Princess West Coast Dominance - Good or Bad?

[need2cruisesoon]

You wanna cruise to Hawaii from SF our LA - Princess

Try cruising 10 days to the Sea of Cortez - Princess

Alaska from SF or LA - Princess

10 days to the Mex Riviera from SF - Princess

 

Seems like the options are limited.

Are we really getting the best bang for our cruise dollar? Is Princess taking advantage of the west coast customer, old ships, nothing to get excited about. Sameness.

 

Yeah, I understand there is Carnival from LA but whole different league for sure.

 

Ye 'Old Grand Princess San Francisco:

[El Crucero]

It is good for me to have at least one West Coast option with Princess. But it is bad for me since there are no alternate options with competitive pricing. However, a little birdie (my TA) told me it is likely that Celebrity will be basing a ship in San Diego/San Francisco in a year or two. I hope that is true.

[towhee]

Carnival, NCL, and Cunard all sail from Los Angeles. They may not sail the itineraries that you suggested, but the itineraries are viable.

I remember when HAL, Carnival, Celebrity, and Princess routinely sailed out of SF. Even Crystal sailed one season out of SF. I think the problem is that the economics didn't make sense for some of the cruise lines. We haven't lived in CA for a decade, but before we left the SF cruise terminal was old (it still said Matson Lines) and creaky. Traffic flow on embarkation/disembarkation days was impossible, parking was expensive, relations with the longshoremen were iffy.

Is it bad to have one provider dominate a market? Usually yes. However if the market is active and the politics are fair, then competitors will come.

[SadieN]

Carnival sails to Hawaii RT LA 14/15 day and Vancouver - Hawaii 10 day and reverse to/from Alaska. These continue onto Australia.

 

We've sailed two Carnival Hawaii cruises and one 13day Mexican cruise. On Princess we've sailed three 9/10 day MR cruises. The passenger make up on Carnival is more diverse than Princess but they've been just as mellow as our Princess cruises. None of these cruises have had more than 20/30 kids onboard.

 

(We've sailed many 3/4/7 day cruises out of LA on both lines. Platinum on both Carnival and Princess, almost all on the West Coast.)

 

Pricing is comparable on both lines for similar itins.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

People always make comments about Carnival but one of the worst cruises that I have ever been on as far as drunks was a Princess cruise. I had several new cruisers with me and I told them that Princess was not a party type cruise line. Sail away consisted of at least 1000 or more trashed people and blowup dolls were involved. OMG. 😱

[easyboy]

Not a problem for me if pricing and service is acceptable.

[BDRebel]

If you don't want Princess in CA, send them over to Texas:(

[caribill]

People always make comments about Carnival but one of the worst cruises that I have ever been on as far as drunks was a Princess cruise. I had several new cruisers with me and I told them that Princess was not a party type cruise line. Sail away consisted of at least 1000 or more trashed people and blowup dolls were involved. OMG. 😱

 

 

How long a cruise was this? A week or longer? Or a shorter one?

[tacrum43]

It is good for me to have at least one West Coast option with Princess. But it is bad for me since there are no alternate options with competitive pricing. However, a little birdie (my TA) told me it is likely that Celebrity will be basing a ship in San Diego/San Francisco in a year or two. I hope that is true.

 

 

That would be great to have Celebrity sail on the West Coast (other than Seattle/Vancouver). I've seen a Celebrity Cruises booth at a street fair and the Taste of SF event here in the Bay Area the past two years, so clearly they feel they have a customer base here.

 

 

Meanwhile, it's nice Princess at least makes an effort at providing SF (and LA) sailings, even if it's on older ships. Good to have options.

[IECalCruiser]

The Ruby and soon the Emerald are on the west coast and before the Royal class these were the newest Princess ships. It is true that the significantly older Grand is still sailing out of San Francisco.

 

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[Thrak]

I guess if there were other options then Princess might lower prices. OK. Cool. Of course I still would only book with Princess anyway... We like the product. We pay for it. If they lower the price due to competition that would be great but then they might have fewer offerings which wouldn't make us happy. I keep hoping for more Princess sailings out of SF - not fewer.

[joeyancho]

We have sailed both Crown and the Ruby from los Angeles. I wouldn't consider either to be old. The price is reasonable. At times even lower than Carnival.

[latebloomer56]

We would love more Princess options from the northeast. We travel on NCL because they are here when we just want a cruise with nothing specific. Not a fan of Florida so we don't generally head south.

Wouldn't even mind the older ships if they came to Boston :) (like all their ships). Rack up the cruise credits, my husband said they are waiting for us to get to elite in a couple more trips :). If only, then I could come back new more often.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Those of us in the Mid East Coast have no close Princess options either, unless you want to head to Ft Lauderdale between late October/early November and April, or up to Brooklyn only during the short Fall season. Other lines use NJ, Baltimore, Charleston and Port Canaveral most on a year-round basis.

 

Bottom line is that there is only so much market for cruising in each location.

 

 

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Edited March 4, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[TravelingEA]

Why don't any cruise lines sail out of Milwaukee or Duluth? I would love to not have to pay as much for airfare as I pay for a cruise. I don't feel to bad for those who live with in driving distance of a cruise port.

[Coral]

Why don't any cruise lines sail out of Milwaukee or Duluth? I would love to not have to pay as much for airfare as I pay for a cruise. I don't feel to bad for those who live with in driving distance of a cruise port.

 

 

Too funny! I agree.

 

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If the other lines thought they would make a decent profit there, they would be there. And they have been there in the past and they pulled out. I sailed to Mexico from San Diego on HAL several years ago.

 

Princess has tested waters in Houston, Galveston, New Orleans, etc.... They didn't last but some lines are still in Galveston, etc.. I am sure the Texas people would love to have a Princess ship there again. I am sure those in Central FL would love to have a Princess ship there also. The lines go where the money is. Not all ports are good for all cruise lines.

[Coral]

You wanna cruise to Hawaii from SF our LA - Princess

Try cruising 10 days to the Sea of Cortez - Princess

Alaska from SF or LA - Princess

10 days to the Mex Riviera from SF - Princess

 

 

 

It is possible if Princess pulls out of Alaska from SFO or LA, no other line would do the route, is that a better situation? Or Hawaii?

[flamomo]

I don't get what the age of the Princess ships has to do with anything. All Princess ships undergo periodic drydocks, and are constantly maintained. During cruises one often sees maintenance chores being performed, such as worn carpet replacement, sanding and sealing teak railings, touch-up hull painting while docked in ports, etc. It's certainly not like they are rusting hulks!

[thinfool]

I don't discount the fact that Princess is the "Love Boat" cruise line and has had all of that history on the West Coast. Lots of brand loyalty there as well as infrastructure in place which can help with controlling costs and having preferential treatment.

[Coral]

I don't discount the fact that Princess is the "Love Boat" cruise line and has had all of that history on the West Coast. Lots of brand loyalty there as well as infrastructure in place which can help with controlling costs and having preferential treatment.

 

 

And their headquarters are there also! Many of the other lines are in FL.

[SadieN]

It is possible if Princess pulls out of Alaska from SFO or LA, no other line would do the route, is that a better situation? Or Hawaii?

 

 

Both Princess and Carnival are offering the RT Alaska cruise from LA. Never seen it offered before. Hope it's successful on either line to repeat.

[toescat]

I have been on 9 Carnival cruises all of them being 7-14 day cruises. I loved each nod every Carnival cruise I have been on. I have also sailed on brand new Princess ships out of San Pedro. The only older Princess ship I have sailed on was the Dawn and it was a great ship.

[Tapi]

We are "east coast people", but we flew to LA to sail on the Golden Princess a few years ago. Surprisingly, it was cheaper than a similar sailing on Carnival.

 

We are now booked on the brand new Norwegian Bliss still under construction which will have a short season out of LA

 

 

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[Tapi]

Seems like the options are limited.

 

 

I just performed a quick search for 9+ day cruises out of west coast ports (LA, SF and SD). and it seems like you may have more options than you realize.

 

In addition to Princess, other cruise lines like Norwegian, Carnival, Celebrity, Oceania, Regent, Seabourn, Cunard, Disney, and Holland America all offer longer and unique itineraries from those 3 ports, and that's without including the standard 3-7 night day itineraries.

 

Granted, there will always be a dominant carrier in a specific region. Princess just happens to be one where you live. At my closest 3 ports of embarkation, Carnival does not only dominate the market, but it's the ONLY cruise line doing the same, repetitive short itineraries over and over to the same old ports. Want to trade with me? [emoji6]

 

 

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[nukesubsailor]

If you don't want Princess in CA, send them over to Texas:(

 

 

I agree, but Texas also needs to invest in more port infrastructure suitable for cruise ships someplace other than the often-fog-bound Houston..