11-day Alaska from SF on Star Princess

[jtvmi77]

Is this a new itinerary for 2014, or has it been done before?

 

If it was done before on a different ship, I'd be interested in opinions from anyone who has sailed it. Failing that, I'm interested to know if anyone is taking it or thinking about it.

 

I'm just wondering if the extra time is worth it, since it's pretty much a few extra sea days. I know that's probably a matter of opinion, but I'm interested to hear them. The alternative for us would be a couple of extra days in Vancouver or Seattle following a 7-day.

Edited November 11, 2013 by jtvmi77

[24639]

I have done this itinerary twice as a ten day. Not sure why they added the extra day, but I am good with it. I absolutely loved this itinerary as there is no flying involved for me. I sure would be interested to hear why an extra day was added just because inquiring minds want to know, you know?

[jtvmi77]

Does it tend to be mostly folks from Northern Cali on the cruise?

 

I took the CB from NYC to the Caribbean/Bermuda on a 9-day a few years ago, and it was mostly other East Coasters who didn't have to fly.

[RickEk]

We took the 10-day from San Francisco a few years ago on Sea Princess. We actually drove from LA and spent a day in SF before the cruise. It was a great cruise (a bit rough the first day or so)... much better than the 7-day that we took last year from Seattle (not to say that wasn't fun either... we just love the extra time at sea).

 

Apparently the only change between the 10-day and 11-day is an extra day at sea... we're looking into doing it again next year!

[jtvmi77]

Not that one can predict sea conditions, but I'm unsurprised to see the comment of it being rough for the first two days or so. Very much out there in the open Pacific.

 

My experience on the 9-day from NY was similar. Open Atlantic on the way to Bermuda, with it calming down in the more sheltered Caribbean (relatively...I know it can get nasty there, too)

[Kamloops50]

Is this a new itinerary for 2014, or has it been done before?

 

If it was done before on a different ship, I'd be interested in opinions from anyone who has sailed it. Failing that, I'm interested to know if anyone is taking it or thinking about it.

 

I'm just wondering if the extra time is worth it, since it's pretty much a few extra sea days. I know that's probably a matter of opinion, but I'm interested to hear them. The alternative for us would be a couple of extra days in Vancouver or Seattle following a 7-day.

 

What many cruise lines are doing is slowing down the ships to save on fuel . Cunard changed there TA from 6 to 7 days . The amount of fuel used on the 7 is the same as the 6 because of speed.

[sprinkles]

JTV,

 

I did the 10 day out of San Francisco, 10 days, two years ago on the Sea Princess, plus a 7 day out of Seattle last June and a 7 day from Vancouver to Whittier before and loved them all.

 

So just a few suggestions/thoughts. What city would you be more interested in starting from? All three are interesting cities and have different things to offer. Personally I love cruising and would take an 11 night over a 7 night anytime.

 

If this is a once in a lifetime thing, my own personal suggestion would be to make sure you take an itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay. My last cruise to Alaska did not and I really missed seeing it.

 

Happy Cruising Everybody!

Tammy

[jtvmi77]

JTV,

 

I did the 10 day out of San Francisco, 10 days, two years ago on the Sea Princess, plus a 7 day out of Seattle last June and a 7 day from Vancouver to Whittier before and loved them all.

 

So just a few suggestions/thoughts. What city would you be more interested in starting from? All three are interesting cities and have different things to offer. Personally I love cruising and would take an 11 night over a 7 night anytime.

 

If this is a once in a lifetime thing, my own personal suggestion would be to make sure you take an itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay. My last cruise to Alaska did not and I really missed seeing it.

 

Happy Cruising Everybody!

Tammy

 

I'm unsure if it'll be a one-time deal or not. Depends on if we like it. :D

 

I went skiing once in BC, and flew into Vancouver. Driving out of the airport was all I really got to see. Never been to Seattle or SF.

 

We are weighing several options with the various lines, but this 11-day was interesting due to the length and originating port.

[Hazelnut1106]

We took the 10-day from San Francisco a few years ago on Sea Princess. We actually drove from LA and spent a day in SF before the cruise. It was a great cruise (a bit rough the first day or so)... much better than the 7-day that we took last year from Seattle (not to say that wasn't fun either... we just love the extra time at sea!

 

We are considering this cruise in 2014 and could drive from the L.A. area. Where did you park in San Francisco and how much did it cost? Did any hotels have a park and sail package?

 

Susan

[24639]

We are considering this cruise in 2014 and could drive from the L.A. area. Where did you park in San Francisco and how much did it cost? Did any hotels have a park and sail package?

 

Susan

 

Hi Susan,

We come from the same area and have done this two ways. Once we drove and parked in the lot a block away. IMHO big bucks for parking is money thrown in the toilet. Last summer(#2) we took the Megabus from downtown LA and paid as much for our round trip tickets as two days of parking. Bus drops you off a couple of miles away and you grab a cab or walk like we did. Just a suggestion to consider. Of course this may not be a good option for those with mobility issues. We are pretty adventurous so we loved it.

[COMBOY]

Is this a new itinerary for 2014, or has it been done before?

 

If it was done before on a different ship, I'd be interested in opinions from anyone who has sailed it. Failing that, I'm interested to know if anyone is taking it or thinking about it.

 

I'm just wondering if the extra time is worth it, since it's pretty much a few extra sea days. I know that's probably a matter of opinion, but I'm interested to hear them. The alternative for us would be a couple of extra days in Vancouver or Seattle following a 7-day.

 

Princess has been operating Alaska cruises out of SF for many years, but mostly on 10-day RT. The 11-day RT is new from what I've seen. Why the extra day...I speculate either they are adding Glacier Bay and/or an extra sea day. The slower the ship sails the less fuel burn or maybe it's a combination of both.

 

The difference between Vancouver and SF is 7 vs 11 days. SF is convenient if you live in Northern California since you can drive plus you get more sea days and a less rush cruise vs the 7 day cruise where is almost a port a day. Sailing up the coast of California/Oregon/Washington the waters can be rough until you get into the inside passage. I sailed out of SF and going under the Golden Gate bridge is simply breathtaking. Vancouver too is a beautiful city with lots to see and do. The 11 days does not stop in Vancouver, but does stop in Victoria. It might be cheaper and more convenience flying into SF vs Vancouver depending upon your home air city but of course an 11 days cruise is going to cost more then a 7 day cruise. As you can see it's all very subjective and there are pros and cons to both cruises depending what you want to see and do. You know your budget, how many sea day you want, and ports you want to see. You can't go wrong on either cruise.

[jtvmi77]

Princess has been operating Alaska cruises out of SF for many years, but mostly on 10-day RT. The 11-day RT is new from what I've seen. Why the extra day...I speculate either they are adding Glacier Bay and/or an extra sea day. The slower the ship sails the less fuel burn or maybe it's a combination of both.

 

The difference between Vancouver and SF is 7 vs 11 days. SF is convenient if you live in Northern California since you can drive plus you get more sea days and a less rush cruise vs the 7 day cruise where is almost a port a day. Sailing up the coast of California/Oregon/Washington the waters can be rough until you get into the inside passage. I sailed out of SF and going under the Golden Gate bridge is simply breathtaking. Vancouver too is a beautiful city with lots to see and do. The 11 days does not stop in Vancouver, but does stop in Victoria. It might be cheaper and more convenience flying into SF vs Vancouver depending upon your home air city but of course an 11 days cruise is going to cost more then a 7 day cruise. As you can see it's all very subjective and there are pros and cons to both cruises depending what you want to see and do. You know your budget, how many sea day you want, and ports you want to see. You can't go wrong on either cruise.

 

Going under an icon such as the Golden Gate sounds pretty cool.

 

Money-wise, we are ok with either the seven or the eleven, and I can get the needed amount of time off of work to accommodate either itinerary. I'm just juggling if I'd rather use extra days to explore a new city in the Pacific NW or relaxing at sea. I know that no one can answer it for me, I'm just interested to hear what other folks like.

 

The potential for rougher seas is a little bit of a drawback, though. I thought there might be some comments about that on here, and there are already two posters who have mentioned it. I guess we'd need to stock up on the Dramamine.

Edited November 11, 2013 by jtvmi77

[fishywood]

Since you wondered about the history of this particular itinerary:

 

I sailed this way back in 2000 on the ancient Sky Princess. It was 11 days then with full day calls in both Victoria and Vancouver (something you are unlikely to ever see again). Princess does tend to delegate its older, soon to be sold-off ships to this cruise; the last decade saw Sky Princess, the old Regal Princess, and Sea Princess--and starting last year one of the original Grand-class ships now deemed too old for the Caribbean and Europe. Now I am one who very much enjoys sea days, but even with 13 years of reflection I feel that the three extra days were a waste: not so much that the seas were rough, but the sun never appeared and the temperature on the open Pacific was easily 20+ degrees cooler than in Ketchikan or Skagway.

 

No question it would be preferable to start or end your vacation with a few days in Vancouver. My personal conclusion is that there can be only one reason that this cruise from SFO remains popular despite the common knowlege that on an open-jaw Alaska sailing you see much more in less time and get far better value for your money: some people are just too cheap or too lazy to bother to get passports.

[Thrak]

We took the 10-day from San Francisco a few years ago on Sea Princess. We actually drove from LA and spent a day in SF before the cruise. It was a great cruise (a bit rough the first day or so)... much better than the 7-day that we took last year from Seattle (not to say that wasn't fun either... we just love the extra time at sea).

 

Apparently the only change between the 10-day and 11-day is an extra day at sea... we're looking into doing it again next year!

 

Apparently the only change between the 10-day and 11-day is an extra day at sea... we're looking into doing it again next year!

 

It sounds like we were on the same cruise. :D I remember the rough seas and the "pounding and booming" as the ship plowed through the big waves embarkation night and the first day at sea. People were staggering all over the ship the first morning at breakfast.

 

I checked out the itineraries and it seems there are two different 11-day trips. One includes the Tracy Arm rather than the Inside Passage (the one we did) and both of the 11-day itineraries go to Ketchikan FIRST which differs from the itinerary we had and also from the 10-day itinerary listed.

 

This was our first cruise. I absolutely KNEW I would hate cruising but ended up loving everything about it and now I'm hooked. I would highly recommend this cruise to anybody (and have done so repeatedly). My wife and I are planning to go back and, this time, include a land tour

[centralcalicruzer]

A quick check on the Princess website answers the questions about the extra day. Yes, it is an extra sea day, but because of that they were able to extend the Victoria stop to a full day instead of the usual 6-5 hour stop. So you do get that added benefit. Some of the itineraries go to Glacier Bay and some to Tracy Arm Fjord. We took the 10 day cruise last summer and I was pleasantly surprised to be on some of the calmest seas of any of our cruises, even going north to Alaska. And we had terrific weather, a little bit of rain on our day at Icy Strait Point, but the sea days were beautiful and even the outdoor pools got a lot of use. And only you can decide whether you would rather spend 3 extra days at sea or 3 extra days exploring another city, paying for hotels and all meals. Neither is a bad option, and for us we were able to drive three hours to port, and we were able to wait until the prices came way down and didn't have to worry about airfare going up. It had nothing to do with us being too lazy or cheap to get passports since we already have them. Whatever you choose will be a great vacation, and I wanted to give you a little bit more positive take on the weather and seas than others have posted here. You really never know.

[love2relax]

We took the cruise out of San Francisco last summer, and liked it so much that we booked another one this summer. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, so even though I no longer live there, it was really exciting to sail out under the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

We liked the extra sea days to relax and enjoy the amenities the ship had to offer. Our other Alaskan cruises have been so port intensive that we never really had much time to do anything except use the ship as a floating hotel.

 

I live about a 7 hour drive away, so we drove up during the night prior to the cruise. Since 4 of my siblings still live in the area, I was able to park my car at one of their houses and get dropped off at the port, so parking wasn't an issue.

 

Yes the seas were a little rough, but fortunately that doesn't bother me. We had really rough seas back in 2009 out of Vancouver too, believe it or not.

Edited November 13, 2013 by love2relax

[Nancyquilts]

We are considering this cruise in 2014 and could drive from the L.A. area. Where did you park in San Francisco and how much did it cost? Did any hotels have a park and sail package?

 

Susan

As far as just parking, there is a covered and locked lot at 55 Francisco and another across the street. This is about 1-1/2 blocks at the most from pier 35. We usually just parked there and rolled the suitcases across the Embarcadero. The last time we booked it was about $12 a day, counting both the first and last days, but that was several years ago.

[Evelyn143]

Is this a new itinerary for 2014, or has it been done before?

 

If it was done before on a different ship, I'd be interested in opinions from anyone who has sailed it. Failing that, I'm interested to know if anyone is taking it or thinking about it.

 

I'm just wondering if the extra time is worth it, since it's pretty much a few extra sea days. I know that's probably a matter of opinion, but I'm interested to hear them. The alternative for us would be a couple of extra days in Vancouver or Seattle following a 7-day.

 

We did this cruise in 1997 on the Sky Princess and it was a wonderful cruise. We precruised in SF for a few days. The only rough thing I remember was the waters when we left SF until we got to Victoria. I would highly recommend this cruise.

 

Evelyn

[euphscott]

I'm happy to see some discussion about this itinerary.

 

We've booked this cruise and are watching it with great interest.

We are definitely warm weather cruisers, but have been told we MUST see Alaska. So, how to do Alaska? Lots of options for sure. So why did this sailing hook us?

 

One - we are Texans, so we have to fly to the west coast. So, longer (and more expensive) flights to Seattle or Vancouver versus San Francisco was an impactful factor. Two, my wife has never visited San Francisco, so this is an easy choice with the opportunity to spend a couple days there and take in some of what SFO has to offer. Third, the more days on board a ship, the better, so 11 days that include numerous sea days is a sure fire way to make me relax. I'm a doer and go getter - sea days either challenge my patience or force me to chill out. Hopefully I'll take the more relaxing approach!

 

And as for the comment that seemed a little out there - we DO have passports. That factor never played into our thinking. Being middle country residents, it's faster and cheaper to go to California than to the Pacific NW. I also have to figure the large population base of California also makes this an attractive target as it's driveable for a lot of people rather than flying north.

 

The ONLY downside seems to be the Pacific waters that do get a little fiesty. We've survived some pretty crazy nights weathering outer rings of tropical storms and passing through cold fronts. What's a little adventure?! :)

[partybarbie]

I need to agree with what some other posters have stated. The 11-day is way more relaxing, you get more time in the ports, and in our case, we don't need to purchase the airfare. I can take a 7-day cruise, with air, for the same price as the 11-day, no air. The only drawback is that you can't add the Alaska tour at the beginning or end of the cruise. You can spend some time in San Francisco though, or take a side trip up the beautiful California coast.

[trbarton]

I live in SF so I hope my comments won't be biased. Yes they added an extra sea day but I would enjoy it. I was on the Grand in May to Alaska and I was looking forward to sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge since the last time I sailed under the bridge was on the Coral Sea, CVA 43, in 1967. That never happened because our cruise was delay 2 hrs. because of SLOW baggage handling. We have a condition call the Potato Patch out of San Francisco going north, and have been told that it is called that because of a barge with potato's overturned many years ago thus the name. On our cruise the seas were smooth which surprised me.

 

Right now the Alaska cruise is a very good price. I've looked at a May 23rd cruise out of San Francisco and the price is interesting. Princess web site shows for a single balcony stateroom, aft, the price is $3,796, but when you add the taxes and the Princess Insurance it comes to $2,964 I guess because of their sale.

 

Here's what I will get on this cruise from Princess:

 

OBC from reservation.............$200

OBC credit from FCC..............$100

Military Credit.......................$100

Shareholder Credit.................$100

Free shore excursion credit......$ 50

Reservation in a specialty restaurant

 

This all because of their current sale so why not book.

 

Plus San Francisco is very easy to get around with their public transportation and your right near Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Also next year their will be a new cruise terminal that was used this year for the American Cup races.

 

Tom:)

[Greyhound3]

As far as just parking, there is a covered and locked lot at 55 Francisco and another across the street. This is about 1-1/2 blocks at the most from pier 35. We usually just parked there and rolled the suitcases across the Embarcadero. The last time we booked it was about $12 a day, counting both the first and last days, but that was several years ago.

 

We paid $16/day in August. Still a very reasonable price for parking in SF.

 

 

Grey

[RickEk]

We are considering this cruise in 2014 and could drive from the L.A. area. Where did you park in San Francisco and how much did it cost? Did any hotels have a park and sail package?

 

Susan

 

Well, we actually got a pretty good deal... my ex-wife arranged one-way car rentals for very cheap rates. My son's friend's mom works for Hilton, so we had Friends & Family rates at the Hilton in Union Square. All in all, it was very inexpensive to travel to and stay in San Francisco. YMMV. :)

[Cruisin Sal]

Tom,

Did you book the 5/23/14 cruise? If so join us on the roll call.

 

Sally

[AlaskaGolden]

We are booked on the 11-day next July. For us, it was the only itinerary that fit with the World Cup (soccer or football as it is called in many countries). We'd prefer to watch the semi-final and final matches on MUTS like we did in 2010 on the Bermuda/Caribbean cruise.

 

It just seems like a more relaxing cruise than the 7-day. Plus SF is a bit more interesting to spend time in either before and/or after the cruise.