Pacific Coastal - Princess, Celebrity or NCL?

[edgeman61]

The DW and I are considering a Pacific Coastal cruise for May 2012.

 

We are considering the following:

 

An 8 night on Celebrity Century from San Diego to Vancouver, stopping in Catalina, San Francisco (2 days), Astoria and Victoria. We really would like to see San Diego and the two days in San Francisco are very appealling. I'm leaning toward the Celebrity for it's itinerary but have reservations about the age and condition of the Century.

 

A 7 night on the Saphire Princess from L.A. to Vancouver, stopping in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria, Seattle and Victoria. We have seen Seattle several times and I used to live there about 17 years ago. The aspect of this cruise that excites us is that the Golden Princess is doing a 4 night from Vancouver to Seattle a couple of days after we disembark in Vancouver from the Saphire. The Golden Princess goes through the inside passage to Ketchikan which is one of our favorite ports in Alaska (we really like ALL of Alaska). My Wife is partial to this option as it gives us (her) 3 days in Vacouver between the Saphire Princess and Golden Princess.

 

A 7 night on the Norwegian Pearl from L.A. to Vancouver, stopping in San Francisco, Astoria, Naniamo and Victoria. The part that makes this cruise exciting is the possibility of continuing on the Pearl from Vancouver to Seattle doing a 7 night Alaskan inside passage. This may not be possible due to Maritime Act restrictions. While this wouldn not allow us much time to visit Vancouver, If I'm considering taking a cruise into Alaska I want to see as much of Alaska as I can (within reason).

 

Has anyone out there done any of these cruises and what were the positive / negative aspects of the ships and ports.

 

Thanks very much.

[Putterdude]

We have done shorter versions of the coastals over the past 3 years, the longest being 6 days but have enjoyed each of them. I would lean toward the Princess cruise not because we have become sort of Princess junkies but more the reasons you have already listed plus we really enjoy the Sapphire and her sister the Diamond. We are on the "all new" Golden in May and enjoyed her as well.:)

[Smokeyham]

The DW and I are considering a Pacific Coastal cruise for May 2012.

 

We are considering the following:

 

An 8 night on Celebrity Century from San Diego to Vancouver, stopping in Catalina, San Francisco (2 days), Astoria and Victoria. We really would like to see San Diego and the two days in San Francisco are very appealling. I'm leaning toward the Celebrity for it's itinerary but have reservations about the age and condition of the Century.

 

A 7 night on the Saphire Princess from L.A. to Vancouver, stopping in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria, Seattle and Victoria. We have seen Seattle several times and I used to live there about 17 years ago. The aspect of this cruise that excites us is that the Golden Princess is doing a 4 night from Vancouver to Seattle a couple of days after we disembark in Vancouver from the Saphire. The Golden Princess goes through the inside passage to Ketchikan which is one of our favorite ports in Alaska (we really like ALL of Alaska). My Wife is partial to this option as it gives us (her) 3 days in Vacouver between the Saphire Princess and Golden Princess.

 

A 7 night on the Norwegian Pearl from L.A. to Vancouver, stopping in San Francisco, Astoria, Naniamo and Victoria. The part that makes this cruise exciting is the possibility of continuing on the Pearl from Vancouver to Seattle doing a 7 night Alaskan inside passage. This may not be possible due to Maritime Act restrictions. While this wouldn not allow us much time to visit Vancouver, If I'm considering taking a cruise into Alaska I want to see as much of Alaska as I can (within reason).

 

Has anyone out there done any of these cruises and what were the positive / negative aspects of the ships and ports.

 

Thanks very much.

 

 

We did the Pearl repositioning cruise you mention above in May, 2010 and really enjoyed it. Here is a a link to my review of that trip.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=67896

 

I would be surprised if you can continue on after Vancouver though, because of the Maritime laws, but this may be possible now. I thought I heard some people on our cruise talking about continuing to Alaska. Definitely worth investigating.

 

If you enjoy sea days, you might also think about the Norwegian Star, which is doing an LA to Alaska (Ketchikan, Juneau) then ending at Vancouver in May, 2010. We enjoy sea days, and so are probably going to sign up for that.

 

Good luck with your choice, and please let us know what you decide.

[tamsocal]

I would pick your princess option :)

 

ports we have been to: (but I like them all)

San Diego-- we live here but still had fun coming in to port for the day

Catalina- spend alot of time here too so not sure how much fun it is for cruising tourists-- but we love it

Santa Barbara-- great day didn;t have enough time- zoo, botanical gardens, mission, walking around downtown

San Francisco-- lots of options-- 2days sounds fun too though

Astoria- we drove down the coast to Tillamook and had a wonderful day

Seattle

Victoria

3d in Vancouver sounds fun too in between the cruise

 

the NCL would be a fun option if it is allowed but unless there is a full day between departures- I would think would not be allowed

[edgeman61]

Regarding a combined Alaskan + Pacific Coast cruise, I see that Celebrity has a 12N out of Vancouver on the Mercury in September that stops in Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, 3 days in San Francisco and disembarks in San Diego.

 

The above itineray is for 2010, if a similar cruise is scheduled for 2012 we may have a winner. My only concern would be the weather in AK in mid September, we have always cruised Alaska in late May or early June and have had the good fortune of having (mostly) calm seas and good weather. Not having any other Pacific coast ports on this itinerary is also a bit disapointing but 2N & 3D in San Francisco has its appeal.

 

This may be a better question for the Celebrity boad but what ship will take on the intineraries that the Mercury had after it departs X's fleet?

 

Thanks,

[CanWeGoYet?]

The DW and I are considering a Pacific Coastal cruise for May 2012.

 

We are considering the following:

 

An 8 night on Celebrity Century from San Diego to Vancouver, stopping in Catalina, San Francisco (2 days), Astoria and Victoria. We really would like to see San Diego and the two days in San Francisco are very appealling. I'm leaning toward the Celebrity for it's itinerary but have reservations about the age and condition of the Century.

 

 

I would not let concerns about the age / condition of the Century steer you away from that choice. I was on the Century for 2 weeks in april / may 2009, it was a beautiful ship and well maintained.

[Pamster]

We just did this cruise on the Pearl in the opposite direction - Vancouver to Los Angeles - and it was great.

 

Regarding Alaska in mid-September - we have done 2 Alaska cruises, both in mid September. I can tell you that the weather on both occasions was mostly grey, chilly, and rainy. We had whale watching cruises cancelled on both occasions because of rough seas and bad weather, many other excursions were cancelled. So that is a consideration, although I loved it, it seemed so "Alaska" to me - AND there are tons of sales in all the ports because they are clearing out their stock for the winter, so we got lots of deals.

[bobalink]

We just returned from our, “teeny, tiny coastal cruise” on the Golden Princess.

 

We flew from LAX to YVR Vancouver on Sunday morning. Super smooth, and no snags. Met several others on our flight who were going on the coastal cruise.

 

GREAT TIP : When we arrived at the airport there were several Princess agents holding signs and one asked me if we were on the Golden Princess. I responded, "yes, we are, but that I had not arranged for a transfer, and that we planned to take the Canada Line Sky Train to Waterfront Station." He said, "would you like Princess to take your luggage to the ship?" OMG, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise. We just took our bags over and they stapled our handy-dandy paper tags on, and off we went! (Our bags showed up in our stateroom right after the muster drill.)

 

Then we went out of the international terminal up to the parking structure and purchased a ticket for the SkyTrain only $7.50 per person (no one ever collected our tickets) and we were at Canada Place in 22 minutes. Easy cheesy!

 

We walked to Harbor Centre to find the BC Liquor Store to purchase some wine, but no luck. They were closed on Sundays! :(

 

Embarkation was a breeze - we were warmly greeted by the terrific folks at Princess. The whole process took only a few minutes.

 

Just walking onto the ship gave me that feeling like "it's so good to be home" The Golden Princess is lovely, the crew is happy and everyone is gracious and friendly.

 

We had a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck. Our room steward, Martin, greeted us immediately, brought us champagne and said to let him know if there was anything we needed. Our balcony was great, with plenty of room for the four chairs and small table. My friends had arranged for chocolate covered strawberries (yummy) to be in my room upon arrival, as I celebrated my birthday on this cruise. The next day, they sent canapés, and Martin decorated my door with bright balloons. Fun!

 

The beautiful ship – I just love The Piazza’s beautiful atrium, International Cafe, Vines, and the special touches that Princess offers. I enjoyed a wonderful Head to Toe massage at Lotus Spa. We used the treadmills in the gym every morning because the Promenade deck was too wet.

 

The dining options – I had a Coffee Card left over from my cruise last year, so I brought it with me to use at the International Café. We ate breakfast there twice, and the breakfast sandwiches are quite good with a cup of fresh brewed coffee. (No punches for fresh brewed coffee.) The pastries are fresh and just the right size.

 

We were with a group of friends (12 of us all together) and we ate dinner in Bernini’s twice, and Donatello’s once. We called ahead because the size of our group would require a big table. Not a problem, and our servers were great. The servers work very hard! The maitre d’ visited our table every night. DH and I thought the food was just okay. It is obvious that some cutbacks have been made in the quality of meat and fish. Not a deal breaker for us. We would rather they keep their prices low because there are many options for food. Trust me, we never went hungry!

 

DH likes the burgers and pizza near the pool area, so he was happy.

 

The weather was cool and foggy in the mornings, but it burned off and was bright and sunny by noon. MUTS was fun for a while, but I wanted to just read and relax. We found an area just outside of The Sanctuary where the lounge chairs were comfortable, and it was quiet and peaceful.

 

The seas were a bit rough the first night and half of the next day. I was happy when the motion calmed down. Never got sick, but it was close!

 

The entertainment – We thought the comedian was hilarious, and the ventriloquist was outstanding. The musicians that we saw and heard around the ship were all very good, too. The Beatle Maniacs were fun and lively, and got everyone up on their feet to sing along.

 

Disembarkation – quick and painless! We live fairly close to San Pedro, so DD picked us up right out in front of Berth 93. Gotta love that!

 

I really did not know what to expect on a teeny, tiny coastal cruise. I thought perhaps the service or entertainment may not be as good as a "real" cruise. There was absolutely no difference. The service was impeccable and there was just a great vibe on the ship.

 

We sailed on a different cruise line last month, so the "comparisons" were very fresh in my mind. I can say unequivocally that in my humble opinion, there is no comparison. Princess far exceeds the other cruise line we were on last month in service, entertainment, shops and on board activities.

 

While on board we purchased a future cruise credit so we will have that to look forward to! We already have a Princess cruise booked for July 2011 for the Greek Isles on the Star Princess.

 

We had a wonderful experience on our 3-day coastal cruise on the Golden Princess and we will definitely do one again!

 

Happy cruising to you!

[Smokeyham]

We just returned from our, “teeny, tiny coastal cruise” on the Golden Princess.

 

We flew from LAX to YVR Vancouver on Sunday morning. Super smooth, and no snags. Met several others on our flight who were going on the coastal cruise.

 

GREAT TIP : When we arrived at the airport there were several Princess agents holding signs and one asked me if we were on the Golden Princess. I responded, "yes, we are, but that I had not arranged for a transfer, and that we planned to take the Canada Line Sky Train to Waterfront Station." He said, "would you like Princess to take your luggage to the ship?" OMG, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise. We just took our bags over and they stapled our handy-dandy paper tags on, and off we went! (Our bags showed up in our stateroom right after the muster drill.)

 

Thanks for the great review, and the great tip about getting your luggage aboard, while you took light rail. How wonderful!

 

We took a 2-night SF to Vancouver trip a couple of years back, and decided that was just too short. It was on Princess, but I don't think it would have been different on any other cruise line.

 

The first night we were getting to know the ship, and on the second night it seemed everyone was packing (most had been on board for a much longer time) and the ship seemed to close down early.

 

So, for the topic at hand.... whatever you choose I would suggest at least four nights to really enjoy it.

 

Good luck!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We just booked the Sapphire Princess Pacific Coastal for May 12, 2012. I tink it looks like a great itinerary! Myonly question is where do you research the ports? We are very familiar with Seattle and Iknow we can read a lot about Vancouver & Victoria on the Alaska boards, but I don't see much info on Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Astoria around here.:confused: Those are all new ports to me and I would love to see what other people did in those ports.

 

I am sure I can get info on Trip Advisor.......I ust think the CC boards are more geared to cruise times and limitations.

[Smokeyham]

We just booked the Sapphire Princess Pacific Coastal for May 12, 2012. I tink it looks like a great itinerary! Myonly question is where do you research the ports? We are very familiar with Seattle and Iknow we can read a lot about Vancouver & Victoria on the Alaska boards, but I don't see much info on Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Astoria around here.:confused: Those are all new ports to me and I would love to see what other people did in those ports.

 

I am sure I can get info on Trip Advisor.......I ust think the CC boards are more geared to cruise times and limitations.

 

Check out the West Coast Departures board for information about San Francisco, and information about Astoria (even though Astoria is not a "departure" port).

 

Also, checkout the Pacific Northwest Board for more ideas: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=226

 

I love the west coast repo cruises, and even though I live in the San Francisco Bay area I still get a tremendous thrill going under the Golden Gate Bride on a cruise ship.

 

 

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

San Francisco

A little closer to your cruise, check and see which pier you will be docking at for San Francisco. If you are near Pier 39 then you are really in luck, because you can just walk off and be in the heart of San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf, etc. The other pier is fine, but just little further away from things.

 

There is a lot to do in San Francisco. If you want to go to Alcatraz, then make the booking yourself, which is easy to do online. Ghiradelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf, and the Maritime Museum, are all close by and you don't need a special tour to do those.

 

Astoria

Through NCL we did a combined wine tasting and then lunch at the Baked Alaska restaurant. We enjoyed the lunch, but the wine tasting wasn't really worthwhile.

 

You could do your own "tour" by taking a shuttle bus or trolley to the very worthwhile Maritime Museum, and then going to the Baked Alaska for lunch. Others have rented cars to see various points on the Oregon coast. Check out the boards for more info.

 

I hope the above helps, and that you have a great cruise on the West Coast!

 

 

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you. I have a long time to research, so I am sure things will turn up. :cool:

[zoncom]

All nice ships. I am on Century which I chose for food and ports. I am especially excited about rare chance to port in SF for 2 days. I vote whichever ships have this option.

[travelbig]

.... but I don't see much info on Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Astoria around here.:confused: Those are all new ports to me and I would love to see what other people did in those ports.

 

 

We were on the Pearl this past April from Miami to Vancouver and it was great. In San Francisco we had e-tickets for Alcatraz which we ordered from http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/ If you do want to go to Alcatraz, this is the only site (operated by the Park Service) selling tickets where you actually can get on the island. The pier for the ferry shouldn't be too far from where the ships dock. It was a real eye opener. We got back around 1:30 from that and walked over to Pier 39, checked out the area and saw the sea lions. Beautiful boardwalk area for walking.

 

In Astoria there will be town greeters at the pier to help and give out info. There is a trolley for a small fee to take you to the town area. Included in that fee is a separate trip up to the Column. If you google sightseeing in Astoria it will give you info on the Column. We also walked the town, saw the historic theatre and went on a tour at the Flavelhouse Museum. This is a really historic area, the end of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and a really beautiful, scenic place. Be sure to take a small umbrella with you. It's one of those "it can rain at any time" places.

 

We are also booked on the 8 day Century for May 2012 and looking forward to having that extra time in San Francisco as well as getting back to the other ports.

[agabbymama]

This is our second Pacific Northwest cruise. In 2004, we did NCL 5 night northbound from Los Angeles to Vancouver with stops in Seattle and Victoria. Chose NCL again (my friend likes the free style) only Southbound for 7 nights from Vancouver to Nanaimo, Victoria, Astoria, San Francisco and home to Los Angeles.

 

In addition to googling the ports, you can go to the cruiseline websites and check out their excursion offerings, just to see what is available.

 

By doing that, I found an excursion on NCL to "Tea at Flavel House" that I really wanted to do. We will be in port on my birthday, and that's what I wanted to do for my birthday. I emailed Flavel House, and you can't do it independently, so booked it through the ship.

 

Actually booked a number of cruiseline excursions, due to limited mobility issues, it was just easier to book with them. Nanaimo is a small port without much to do but walk, so booked a winery visit there.

 

Did rent a vehicle in Victoria and we will do Butchart Gardens and Butterly Gardens on our own.

 

Then for San Francisco, we just did a quick weekend trip for my birthday last year, and saw most all we wanted to see there. This stop on the cruise, I booked a ship's excursion to Sonoma Wine Country (which we didn't get to do).

 

So lots of interesting things to do in all the ports. Have fun planning, then taking whichever cruise you choose.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Lots of good ideas. Thanks!:)

 

I know I want to go to Butchart Gardens in Victoria. I was there last July on the Carnival Spirit, but only in the evening. The downtown area is beautiful and we found a nice little pub for fish and chips. Yummy! I am not sure if renting a car to Butchart would be best for us or a shuttle. Right now I am inclined to a shuttle. In Astoria I have read that there are some great scenic state parks in the area. A car rental seems best for that. Has anyone rented a car in Astoria?