Pacific Coastals - can you see the shoreline?

[tanyaewa]

Also The temps are generally cooler than on land and it can be quite breezy.

 

[cruisingrob21]

Can report that in very clear conditions it's possible to see silhouettes of big sur, cape mendocino (eureka area), and cape Blanco (southern Oregon).  Cell phone reception is usually without data as there aren't really any cities that have much broadcast power in that stretch.  What you can see and can't see is dependent on weather and time of day obviously.  I will say I have seen whales on almost every voyage (but don't expect an announcement) and a wide variety of other ships.  In 2019 sailing southbound on the coral under perfect weather we sailed alongside the Royal Princess and the Star Princess as the Golden Princess passed us northbound.  That was a unique experience - the ships kept their distance but with binoculars we could see folks walking on the decks.

 

I'll add that pretty much all the sailaways are enjoyable for an hour or more.  San Diego and San Francisco are visually very nice sail aways, and Astoria is a very unique port to enter and leave as it's at the mouth of the Columbia river, third largest in north America I think.  Sailed in on the Eurodam a few years back and the captain gave an excellent explanation of the challenges and history of sailing into Astoria.  It can be smooth as glass or 30 minutes of some pretty good rolling as the ships fight tides and a river current.

 

The highlight would be sailing into the straight of Juan de fuca on the approach to Victoria, Vancouver or Seattle.  The San Juan islands and Salish sea between Vancouver and Seattle is as scenic as anywhere in the world (In my opinion) and if you get it at sunset it's really something memorable.  Unfortunately the only voyages that do that routing during daylight are short coastal voyages between Seattle and Vancouver.

Edited March 18, 2022 by cruisingrob21

[Oceansaway17]

On 3/15/2022 at 10:20 PM, atobols said:

I've sailed from Ensenada up to San Francisco on one cruise and San Francisco up to Alaska on another.  I don't recall ever being able to look over and see the coast on sea days.  I'm guessing it might have something to do with staying far enough away from the coast for the casino to be open.

and to make water too.

[rj59]

I've done 12 coastals on Princess, since I live an hour by bus or train from Vancouver--my cheap way to Elite. They can't operate the casino or duty-free unless in international waters, and are subject to harbor pilot requirements in local US waters. However, once our ship was close enough to the Oregon Coast to attract flocks of migrating songbirds from shore, who were attracted by the ship's lights at night, thinking it was the sun or moon. Those who made it all the way to the ship didn't have any more energy, so there were hundreds of birds all over the outer decks who slowly froze and starved to death--the saddest experience ever on a cruise for me.

You'll see the northern coast of WA on the right sailing into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, which gives you some slight US cell coverage, especially when you are near Port Angeles and start turning for Victoria. You can get some severely rough seas near the entrance to the Columbia River if stopping at Astoria--the harbor pilots have to be lifted off by helicopter, because small boats aren't safe there. I highly recommend the opposite trip in the fall leaving Vancouver, because you sail right under the Lion's Gate Bridge, and bikers and pedestrians stop to wave, and some ships have very close clearance, and larger ships like the NCL Bliss have to wait for low tide to enter or exit.