Pacific Coastal Cruises Yay or Nay?

[Proopkitty]

I'm considering a 5 day Pacific coastal cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles September 2018 on NCL Bliss. It stops in Victoria and San Francisco. I was wondering if anyone has done a similar cruise and what they thought of it. I would be flying in from Ohio and also needing hotels in Vancouver and Los Angeles. I just want to make sure it won't be a disappointment.

 

I've cruised the Caribbean and Bahamas many times and this September I'm doing a Baltic cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance and information.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are a lot of people who do 4 and 5 day coastal cruises. Many of them live on the west coast and don't have to worry about hotels for before and after the cruise and usually only have to fly one way or take buses and trains.

JMO -- we live in PA and would never consider such a short cruise. We no longer have direct flights to the west coast.

Have you consider what the coast of your flights and hotels would be? Combined that could cost more than the cruise. Is that worth it to you?

[Roz]

I've done several coastal cruises on HAL, and really enjoyed them. I live in TN. I usually stay a day or two in the port cities on either end, so it ends up being a week long vacation.

 

A little tip for you to cut airfare costs....I've found it much cheaper to fly in and out of Seattle rather than Vancouver, since it involves international flights. I use a service called Quick Shuttle that picks up and drops off right in Canada Place.

 

Roz

[mtwingcpa]

I've done a handful of short west coast cruises and thoroughly enjoyed them. But I live on the west coast and therefore generally had only one-way airfare and one night in a hotel, and/or I coupled it up with other land-based travel before or after. No way would I fly to the EAST coast for a similar short cruise (if such existed).

[kelmac]

Back in 2014 we did a California coastal cruise on Celebrity's Century and it was wonderful. I made it a golfing cruise and played some great courses along the way. (TPC Harding Park San Francisco; Sandpiper Santa Barbara; Black Horse Course Seaside Monterey)

The 7 night cruise from San Pedro did Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Francisco (overnight), Catalina Island and Ensenada. Could have played a nice course in Ensenada as well.

Celebrity has since sold off the Century and has pulled out of the west coast.

 

Love to do this itinerary again,

Kel:D

[capriccio]

We did a 7 day Princess 'Wine Country' cruise in May 2012 that we really enjoyed. The cruise departed from LA. Ports were: Santa Barbara where we had spent a week's vacation about 6 years earlier so knew the area (and the wines) so we took a great whale watching excursion; San Francisco where both of us had visited many times so we did a fun Sonoma wine tasting excursion; Astoria, Oregon where we took a fascinating full day tour to Mt. St. Helens; Seattle (DH had been there numerous times on business but it was my first visit) where we did another fun wine tasting excursion and had plenty of time to visit the Pike Market area (the ship was docked within walking distance); Victoria where we went to the beautiful Buchart Gardens; and we disembarked in Vancouver (which we had visited before) and spent an extra day visiting Stanley Park. It was a wonderful cruise and I recommend it highly.

[SadieN]

Back in 2014 we did a California coastal cruise on Celebrity's Century and it was wonderful. I made it a golfing cruise and played some great courses along the way. (TPC Harding Park San Francisco; Sandpiper Santa Barbara; Black Horse Course Seaside Monterey)

 

The 7 night cruise from San Pedro did Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Francisco (overnight), Catalina Island and Ensenada. Could have played a nice course in Ensenada as well.

 

Celebrity has since sold off the Century and has pulled out of the west coast.

 

 

 

Love to do this itinerary again,

 

Kel:D

 

 

Princess still does variations of this cruise.

 

OP-many will take the repo cruise and do a B2B with the cruise before or after.

 

 

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[Kartgv]

While any cruise is better than no cruise, it's a long way to fly for such a short one. There are many similar cruises that take a more leisurely pace with more ports, up to 11 days for same route. Check Princess, Holland America, Celebrity. Use a Travel Agent or any online agency that allows a search by the month you want to cruise and departure city.

[highfields]

We are on the 11 night Celebrity Infinity Pacific Coastal cruise that leaves San Diego on May 17, 2017. We also did the 2014 Celebrity Century Pacific Coastal cruuse. These coastal cruises are fabulous. We fly in from Maryland and truly enjoy everything about the cruises.:)

[AZ Ocean Lover]

We booked a 3 night cruise in May just last week. We just wanted a get away and this fit the bill. The price was fantastic and a one way ticket from Vancouver to Phoenix was just $121. But, if I was coming across country I would definitely build in some land vacation time on either end. Vancouver is just a beautiful city with so many things to do. Is the cruise long enough? Absolutely not, but it's still a cruise.

[Langley Cruisers]

While any cruise is better than no cruise, it's a long way to fly for such a short one.

 

Completely agreed.

 

One of our early cruises was a coastal, just coming the other way. It was very rough water in some spots, and cool at sea as well.

 

Victoria and San Francisco are phenomenal cities, so I'm not sure what your disappointment would include, except for the frightfully short cruise. ;p lol

.

[SantaFeFan]

5 days is rather short. If it were me, I'd hold out for a longer cruise similar to what Celebrity offers like poster highfields mentions in post #11. They are 10 or 11 nights depending on direction, with ports of Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Astoria OR, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. Much more bang for the airfare and hotel buck.

[Sequim88]

Now that we are back in Western Wash. we are considering our cruise options. Alaska is great but, unless you're someone named Budget Queen, you can only go to the same place so often. ;) It would be relatively easy for us to train up to Vancouver and just fly back from LA or San Diego. Since the new job has me at the low end of the vacation scale (one week discretionary) a 4-5 day would work well. Eventually even Vancouver to Hawaii but a coastal would be nice.

[rmurray847]

My wife and I did EXPLORER OF THE SEAS Pacific Coast Cruise (7 night) last September, but it was a round trip, not a repositioning cruise. Flew in from New Mexico. We loved it...I liked it more than I thought. The crowd on the ship was older than usual (we're in our early '50s and felt like we were amongst the youngest), so the ship life was a bit quiet. But we enjoyed the heck out of the ports, especially our overnight in San Francisco. It's not as exotic as other cruises, certainly...but that area of the country is quite lovely.

[MicCanberra]

I enjoy our Pacific Coastal cruises, I am sure the US ones would be similar.

[TinCan782]

If the budget (both time and money) allow, plan in extra time in Vancouver before the cruise and/or in Los Angeles at the end for some sightseeing.

[Shmoo here]

Pacific Coastal Cruises Yay or Nay?

 

Yay. We did a Pacific Coastal on Princess in 2015. LA/Catalina/San Francisco (overnight)/Astoria/Victoria/Vancouver.

 

 

Catalina was originally Santa Barbara (which is why we booked that specific one), but it got changed :(

 

 

We're thinking of doing a reverse one next year. Vancouver to LA.

[firegal2539]

I have done 3 coastal cruise with another in October. I would never do anything less than 7 days or longer. Especially if you plan to stay a day or two before or after the cruise. Look at a 7 day at least. You will love the west coast.

 

 

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[Robinsoncruiseso]

I like the coastal cruises. Just don't expect them to be warm weather cruises. We are booked on a 10 day coastal next year.

[donaldsc]

I'm considering a 5 day Pacific coastal cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles September 2018 on NCL Bliss. It stops in Victoria and San Francisco. I was wondering if anyone has done a similar cruise and what they thought of it. I would be flying in from Ohio and also needing hotels in Vancouver and Los Angeles. I just want to make sure it won't be a disappointment.

 

I've cruised the Caribbean and Bahamas many times and this September I'm doing a Baltic cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance and information.

 

I say "nay" but I only cruise to places that I can not get to by car. A driving vacation beats a cruising vacation any day in my book.

 

DON

[Sandy Sails]

A driving vacation beats a cruising vacation any day in my book.

 

DON

 

 

Amend Don! But then again, we ONLY do driving vacations now in our 40' RV, lol. LOVE exploring this country! Starting in 2018, we'll be able to do it full-time due to retirement. Yippee!

[slidergirl]

I like these 4-5 day West Coast repos. They serve a very specific purpose for me. I have no expectations to have to stop and do things at ports. I can curl up and just relax and refresh myself. I have someone else cooking for me. The stop in San Francisco I love - this is my favorite city in the US. I love walking up and down the hills and always stop in at favorite places. I've been to Victoria many times, so now I usually walk downtown and hit up a little place for some seafood or dim sum then walk back and relax. The rest of the time, I just kick back and relax onboard.

I can do this sometimes on land vacations, but I always feel guilty if I do nothing on a land vacation. With the repos, there is no place to go to but another deck on the ship.

 

I'm doing one next week - San Diego to Vancouver. I may sleep the entire cruise!

[crzndeb]

I am doing one in Sept. and very much looking forward to it. There aren't a whole lot of cruises that are RT from Seattle, so for once, I don't have to fly anywhere. For me it's a double bonus since I am cruising solo on RCI for 7 days, and I get double points.

 

In fact, if the rates drop at the last minute, I may add the Pac. Coast after mine for a b2b.

[Bankshot]

We've done it twice and loved it. Go early, stay on the waterfront in North Vancouver and take the ferry over to tour and play in Vancouver. Great food in Chinatown, hoho is a fun tour, Stanley Park is nice. I think we stayed at the "Lonsday Quay" sp... In Victoria tour the gardens and in San Francisco don't miss Buena Vista (Home to the original Irish coffee) food on the waterfront and of course check out a cable car and Chinatown. Walk one to two blocks off the main drag to find the real way they live. Have fun.

[gwsster]

Doing one in 2 weeks. This will be our 3rd Pacific Coastal cruise in 7 years. We live on the west coast so appreciate not having to fly both ways. This is a relaxing vacation to restore our minds and bodies and usually short enough to squeeze in a recuperation vacation without burning too many vacation days. I do wish that there were better itineraries for the Pacific Coast that included more overnights in San Francisco. There are so many great cities up and down the coast that could be visited in a 7 to 12 day cruise. There would need to be a stop in Ensenada and/or Vancouver to meet the foreign port requirement of the PVSA (should be repealed), but there are so many places to see on a West Coast cruise. There could be stops San Diego to Long Beach, Catalina, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, Astoria, Seattle and Vancouver. There could be a longer cruise if cruise lines then went up to Alaska. Unless there is a demand for such cruises, I doubt if it will happen.