Competition for Princess on the West Coast

Thanks for the heads up on the 405. We will plan accordingly for our cruise coming up next spring.

The construction is between the 73 and the 605, south of Long Beach. http://www.octa.net/Projects-and-Programs/Under-Construction/I-405-Improvement-Project/?frm=7135#!Overview

Yup. In the LA metro area, you measure distance in time rather than distance. I’m less than an hour’s drive to San Pedro under normal traffic circumstances (which others would call heavy traffic.) With construction starting on the 405 to widen it, it’ll take a lot longer pretty soon.

 

Hi Pam,

I have just one question. Is the 405 better then going down the Southeast Expressway in Boston to the South Shore on any day of the week.:eek::eek::eek:

Tony

There are more options today than there used to be when it comes to West Coast itineraries: Mexican Riviera, Baja California, Panama Canal, Alaska, Hawaii, 5-day overnight to Cabo, 3-4 day short cruises, and California Coastal.

 

Interestingly, when the cruise lines stopped going to the Mexican Riviera due to the drug cartels and Princess suddenly switched to CA coastals, they seemed to realize for the first time that there was a strong West Coast market for alternative itineraries. Princess offers far more West Coast itinerary options than any other cruise line.

 

The four Carnival Corporation brands have different passenger demographics so I don’t think they compete too much based on fares. No matter what, each line will offer the pricing that the market can bear to fill the ship.

 

This is an erroneous statement....I keep on reading it, am tired of posting disclaimers when I read it. Please show factual information to back this statement up.

I do not know what news you guys are reading??

There are tons of USA citizens and Canadians who spend the winter in all of the Mexican Riviera port cities with no issues.

We have been taking cruises to the Pacific side of Mexico yearly for about the last 10 years . We have never had a problem and have not known any folks with issues that are different than what you might find here in the USA.

Do you know that some people in Europe are afraid to come here because of all the shootings they read about???

Carnival, first new ship in 20 years out of Long Beach...the Panorama! Dec. 2019

 

Have not booked with Carnival for 36 years, our 1st cruise, our Caribbean honeymoon...but figured will try a cove cabin on this new ship....

Edited August 18, 2018 by land lover

Hope so.

Hi Pam,

 

I have just one question. Is the 405 better then going down the Southeast Expressway in Boston to the South Shore on any day of the week.:eek::eek::eek:

 

Tony

He!!, no. Boston is no where near as awful as LA traffic. Think: Route 3 over the Sagamore Bridge on 4th of July weekend pretty much all the time, day and night, on the 405, the 5, the 110, the 91, etc. It’s relentless. “Rush hour” pretty much most of the time. Far more accidents. In the Boston area, there’s a certain logic to driving, crazy as it seems. In LA, they’re just plain crazy.

Thanks for the heads up on the 405. We will plan accordingly for our cruise coming up next spring.

 

 

Yes, Thanks Pam. :)

We are leaving on October 12th to the Maya.

 

Patti

I see that NCL is bring one of their “big dog” 4000 passenger ships to cruise out of Los Angeles (NCL Bliss). The CCL brands have had a powerful market grip on the West Coast and strong pricing power.

 

Could there be some price competition in our future?

 

I have cruised NCL 3 times, Princess 26 times, no competition here. You get what you pay for, NCL does not have a product that compares to Princess. I took a Mediterranean cruise on NCL a few years back, even when I went, figured I would not expect much, because the price was a lot less than other similar cruises i have done there. Like the ports, so went, if was okay for the price that is all I can say. Would I do it again for the same price maybe....

Seem like there will be huge increase in capacity on West Coats wonder if their will be enough demand to support it.

Seem like there will be huge increase in capacity on West Coats wonder if their will be enough demand to support it.

 

I think there is a growing demand on the west coast because flying is such a miserable experience, that is why we are content to do anything round trip out of San Francisco, our home port. I only fly for some special now.

The construction is between the 73 and the 605, south of Long Beach. http://www.octa.net/Projects-and-Programs/Under-Construction/I-405-Improvement-Project/?frm=7135#!Overview

 

Hi Pam thanks for posting this info , We are driving up Dec 3 ,2019 from Encinitas Ca to take the Dec 4 ,2019 Star Princess R/T Hawaii cruise .We stay over night at the Double Tree by Hilton & get the parking free for the 15 nights ,

 

Good thing that we come up the night before the cruise with all this 405 frwy construction . Post cruise we then go north to visit with our daughter & grand children & other family members in the Newhall area to Celebrate Christmas .

 

When we drive home we take the 210 to the 57 to the 5 & south back to Encinitas & avoid all that tie up which is a horrific experience :mad:

I think there is a growing demand on the west coast because flying is such a miserable experience, that is why we are content to do anything round trip out of San Francisco, our home port. I only fly for some special now.

 

Agree flying today since 9/11 is getting worse & worse experience. Except rarely we fly ;but we prefer west coast cruising :p

Edited August 19, 2018 by mcrcruiser

We feel that Carnival corp has done a amazing job of securing the west coast for them selves .

 

A OP asked is there enough business to support Princess ,Carnival & HAL ships & imo yes there is .Here is my reasoning . first flying today is a real challenge . The west coast is not only Calif ;but people have driven from Washington ,Oregon ,Nevada ,& Arizona .That is a huge population base to pull from . The west coast ports of Seattle ,SF ,San Pedro ( LA Area ) & San Diego can easily service the 3 cruise lines & the new kids on the block like Norwegian & Celebrity will have to bend over backwards to prove to the consuming cruise public that their product is better :p

NCL is going to have 3 ships in Alaska next year and two of them are mega ships. Their Alaska Bliss sales are doing great this year. I almost always sail Princess, but I’m going on the Bliss this year. Next year, they’re moving the Joy to the west coast, too. They’ll have one of those big ships doing MR. NCL is only doing 7 day cruises and the only coastals appear to be the repositioning cruises. Give them time, though. It looks like they see a lot of opportunities on the west coast. I was very hesitant to try NCL again after many years, but I like it now. I went on one last year and loved it. I’m looking forward to testing out the Bliss in Alaska.

 

 

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He!!, no. Boston is no where near as awful as LA traffic. Think: Route 3 over the Sagamore Bridge on 4th of July weekend pretty much all the time, day and night, on the 405, the 5, the 110, the 91, etc. It’s relentless. “Rush hour” pretty much most of the time. Far more accidents. In the Boston area, there’s a certain logic to driving, crazy as it seems. In LA, they’re just plain crazy.

 

Hijacking the thread. Please move the conversation to one labeled LA traffic patterns.

California has 39 million people. About 1 and a half times more than the next most populous state. It has the largest state economy in the USA. It is the fifth largest economy in the world.

 

Is there money to be made by cruise lines in California? Would some competition be a good thing?

 

I’d say yes on all counts. Bring it on please.

I think there is a growing demand on the west coast because flying is such a miserable experience, that is why we are content to do anything round trip out of San Francisco, our home port. I only fly for some special now.

 

Just say it like it is ...We cruisers as a whole are getting older....

 

When I first started cruising I was one of the youngest on the ship ...now almost 40 years later I still am.....;pnot really but sometimes it seems like it.

 

 

Re: the airlines......Maybe the seats have shrunk, but so has the pricing and availability of flights and airport experiences have vastly improved just in the last 5 years. Out of LAX & SNA. Was just in SFO loved the availability of direct flights from SNA.

California has 39 million people. About 1 and a half times more than the next most populous state. It has the largest state economy in the USA. It is the fifth largest economy in the world.

 

Is there money to be made by cruise lines in California? Would some competition be a good thing?

 

I’d say yes on all counts. Bring it on please.

 

I second this and totally agree! I sincerely hope this happens!

Celebrity is testing the west coast waters next year. They had a ship seasonally in San Diego for years - they pulled out several years ago.

 

We are booked on the Celebrity Eclipse October 2019 for a 15 day Hawaii from LA -- they are doing a couple of Hawaii's and coastals. We switched to Princess after Celebrity left and when we got tired of flying. We like Princess, but it will be interesting to be back on Celebrity after a few years.

 

The unfortunate problems in Mexico certainly don't help the west coast cruise offerings, RCCL and Celebrity pulled out of the west coast to make more money with their ships elsewhere.