best cruiseline for west coast 7 day

[WJB]

Hi- researching a 7 day west coast cruise. We cruisetoured Alaska with Princess and was very happy and I do see Princess has a couple 7 day LA to Vancouver cruises-having problems locating other cruiselines with 7 day cruises-any suggestions from any of you-This board made our Alaska trip over the top-hope for some good advice for this cruise. Thanks to anyone that may be willing to give suggestions

[c-cruise]

The vast majority of the West coast cruises are 3-4 day repositioning cruises at the beginning and end of the Alaska season. Occasionally you will find a full 7 day Pacific coast itinerary, but they are not the norm. You won't find anybody operating them as a regular Summer long itinerary. Princess has a couple 7 day coastal sailings as you mentioned and Celebrity does a few that are more like 10-11 days. We have a 3 day coastal booked for the end of September on HAL, don't remember seeing any 7 day coastal itineraries when we were looking at the HAL itineraries. Might also check NCL and RCCL, not sure what they do for Alaska repositioning cruises.

[wrp96]

RCCL, not sure what they do for Alaska repositioning cruises.

 

RCCL typically either does repositioning cruises via Hawaii (one way to Hawaii, then another one way back to the mainland) or the other option you usually see is a 14 night Ultimate Alaska which combines an Alaska cruise with the repositioning cruise.

[JJ2sail]

Celebrity did some 7 day Pacific Coastal this year, but I have not seen any being offered next year. They were in the Spring.

 

Most 7 day cruises on the west coast are to Mexico.

[Putterdude]

We did a six day junket on the Golden Princess this May which went from LA to San Diego, Santa Catalina, San Franciso, Victoria and then Vancouver and we were very pleased with it.

[slidergirl]

NCL has the Norwegian Star doing a 6 day from Vancouver to L.A., leaving Sep. 21.

 

Look up "Pacific Coastal" and "Pacific Northwest" to see who has them. They are usually South to North in late April to mid-May, then North to South in mid-September to early October.

[GoodAsGold]

There a number of 7 day cruises to Mexico from LA on the west coast. Princess sails at certain times. I know they do in the spring. Carnival sails year long out of Long Beach. Other cruiselines like Holland America and RCI also cruise down to Mexico for 7 days. Princess also has a wonderful 10 day cruise from San Francisco down to Mexico. There are limited sailings.

 

Hi- researching a 7 day west coast cruise. We cruisetoured Alaska with Princess and was very happy and I do see Princess has a couple 7 day LA to Vancouver cruises-having problems locating other cruiselines with 7 day cruises-any suggestions from any of you-This board made our Alaska trip over the top-hope for some good advice for this cruise. Thanks to anyone that may be willing to give suggestions

[Bruin Steve]

Trying to decipher your question...

I am assuming you don't mean the 7-night Mexican Riviera routes...There are five major lines doing those for a portion of the year (Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, HAL and Norwegian)...Then, in the summer, most of those ships head to Alaska and you pretty much just have Royal Caribbean and Carnival...

 

But, I am assuming by your note about LA to Vancouver, you are talking about similar routes...

 

NO cruise line has that as a regular staple...Those are typically repositioning cruises and they come when the cruise lines move the ships either up to Alaska for the Alaska season or back from Alaska at the end of the season...

 

And all of the cruise lines will split these up differently...It really depends on where the ship is coming from and heading to...Some ships are coming to Alaska from the Caribbean and often these will do a Panama Canal cruise followed by a one way which could start in Acapulco, LA or San Francisco and could vary in number of days...

 

It's really a mixed bag...

 

There is no "best cruiseline" for it...It is all a matter of personal preference...You just have to find a ship you lkike and dates and an itinerary that work for you...And those dates are likely Spring for Northbound or Fall for Southbound...and the cruises will start in one port and end in another.

 

Celebrity used to run some "regular" Pacific Coast cruises out of San Francisco, but they've abandoned the route...

 

If you are interested in doing a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise out of LA, the first ship you should look at is the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas which is arriving here in March to take over the route--a spectacular ship and an outstanding cruise...RCCL has the Vision of the Seas on the route right now...We took it in March--it's a nice older ship but pales in comparison to the Mariner...We're taking the Sapphire Princess in December...and either that or the HAL Oosterdam might be the nicest ship doing the route right now...But the Mariner will blow both away (My personal opinion)...OTOH, they're ALL good...Except Carnival--at least in my eyes...but even Carnival has their fans... Again, it's all a matter of your own personal criteria, standards, taste and expectations...

 

Good luck...

[WJB]

I can understand everyones confusion with my request. Bruin Steve is correct-interested in West coast Vancouver to LA type cruise. Our group consists of women in our 50's -most want to stick close to home because of business /home demands-we have already experienced New England /Canada. Thanks for confirming limited availablity-looks like Princess will probably be our choice-they have a May and a Sept cruise-both have ports we would enjoy

[KLLund]

We are booked on the May 9th cruise from LA to Vancouver on the gorgeous Sapphire Princess. That is a wonderful ship and my favorite of the Princess line.

[bethco]

Beginning in February, 2009, Royal Caribbean will run a 7-night on the Mariner of the Seas to the Mexican Riviera out of Long Beach.

[mikaula]

I believe Mariner of the Seas will be out of San Pedro. Only Carnival goes out of Long Beach.

[alikaalex]

There is a 7-night repo cruise out of LA sailing on April 25, 2009. What makes this cruise unique is that it's rare (I believe) to find a seven-night Alaska cruise that departs LA and heads directly to Juneau, then Ketchikan, then concludes at Vancouver. An uncommon itinerary, and one that should make my first Alaska cruise quite interesting. (LA nonstop to Juneau! Wow!) :)

[LoriPhil]

We looked on the Princess - Alaska "book a cruise" for September and by reading the various itineraries found a coastal on the Sapphire that we booked for September 20th this year (it looks like the south-bound fall coastals have a slightly different route than the north-bound). We're going to Vancouver, Naniamo, Victoria, at sea day, San Francisco (REALLY looking forward to sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge for this one), Catalina Island, San Diego and finally Los Angeles. Great pricing, great ports, and it's much easier for us to get away in the Fall so everything was perfect! A cruise with the girls sounds like great fun - I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time whatever you choose!

[hc00010]

The Sapphire Princess does a 7-day from Vancouver to LA on Sept. 20, 2008, also a 7-day LA to Vancouver on May 9, 2009.

[alikaalex]

There is a 7-night repo cruise out of LA sailing on April 25, 2009. What makes this cruise unique is that it's rare (I believe) to find a seven-night Alaska cruise that departs LA and heads directly to Juneau, then Ketchikan, then concludes at Vancouver. An uncommon itinerary, and one that should make my first Alaska cruise quite interesting. (LA nonstop to Juneau! Wow!) :)

 

Oops! :eek: Almost forgot to mention: The above cruise will be on NCL's Norwegian Star.