best line for California cruises

Hi, just got back (to UK) from Caribbean cruise on Freedom of The Seas. That's 3rd time with Royal Caribbean and all 4 in the Carib. Will be couple of years before we next cruise, so want to see California next time, as never been to West Coast of USA. Some people we cruised with have done California, visiting San Francisco/San Diego/Santa Barbara/Mexico (Escana?). I understand Royal Caribbean only do San Fran with Pacific North West - any recommendations for cruise lines to check out AND best sites for deals? Would also appreciate advice on best month to go for weather and avoiding peak (school holiday) periods. Thanks.

Princess is the only cruise line doing the California Coastal regularly. Starting from Los Angeles or San Pedro. LA, SF, Santa Barbara or Monterey, San Diego, Ensenada.

IMHO, Los Angeles is easier for embark/ debark. YMMV

These cruises usually do not attract a large school age crowd.

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The California coastal options are limited because it is really not that popular of a cruise destination. Cruising the Pacific Ocean isn't anything like the Caribbean. Best time to do this would be the summer, but I am pretty sure Princess only does these CA coastal cruises in the spring and fall on either side of the Alaska season.

If I was visiting CA from the UK I would seriously consider renting a car and doing a land trip instead.

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If I was visiting CA from the UK I would seriously consider renting a car and doing a land trip instead.

As a native San Franciscan who lived in LA for 6 years and have crisscrossed the state dozens of times, I would have to second that comment. A coastal would serve little purpose in actually seeing California if that is your desire. 10-14 days on land would give you a good window and allow you to see many of the highlights. Remember we are a very large state with lots of diverse things to see and do. Urban centers, SF, LA, SD, with museums, zoos, and famous amusement parks, world class wine country, fabulous national parks, and anything else in between from the mountains to the sea. Coming here is more like visiting a country in other parts of the world and to justify your travel you need more depth than a coastal serves.

It's true that a coastal cruise isn't the best way to see much of California. But, if you really want to cruise, there are some very nice ones available, especially in May and September/October when ships 'reposition' to or from Alaska. These generally travel between either Los Angeles or San Diego and Vancouver. In addition to Princess, look at Holland America and Celebrity. Talk to a travel agent or use any of the large online agencies that allow you to search by date and departure ports. There are also occasional nice coastal cruises, such as a Celebrity Infinity cruise October 1, round-trip out of Los Angeles, that visits Santa Barbara, San Francisco (overnight), Monterey, Catalina Island, then Ensenada Mexico before returning to LA. Princess does some similar ones. Maybe you could spend a little time driving around other parts of the state either before or after a cruise.

As a native Californian (and our family goes back to about 1830), I agree with the comments about seeing California via a land tour is far superior than by ship. I have lived here 60 years, and am still discovering new places to see.

In the case of "best sites for deals", per Cruise Critic rules, we are not allowed to name travel agents, web based or brick and mortar.

We love road trips along the coast between Los Angeles and Seattle. So much to see with amazing sights. We did one Princess cruise two years ago, the Wine Country Cruise, which was very nice with an overnight in SF and visited ports like Catalina Island, Astoria, Victoria, BC, then Vancouver. If the price is right, consider the cruise but a land trip would be memorable.

If you are going all that way then I think it would be great to combine the two, a cruise and a land tour.

I am doing this cruise with Celebrity in September as my brother is celebrating his 50th in Las Vegas the following week, so thought it was a good idea to combine the two.

I can't offer any means of comparison, but I can say that we chose a 7 night Pacific Coastal cruise on Royal Caribbean Explorer for this coming September solely for the reason that it is round trip out of Seattle (we live there). It is the only non-Alaska cruise I found that is round trip Seattle (most Pacific Coastals are one-way). We are from Seattle so it makes for a cheap cruise without airfare (and much lower cost than our other option, Alaska, although we have done that twice). We got a balcony for around $2k all in for two.

Explorer visits Astoria OR, San Francisco CA (2 days with an overnight in between), and Victoria B.C. Its not the greatest itinerary, but it'll do. I'd prefer Santa Barbara be added at least, and Astoria isn't very exciting, but an overnight in San Francisco is a highlight. RCI does this same itinerary 3 weeks in a row in September (only). However, since you are traveling from so far away, I'd recommend a one way Pacific Coastal with time at the embarkation and debarkation ports at least (if not a land portion before or after as well).

There are a number or cruise line options (RCI, Holland, NCL, Princess, Celebrity), but the dates are very limited. As said, often only in May and September (usually before & after Alaska cruises). The weather often isn't so great that time of year and the region (especially around San Francisco and Astoria) is known to be subject to fog, high winds, choppy seas, the works. Many are short trips with few if any port stops, 1 to 4 nights. So basically many are only re-positioning cruises. I've read they stay pretty far out from the coastline, so be aware there is little to no scenic cruising except when going in and out of a port.

Celebrity looks like it has the most inclusive option as it offers a longer 11 night itinerary on Infinity between San Diego and Vancouver (including Santa Barbara CA, Monterey CA, and Nanaimo B.C. in addition to the usual ports), but only once in May. Princess' and NCL's longest ones are 5 nights. Royal's longest is 7 nights. Apparently Pacific Coastals are very poor moneymakers for the cruise lines with high fuel costs, high port fees, low average onboard spending, and low excursion bookings/costs.

We have done a west coast cruise two years in a row. Both of our cruises were on Royal Caribbean. Both were done in Sept when we get some of our best weather.

Our first one was a one way from Vancouver to LA on Jewel of the Seas We had stops in Victoria, Astoria, overnight in San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and ended in Los Angelous. Our weather in Sept was beautiful in every port for that one. We also rented cars in two ports. We live in Portland so it was fun to come into a port a couple of hours from our home.

Our second cruise was a round trip out of Seattle on Explorer of the Seas and for us was an enjoyable experience not to have to deal with an airport. We rode the train to and from Seattle. Our ports were San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Astoria and Victoria. We chose this cruise because it had more sea days for relaxation.

A cruise on the west coast is a very different type of cruise than the Caribbean or Alaska. It is a very relaxed cruise and you definitely do not have to worry about chair hogs at the pool! Yes you cannot see much of the land other than coming into port but you cannot in the Caribbean either. These West Coast itineraries seem to becoming more popular. The two we were on both sold out. Some of us folks living on the west coast are enjoying having a cruise in our corner of the world. For us a cruise is just a nice way to vacation with only packing and unpacking once.