Since Celebrity isn't doing this cruise.....

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you to everyone for great comparisons between X and the other lines. I'm starting my spreadsheet with pros/cons/costs comparisons.

 

Cruise Raider, thank you for such a detailed comparison and included RC in there! I've never been to SF so sailing under the bridge will be a consideration!

 

 

Ask away if you have any more questions. We've love cruising and like switching around from line to line for variety. And while Celebrity is our absolute favorite, we have no problem booking on Princess. We have two more booked on Celebrity, then a Princess and then an NCL. I know ...where did that come from?? hahaha! Well, they sail from Vancouver to San Francisco and sailing under the Golden Gate never gets tiring!! I mean, never ever ever gets tiring. The City of San Francisco has so much more allure than LA ...but like I mentioned, with a price tag. Our public transportation systems, though, are the best and you can take MUNI (the electric bus system) or BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) pretty cheaply to get around. MUNI is right across the street from the pier and BART is about 1 mile away .. all flat and along the waterfront. There are also Cable Cars that can be used not only as a touristy event but also as transportation to get to the heart of downtown ... Union Square with many stops in between. You can pick up the cable car just down near Fisherman's Wharf which is about a 15 min walk from the pier ...again, all flat. Too many things to even mention to do in SF ... such an interesting city. If I were to choose one thing as a must do, it would be Alcatraz and you would want to book your tickets early through their official site. The dock from which they depart is only about a 5 min walk from the cruiseship pier. There are some inclines over there but they also have a little trolley to take you to some of the buildings / areas if you have any mobility issues.

And in all honesty and not just because we live here, sailing out of LA is just so so but the pier in San Francisco is right in the downtown area so many things to do within walking distance to the pier. I hear tale that Princess put a lot of money into that new pier and it was really done right. We've cruised out of or into (or both) the port of SF well over a dozen times and just love it. We always play tourist when we cruise from there.

Of note, the Grand Princess (which is my least favorite ship...as I've mentioned) has these window suite rooms on deck 5, I believe. There is no balcony but they still give you all the full suite benefits offered and very conveniently located at a much lesser cost of the other suites. The crew and the staff on the Grand Princess is simply amazing ... we've sailed on her 3 times in the last year or so. So, the personnel makes up for the ship being a bit long in the tooth. The food onboard was really good as well ... the Crown Grill was incredible, though....as was the service.

If you do choose the Grand ... I would highly recommend the window suites if that is within your budget. Other recommended things on Princess:

- PES lounge (platinum, elite, suite) happy hour in the evenings in the One5 club

- BOGO event in the afternoons in the Wheelhouse Bar (buy one, get one for $1 ...plus raffles, music, etc)

- Crooners martini piano bar in the evenings

- Trivia contests (great way to meet others)

- Newlywed and not so newlywed game (once per cruise ...always a riot)

- MUTS (Movies under the stars) - at night, go to the Trident Grill right there for some special evening offerings - fun food at night. For Alaska, they had crab cakes ... oh, yummmmmm!!

- Crown Grill and order the lobster if you like it; otherwise, ask the waiter for their recommendation ...they know what is good

- Pub lunch (probably in the Crown Grill and 2 or 3 times during a 15 night cruise) fish and chips is great but the 2nd one has shrimp and chips ...even better!!!

- If you gamble, the casino is better than those on Celebrity (in my experience); you can just charge it to your account by inserting your card into the machine and transferring money to play with

- The small pool up near the sanctuary incurs no charge; there is also a nice indoor pool with 2 levels of seating. It will be cool, if not cold, your first couple of days out and last couple of days back

 

As mentioned, any other questions are more than welcomed and I am happy to answer if I can. I have many other suggestions for touring SF if that is the cruise you choose. I could just go on and on and on ...

But ... I won't unless otherwise solicited.

[bluesplayer]

I am sailing on Sept 30 from Seattle to Hawaiian islands and sailing back to Vancouver BC on the Eurodam HA. No flying!!!! (for this Seattle girl)

[Haole]

If you are not averse to flying, I recommend the NCL Pride of America cruise [despite reservations -- read on]. We took this cruise last October, DW and I plus adult DD. Booked a Suite with 2 bedrooms, butler service, unlimited dining, all the amenities. Even with all that, NCL is crap. The butler wasn't trained, the specialty restaurants aren't as good as Celebrity MDR. BUT -

 

This is because of the Jones Act that requires employees to Have U.S. citizenship. Sad that say, but most Americans do not have the same work ethic as foreign crew members.

[GCHAN]

San Francisco sounds fantastic. Is October/ November a good time to travel to San Francisco. I had heard November was good due to fog lifting.

 

The cruise to Hawaii from there sounds relaxing with the sea days. Are the seas generally smooth at that time of the year in the transit to Hawaii?

 

Thanks in advance

[Cruise Raider]

San Francisco sounds fantastic. Is October/ November a good time to travel to San Francisco. I had heard November was good due to fog lifting.

 

The cruise to Hawaii from there sounds relaxing with the sea days. Are the seas generally smooth at that time of the year in the transit to Hawaii?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Generally, September and October will provide our best weather in San Francisco. The summer months are apt to have a lot more fog. November can start to get pretty cold out this way....I guess cold is a relative thing but I would definitely choose October over November for the better weather.

The seas will most likely be rough ... although I have read they can be calm at times, that is not something I have experienced and nothing you can count on at any time of year when crossing the Pacific, which is all but peaceful. All three times we've done the roundtrip from the west coast to Hawaii, it has been quite rough but it does subside quite a bit when we were a couple days out to sea and then got rough and cool again on the last couple of days at the end of the sailing.

[Cruise Raider]

I am sailing on Sept 30 from Seattle to Hawaiian islands and sailing back to Vancouver BC on the Eurodam HA. No flying!!!! (for this Seattle girl)

 

Perfect!!! We did a Seattle to Vancouver sailing up into Alaska a couple of years ago on the Celebrity Solstice. When disembarking in Vancouver, we stayed one night at the Pan Pacific and were lucky enough to see our ship set sail from our room. The next morning, we were lucky enough to see the Island Princess sail into Canada Place and boarded that one to sail back home to San Francisco. It was a perfect trip ... only had to fly up to Seattle at the start of our journey.

[TRadle]

Generally, September and October will provide our best weather in San Francisco. The summer months are apt to have a lot more fog. November can start to get pretty cold out this way....I guess cold is a relative thing but I would definitely choose October over November for the better weather.

The seas will most likely be rough ... although I have read they can be calm at times, that is not something I have experienced and nothing you can count on at any time of year when crossing the Pacific, which is all but peaceful. All three times we've done the roundtrip from the west coast to Hawaii, it has been quite rough but it does subside quite a bit when we were a couple days out to sea and then got rough and cool again on the last couple of days at the end of the sailing.

 

You make me want to just go to SF!

 

How rough is rough for those sea days? We were in an aft cabin on an M class ship in the Atlantic and things were moving in the cabin! I suppose we should look for mid ship for this type of crossing.