Repositioning...Coastal Cruises

[kirkc]

We are looking at a 3 day "cruise" in September from Vancouver to San Francisco. This will give us the chance try a Vista Class ship without a big time commitment.

 

Anyone else done one of these short hops? And what were you impressions?

 

Thanks!

[Bramcruiser]

Did the 4 day Vancouver-San Diego Oosterdam repositioning last September/October. My recommendation is to try it especially if you want to test drive the Vista-class ships and you like sea days over intensive port calls.

 

My impresssions? Well the Oosterdam itself is a lovely ship. I am one of the few HAL fans who actually did enjoy the larger Vista class ships. I still consider them classy and easy to navigate. There are exceptions - for instance I found the location of the shops and casino not a good thing for traffic flow. You would not suspect there was more of the ship on the other side if you didn't have the desire to push your way through these areas. Otherwise, I found it quite easy to walk around without a map after the first night.

 

Sure they are larger than the other HAL ships and my cruise was fully booked.....but, I never felt overwhelmed by too many people. Hence, why I felt the layout worked for the most part.

 

Passengers. Mainly 50-50% Americans and Canadians.

 

Love Vancouver. Also love San Francisco. I say go for it and extend a stay at either end for lengthening your cruise/vacation. We stayed with relatives in BC before leaving and spend a few days in San Diego and Mexico after our cruise so made the most of the trip.

 

So I vote for doing it.

[Druke I]

We did it once on the old Noordam, 11-95, Northbound, and have done it half dozen times or so on Princess, or other lines.

 

Great way to see a ship, and make it a nice long weekend. We like to take the ship one-way, and Amtrak the other.

 

Works for us!

[cruisequeen10]

These coastal or repositioning cruises are the cheapest way to go. But just to be warned, the buffets sometimes don't put everything out on these short trips. For example, the waffle station is only on the regular 7 day or longer cruises. But at least you get a taste for cruising and I promise you, you will be back over and over and over again.

[Atomica]

Did two of them, with a third on the way. It makes a great introduction to cruising - I'm taking my girlfriend on her first cruise in May on one :D

 

They make for a great, short getaway, and a great way to try out new ships/lines without having to do a 7-day'er.

[calteacher]

We did the four-day cruise from Vancouver to San Diego last year. It was a great way to see if we liked the Vista class ship (found out we preferred the smaller ships--just our opinion) and found that being a short trip we could try a veranda at a reasonable cost.

 

Except for our first "economy" cruise where we booked a M class cabin, we've enjoyed the LP deck with either inside or partially-obstructed view outside cabins. Unfortunately, once we left Victoria, we had fog nearly the entire way to (and including) San Diego. So, the veranda was of little use to us. We found the cabin to seem considerably smaller than the other cabins we've had, due partially to the furniture arrangement.

 

Would love to do another cruise this year, by DH has informed me that since we are purchasing a vacation home near our DD (2000 miles away) that a cruise is not in the picture this year.

 

Go and have a great time.