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No Hawaii cruises from San Francisco?

fud2468

By fud2468,
in West Coast Departures

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fud2468

fud2468

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I searched as well as I could but did not find a Hawaii cruise from San Francisco. There are cruises from other West Coast ports, but we are in northern California and prefer not to fly to get to one--it ruins the trip for us.

Is there something I missed?

Ray Mac.

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c-cruise

c-cruise

Posted
Posted

Generally not an option as the RT Hawaii cruises from a US port have to make a stop at a foreign port (usually Ensenada Mexico). Stopping at Ensenada and then having to sail all the way up to San Francisco would add a couple more days to an already lengthy 15 day itinerary.

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Splinter

Splinter

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None that I know of. A number of years ago we took a cruise one-way from San Francisco to Sydney that stopped in Hawaii. Of course we had to fly 15 hours to get home again. It was a one-time Olympics cruise. You might chance upon something like this, but not a round trip (as indicated above). Occasionally there are cruises from Vancouver to LA or San Diego via Hawaii when they are repositioning a ship at change of season, but you would still have to fly or drive to Seattle and then again from your final port...and from San Francisco that is even further to drive than LA or San Diego.

 

How about taking the train to Los Angeles if you don't like driving? Driving would take you approximately 7 hours, flying is 2 hours at your end, 1 hour flying, another hour or so to get to the pier. I would opt for the latter.

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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As stated above, the PVSA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_of_1886 for a description), would require a stop in Ensenada or Vancouver for such a cruise. Other than repo cruises, the usual Hawaiian cruises are:

1) the NCLa ones that start in Hawaii and never leave Hawaiian waters (but has to be on an "American flagged ship" which the other cruiselines don't have)

2) round trips out of Los Angeles, San Diego that have a stop in Ensenada

3) one ways that start or end in Ensenada or Vancouver

 

Usually the second option is on Princess and HAL. The second option on Carnival and Royal Caribbean

 

I would suggest you consider the Amtrak option. I'm not the world's best flier so we decided to take the train from Oxnard to Seattle before our Alaskan cruise (a 36-hr trip which took 40 hours going both directions). SF to LA won't take that long and you'll be able to go on Princess, which has a great cruise with lots of fun sea days (we were never bored). Another option would be driving down.

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fud2468

fud2468

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Thanks to all of you for taking the time and effort to reply.

It seems to be a ridiculous requirement (a stop in a foreign port) and if the law dates to 1886 maybe it's time to take another look at it.

It's not just fear/discomfort of flying, however. A good part of it is the on and off hassle with baggage, etc. which we would have with either a plane or a train. We'd consider driving down the day before the sailing date if there were a safe place to leave our car while we're gone. We can easily manage toting our bags into a hotel and then down to taxi or shuttle the next day to get to the port.

Ray Mac.

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scottbee

scottbee

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Posted
Thanks to all of you for taking the time and effort to reply.

It seems to be a ridiculous requirement (a stop in a foreign port) and if the law dates to 1886 maybe it's time to take another look at it.

It's not just fear/discomfort of flying, however. A good part of it is the on and off hassle with baggage, etc. which we would have with either a plane or a train. We'd consider driving down the day before the sailing date if there were a safe place to leave our car while we're gone. We can easily manage toting our bags into a hotel and then down to taxi or shuttle the next day to get to the port.

Ray Mac.

 

Why is it a ridiculous law? You think foreign owned/staffed/flagged ships should be carrying passengers on routes wholly within United States waters?

 

Example; How about the Seattle - Bremerton ferry? Should it not be subjected to Washington State laws, taxation, employment standards?

 

How about extending it to air travel? Should South African Airways be able to operate SFO-JFK flights?

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

Posted
Posted
Thanks to all of you for taking the time and effort to reply.

It seems to be a ridiculous requirement (a stop in a foreign port) and if the law dates to 1886 maybe it's time to take another look at it.

It's not just fear/discomfort of flying, however. A good part of it is the on and off hassle with baggage, etc. which we would have with either a plane or a train. We'd consider driving down the day before the sailing date if there were a safe place to leave our car while we're gone. We can easily manage toting our bags into a hotel and then down to taxi or shuttle the next day to get to the port.

Ray Mac.

 

It is an antiquated law (sorry, Scottbee, but that's what I and several others believe). What was relevant in 1886 may not be relevant today. And what the head of NCL was trying to do (with one senator of Hawaii and a now-deposed senator of Alaska) was trying to do in making it even more restrictive could have had disastrous effects on the economies of Hawaii and the west coast ports (also the east coast ports as the changes would have applied there too). That's why the Governors of Hawaii and California as well as many senators and mayors exerted their influence to make sure the proposed changes would not happen.

 

As for the OP, there are places you can park. Some hotels in San Pedro have a park and cruise program. And there is plenty of parking at the World Cruise Center for $12/day (current rate). We have parked there for cruises five times and haven't had a problem, and I haven't heard of anyone else having a problem either.

 

The only reason we haven't parked there the sixth time (for our Hawaiian cruise) was that we knew all the luggage and stuff we were taking wouldn't fit in either one of our trunks. So we hired a car service. But hubby has been working on his ancient van and thinks if he can get a third seat safely inside it, we could use it the next time. He doesn't have any qualms about the parking lot at all.

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c-cruise

c-cruise

Posted
Posted
Why is it a ridiculous law? You think foreign owned/staffed/flagged ships should be carrying passengers on routes wholly within United States waters?

 

Example; How about the Seattle - Bremerton ferry? Should it not be subjected to Washington State laws, taxation, employment standards?

 

How about extending it to air travel? Should South African Airways be able to operate SFO-JFK flights?

 

It's ridiculous (as it applies to the cruise industry) for several reasons:

 

1. The primary industry that it now affects didn't exist when this law was created.

2. People aren't in general using cruise ships for transportation. It's a vacation!

3. There is no substantial US cruise operator in the market to protect.

4. If an exception was made for cruise operators the PVSA could still apply to its original target which is ferry systems (such as the WA State ferry you mentioned).

5. The law is violated in spirit on virtually every round trip Hawaii sailing. Is having a cruise ship stop for an hour in Ensenada really protecting any US interests? Do you think that's what the people who wrote this law had in mind.

6. There are other cabotage laws to protect shipping and air travel. Modifying the PVSA for cruise ships wouldn't have any impact on those industries.

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Belle

Belle

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This year Sea Princess goes round trip

from SF to Alaska and has one round trip

from SF to Mexico.

 

Sorry no Hawaii, wish they did.

When we take Hawaii cruises, we

fly Southwest, no luggage fees plus

you can go either from SF or Oakland

to Lax.

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CL-JW

CL-JW

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We also drive from Northern CA down to LA for cruises, and never had a problem parking at the World Cruise center, other than the car being a little dusty from being parked outside for 7-14 days. Nothing a car wash couldn't fix :D. We live in the Tri-Valley and it usually takes us about 6 hours to drive down on a Saturday or Sunday morning. That includes a couple of stops. We usually hit the 405 around 9am and are in San Pedro by about 10am.

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fud2468

fud2468

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Thanks again.

Good to know safe parking is available. A dusty car would be the least of our worries.

It's a matter of geography's limitations, I guess. On the west coast what's left after Alaska and Mexican Riviera from S.F? Oh, I forgot, Panama Canal.

Ray Mac.

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Splinter

Splinter

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Holland America runs a once annual Polynesian round trip out of San Diego (30 days or so), or at least they have the last few years. You can sometimes get segments of world tours on some of the cruise lines that go to or from the West Coast, and Holland American runs some of their South American cruises round trip from San Diego. A BTB Panama Canal (via either PR or Florida) would also work out of either LA or San Diego if you can drive to those areas.

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  • 9 months later...
Splinter

Splinter

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Are there not any small islands in the Hawaiian chain that could be used for a short day port? One that is not a U.S. territory?

 

Not in the Hawaiian chain...Hawaii is a USA state, not a territory by the way. Some cruise lines have used Fanning Island (2 days south of Hawaii) in the past but I have not seen any of those cruises posted recently).

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