Pacific coast cruise

[john kraft]

Hello all.My wife and I are doing the 4 day cruise in spring from Los Angeles to Vancouver. We have sailed Hal 3 times before. Twice to Alaska on Zaandam and once to Canada on Maasdam.Has anyone done the repositioning cruise and what can we expect as far as shows etc... ? Do they leave anything out as it isn't a normal cruise? Thanks for any info.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Laffnvegas did this last year - unfortunately she is on a cruise right now or she would be able to answer you.

 

Hopefully someone else can help you out.

[jtl513]

Do they leave anything out as it isn't a normal cruise?

You will just be on the last 4 days of what IS a normal cruise. I wouldn't expect anything to be significantly different.

[cruz chic]

Hello all.My wife and I are doing the 4 day cruise in spring from Los Angeles to Vancouver. We have sailed Hal 3 times before. Twice to Alaska on Zaandam and once to Canada on Maasdam.Has anyone done the repositioning cruise and what can we expect as far as shows etc... ? Do they leave anything out as it isn't a normal cruise? Thanks for any info.

 

It's pretty much the same although if I remember correctly you don't get any lobster. Not a problem for some.

[RedmondCruiser]

If you are going from LA to Vancouver you must be on a Spring repo cruise. You will have one formal dinner and possibly it could be the fairwell dinner with the lobster. It is not a downgraded segment, if that is what you mean. You'll have a good time.

[Cruising-along]

We're booked on a 4-day later this month, Vancouver-San Diego. Our docs show one formal night. We did a one night get-away a few months ago, the food and entertainment was the same as any cruise. As someone said, it's just the tail end of a normal cruise.

[teachergal29]

John Kraft, what ship are you doing this repo on?? We are going to sail on the Oosterdam SD to Van. on 4/26. We were also concerned about some of the same concerns that you had . So we booked the cruise on the O to Mexico the week before the repo . We tried to book the 3 day cruise after the repo that ended in Seattle and they told us we couldn't because it would be a violation of the Jones Act.

[jhannah]

We have done the 4-day coastal cruises twice, and they are just like longer cruises so far as dining and entertainment are concerned. They were nice and easy getaways for us when we lived close to the coast.

 

The Jones Act has nothing to do with cruise ships. Search for the recent thread on this topic for more information. Bottom line is that the Passenger Services Act prohibits cruise ships from transporting passengers between two U.S. cities without a call at a "distant foreign port."

[Voyager of the Dams]

My DH & I are on a 3 night Pacific Coastal cruise later this month - Vancouver to Victoria, then Seattle, and back to Vancouver. There will be 1 formal night according to our documents. This will be the shortest HAL cruise we've ever taken. Does anyone know if we will be given a tile. This will be our first time on the Oosterdam and we would definitely like a tile to add to our small collection.:)

[Atomica]

I've done a couple Pacific Coast cruises now, and they're basically just like normal cruises, only shorter. No real differences that I can think of.

 

One bonus is sometimes you get more than a typical cruise: I took the Veendam from Vancouver to LA two years ago; essentially this was the first leg of the Panama/Amazon cruise - a 34 day voyage. Because of this, they had a live classical band onboard playing during the days and nights, and I was of the impression that the food and entertainment were actually slightly better than a traditional seven-day cruise...

[luvcruisn']

I took the 4 night San Diego to Vancouver cruise on the Ryndam this past May 2. It had everthing that a longer cruise had. The only difference I found was that they were more generous with the "dam dollars," for activities, than on my longer 12 day cruise in October. My mother and I both received a tile as past mariners.

[CruiserBruce]

We are doing a 19 day repo from FLL to Seattle. We stop at San Diego and they are also selling a 15 day FLL-San Diego. But they aren't selling a 4 day San Diego-SEA. Wonder if they are doing a travel agents cruise for those 4 days. And if there will be anything different on that cruise.

[RuthC]

But they aren't selling a 4 day San Diego-SEA. Wonder if they are doing a travel agents cruise for those 4 days.

They can't have a 4-day San Deigo--->Seattle cruise; it would be a violation of the Passenger Services Act.

I'm not a lawyer (and I don't play one on TV), but I bet they can't do a freebe cruise for TA's, either. That would still be a transport of passengers between US ports without stopping at a distant foreign port---which is the no-no.

[CruiserBruce]

RuthC:

 

We do a service call at Victoria- 3pm-11pm the night before we get to Seattle.

 

Bruce

[RuthC]

RuthC:

 

We do a service call at Victoria- 3pm-11pm the night before we get to Seattle.

Which is not a distant foreign port. You can't board passengers in San Diego and disembark those passengers in Seattle if Victoria is the only foreign port.

If the ship started in Florida there is a foreign port stop that qualifies as distant, but San Diego passengers wouldn't get credit for that stop.

[CruiserBruce]

Well, maybe we won't be adding any people at San Diego. I know the PS were not available for the 15 day, only the 19 day.

 

I also saw a cruise from NY to Sea this spring that was less than half full from NY to FLL, then almost full from FLL to SEA. I think they stopped at Half Moon Cay before FLL. Don't know if they had anybody on just a 4 day cruise.

 

So maybe we will be a lot less than full from San Diego to SEA.

 

Victoria is as "distant" a port as Ensenada is for the various cruises that use it as a foreign port.

 

Bruce

[RuthC]

Victoria is as "distant" a port as Ensenada is for the various cruises that use it as a foreign port.

Distant and near foreign port is by definition---there is a list of which ports qualify. I don't believe that distance alone is the sole criterion.

As far as I know Ensenada is used as a near foreign port on the San Diego/Hawaii/San Diego round trips. That's allowed because it's the same port for embarkation and disembarkation. That's the same reason that Mexico cruises can sail to/from San Diego.

Victoria is used as a near foreign port on Alaska cruises that start/end in Seattle, and on some of the short cruises in/out of there, too.

[KAYEF]

We've done these a few times, but always as part of the longer cruise......they are wonderful..............all cruises are!!:)

The only "problem" we ever had was a Fall Repo. of the Oosterdam which began in Seattle and went north to Vancouver before heading down the coast (and on to Mexico, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean......23 days of Heaven).

They had sold cabins for ONE NIGHT as a special to fill up the ship and let people know what cruising was all about.

What a shock this was to us.....MANY very young people were going to get their money's worth........they were really noisy, took over all the pools, roamed the ship up all night, knocking on cabin doors, playing elevator games.............

many were drunk already at lunch in the Lido, just after boarding..........even yelling while "dining.":eek:

Boy! Were we glad to see all of them leave in Vancouver to take the train back to Seattle.

Guess it was another education..........we just didn't know such marketing occurred.

[Voyager of the Dams]

Thanks, Luvcruisin' for responding to my tile question. Didn't know whether we should expect a tile or not on such a short cruise.