Alaska Round Trip From Los Angeles in 2018!

[XBGuy]

Booked in our favorite cabin.

 

Not too many sea days for us. We love them.

 

Mrs. XBGuy is pretty pumped and is, in fact, hoping for serious weather.

 

It's funny. My coffee shop buddy and I have been discussing a L.A.-Alaska-L.A. cruise for several months. We thought a 14-day cruise would be great--add stops in say Seattle, Astoria and San Francisco.

 

OK. Obviously, Princess was listening in our our conversation and what they came up with is close enough for me.

 

:)

[Cruise Raider]

This looks ideal -- as we are a bit tired of the Grand here in San Francisco. Well, maybe just me. This gives us another option, although I do love the indoor pool area up in Alaska.

It is pricey already, though. I see those mini's way aft on the Emerald deck are already gone. I am sure these are one of the 'favorite rooms' that have been booked already! :D

[shredie]

As someone who doesn't live near LA - this doesn't interest me at all.

 

I would rather fly to YVR and spend the 2 weeks sailing in Alaska with out all the sea days and see the ports and glaciers 2x. Far more scenic for me.

 

More room for the rest of us. :)

[ar1950]

More room for the rest of us. :)

 

We will go for that. This is a one of a kind cruise and we are going to have a great time with the itinerary. Not for every one, but, we like it.

[Woobstr112G]

This cruise will sell out fast. It's going to be a great cruise!

 

Oh yeah.....:):):)

 

Bob

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We are going on this one. Can't wait!

 

Does anyone know what the sea conditions are usually like north of San Francisco? Does it tend to be choppy or have large waves? We booked on a lower deck because we weren't sure.

 

We've never had this many Sea Days and I know we are going to love it! My longest cruise has been 9 nights. This is going to be fabulous!

[RJGallagher1955]

As a "newbie" I was happy to see this cruise come up, since we live in Long Beach area.

 

We just booked our second ever cruise for September 2107 to Alaska on the Grand from San Francisco.

 

But I am sorely tempted to switch over to this cruise. Yes, we'd have to wait a bit longer, but going in and out of LA is so easy for us compared to getting up to San Francisco.

 

My only thing is that we unknowingly snagged one of the cool and sought after Window Suites on the Grand so we'd miss out on that experience with the extra perks etc.

 

But saving the flying or driving up to San Francisco would be a real plus for me, since I have some mobility issues.

 

A nice thing about this cruise is we'd have a day in Vancouver where we used to live and our son currently lives. That would be an added plus.

 

Guess I better contact our Princess travel person and talk it over with her.

[txwriter]

This cruise will sell out fast. It's going to be a great cruise!

 

No kidding! I looked at it yesterday after reading the post and saw the itinerary which looks really good, but there are more rooms sold on this ship than are for my May 2017 SB trip.

[LACruiser88]

Ditto!

 

I think this cruise was meant for folks that live in Southern California and close to the port. We had also been pushing for this itinerary for a very long time.

 

It will be sold out very soon, we were one of the first to book it!!!:):):)

[Coral]

I think this cruise was meant for folks that live in Southern California and close to the port. We had also been pushing for this itinerary for a very long time.

 

It will be sold out very soon, we were one of the first to book it!!!:):):)

 

Definitely. Everyone excited is from LA area or within driving distance to LA.

[nooptere]

I think this cruise was meant for folks that live in Southern California and close to the port. We had also been pushing for this itinerary for a very long time.

 

It will be sold out very soon, we were one of the first to book it!!!:):):)

 

Yes there won't be many flying from in Minnesota for that one LOL. You won't have to worry about goof balls wearing shorts and flip-flops in the MDR, 99.9 % of the college spring breakers will pass, loungers by the pool will be saved with electric blankets instead of towels, and maybe they will have BOGO specials on hot butter rums (Yum)(Assuming they are not skimping on the butter :p).

 

Seriously It is good that Princess is opening non tradition routes like LA-Alaska.(A big market) I wish they would have more West coast to Trans-Pacific, Not just Hawaii, Asia sailings.

[Pam in CA]

If you're just thinking about this cruise, don't wait to book. Prices will go up. The round-trip Panama Canal cruise for this November sold just as fast and within months, was 100% more than the original fares. It's still 75-100% more than what I'll be paying.

[LACruiser88]

Seriously It is good that Princess is opening non tradition routes like LA-Alaska.(A big market) I wish they would have more West coast to Trans-Pacific, Not just Hawaii, Asia sailings.

 

We can't agree more!!!:)

[shellbeachjim]

If we didn't already have something booked for April 2018, we'd be interested in this cruise.

 

This itinerary will go fast for all of the folks in SoCal. We're in a different situation than most. We live halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, so it's a push as to which port is more convenient to us. It's good to have choices... ;)

Edited May 20, 2016 by shellbeachjim

[Thrak]

If I lived in that area I would jump on this. I don't live there so...

 

My wish for Princess is more diverse sailings out of SF.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Oh yeah.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob, are you going to join us?

 

To those who have booked, a roll call has been started.... :D

[Cruise Raider]

If I lived in that area I would jump on this. I don't live there so...

 

My wish for Princess is more diverse sailings out of SF.

 

That is my wish, too! But I would suffice with a ship other than the Grand here in SF. Time to trade it out for the Crown or the Ruby, I think!

[Cruise Raider]

We are going on this one. Can't wait!

 

Does anyone know what the sea conditions are usually like north of San Francisco? Does it tend to be choppy or have large waves? We booked on a lower deck because we weren't sure.

 

We've never had this many Sea Days and I know we are going to love it! My longest cruise has been 9 nights. This is going to be fabulous!

 

I, too, just love sea days. There really could never be too many as far as I am concerned.

We are taking out 'splurge cruise' next year and up to Alaska again this year so cannot justify this one fitting into my budget -- although I love the itinerary.

 

We sail out of SF quite often and usually the conditions are pretty choppy going north. Now, this may be my opinion only but it does seem to be calmer sailing south than it does sailing north. Could it be something to do with the currents or just part of getting my sea legs back on? I don't know the answer to that.

I did sail up from SF a couple of times in May (never in April) and once it was smooth as glass while the other time, it was quite choppy. You can't go wrong with a lower deck as you are prepared for rough waters but will still be happy if you don't encounter them.

[sassyredhat]

Not only do I think it'll sell out quickly but pricing will go up. Here's the itinerary:

 

Hi Pam....We have been booked for Alaska in 2017 for a long time. I checked with the others, and they don't want to switch.

Someday we will connect on a cruise.

 

Pat

[cruisequeen4ever]

I'm happy for you Southern CA people! Though it'll be colder and is very early for Alaska (we sometimes even get a freak snow storm that last week of April/first week of May), the scenery will be gorgeous with snow capped mountains, adding to the whole Alaska effect.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Imnluck]

Thanks to KruzPrincess we just booked this cruise! I am so excited. Our TA was not even showing this cruise in her system yet. She had to call Princess to book it. But we're in!!

[KruzPrincess]

I don't think anyone who has booked this has expectations that it'll be a warm weather cruise. If it's warm, that'll be icing on the cake. The reality is that it could be snowing or it could be 60-degrees. I'll pack layers and be prepared. Love the sea days. I've been on other cold weather cruises when even the covered pool area was too cold. It won't be worse than those. :)

 

You are so right. You can't predict what the weather will be. I live in Minnesota. Last week, it was 75 degrees in Fairbanks and 45 degrees in Minnesota for daytime temps. 30's at night. Who could have predicted that?

[KruzPrincess]

Yes there won't be many flying from in Minnesota for that one LOL. You won't have to worry about goof balls wearing shorts and flip-flops in the MDR, 99.9 % of the college spring breakers will pass, loungers by the pool will be saved with electric blankets instead of towels, and maybe they will have BOGO specials on hot butter rums (Yum)(Assuming they are not skimping on the butter :p).

 

Seriously It is good that Princess is opening non tradition routes like LA-Alaska.(A big market) I wish they would have more West coast to Trans-Pacific, Not just Hawaii, Asia sailings.

 

Huh?? Yep, I guess maybe I'll be the only one from Minnesota. LOL.

[nooptere]

Huh?? Yep, I guess maybe I'll be the only one from Minnesota. LOL.

 

1st off I love Minnesota :) I have good friends there, who are ready for warmer days by then. I'm sure it is going to be a great cruise, with plenty of nice people.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I think I agree Tony. I adore see days. I really do but if I'm going to have that many I think I'd rather do transatlantic. That itinerary really needs to stop in San Francisco and Seattle. It could do San Francisco on the way up in Seattle on the way back. Or hey why not even go down to Ensenada for one day and then back up to LA.. LOL Mexico and Alaska on the same cruise! That would be a really cool thing to Market.

 

As someone on the west coast, been there done that to Ensenada far too many times (I was at that point after the first time there). Would rather go to Vancouver as the foreign port.

 

As someone who has sailed LA-Vancouver so regularly he gets welcomed like long-lost family at San Pedro. . .

 

I adore the idea of this itinerary, but I won't do it on Emerald, Ruby or Crown because it's cold on the North Pacific in April and early May. The lack of a covered magrodrome area makes the Horizon Court / Cafe Caribe seating overflow. It drives more people to the MDR for lunch to the point the line flows into the Princess Theatre. The lotus spa pool is regularly closed due to sloshing. Magic To Do gets cancelled due to sea conditions. The apparent wind is often over 50mph. The seas are often choppy. MUTS is a frostbite risk. My Mai tai gets ripples in it.

 

I like being on the water in the North Pacific a lot. I just don't like doing it on a full ship with people who expect a sunny cruise and where there isn't a pool likely to be useable.

 

I wondered how the Alaskan cruises are without the covered pool. Our Alaskan cruise was on the Sapphire (when it was brand new) and it was nice to have that option on cool and rainy days.

 

We don't mind the sea days and looking at the itinerary, those sea days are broken up. We've been on the Hawaiian cruise three times with four to five days at the start and the end of the cruise.