Weather on way to Hawaii at Christmas

[OttawaJohn]

Hi all

 

I know it's far out but looking to see if anyone can give info on the weather. 

 

We're doing a cruise from San Fran to Hawaii and back at end of December and curious to the temperature.  Not in San Fran or Hawaii but in between.  Once we're a few days away from land, how is the weather in the Pacific that time of year? 

 

Just looking for general, not exact temperatures obviously 🙂

 

Thanks in advance!

[theloo]

I don't know the answer, but consider  join the roll call and asking here: 

 

[polmcs]

I’ve done the HI circle cruise over the holidays twice, though out of LA and not SF. The day of departure was not too bad, but it turned chillier the next day. It warmed up slowly as we got closer to the islands. It wasn’t really sunbathing weather until 2 days out from the islands and the same on the return.

[atobols]

We've done it once out of SF and will be going again this Christmas.  It was a decent day in SF on the day we left, sunny and in the 60s.  It rained and was cold until we were one day away from Hawaii.  Hawaii was sunny, warm, and fabulous.  It went back to rainy and cold as we sailed back to SF.  

 

Also, the ship was seriously rocking as we left SF.  We had to walk down hallways holding onto the wall.  My kids were in the pool and the waves were strong enough to toss them up onto the splash zone and then wash them back into the pool.  We loved it but people prone to seasickness weren't enjoying it for the first 24 hours.

[memoak]

38 minutes ago, polmcs said:

I’ve done the HI circle cruise over the holidays twice, though out of LA and not SF. The day of departure was not too bad, but it turned chillier the next day. It warmed up slowly as we got closer to the islands. It wasn’t really sunbathing weather until 2 days out from the islands and the same on the return.

The first few and last few days cannot be pretty chilly

[OttawaJohn]

1 hour ago, atobols said:

Also, the ship was seriously rocking as we left SF.  We had to walk down hallways holding onto the wall.  My kids were in the pool and the waves were strong enough to toss them up onto the splash zone and then wash them back into the pool.

Cool!  On the new ships, you have to line up for rides like that lol

[cruisequeen4ever]

We did this cruise last Christmas, and it was fabulous, BTW. 
 

Of course we know that weather can vary drastically from year to year, but our experience was…

 

It was cold the first 2 days out, cool the 3rd day, and warm the last day. Day 3 had those of us dieing to swim, in the water and braving the wave pool. Day 4 had many out. The return was similar.

 

We were in moderate to hefty seas. 
 

Happy planning! 

[SCX22]

The weather people are predicting an El Niño for California this winter.  This usually means lots of rain, but with climate change who knows what this will bring.  Last winter, storms that were classified as atmospheric rivers pummeled California with rain, which caused the state's weather to be unusually wet and windy.

 

It's not unusual for the ship to have a lot of motion when leaving San Francisco.  The Pacific Ocean on this of the U.S. is a different beast.  The waters calm down after the first couple of days, the closer the ship gets to Hawaii.  The first couple of days are usually also the coldest and windiest.  Only a few brave passengers dare to use the lido deck.

 

On the 12/22/22, Hawaii cruise, the Royal Princess skipped Ensenada and went on a straight path to San Francisco to avoid a major storm system.  The passengers stayed on board and extra night in San Francisco before disembarking.

 

[marden1970]

We'll be on this cruise as well, hope for the best, plan for the worst. 😀  See you on board!

[travelin.sisters]

have done LA-Hawai'i 3 times (Jan [left the 4th], Apr, March) weather & seas are unpredictable any of those times, you will get cooler weather the first 2 days out & back...but being from Ottawa, what Californian's think is really cold may be fairly moderate for you, our last cruise there were people out by the pool sunbathing when it was still pretty cold & others very bundled up...there will be some bumpy seas somewhere on the cruise...they have always closed the pools at least once on each of our cruises but only drained them on one...bring some layers but realize that cold will probably be 50's/60's not 20 below

Edited May 29, 2023 by travelin.sisters

[OttawaJohn]

Thanks all for the info!  Regardless of temperature, I'm looking forward to an amazing cruise!