Los Angeles—Honolulu

[indigosails]

Or San Diego. Hi, we’ve done several transatlantic cruises but, as we live in SoCal, we’re interested in a transpacific to Hawaii. Anybody know which lines have that itinerary? Many thanks. 

[crystalspin]

The Find a Cruise search at the top of any Cruise Critic page says LA-HI: many Princess, one Seabourne, a few Carnival. SD-HI: Several HAL, one Princess.

 

Just a place to start!

[Essiesmom]

Go to cruisetimetables.com, choose ‘cruises to’ and select Honolulu.  Scroll through the months to see who is going.  It will show itinerary.  EM

[CruiserBruce]

5 hours ago, indigosails said:

Or San Diego. Hi, we’ve done several transatlantic cruises but, as we live in SoCal, we’re interested in a transpacific to Hawaii. Anybody know which lines have that itinerary? Many thanks. 

First, according to law, you can't sail from one US port to another without a stop in a " distant foreign port". So you can't start your cruise in Los Angeles and end it in Honolulu. You could start it in Vancouver. 

 

There are several cruise lines that do roundtrip cruises out of Los Angeles,  San Diego and/or San Francisco. Holland America does San Diego. Princess does LA and SF. Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are others. These roundtrip cruises range from 15 to 18 days.

[whogo]

If you are looking for a one way to Hawaii, you will probably have to sail from Vancouver, Canada. You could also continue on from Hawaii to Tahiti, Australia, or New Zealand.

[jsn55]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

First, according to law, you can't sail from one US port to another without a stop in a " distant foreign port". So you can't start your cruise in Los Angeles and end it in Honolulu. You could start it in Vancouver. 

 

There are several cruise lines that do roundtrip cruises out of Los Angeles,  San Diego and/or San Francisco. Holland America does San Diego. Princess does LA and SF. Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are others. These roundtrip cruises range from 15 to 18 days.

 

[jsn55]

Just now, jsn55 said:

We're booked R/T on Princess over Christmas to Hawaii.  The ship stops in Ensenada, Mexico on the way back for a few hours to conform with the regs.  By the time the last pax clears the gangway, it will be time to reboard.  But there will be vendors all over the pier, I'm sure. 

 

[CruiserBruce]

@jsn55, a ROUNDTRIP ( from a US port) cruise has a requirement for a stop at a foreign port, thus your stop at Ensenada. A ONE WAY cruise between two US ports requires a stop at DISTANT foreign port, the closest one being in South America. 

[LHT28]

@jsn55

if just  a few hours it is probably a technical stop & NO ONE will be getting off

Some ships  do this  just to satisfy the PVSA  requirements

[crystalspin]

11 hours ago, crystalspin said:

The Find a Cruise search at the top of any Cruise Critic page says LA-HI: many Princess, one Seabourne, a few Carnival. SD-HI: Several HAL, one Princess.

I was answering assuming a round-trip (with stop in Ensenada) not a one-way. Bruce and others are right about one-ways from California not being available.

[XBGuy]

Actually, in my experience, lots of people leave the ship for a few hours in Ensenada.  Especially, after four or five sea days retuning from the islands.

 

There are multiple cruise-sponsored tours.  One to local wineries is quite popular.

 

It is about a 10-minute walk into the town.  Many people look for a bite to eat.  There a multiple restaurants, and it seems that regular visitors have their favorites.  Many go to one of a couple pretty well-know establishments, allegedly, to have a cerveza, but everybody knows the real reason is to buy a T-shirt.  I have spent multiple hours wandering around the town, and, I have to say, the drivers are amazingly courteous to pedestrians--at least they are courteous to gringos.  I agree there are multiple hustlers trying to sell stuff.  They are, however, quite respectful when I smile and say, "No, gracias."  They are only doing their job, and I give them credit for that.

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

@jsn55

if just  a few hours it is probably a technical stop & NO ONE will be getting off

Some ships  do this  just to satisfy the PVSA  requirements

"Technical" stops are no longer allowed.  A ship must dock and allow at least one passenger off for the cruise to be deemed "official".

 

At least on those foreign-flagged ships departing and returning to US ports.

[jsn55]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

@jsn55

if just  a few hours it is probably a technical stop & NO ONE will be getting off

Some ships  do this  just to satisfy the PVSA  requirements

yes

[navybankerteacher]

9 hours ago, LHT28 said:

@jsn55

if just  a few hours it is probably a technical stop & NO ONE will be getting off

Some ships  do this  just to satisfy the PVSA  requirements

Yes, I suppose you can call it a “technical stop” - but there will still be plenty of people getting off - at least there were on the times we were on a ship stopping for those “few hours” in Ensenada.

[LHT28]

53 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Yes, I suppose you can call it a “technical stop” - but there will still be plenty of people getting off - at least there were on the times we were on a ship stopping for those “few hours” in Ensenada.

I think you misunderstood  the term  " technical stop" 🤔

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, LHT28 said:

@jsn55

if just  a few hours it is probably a technical stop & NO ONE will be getting off

Some ships  do this  just to satisfy the PVSA  requirements

 

Affirmative, a technical stop does not include pax getting ashore, it is for bunkers, stores, etc.. However, the US CBP does NOT accept a technical stop as being compliant with the PVSA. Pax must have the opportunity for shore leave for the port call to be compliant.

 

This has been in force for a number of years. I can't remember the dates, but the Chief will know

@chengkp75

[LHT28]

11 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, a technical stop does not include pax getting ashore, it is for bunkers, stores, etc.. However, the US CBP does NOT accept a technical stop as being compliant with the PVSA. Pax must have the opportunity for shore leave for the port call to be compliant.

 

This has been in force for a number of years. I can't remember the dates, but the Chief will know

@chengkp75

Yes I saw post #12 with the updated info

THX

[indigosails]

Thanks all, for your replies. I had forgotten about the Jones Act. 

[CruiserBruce]

10 minutes ago, indigosails said:

Thanks all, for your replies. I had forgotten about the Jones Act. 

Jones Act is about cargo. PVSA is about passengers. 

[Honolulu Blue]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:07 AM, jsn55 said:

We're booked R/T on Princess over Christmas to Hawaii.  The ship stops in Ensenada, Mexico on the way back for a few hours to conform with the regs.  By the time the last pax clears the gangway, it will be time to reboard.  But there will be vendors all over the pier, I'm sure. 

I had a Princess cruise stop in Ensenada in April - or at least I thought I did.  In the immediate area of the pier, there were ZERO vendors of any kind - no stores, no food trucks, no individuals selling Chinese disposable souvenirs.  There were just a couple of buildings, a few seats - and, oh, a gate that helpfully had a sign that said, "To town".  I assume this is where the vendors were?  I didn't go into town at all because I wasn't interested.

[OddHack]

Didn't one line try one-way cruises at one point from Ensenada to Hawaii, where you would check in in San Diego and be bussed to Ensenada?  Not sure if this would still be allowed, probably was judged to be a PVSA violation, similar to how a B2B of Anchorage->Vancouver and Vancouver->Honolulu (or California port) is, iirc, not allowed.

[CruiserBruce]

57 minutes ago, OddHack said:

Didn't one line try one-way cruises at one point from Ensenada to Hawaii, where you would check in in San Diego and be bussed to Ensenada?  Not sure if this would still be allowed, probably was judged to be a PVSA violation, similar to how a B2B of Anchorage->Vancouver and Vancouver->Honolulu (or California port) is, iirc, not allowed.

Believe it was Celebrity. No, wouldn't violate PVSA. But a considerable logistical situation with all the busing. 

[jsn55]

Yes, I remember hearing about this cruise; fly to San Diego and ride a bus to Ensenada.  Couldn't quite see the point, but quite sure that it did happen.  I'm astonished that the Ensenada pier wasn't packed with vendors in April .. that would seem like a perfect market for them.  Everybody's relaxed, on their way home, and you'd think interested in buying some 'stuff'.  But I haven't been in Mexico for years; my stomach goes nuts in Mexico, nowhere else, just Mexico.  After about 3 days I'm gulping down Pepto Bismol like water.  So We just stopped visiting Mexico.  It's a shame, it's a terrific place to be, and I'd like to support their economy.

[jcl410]

5 hours ago, OddHack said:

Didn't one line try one-way cruises at one point from Ensenada to Hawaii, where you would check in in San Diego and be bussed to Ensenada?

 

Back in the 90s Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 would offer a one way from Ensenada to Honolulu as part of her world cruise. I took this  one year. I flew into LAX, and Cunard had buses to take us to a hotel in San Diego for food before continuing to Mexico.

 

Once we got to San Diego the 500 or so boarding passengers were told that the waves were to high in Ensenada, so the QE2 was heading to  San Diego to pick us all up.... I never did find out how much of a fine Cunard had to pay... The cool thing was that there was no Immigration required in Hawaii.

 

Aloha,

 

John 

[thermal]

On 9/18/2022 at 4:51 AM, CruiserBruce said:

First, according to law, you can't sail from one US port to another without a stop in a " distant foreign port". 

Doesn't Norwegian do cruises that only stop at the Hawaii islands (American ports)?  

Edited September 23, 2022 by thermal