Tell me about the Pacific coastal cruise..

[FiremedicMike151]

I'm intrigued by this itinerary.  Is it fun because you're seeing neat American cities, or does it feel like less of a vacation because you're not "exploring" other countries?

 

[Tigrou]

12 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

I'm intrigued by this itinerary.  Is it fun because you're seeing neat American cities, or does it feel like less of a vacation because you're not "exploring" other countries?

 

When I do this itinerary I will be exploring another country!🙂

[FiremedicMike151]

Just now, Tigrou said:

When I do this itinerary I will be exploring another country!🙂

You know us Americans, never thinking there's a world outside of America LOL

 

Seriously I didn't actually consider that 😀

[Ferry_Watcher]

I've been on two costal cruises, both at the end of the Alaska season so we departed from Vancouver, BC either late Sept or early October.

One cruise was stormy, high winds and rolling seas.

The other was unseasonably warm weather with many people outside by the pool, sunning themselves.  The crew set up poolside games, contests and activities (it was a Princess cruise).  Being from the NW, I was prepared for rain, fog and wind - not shorts and bathing suits LOL

 

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

I'm intrigued by this itinerary.  Is it fun because you're seeing neat American cities, or does it feel like less of a vacation because you're not "exploring" other countries?

 

Not for us. Same with the New England/ Canada cruises. 

[Denny01]

We’ve done this itinerary a number of times. Many have overnights in San Francisco and you are basically in a ‘hotel’ in the Embarkadero which is usually a $400+ room. Walking distance of Chinatown, Little Italy, Ferries, Fisherman's Wharf. Fantastic. many go on Napa wine tastings but I focus on the City. 
 

Monterey has one of the most spectacular aquariums. And Astoria is like stepping back into the 60’s. 
 

and many of the cruises focus on wine tasting onboard. 
 

well worth giving one a go. Either Spring going north to start the Alaska season or South in the Fall. Then the ships either head to Asia or through the Panama Canal. 

 

den

[sandancer]

We did this cruise from San Diego to Vancouver and thoroughly enjoyed it. We made it into a nice vacation by spending 4 nights in San Diego pre-cruise. On arrival in Vancouver we travelled up to Whistler for 3 nights followed by another 3 nights in Vancouver. Loved it all. 

[gooding12]

We did this cruise, San Diego to Vancouver, in April of 2019. We too enjoyed a pre-cruise stay in San Diego. Our hotel was basically right across the street from the ship; and we had plenty of restaurants in walking distance. It was also easy to navigate public transportation to go to the zoo. I enjoyed that for many of the ports there was stuff to do within walking distance and thought it was pretty cool to sail under the Golden Gate bridge. I should add that my definition of easy to navigate takes into account that we were traveling with an almost 4 year old and 16 month old twins (and little did I know I was pregnant with #4).

[TeaBag]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You are one amazing Mom, gooding, to venture out on a cruise with 16 month old twins and a 4 yr old.  I would be waiting till they were all over 10!

We have done the coastal a few times and it is great.  We had one that was just Seattle to Astoria then Victoria and back to Vancouver.

[Jeremiah1212]

Honestly it sounds like a pretty boring itinerary to me. Unless you had some burning desire to visit a more unique place like Astoria or Catalina and you knew you would never get a chance to visit again, I would pass. 

[Denny01]

One thing we try to do in SF is the Ferry over to Sausalito and back. A great view of SF, Alcatraz, and wander Sausalito for a bit. Just fun. 
 

did a local tour of the SF bakeries where stepped into all the bread making places and explored a good deal of the area. 
 

den

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

One thing we try to do in SF is the Ferry over to Sausalito and back. A great view of SF, Alcatraz, and wander Sausalito for a bit. Just fun. 
 

did a local tour of the SF bakeries where stepped into all the bread making places and explored a good deal of the area. 
 

den

Agree. We really like the laid back vibe of Sausalito. 

[mikewomb]

We did this on a different cruise line a few years ago. We started in Vancouver BC and ended up in LA. It was nice because for us it was close to home, and we went places we had seen, but never by ship. I personally would do it again. Just because it isn’t an exotic itinerary, doesn’t mean it is not a good one. 

[twincheryl]

2 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Honestly it sounds like a pretty boring itinerary to me. Unless you had some burning desire to visit a more unique place like Astoria or Catalina and you knew you would never get a chance to visit again, I would pass. 

Some of us older folks have seen much of the world and just like being on a ship for 7-10 days.  For those of us who live on the west coast (especially LA and SD), it's a wonderful getaway without a flight cross country... or a long drive to SF.   We have two Pac Coastals booked (as well as Alaska and Norway) and looking forward to them just as much as any other cruise!

[zodiac1]

We have taken numerous Pacific Coast cruises over the years.  We have sailed several Celebrity and a few Princess and Holland America.  In fact, we have a March Holland America Pacific Coast cruise booked.  Since we live in San Diego, these cruises are easy for us to jump on. Some are round trip San Diego or Los Angeles.  Some are one way and end in Vancouver.  We have friends and family located in many of the ports and enjoy visiting them or playing tourist in these cities we have visited numerous times.  Weather is always unpredictable but that's OK.  We are cruising!

[Denny01]

I just booked a Mississippi cruise from New Orleans to St Paul….the full run! So yes, going on ‘local’ cruises is interesting to me. Done the NE/Canada cruise on Celebrity Summit and loved it. I tell others to go to Quebec City, its a ‘French’ experience that is cheaper than crossing the Pond, and loved it. And Pacific Coast? There is so much to see and experience, even for those of us who ‘know the area’ so well. 

 

Cruising introduces us to so much, even when we think we know the ports and regions. I strongly recommend the itinerary. Fun. And so many don’t do these ‘repositioning’ cruises because it leaves one port and ends in another. I find the flights not be out of hand on costs, and you have Two ports you can spend a few days in prior and after.

 

den

[Northern Aurora]

Without getting out the list of our cruises which my husbands maintains I think we have done 5 Pacific Coastal cruises.  We've done both north and south bound runs, and even one on the long departed Mercury which was a RT out of San Francisco to Vancouver and back.  Even though they may not be the most "exotic" cruises we find them very relaxing as we re-visit restaurants or attractions we've enjoyed in the past.  

 

And we also like to take a ferry over from San Francisco to Sausalito for lunch at a favorite restaurant.

[jy0ung1]

We live in California and  have done Pacific Coast Cruses on NCL and Celebrity out of LA and San Diego.  If possible I would much rather start or disembark from or to San Diego.   I is a much nicer port than LA (very Industrial).  San Diego Airport is about 3 miles from the Cruise port and there are many nice hotels within a stones throw to the Ship.

 

I would prefer the Fall.  Spring can be too cold and windy in the North West.  Sept-Oct is still normally very warm in California. If you go in the fall his would also allow you to add a Mex Riviera on to the back end of it if time and budget permit.  We have noticed a big drop in prices about 55 days prior to sailing.  We book our flights with points well in advance (Southwest) and cancel if plans change or prices don't fall.  

 

If you go to San Francisco, Acatraz is a good day trip and is very close to the port.  Even though it is beautiful,  Catalina does not have much to offer.  For us it is a nice relaxing port day for the Spa or Pool.

 

Because you are close to US shores, if there is some sort of issue you are only a day away from a US friendly port.  

 

Because of the expansion of the Panama Canal, there are many more ships and many more options for us on the West Coast.  Prior to the new Canal, the size of the ships were limited.  That is not the case anymore.  We tend to sail on NCL and Celebrity so I can only speak to them.  Because Pacific Coast Cruises have been considered Repositioning cruises, it seems  that all the companies provide a good value.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

We did a B2B Pacific Coastal cruise out of San Diego in October.   Both the cruises were identical and were very enjoyable.   Many may have though we were nuts as they both had an overnight in San Francisco and we live about 30 miles from the city.  

 

The cruise was cooler than we expected so on the first cruise we took CalTrain home for the afternoon to swap out some of our clothing.   The next day we had a fun day taking the Ferry over to Tiberon.  We had never been to Catalina Island and found it a fun stop.   We technically visited a foreign port and spent a day on each cruise in Ensanada. 

 

For us a major part of the cruise is the ship itself and we were not disappointed.    A real advantage of the cruise for us is we didn't have to fly cross country to take a cruise. 

[Denny01]

3 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Without getting out the list of our cruises which my husbands maintains I think we have done 5 Pacific Coastal cruises. 

I’m not questioning your typing because that’s against the CC rules, I’m just wondering if you cruise with All you husbands at once or take them separately??

 

den

[Northern Aurora]

3 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

I’m not questioning your typing because that’s against the CC rules, I’m just wondering if you cruise with All you husbands at once or take them separately??

 

den

 

 

Thank you for catching my punctuation error!  I am retired, but if you knew what I did in "real life" you might be surprised.   Really did make me laugh out loud. 

 

Only a single husband.  I've put in so much work training him to cook, make the bed and vacuum I'm not training another.  We are still working on the laundry skills  ...... sigh..... .  Possibly in the future ..... sigh ..... .

[Buckeye94]

I went solo on the Eclipse April 2019 PC San Diego to Vancouver. We had a very active Roll Call starting with dinner the night before the cruise. Several of us have stayed in touch. We would have had at least one reunion cruise if not for the pandemic. That made the experience even better.

 

Sailing under the  Golden Gate Bridge was exciting. We were lucky to get two nights in San Fran due to missing Monterrey for weather. 

 

The good...

It was easy planning since I was familiar with some of the port cities. I enjoyed taking to the B2B passengers who had come up from South America. No wifi or international phone set up. No currency exchange considerations. If anything happened, I was in my home country (remember I travel solo).

 

The not so great...

It reinforced how little we see of a destination on our shore days abroad even if it seems like a jam packed day. I knew what I wasn't seeing.

 

Bottom line, I love CA and the Pacific Northwest. Instead of a road trip, I sailed! And a day at sea here or far away is better than any day at work! Meeting new friends was the unexpected bonus!