Monterey to stop providing port services to cruise ships

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

As a former resident of Monterey, can fully understand why they would do this. 

 

Their sandbox, their rules.  

.............and their loss. 

[Outerdog]

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Monterey is easy to visit from a San Francisco stop. 

 

No. Absolutely not. There is nothing "easy" about SF to Monterey Bay.

 

 

[wendellman]

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

You'll probably have an overnight in San Francisco.  That is what the Ca Coastal cruise prior to yours is doing. 

Regarding the 4/8 Discovery sailing, Princess made plans with Santa Barbara at least two weeks ago for the Discovery to be in Santa Barbara on 4/12 from 7am to 4pm.

04/12/23    Discovery Princess - 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, capacity - 3,660

https://santabarbaraca.gov/things-do/waterfront/cruise-ship-visits

[neverbeenhere]

Time for Newport or Coos Bay, Oregon to throw their hat into the ring?  Call the Chamber of Commerce and get some excursions planned. 

[Guest ldtr]

20 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Time for Newport or Coos Bay, Oregon to throw their hat into the ring?  Call the Chamber of Commerce and get some excursions planned. 

Does not work for the coastal cruises out of LA or SD.  Too far for a 7 day cruise. Pretty much the same even with Eureka CA

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you for sharing this. I am disappointed.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Why are posters so rude?

[seekatz]

From someone who lives 45 min from Monterey and used to work downtown I can tell you of the joy I use to see a ship anchored in the bay, on Highway 1 near Marina. The area was never crowded as mentioned, the ships came in offseason and added to the local economy. I am not an expert, but I really do not recall any major issues with the ships in the bay causing any issues.

I think knowing the area, it is more of a "not in my backyard" issue. As stated the visits were not often, but the sight was awesome.

[fpsphil]

Super bummed about this. I got the email about our March 25th sailing while on the Discovery a few weeks ago. Was the main reason I had booked the itinerary was for Monterrey 

[damiross]

19 minutes ago, seekatz said:

I think knowing the area, it is more of a "not in my backyard" issue. As stated the visits were not often, but the sight was awesome.

This is the main reason, I believe. 

[Guest ldtr]

40 minutes ago, seekatz said:

From someone who lives 45 min from Monterey and used to work downtown I can tell you of the joy I use to see a ship anchored in the bay, on Highway 1 near Marina. The area was never crowded as mentioned, the ships came in offseason and added to the local economy. I am not an expert, but I really do not recall any major issues with the ships in the bay causing any issues.

I think knowing the area, it is more of a "not in my backyard" issue. As stated the visits were not often, but the sight was awesome.

The last issue mentioned was a case of a Crystal ship dumping gray water on 2002.

Edited February 9, 2023 by ldtr

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

 

 

 

 

So you went from "it's easy to visit" to "they don't need ships" to "ships can overnight in SF" to "well our ship is overnighting so everyone else's can too".

 

How can anyone have a meaningful discussion with you?

👋 If you're going to post my partial answers out of context, at least post the questions I was responding too. Then they make sense. 

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, damiross said:

At 12:30 a.m. you can expect about a 2 hours drive. During the day, the drive can be as much as 3 hours.  And these are ONE WAY times.

But the ship does have excursions from San Francisco to Monterey. 

[cr8tiv1]

I am a former resident of Monterey too.  I almost booked a cruise on the Discovery (after vowing never to do a Royal Class ship).  I am disappointed that this port has been eliminated.

 

BUT..

 

If Princess really wanted to salvage this itinerary, why couldn't they hire a bus and make it a "do on your own" at a REASONABLE fare?  Imagine that.  Someone else would do the driving so you could enjoy the view.  On your own to do whatever you want to (I have  a charter membership to the aquarium).  Leave Monterey late so you could have a full day there.  

 

I have been on other excursions with Princess that take you all day.  Or taken you to far away places.

 

What a novel idea?  I would pay up to $100 for a ride and back.  Cheaper than a car rental and parking.

 

1 hour ago, seekatz said:

From someone who lives 45 min from Monterey and used to work downtown I can tell you of the joy I use to see a ship anchored in the bay, on Highway 1 near Marina. The area was never crowded as mentioned, the ships came in offseason and added to the local economy. I am not an expert, but I really do not recall any major issues with the ships in the bay causing any issues.

I think knowing the area, it is more of a "not in my backyard" issue. As stated the visits were not often, but the sight was awesome.

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

But the ship does have excursions from San Francisco to Monterey. 

Which excursion is this?

[cr8tiv1]

I have never seen excursions either.  But then again, I have never really looked hard.

 

Edited:  I just checked my San Francisco overnight cruise and Monterey excursion is not listed.  I did check independent tours and they leave at 8 AM (before ship docks).  It is a full day guided and independent for $105.  Princess could easily do a bus drop off and pick up for less.

Edited February 9, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[startedwithamouse]

They've had a Monterey Aquarium one and 17 mile drive. Also they had a Yosemite one, both out of San Francisco. We never took them though as we've visited Yosemite (not off a ship) and used to live in Monterey. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

They've had a Monterey Aquarium one and 17 mile drive. Also they had a Yosemite one, both out of San Francisco. We never took them though as we've visited Yosemite (not off a ship) and used to live in Monterey. 

Those sound really nice but I’m not seeing them from San Francisco.

[Guest ldtr]

15 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

But the ship does have excursions from San Francisco to Monterey. 

Which cruise is that?  I have checked several of the currently available cruises with both SF over night and single day port stops.  Have not been able to find a Monterey excursion on any of them.

Edited February 9, 2023 by ldtr

[c-boy]

7 hours ago, LawDog61 said:

I expect to see more cities banning cruise ships in the future.  

and why is that ?

[c-boy]

3 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Why are posters so rude?

 🤷‍♂️    doctors orders  

[mrmarklin]

5 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

No. Absolutely not. There is nothing "easy" about SF to Monterey Bay.

 

 

This is a slow route. Far better to go down scenic highway one. Actually, that could be an excursion unto itself. 

[Guest ldtr]

27 minutes ago, mrmarklin said:

This is a slow route. Far better to go down scenic highway one. Actually, that could be an excursion unto itself. 

Taking the 101 or taking the 1 are about the same.   Both routes are a little over 2 hours  with good traffic conditions, both can take considerably longer in bad traffic.  Kind of the luck of the draw at any particular time.  The 280 can be a bit less traffic and faster than the 101 between downtown and San Jose

 

Going over the bridge and going through Oakland is certainly longer.

Edited February 9, 2023 by ldtr

[Sprocket]

Booked for April 8th cruise and our stop in Monterrey is still showing on my Personalizer and on the book a cruise page.  

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Sprocket

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, Sprocket said:

Booked for April 8th cruise and our stop in Monterrey is still showing on my Personalizer and on the book a cruise page.  

 

 

We did a Panama Canal cruise in December. They dropped 2 ports (including the one that was key to our booking of the cruise) and substituted Puerto Vallarta instead. The map and such on the web site never changed despite the altered itinerary. Princess IT isn't really the best...