Astoria vs. Catalina island vs. Santa barbara

[latebuyer]

Just wondering what port you'd choose if you have the choice and why.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Catalina hands down.  The total Mediterranean vibe and walkability does it for me.  Santa Barbara is OK, but seems to touristy and nothing worth seeing is walkable.  Astoria is very pretty and depending on the time of the year can be nice.  Weather on the Pacific northwest can change minute to minute.  I have been to Astoria for work and it's very small.  I can't imagine what the ship could offer for an excursion. 

[martincath]

Not sure how helpful a small sample of opinions will be OP, especially since I'd flip the order of the three to basically the opposite of the first reply!

 

Astoria hands-down the best for me: good architecture, tiny but fun city museum, superb maritime museum with one of the best fish & chip spots in the region parked outside (it's in a boat to keep the vibe!), a twee little ye Olde Historic Railway that runs rather randomly, the whole historic Lewis & Clark story with a great rebuild of Fort Clatsop to visit (outside town), multiple great breweries, a resto you can dine in while looking down through the glass floor to watch sea lions below, fling a paper airplane off the Column while enjoying expansive views. Just don't be one of those people and annoy the new owners of the Goonies house by hanging out on their lawn... stick to checking out the film exhibit in the museum!

 

Santa Barbara I plunk in the middle again, nice enough to be worth visiting again but not somewhere I would ever choose a cruise based on its inclusion or lack thereof; while it's a bit far to walk to e.g. the Mission there was a touristy trolley bus shuttling folks around when I visited which I think did come back post-Covid.

 

Catalina however I have no desire to ever go back - the museum was decent, but the overall vibe I was left with is Generic Caribbean Island Meets Faded British Beach Resort, both of which I've done far too many visits to!

[latebuyer]

Thanks this is great as i will most likely go on a cruise with astoria due to cost. However, i still appreciate other opinions as i am from vancouver and would maybe take a pacific coastal again with a different port.

[LynnSD]

Agree with Astoria for the reasons mentioned.  Loved the maritime museum and Fort Clatsop.  
 If you’ve never been to a Catalina it’s a good stop.  Best thing we did was a walking/ food tour with a local guide; the other excursions are cheesy but fun once!    

 When we stopped at Santa Barbara we always took a wine tour in the Santa Ynez valley; we were already familiar with the town.  

[Urban trekker]

Also remember that Santa Barbara is a tender port.

Dennis