Tip for future pacific coastal cruises

[flipflopgal]

For all my fellow message board users, I just wanted to say that if your considering the WIne COuntry or other Pacific coastal cruises, do seriously consider the time of year you choose. I had been longing to take this particular itinerary for a few years & recently jumped on a last minute Princess Sale. Although I did some research & asked the questions, no where was it noted that WINTER in Canada & Pacific Northwest come in end of September & weather is misrable. Cold & rainy. And in our recent case of the 9/28 Sapphire Princess sailing, storm so bad we had to miss Astoria Oregon, which I had really been looking forward to, and have rough sea one whole night.

 

So just a heads up, go on the May itineraries if you can, or at least the earlier September sailings, the later in Sept you go the more likely weather may dampen your trip considerabley.

 

Oh just in case your wondering, otherwise The Sapphire Princess was WONDERFUL, a spotless beautiful ship with awesome food & other amenities.

 

Happy Cruising All & may I say how happy I am this community exisits, your wonderful !

[Piepkorn]

For all my fellow message board users, I just wanted to say that if your considering the WIne COuntry or other Pacific coastal cruises, do seriously consider the time of year you choose. I had been longing to take this particular itinerary for a few years & recently jumped on a last minute Princess Sale. Although I did some research & asked the questions, no where was it noted that WINTER in Canada & Pacific Northwest come in end of September & weather is misrable. Cold & rainy. And in our recent case of the 9/28 Sapphire Princess sailing, storm so bad we had to miss Astoria Oregon, which I had really been looking forward to, and have rough sea one whole night.

 

So just a heads up, go on the May itineraries if you can, or at least the earlier September sailings, the later in Sept you go the more likely weather may dampen your trip considerably.

 

Oh just in case your wondering, otherwise The Sapphire Princess was WONDERFUL, a spotless beautiful ship with awesome food & other amenities.

 

Happy Cruising All & may I say how happy I am this community exisits, your wonderful !

 

Having been on swine flu cruises on RCCL a few years ago, I can tell you the trips in May can be worse weather-wise than trips in September/October. Remember one trip with fog for days. The North Pacific can be pretty unpredictable. But then again, I take a cruise annually in October (to somewhere), and have NEVER had bad weather. We also did the trip on Mariner in August 2009 and 'rode around a hurricane'...with 25 foot seas on that one. So it's just a luck of the draw.

[Cruise_More_Often]

May in San Francisco can be pretty darned foggy as well. It's pretty hit or miss.

 

We had great luck on a September cruise last year. It was gorgeous in Vancouver, and we even got into Astoria. However, it was cold in San Francisco, and by the time we left in the evening, the fog had rolled in and we could barely see the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

San Francisco's best weather, usually, is late September and into October.

[CruiserBruce]

As no one will remember, I feel safe predicting next October will have perfect weather, and the cruise will be glorious.

 

Point being, yes, there is some risk. There is risk at all times of the year. As the weather is not predictable, you just have to roll with it...pun intended.

[2 to cruise]

We left from San Francisco this past May on the Grand Princess cruising to Alaska. The first sea days cruising through Oregon and Washington were horribly rough seas. No one could go outside, yellow tape on all doors, "barf bags" taped everywhere. We ended up being 9 hours behind schedule as the captain had to slow the ship down and had to miss Juneau.

 

We just returned from a California Coastal on Sapphire Princess this past weekend and the seas were absolutely like glass up and down the coast. Go figure...........you just never know!:rolleyes:

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, thank you for posting and I'm sorry your cruise was less than you had hoped for, but glad you enjoyed the ship. Having said that, I agree with the others and feel that your advice, although heartfelt and meant to be helpful, is somewhat misplaced. Weather can crop up at any time, on any itinerary, in any month of the year. Sorry the weather for you was less than ideal but really, there is no way to guarantee good weather or calm seas.

[Keith1010]

When it comes to weather, you never know until the next day.

 

Keith

[lamchops]

For all my fellow message board users, I just wanted to say that if your considering the WIne COuntry or other Pacific coastal cruises, do seriously consider the time of year you choose. I had been longing to take this particular itinerary for a few years & recently jumped on a last minute Princess Sale. Although I did some research & asked the questions, no where was it noted that WINTER in Canada & Pacific Northwest come in end of September & weather is misrable. Cold & rainy. And in our recent case of the 9/28 Sapphire Princess sailing, storm so bad we had to miss Astoria Oregon, which I had really been looking forward to, and have rough sea one whole night.

 

So just a heads up, go on the May itineraries if you can, or at least the earlier September sailings, the later in Sept you go the more likely weather may dampen your trip considerabley.

 

Oh just in case your wondering, otherwise The Sapphire Princess was WONDERFUL, a spotless beautiful ship with awesome food & other amenities.

 

Happy Cruising All & may I say how happy I am this community exisits, your wonderful !

 

 

I was on the same cruise and was disappointed with the weather but I knew 2 weeks out that the forecast was probably not going to be good. I also knew that we were scheduled to tender in Astoria while the Celebrity Century was to be docked. I had posted that info on CC coastals/roll calls with the warning that Astoria may be cancelled. While rain is common, gale force winds and rough seas were the remnants of the typhoon in Asia. When life deals you lemons, make lemonade. My DW and I bought a cruise long thermal grotto spa package (limited to 40) and it was fabulous. We have never done this before and would not have even considered it if the weather was good. It is something that we will now always consider on cruises with multiple sea days or bad weather. DW said she has never seen me so relaxed.

 

I've done this September coastal 4 times now and missed Astoria twice. We have had everything from suntan weather to heavy rains/winds. It's the luck of the draw and being from the pacific northwest, I believe the weather will generally be better in September than April/May. I'm sure this will not be our last September coastal as we love visiting California.

 

 

Why do you think everything is so green and lush here?

[Putterdude]

The storm at the end of September that we experienced in SW British Columbia and NW Washington was most unusual. We often watch the ships repositioning in the fall, leaving Vancouver and entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca in lovely sunshine. One can never predict weather a year in advance and we have had bad weather northbound in the spring. But those September storms were the kind that we can get in November.

[Lerin]

I assume you are being sarcastic by saying it's WINTER in September, because it most certainly is not.

However it probably was cold, rainy and gray as it tends to be in that region almost 12 months a year. There's a saying in Seattle that people don't tan, they rust. lol :D Goofy, yes, but there is some truth to it.

 

We actually flew through Seattle during this particular storm and it was worse than the norm, but nobody had expected sunny blue skies and 70 degrees.

 

OP I'm sorry you had a bad time due to weather. Though no one can predict it, they can predict trends. Before your next trip maybe check out a weather site where they note weather patterns over many decades, so you have an idea of what to expect.

[DiamondDiva]

We were on that Century that WAS able to dock in Astoria and are sorry that your ship was unable to tender and visit that day. Since our ships were on similar itineraries, we also experienced the difficult weather for the first half of the trip, but had superb weather from San Francisco on.

 

We also had looked for several weeks prior at weather forecasts for the area and our active roll call had discussed the possible implications of that storm in Asia heading our way. Lots of rain, wind, and one especially "rolling" night. But our Captain kept us informed and we came prepared for rainy, chilly weather. which we got in spades!

 

The Pacific NW is often rainy and chilly no matter the time of the year, and while this particular storm was heavier than most, it is also common to miss stops on cruises for lots of reasons besides weather. On our Panama Canal cruise this past March, for example, none of the 3 ships scheduled for Grand Cayman could port. It was a visibly gorgeous day with no real weather problems, just some difficult sea conditions not necessarily visible to the passengers, but a concern for the harbormaster and the 3 ships' captains. Disappointment, sure, but it happens in all parts of the cruising world for a variety of reasons.

 

Astoria was a lovely town with great craft beer at Ft George Brewery and the weather broke within town for a few hours. But most off the Century who left the city limits for the day reported crummy weather, wind, and rain, and the Mt St Helens trips were cancelled for fog and more rain. The fed shutdown closed the area historic forts and surrounding parks. But you make the most of what you get and not let it ruin a trip...it can happen anywhere, on ship, on land, or in the air! It's still vacation :-)

 

Hopefully the weather will be better for your next cruise, so have fun!

[sherryf]

I assume you are being sarcastic by saying it's WINTER in September, because it most certainly is not.

However it probably was cold, rainy and gray as it tends to be in that region almost 12 months a year. There's a saying in Seattle that people don't tan, they rust. lol :D Goofy, yes, but there is some truth to it.

 

We actually flew through Seattle during this particular storm and it was worse than the norm, but nobody had expected sunny blue skies and 70 degrees.

 

OP I'm sorry you had a bad time due to weather. Though no one can predict it, they can predict trends. Before your next trip maybe check out a weather site where they note weather patterns over many decades, so you have an idea of what to expect.

 

You really can't predict the weather for Seattle. This year it was extremely rainy in September, but October has been pretty nice. I wore shorts to Issaquah Salmon Days the first weekend in October. It was downright hot.. around 70! :D

 

One of my kids has a mid-June birthday, and we have always had indoor parties for him because it always seems to rain on/near his birthday. Another kid has a mid-March birthday. One year it was sunny for his birthday party and we were out in the yard, the next year it snowed on the day of his party. My daughter has a late April birthday, and amazingly, the weather is almost always nice. There are trends, but you just never know. We have learned to just be prepared for anything and accept whatever you get.

[DaveOKC]

We were on the Statendam (Holland) from Sept 29-Oct 4. Vancouver to San Diego.

 

Bad weather forced us to stay in Vancouver over night, thus we missed the only port (San Francisco) and ended up with 5 sea days (2 were a bit rough). Not a good deal at all. I doubt we will ever take a Coastal after that experience.

 

DaveOKC

[Cruise_More_Often]

We were on the Statendam (Holland) from Sept 29-Oct 4. Vancouver to San Diego.

 

Bad weather forced us to stay in Vancouver over night, thus we missed the only port (San Francisco) and ended up with 5 sea days (2 were a bit rough). Not a good deal at all. I doubt we will ever take a Coastal after that experience.

 

DaveOKC

OMG, I feel so sorry for you. We have done at least one, sometimes two, little Pacific Coastal cruises a year, and we have been so lucky. Our weather has been really good for every one of them. We'll see if our good luck holds for our next one in May.

 

I think I remember reading about the Statendam staying in port in Vancouver while the Pearl sailed out into the weather and was just fine.

[Putterdude]

We were on the Statendam (Holland) from Sept 29-Oct 4. Vancouver to San Diego.

 

Bad weather forced us to stay in Vancouver over night, thus we missed the only port (San Francisco) and ended up with 5 sea days (2 were a bit rough). Not a good deal at all. I doubt we will ever take a Coastal after that experience.

 

DaveOKC

 

It's to bad that you had the experience you did. However, as I said in an earlier post, this type of storm in September was highly unusual. There were two HAL ships that stayed in port that evening, if it had happened during the cruise season, I am sure they would have sailed. In this instance the season was over, there was no demand for docking space at Canada Place, the ships likely could have not got into their next ports and it would have made for one H*** of a ride....so why not stay snug at Canada Place plugged into shore power.

[Northern Aurora]

We were on the Statendam (Holland) from Sept 29-Oct 4. Vancouver to San Diego.

 

Bad weather forced us to stay in Vancouver over night, thus we missed the only port (San Francisco) and ended up with 5 sea days (2 were a bit rough). Not a good deal at all. I doubt we will ever take a Coastal after that experience.

 

DaveOKC

 

We were also on the Century September 26th sailing with Diamond Diva. That was the second leg of a B2B and on the first leg we missed Ketchikan due to bad weather. Four ships had missed Ketchikan a few days earlier, so the fact the Century missed it wasn't a total surprise.

 

On other cruises we have been on ships which have been forced to miss ports and we have had days of rough seas. But don't let such an experience make you decide to not take a Pacific coastal cruise again. These itineraries are often a nice mixture of sea days and ports.

[edgeman61]

DW and I did an 8N Wine Country cruise on the Century out of San Diego in May of 2012. I had read about the posibility of poor weather and was preparing myself for the worst.

 

San Diego and Catalina were spectacular, almost a little too warm. San Fransisco was not shaping up too well when we passed under the Golden Gate. We were in the thickest fog I have ever seen, however, it cleared up nicely and the day was mostly bright and sunny (except for the bridge, which was socked in all day). Our second day in SF was picture perfect, the bridge was in full veiw when we sailed out under her. We ran into a bit of rough sea on the way to Astoria, 20 ft seas and 80 kt gusts tossed us around all night and made us 2-3 hrs late arriving. After that it was beautiful in Victoria and Vancouver.

 

Maybe we were lucky, but the weather we had in May was about as good as it gets. We're hoping for a repeat as we are doing a California coastal cruise on the Century next April (fingers crossed).

[Cruise Raider]

We sail often out of SF -- well, not as much since Princess and Celebrity don't have an abundance of cruises leaving from this port. I can see a portion of the city from my upstairs window in the East Bay -- so are quite close to the city, although our weather is completely different.

We mostly go in September and March but have also gone a few times in May....and sometimes we've had spectacular weather and sometimes not.

One of our May cruises was up to Alaska -- our friends from Florida were meeting us the night before and I warned that the weather is SF could be as much as 40 degrees cooler, so be sure to layer. Well, May 7th of that year broke all records -- 93 degrees in SF. Needless to say, we were peeling the layers off when we got there. We sailed up to Alaska and had such phenomenal weather, except in Sitka where it was quite chilly. Some other friends took a cruise that embarked in SF just a few days later (we met up with them in Sitka) and there weather was horrible the entire time. It must have just followed us up the coast. I tease them that the only reason Sitka was cold was because they brought it with them on that 'other' ship.

The weather here in Coastal California can be so unpredictable. We just had another trip to Alaska with phenomenal weather -- in the mid 70's in Sept. Two years before that, same time of the year, we had 100 mile winds and freezing rain. We're always home for the 4th of July and some times we've had to breakdown and pull out the down blankets and heaters but this last year was well over 100 degrees. Personally, I like the cooler weather better. In the summer months, I see that fog rolling in from SF and say, there's our natural air conditioning. yes!! On November 1st, it was 81 degrees here....today, just two days later, the heater is back on. You just never know.