New west Coast itinerarys, please

[kruisey]

The Passenger Vessel Services Act prevents most of these cruises from being profitable. Essentially a foreign flagged vessel cannot move passengers from one US port to another without stopping in a "distant" foreign port first and a foreign flagged vessel cannot round trip from a US port without stopping at a "foreign" port.

 

A "distant" foreign port is in Central or South America. A "foreign" port is Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, etc.

 

That's why the R/T Alaska cruises stop at Victoria and the one way Alaska cruises start or end in Vancouver.

 

This is to protect the immensely popular and unbelievably massive US flagged cruise ship fleet...(all 'one' of the them - LOL)...

 

Call your congressman, senator, have them repeal the PVSA. Coastal cruises on the west, east and southern coasts would be great for local port economies and would keep cruise dollars in the US.

 

And what would you do without the Canadian natural resources including water oil and electricity.Many businesses in Canada are also owned by USA?

So you wont to cut out your neighbor ?

[sassyredhat]

Just heard from a friend who is going on Celebrity from LA/LA to Alaska,for 14 days, in April 2009. That would be something we would like Princess to do too. She said the ship sold out very quickly and has a long wait list for any cancellations. The cruise corporate offices need to hear from all of us on the West (Left) Coast.

 

 

I have been waiting and waiting for a cruise like this, or even Princess's RT from SF to book in 2010.

 

Mike will not fly and I'm getting tired of Mexico. We've also done 2 RT Hawaii, so I ready for another Alaska.

 

The last time, we took a repo from SD, and then Amtrak back. What a hassle. :)

 

Pat

[ccrain]

And what would you do without the Canadian natural resources including water oil and electricity.Many businesses in Canada are also owned by USA?

So you wont to cut out your neighbor ?

 

The PVSA was intended to protect the US flagged cruise ship industry, and the union members that staffed them, at the turn of the century. Since then, there is only one "large" US flagged cruise ship (Pride of [fleecing] America) that got special exemptions in the PVSA. (Note there is a smaller fleet of US flagged cruise ships.)

 

The bottom line is that the OP wanted more coastal cruises. The answer is that you need to change the law to allow them. You can't do Seattle to LA or San Diego to San Francisco at all economically and even roundtrips require stopping in Mexican or Canadian ports.

 

There are a host of interesting potential west coast ports (Astoria, Monterey, Catalina, Portland) that would make for good cruise itineraries, as well as a lot of southern and east coast ports that could use the economic boost of a 2000 passenger cruise liner making a stop once a week.

 

The BC ports will always be popular and not just for the PVSA issues. Vancouver is a wonderful city to visit, as is Victoria, but just like Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau, they do get a little too familar after a while.

[Carpsavage]

We've just booked a November 2009 Star Princess from LA (2-hour drive for us) to Santiago, Chile. It starts in San Francisco (a 18-day cruise) but we're picking it up in LA so it's 16-days. Great new ports for us and only Cabo & Acapulco in Mexico - rest are Central & S. America. Also, I think the cruise price was very reasonable!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Rather than flying to catch those short Pacific Coastal repositioning cruises, we take Amtrak one way, and the ship the other.

 

Makes for a great week-long getaway. Last time we went North by ship (SF to Vancouver, Sun Princess), we took Amtrak bus Vancouver to Seattle, Amtrak to Portland, overnighted there a couple of nights (of course going to the famous Portland bookstore), then Amtrak back to the Bay Area.

 

Of course, the train was late, which is why the wags call the Coast Starlight the Coast Starlate.

 

Some of you might like to read through the thread in this forum (I found on pg.4) titled "1 day then 3 day repo Jones Act questions. You'll find out why many of your ideas for cruises are not possible. PAT CC

 

I was trying to reply last night, but I seem to have trouble with Cruise Critic most nights past 11pm.

 

Re: the Coast Starlight, four years ago we took it from Oxnard to Seattle and it was the customary four hours late (from all the sidetracking it has to do) and on the return, four hours late.

 

Re: the Jones Act, that has to do with cargo and not passengers. The thread should had been titled "...Passenger Vessel Services Act..."

[Cruisin' Chick]

The Passenger Vessel Services Act prevents most of these cruises from being profitable. Essentially a foreign flagged vessel cannot move passengers from one US port to another without stopping in a "distant" foreign port first and a foreign flagged vessel cannot round trip from a US port without stopping at a "foreign" port.

 

A "distant" foreign port is in Central or South America. A "foreign" port is Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, etc.

 

That's why the R/T Alaska cruises stop at Victoria and the one way Alaska cruises start or end in Vancouver.

 

This is to protect the immensely popular and unbelievably massive US flagged cruise ship fleet...(all 'one' of the them - LOL)...

 

Call your congressman, senator, have them repeal the PVSA. Coastal cruises on the west, east and southern coasts would be great for local port economies and would keep cruise dollars in the US.

 

Well, if you are serious about learning about/changing the PVSA, hop on over to the Ask A Cruise Question forum and read the thread about the pending changes to the PVSA, intended solely to protect that massive US flagged one-ship carrier.

 

Long story short, future cruises that operate in the same market as US flagged carriers (i.e. Hawaii) will either have to visit one of those named distant foreign ports OR spend over 50% of their port time in other foreign ports. Meaning the RT LA-HI-LA trips would need to spend a lot less time in HI and loads more in Ensenada (or somewhere else). Princess will have to do some serious re-routing on that HI itinerary. Might as well be with some of the routes we have suggested here. ;)

 

And hopefully the current PVSA thread won't disappear like the one before that. If anyone here wants to know why you can't go from LA to Hawaii and back without stopping in Ensenada, or why you can't just cruise up from SD or LA to Seattle without stopping in Victoria or Vancouver (which at least those two cities are a lot more attractive than Ensenada), please check out the PVSA thread in Ask a Cruise Question.

 

As for trying to repeal it, good luck. Right now, we're just hoping that Senator Inouye (under the "spell" of the evil Colin Veitch) doesn't suceed in his plot to eliminate the RT Hawaii cruises.

[ccrain]

We've just booked a November 2009 Star Princess from LA (2-hour drive for us) to Santiago, Chile. It starts in San Francisco (a 18-day cruise) but we're picking it up in LA so it's 16-days. Great new ports for us and only Cabo & Acapulco in Mexico - rest are Central & S. America. Also, I think the cruise price was very reasonable!!

 

But the airfare and connections are killers.

[NorcalGuy]

1. I' love a ROUND TRIP from San Francisco down to Costa Rica and/or Panama. 15 to 21 days?
   
2. Also a Round Trip form San Francisco to Hawaii (with the stop in ensenada) 16 days?
   
3. Round trip San Francisco, Hawai, Mexico. (Since it has to stop in a foreign port anyway, why not include some good ports such as Cabo Mazatlan, or PV, rather than just Ensenada.)
   
4. And...a round trip 30 day San Francisco to Hawaii and French Polynesia. (HAL offers this one)

The same could be said for LA, but of course I would perfer SFO, lol.

Just the Mexico Riviera is getting boring.

[ccrain]

1. I' love a ROUND TRIP from San Francisco down to Costa Rica and/or Panama. 15 to 21 days?
   
2. Also a Round Trip form San Francisco to Hawaii (with the stop in ensenada) 16 days?
   
3. Round trip San Francisco, Hawai, Mexico. (Since it has to stop in a foreign port anyway, why not include some good ports such as Cabo Mazatlan, or PV, rather than just Ensenada.)
   
4. And...a round trip 30 day San Francisco to Hawaii and French Polynesia. (HAL offers this one)

The same could be said for LA, but of course I would perfer SFO, lol.

Just the Mexico Riviera is getting boring.

 

The Star goes to AUS in 2009 and then comes back!