Monterey CA Port Call

[Oddsbet1029]

I have had this posted in the ports of call section but have gotten no response. 

I was on Discovery Princess earlier this year when Monterey was cancelled for Santa Barbara. This fall the California cruises on the Princess website are again showing the Monterey stop. I assume that either the city council changed the rule or Princess decided to provide support at the port. Does anyone know for certain? Thanks.

[hobo1937]

6 minutes ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

I have had this posted in the ports of call section but have gotten no response. 

I was on Discovery Princess earlier this year when Monterey was cancelled for Santa Barbara. This fall the California cruises on the Princess website are again showing the Monterey stop. I assume that either the city council changed the rule or Princess decided to provide support at the port. Does anyone know for certain? Thanks.

I cannot find anything to indicate Monterey changed their rule about cruise ships. We were also on a  coastal cruise in April that cancelled Monterey for Santa Barbara only a few weeks prior to sailing. In addition they changed the itinerary so that we went to Ensenada prior to San Diego, thereby requiring immigration to be done in San Diego. They also took 5 hours away from the San Diego stop. This was done onboard and it was a mess. You were given a time to appear but no one was following the rules resulting in long lines, which started at 8 am and ended around 11. We have some mobility issues as did quite a few others, and it was only when a nice passenger happened to mention there was a crew member expediting those people that we found out this was the case.  This was after we had been in line 30 minutes. I also saw the fall itineraries and I would not book one of those based on our experience. 

[Italy52]

1 minute ago, hobo1937 said:

I cannot find anything to indicate Monterey changed their rule about cruise ships. We were also on a  coastal cruise in April that cancelled Monterey for Santa Barbara only a few weeks prior to sailing. In addition they changed the itinerary so that we went to Ensenada prior to San Diego, thereby requiring immigration to be done in San Diego. They also took 5 hours away from the San Diego stop. This was done onboard and it was a mess. You were given a time to appear but no one was following the rules resulting in long lines, which started at 8 am and ended around 11. We have some mobility issues as did quite a few others, and it was only when a nice passenger happened to mention there was a crew member expediting those people that we found out this was the case.  This was after we had been in line 30 minutes. I also saw the fall itineraries and I would not book one of those based on our experience. 

We were on that same cruise --- what a mess and not one of my favorite cruises.

[1emerald1]

Cruisemapper is showing stops at Monterey this year.  Hope it's accurate.

 

Monterey CA (California) cruise port schedule | CruiseMapper

[hobo1937]

31 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

We were on that same cruise --- what a mess and not one of my favorite cruises.

Totally agree with you

[hobo1937]

Here is a link to a recent article in a local Carmel newspaper regarding this topic

 

https://thesandpiper.org/montereys-policy-to-stop-servicing-cruise-ships-met-with-differing-responses/

[Oddsbet1029]

Thanks for all the quick replies.

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, hobo1937 said:

Here is a link to a recent article in a local Carmel newspaper regarding this topic

 

https://thesandpiper.org/montereys-policy-to-stop-servicing-cruise-ships-met-with-differing-responses/

After reading the above post, there is no way that I would want to attempt the itinerary with Monterey showing as a port stop.  After what we went through this past April, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.  Just my 2 cents.

[beg3yrs]

Princess has a history of selling cruise itineraries they absolutely know they can't supply. One past example is cruises which include a port call in Bora Bora. They'll sell the cruise knowing full well that ships of certain sizes are no longer allowed to call and then suddenly, "for operational reasons" cancel the port stop.

Edited May 21, 2023 by beg3yrs

[Oddsbet1029]

To follow up on this old post, the itinerary has now been changed to 2 days in San Francisco and Monterey has been removed. I spoke to my CVP in May and was assured the itinerary would include Monterey. Fortunately, I have not paid for the cruise and will pass. V2G still shows the Monterey stop. I'm very disappointed in Princess. I understand that they reserve the right to change ports, but think that this is just the result of incompetence.

[that]

Disappointing!

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

To follow up on this old post, the itinerary has now been changed to 2 days in San Francisco and Monterey has been removed. I spoke to my CVP in May and was assured the itinerary would include Monterey. Fortunately, I have not paid for the cruise and will pass. V2G still shows the Monterey stop. I'm very disappointed in Princess. I understand that they reserve the right to change ports, but think that this is just the result of incompetence.

 

I, too, would love a stop in Monterey.  I was on the overnight in San Francisco, but it was just too expensive and too difficult to get to Monterey from San Francisco (I'm oldER).  I have seen upcoming cruises that will stop in Monterey.  I do not trust Princess enough to book one of these cruises.  

 

If someone has definitive proof, please share.

[Thrak]

46 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I, too, would love a stop in Monterey.  I was on the overnight in San Francisco, but it was just too expensive and too difficult to get to Monterey from San Francisco (I'm oldER).  I have seen upcoming cruises that will stop in Monterey.  I do not trust Princess enough to book one of these cruises.  

 

If someone has definitive proof, please share.

 

Princess sold cruise that advertised stops in Apia in the South Pacific for several years when they knew the port was under major construction and no ships could port there. They continued to sell this itinerary despite that fact that there was zero chance of porting there. I wouldn't count on any ships being able to port in Monterey despite Princess selling itineraries that include that port stop. It boggles me that they consistently get away with this sort of thing.

[Guest ldtr]

Funny thing is that the worst environmental issues that have hit Monterey Bay over the last 20 years or so did not involve a cruise ship, instead it was a massive sewage release on several million gallons from one of the waste treatment plants.  Yet they voted to stop services not because there was any issues, but instead over the concern that someday their might be.

 

The last cruise ship incident was a crystal ship back in 2004 if my memory is correct.

 

Technically the cruise lines could continue to stop there  They would just have to make their own arrangements for tendering and supply all of the personnel necessary to support the land side.  What the city did was pull all of their provided services.

 

While Monterey does get busy, the cruise ship season there was in the cooler months and during the week.  A period when Monterey was fairly empty.  I do not believe that they was ever more than 1 ship there at a time. So over crowding was really not an issue. I live about 2 hours away and visit Monterey fairly often.  Usually during the same period.

 

More that they did not like looking a cruise ships anchored in their bay.

 

Once a schedule is published cruise lines tend to leave it untouched until they are officially informed that that cruise will not be able to stop, even if the laws change or there are other well known reasons why the call will not take place.  I guess they think a miracle could happen.

 

After all look how long cruise lines left Venice in their schedules after the law changed, the same with Bora Bora.

Edited June 17, 2023 by ldtr

[mrmarklin]

On a good day Monterey is about two hours from SFO dock. Maybe Princess will offer excursions. The aquarium is worth seeing. 

[cr8tiv1]

Just now, mrmarklin said:

On a good day Monterey is about two hours from SFO dock. Maybe Princess will offer excursions. The aquarium is worth seeing. 

 

I tried to convince people on my roll call to be the driver.  I would provide free aquarium tickets for all.  No takers.  I did it before, when i was much younger.  Lived in Monterey for severals years so knew the drive.  Can't do that anymore.  It would have cost $150 per person to hire a car service for the day.  I had hoped Princess would offer an excursion.  I would have jumped on a bus for the day.  There were commercial independent tours, but they either left too early (before ship arrived) or was not offered on the day we were in port.  It would have been perfect since it was an overnight stay.

[rocklinmom]

I live in the Monterey area and unless Princess provides dock support the cruise ships can't come here anymore from what I'm hearing. They always tendered into the wharf. I hope Princess will do what is needed because it would be sad for people to miss Monterey and yes especially the aquarium. My daughter works there so I'm biased 🙂 

[negn]

My Sept cruise just switched Monterey for Catalina

[sirclean]

My November cruise has changed from Monterey to Santa Barbara.

[Dar28]

We are on the 11 night Sapphire coastal cruise from Vancouver to Vancouver. We have a stop in Monterey, which we were looking forward to, and haven’t heard that Princess has changed ports yet.

[TravelDan99]

check your itinerary on cruise personalizer. it was a surprise change for me just now on our November cruise. Now Santa Barbara tendering.

[jdellachiesa]

18 hours ago, sirclean said:

My November cruise has changed from Monterey to Santa Barbara.

 

That's a way better option than our cruise which ended up doing 2 nights in San Francisco vs Catalina or Santa Barbara!!!

[jdellachiesa]

18 hours ago, negn said:

My Sept cruise just switched Monterey for Catalina

 

Lucky! Ours changed to 2 nights in San Francisco. I really wish they had substituted Catalina. I don't understand why Princess doesn't port there was much as they did 10 years ago.

[Steelers36]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:12 PM, Oddsbet1029 said:

To follow up on this old post, the itinerary has now been changed to 2 days in San Francisco and Monterey has been removed. I spoke to my CVP in May and was assured the itinerary would include Monterey. Fortunately, I have not paid for the cruise and will pass. V2G still shows the Monterey stop. I'm very disappointed in Princess. I understand that they reserve the right to change ports, but think that this is just the result of incompetence.

 

On 6/16/2023 at 8:43 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I, too, would love a stop in Monterey.  I was on the overnight in San Francisco, but it was just too expensive and too difficult to get to Monterey from San Francisco (I'm oldER).  I have seen upcoming cruises that will stop in Monterey.  I do not trust Princess enough to book one of these cruises.  

 

If someone has definitive proof, please share.

I wouldn't want to visit San Francisco at all right now.  Glad we had some visits there years ago.

[Dar28]

On 6/17/2023 at 2:08 PM, TravelDan99 said:

check your itinerary on cruise personalizer. it was a surprise change for me just now on our November cruise. Now Santa Barbara tendering.

I just checked my cruise personalized and Monterey has been switched to Catalina! We went there on our very first cruise in the 1997. Any ideas on what to do there now?