars being broken into while parked there. We usually use Desert Star Limos for the ride to SP if we are going to do a 2 day pre-cruise getaway at the Doubletree. If not, we just drive to my sister's house in Torrance and leave our car there. She then gives us a quick ride down the 110 to the cruise port.....:):):)

Bob

Like everyone else here, I have sailed to Hawaii several times with 2 cruises on the Star, 1 cruise on the Grand and 1 cruise on the Golden. The Golden was awesome with Cruise Director David Cole (ret) and Elua (hawaiian ambassadors) and the 2 Star cruises were just ok. Food was really off on one cruise and the crew was really off on the other. The Grand was amazing with the crew and food being as good as possible.

Here is a video I made from that cruise:

We are booked on the Emerald for the Christmas 2018 cruise and we live 40 minutes outside San Francisco so we will drive down the day before. Hoping the Emerald is just as great as our last Grand cruise.

Anothe item to consider is that the ship out of SanFran, on the return voyage is only in Ensenada for a very short time to the point where it is questionable if it’s worth getting off the ship. The ships leaving out of LA however have a much longer time in Ensenada. Although I wish Princess had a ship sailing out of San Diego.

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Anothe item to consider is that the ship out of SanFran, on the return voyage is only in Ensenada for a very short time to the point where it is questionable if it’s worth getting off the ship. The ships leaving out of LA however have a much longer time in Ensenada...Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Went into Ensenada on my 1st ever cruise and have stayed on the ship every since. Having the Mexican Navy patrol the dock from land and sea is a bit off putting.

... For us Ensenada is a “stationary sea day.”

 

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Ditto.

Wish I'd thought up "stationary sea day". Priceless!

The Grand was the first ship we ever cruised on. It was great. I agree it is a little dated, and there were indeed some plumbing leaks, but we loved the ship.

Also, whoever said San Francisco is a great place to sail out of is correct. True, it can be cold, but San Francisco is a really great city to visit either pre or post cruise. I am not particularly fond of San Pedro.

We are going to be mulling this very same question if we decide to sail to Hawaii this year. We have sailed several times from Vancouver to Hawaii, but that itinerary seems to be gone from Princess's schedule.

If we do go, we will take whichever ship sails out of San Francisco. It would be a bonus if it was the Grand.

Daughter & I are booked on the Emerald next March with friends. I have been on the Star which was my first Princess cruise since we did the Panama on the Sun back in 2006. I did the Coastal, again with friends, DH stayed home to await our Australia trip.Our cruise this past August a TA out of Copenhagen was my husbands final cruise. I too would prefer sailing out of San Diego over San Pedro, either way it is a 2 hour drive for us.

Are you saying that is a drawback or an advantage for cruises out of San Francisco?? For us Ensenada is a “stationary sea day.”

 

 

 

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Was an easy decision for us this past February when we spent 3 hours in Ensenada. Superbowl was on.:)

What were the on deck temps like (sea days) in February to and from the islands?

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The Grand was the first ship we ever cruised on. It was great. I agree it is a little dated, and there were indeed some plumbing leaks, but we loved the ship.

 

 

 

Also, whoever said San Francisco is a great place to sail out of is correct. True, it can be cold, but San Francisco is a really great city to visit either pre or post cruise. I am not particularly fond of San Pedro.

 

 

 

We are going to be mulling this very same question if we decide to sail to Hawaii this year. We have sailed several times from Vancouver to Hawaii, but that itinerary seems to be gone from Princess's schedule.

 

 

 

If we do go, we will take whichever ship sails out of San Francisco. It would be a bonus if it was the Grand.

Hope it’s not gone as we are going Vancouver to Hawaii (return) in October. :)

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My vote is for Grand from SF. I just finished that cruise.