Strange 3-night cruise--what to expect?

[Bruin Steve]

This coming April, I will be on what is, for me, one of the strangest cruises I’ve ever booked.  It’s a three night itinerary with zero intermediate ports.  We board in Vancouver on a Monday and we disembark in Los Angeles on a Thursday.  The ship will be just out of dry dock, so there is no one disembarking the morning we embark.  Also, they only very recently changed the sailing from a 7 night cruise (with intermediate ports) to this one—leaving four days later than originally scheduled (I guess they just revised the dry dock schedule).

With the revised schedule, they apparently had a very large number of cancellations and a short time to market the new itinerary.  So, looking at the website today, less than two and a half months from sailing, the ship appears to be less than 50% sold.  I was at a local travel show this past Sunday and spoke with the Princess rep—and when I told her about it, she thought it was odd—it was not among the cruises that Princess told her to “push”.  So, I am sort of expecting this cruise to be fairly uncrowded.

So, at this point, I’m wondering what the experience will be like.  Anyone with any experience with similar cruises?

Embarkation:  We are scheduled to arrive at Vancouver Airport at 8:14 am (flying out of PDX at 7:00 am).  I’m thinking we take the train.  Since we likely will have only carry-on cases, we don’t even wait for baggage claim.  So we should be at the pier VERY early.  I am imagining that, with nobody disembarking, the cabins are ready early and nothing really keeps them from letting us on the ship early—except, OTOH, they may not really want to lengthen the time they are entertaining guests and may not have check-in agents available early, so they may want to stick with a more normal check-in schedule.  So, either we get on the ship early and relax for a long day…or, we have to find somewhere to hang out and kill a couple of hours before boarding.

Formal Night:  Normally, with a three night cruise, we should be expecting one formal night.  OTOH, we are traveling with only a small carry-on each …and very limited space.  Packing formal wear—including the extra shoes, jacket, tie, etc.  would pretty much fill my suitcase and wrinkle it all beyond help.  I am hoping we can just get away with some form of casual—for me, dockers and a buttoned shirt—no tie, no jacket.  Yes or no?

Activities, Entertainment:  I am imagining that with zero ports, all of the usual onboard activities will be “on”…even if the crowd is smaller than usual.  Any thoughts Princess will skimp in this area on this sort of cruise?

Then there are the “Captain’s Circle” perks.  We are “Platinum”, so, pretty much the onboard perks are as follows:

Members Only Onboard Events.  As a Member, you will be invited to exclusive events during your cruise with us.

What “events” can we expect?  Will they have the typical Captain’s Circle reception?  How about the appetizers/discount drink specials nightly in Skywalkers?

Priority Check-In at Embarkation.  When you arrive at the port, don’t wait in line. You, along with your family or guests that are traveling with you in the same stateroom will be invited to use the Priority Check-In desk to help expedite your embarkation.

If the ship isn’t near sold out and we’re there early…and, especially with no one disembarking ahead of us, will this make much of a difference?

Platinum Disembarkation Lounge.  In recognition of your loyalty, and to make your last morning with us more enjoyable, we invite Platinum Members, along with their family or guests that are sailing in the same stateroom to use the Platinum Disembarkation Lounge, offering light refreshments and peace while you await disembarkation.

When we get to San Pedro, we are only about an hour from home—with only carry-on cases.  No flight to catch, no plans for the day.  The plan is to have one last comfortable breakfast in the dining room, then just walk off the ship.  So, do we really care about a disembarkation lounge?

Complimentary Internet Package.  Each Platinum Princess Cruises Captain’s Circle member will receive a complimentary Internet package to be used either on the computers in our Internet Cafés or wireless Internet on the guest’s personal wireless device. The amount of complimentary Internet is determined by the length of the sailing.    Voyages 7 days or less, 150 minutes.

So, basically, we’ll have 50 minutes  a day each to check our emails for free?

Any other quirks we should expect with this sailing?  Thanks…

[memoak]

On a 3 day or actually any cruise less than 5 days there are no formal nights - we take a 4 day Mexico getaway every year and there has never been a formal night

[Cyn874]

Are you allowed to say what ship this is? I'm very curious.

 

Also, will you be posting a review? I'd love to hear about what kind of experience this will be.

[john_galt]

Sounds fun! I do short cruises so I can afford a suite. My last two were both 5 days in a PH on the Celebrity Constellation. Next one is a 3 day on the Sky Princess in an aft PH (Inaugural Getaway). The Sky Princess will be in port for 3 days prior to our cruise. I'll be arriving early! 

[Dietemann]

Don't count on getting on early. Drydock workers may still be on and also work may continue on your cruise. We hoped to get early on the HAL Rotterdam in Tampa after drydock in the Bahamas. We were finally allowed to board after 3 pm. Work was still going on for the duration of the 14 day cruise. Just be prepared and go with the flow.

[Bruin Steve]

1 hour ago, Cyn874 said:

Are you allowed to say what ship this is? I'm very curious.

 

Also, will you be posting a review? I'd love to hear about what kind of experience this will be.

Emerald Princess--April 15 sailing.

I'll probably post something or another after the cruise...

[LeeW]

Basically a repositioning cruise.  Have taken several from Vancouver to LA.  We actually booked a suite because prices were so good (like $250pp).  Extra points got us to Elite.  Everything runs like a normal cruise but casino might open late due to distance out the strait south of Victoria.  Still will have a couple of shows and usual activities.  Yup, you do get internet and if you were Elite would have a minibar setup.  We had two, since we were in a suite.

 

Normally when we do these there are a lot of locals onboard - low prices to try to fill the ship.  Had one lady with two kids seeing her husband off going to a convention.  What kids didn't know was they were also getting on the ship and going to Disneyland.

 

On the three day cruises they will deliver luggage, but most folks just do carryon.  For the one day Seattle or San Francisco to Vancouver they don't even do luggage deliveries.

 

In our case we like to fly to Seattle, take a one day to Vancouver, stay a couple of days and then take a three day to LA.  Princess does these every September when moving ships out of Alaska.

[GUT2407]

I’ve done a few short cruises, the one warning I’d give is that they tend to be booze cruises,

 

[GUT2407]

Ohh two things everywhere seems to be busy as everyone wants to spend as much time doing things as they can.

[OR_Cowboy_1952]

You ask a lot of questions, but I’ll see if I can help.  Last October we took the Ruby Princess from Vancouver BC to LA, it did include a stop in Victoria and San Francisco but had two full sea days.  It was the 1st cruise right after the Ruby had been in Victoria dry dock.  

 

Don’t assume the ship will be ready early, during dry dock the cabins are often extensively repaired, cabinetry can be replaced, plumbing repaired, carpets and furnishing replaced.  They will not make up the rooms until the morning in Vancouver.  That said, you are right the cabin will likely be available as soon as you board.  Since you are Platinum, you will be able to board early but it will be at the earliest assigned time.  When we boarded with had priority embarkation, we arrived at about 1100, they checked us and sent us to wait in the priority waiting.  We were allowed to board about 1215.

 

We are from PDX and took the Amtrak Cascades train up to Vancouver.  The through train does not arrive in Vancouver until 1100 PM.  The earlier train only comes from Seattle, so you have to stay in Seattle or in Vancouver one night.  That said we liked the experience and will do it again.  We stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel which is right above the cruise ship terminal in Canada Place.  They took care of our luggage.  We had a leisurely morning, a light breakfast and did the above.  

 

If you fly up, it will still take you a while to get out of YVR.  You must do immigration and customs in YVR.  Even if you are a Nexus or other Trusted Traveler it will take at least 30 minutes.  Then you have to take the Sky Train Canada Line downtown and walk to Canada Place or take a cab.  Plan an hour.  By the way their are a lot of coffee shops and restaurants near Canada Place, so it’s easy to kill some time.  

 

The ship was still undergoing some work on our cruise but none of it was very obtrusive.  They were installing the wiring for Medallion (not functional).  We did have a formal night but it was no big issue.  I wore slacks, button shirt, tie, and a dressy leather vest.  It was more than enough.  Formal night aren’t the events they used to be.  it think they are increasingly for those cruiser who want to get all dressed and get their pictures taken.  That’s not important to us.   

 

You should expect all the basic activities will be available on board.  The cruise is basically a repositioning cruise.  Obviously there will be fewer shows, but they will be available.  

 

Activities, Entertainment:  I am imagining that with zero ports, all of the usual onboard activities will be “on”…even if the crowd is smaller than usual.  Any thoughts Princess will skimp in this area on this sort of cruise?  I would expect they will have the usual premium passenger perks, just like any other 3 day cruise.  Princess offers the perks you mentioned to full suite passengers too so they will be available.  

 

You’ll still get the premium disembarkation lounge, but remember again you’ll be doing US immigration and customs in LA.  It goes smoothly but still takes time.   You can do breakfast and still go to the lounge, you don’t have to eat there. Or you can get off at any time.  

 

Don’t be surprised if the ship fills up between now and April.  Princess will work hard to market it, even at a ‘loss’.  The ship will have a full crew on board who will be paid even if the ship is not full.  They’d rather sell a cabin cheap then not sell it at all.  

 

Yes you will get the 5150 minutes of internet access to be used for your three night cruise.  Remember you really only have 2 full days at sea.  BTW we took the Coast Starlight back to PDX from LA.  We made the whole trip an event for us. 

[Deesquared]

The Emerald has a few of these weird 3-day LA-Vancouver, no port cruises.

The prices are great! I had a look at the LA-Vancouver 3-day on March 26, and it's around $150pp for an inside. Most insides are sold, but there are tons and tons of balconies available.

Sounds like a nice relaxing trip. I love sea days!

 

[Mike45LC]

I have never taken a cruise of less than 7 nights, so I have no input on your questions.

 

However, I have one very important suggestion:  At the port in Vancouver, there is a FANTASTIC attraction.  It is called something like "Soaring over Canada."  On our last Alaska cruise, my wife and I did this attraction the day we flew in, and then we had to do it again the next morning, while waiting to board the ship.

 

Do you do Disney?  The same basic attraction is in the California Adventure park at Disneyland, but this is soaring over Canada instead of over Cali.  

 

Enjoy the cruise.

[wallyj]

Normally on Cruises 4 days or less, there will not be a Captain's Circle Party, instead Platinum and above will receive one Drink voucher that can be used at any bar compliments of the Captain. It is voyage specific so must be used on that particular sailing and is good for almost any drink except super premium, most frozen blended drinks would qualify for use such as pina colada, mud slide, etc. sometimes they will NOT do a grapevine wine tasting event. Also only the top 10 couples are selected to received a voucher to a specialty restaurant, whereas longer cruises Princess normally recognizes the top 20 to be invited to a luncheon or cocktail party with the officiers. This also happens to sold as part of a 18 day sailing YVR to FLL or a 15 day LA to FLL on April 18.

[ceilidh1]

8 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Emerald Princess--April 15 sailing.

I'll probably post something or another after the cruise...

This is also being sold as an 18 day Panama Canal cruise out of Vancouver so it may not be your typical 3 day cruise as some passengers will be staying on after LA! We do these coastals all the time - love them!

[Expat Cruise]

As others have said no formal night, and open dress code the first night so really you can pack very light.  Since it is are repositioning  cruise it should not be a booze cruise, they return to the same port most of the time.  The guests are on the ship to help pay the costs of moving to the needed port, and the line hopes to make a little money. 

 

Myself I like sea days and find them to be fun and relaxing.  Good chance the ship will still have workers on it doing last minute upgrades from the dry dock. The ship also will not be full unless Princess gives away a lot of tickets so not crowded. it should be a good trip for you.

 

[tanyaewa]

We are based in Vancouver so try and do one of these every spring as a 3 generations cruise with the whole family and a few other friend groups.

 

no formal nights, mostly older crowd, 

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I prefer longer cruises, but I have done several of these short repositioning cruises on Princess: Crown Princess (3-day cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles - September 2015); Coral Princess (4-day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver with a stop in Victoria - May 2016); and Emerald Princess (4-day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver with a stop in Victoria - May 2018). Due to the very reasonable prices, I was able to book a higher category stateroom than usual. 

 

These cruises feature the typical activities and evening entertainment, but there is no formal night. I received my usual Elite benefits. Because I live in Chicago, I usually extend the cruise by spending some time in Vancouver and/or Long Beach on the original Queen Mary.

 

In my experience, these short repositioning cruises are not "booze cruises" (probably because at least one flight is required). The atmosphere is not much different from a typical longer Princess cruise. 

 

Chuck

[Cruise Raider]

We've done a few of these short sailings from Vancouver going south and vice versa.  They are oftentimes very crowded.   First, the ship will be full ... don't be fooled into thinking it won't be crowded.  They will fill those cabins, even if they give them away to casino players, travel agents or fill the cabins with great prices.  If you got a suite or club class, you will be ok but otherwise, there will be a line for the MDR.  In suites, the comped specialty dinner only comes into play for cruises that are over 5 nights, I believe.  The specialty restaurants will probably also book up quickly.  Everybody wants to do as much as possible and they will have activities. The entertainment is the same as a normal port day on a longer cruise others have noted, but you will have no formal nights and no Captain's Circle party.  But again, if you are in a suite, you will still get the full mini-bar set up.  

 

The lines for embarkation are pretty crazy up in Vancouver at the beginning of the Alaska season but at least it looks like you might be the only ship in port there, so that should help.  You will most likely go through US immigration right there at the port so it might slow the process down a bit.  Just take your patience with you just in case.  

 

On disembarkation in Los Angeles, this can be very tricky when everyone with their carry on luggage and everyone expects to grab and go after a short sailing... yikes!!  What a mistake we made one time booking a 1 PM flight out of LAX.  There were people that didn't even make their 4 PM flights off one of these short cruises.  That particular cruise didn't give any priority to anyone, though.  The same thing has happened when we've disembarked in San Francisco, too.  

Again, just take your patience and have a plan B just for back up.  These short sailings seem to have a much longer disembarkation process than a 7+ night sailing.  

 

 

 

[RMMariner]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 6:12 PM, Mike45LC said:

I have never taken a cruise of less than 7 nights, so I have no input on your questions.

 

However, I have one very important suggestion:  At the port in Vancouver, there is a FANTASTIC attraction.  It is called something like "Soaring over Canada."  On our last Alaska cruise, my wife and I did this attraction the day we flew in, and then we had to do it again the next morning, while waiting to board the ship.

 

Do you do Disney?  The same basic attraction is in the California Adventure park at Disneyland, but this is soaring over Canada instead of over Cali.  

 

Enjoy the cruise.

 

We live here in Vancouver and it is called Fly Over Canada, but you are right, it is really worth going to.

Edited February 6, 2019 by RMMariner

[wheezedr]

Maybe I will be in the minority here but DW and and I were truly disappointed in Fly Over Canada.  We have done Disney’s version over California and found it much better.

[caribill]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:46 PM, OR_Cowboy_1952 said:

You’ll still get the premium disembarkation lounge, but remember again you’ll be doing US immigration and customs in LA.  It goes smoothly but still takes time.   You can do breakfast and still go to the lounge, you don’t have to eat there. Or you can get off at any time.  

 

 

Usually if the first port after Vancouver is a USA port, you go through USA immigration in Vancouver before boarding the ship and thus have no immigration/customs in LA since that would be the first stop.

[caribill]

On 2/1/2019 at 8:25 PM, wallyj said:

This also happens to sold as part of a 18 day sailing YVR to FLL or a 15 day LA to FLL on April 18.

 

So basically this is the first three days of what can be booked as a longer cruise.

 

In that case, I would not expect a Captain's Circle party (or substitute drink voucher) or Top 40 event during those three days. Maybe someone who has been on a similarly structured cruise can say if this is the what happens.

 

Also, on an 18 day cruise, there would normally be a formal night on the first full day at sea, so this means there might be one on the initial three day segment. I doubt anyone at Princess HQ could give you the answer to if there will or will not be one on the OP's three days.