Calm seas for CA to Hawaii??

[fam2cruise]

What is the best time of the year for calm seas from Ca (San Diego or Long Beach) to Hawaii?

 

 

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[Kamloops50]

What is the best time of the year for calm seas from Ca (San Diego or Long Beach) to Hawaii?

 

 

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There is really no good time for calm seas.

[Shmoo here]

There is really no good time for calm seas.

 

Yep.

 

We did LA-Hawaii last Oct. We had really rough seas the last two days before getting back to Ensenada. But the rest of the cruise was pretty nice.

[rwr235]

Yep.

 

We did LA-Hawaii last Oct. We had really rough seas the last two days before getting back to Ensenada. But the rest of the cruise was pretty nice.

 

And just to show there is no predicting...we did a Ensenada to Hawaii cruise last October as well...calm the entire way...even the night of the tsunami resulting from the earthquake off the coast of BC.

 

Enjoy

 

Woody

[CruiserBruce]

Do you know when the stock market will be at it's highest? Of course not. And there is no predicting the seas...

[fam2cruise]

I get it...I've only cruised in the Gulf and Caribbean, so we almost always have calm waters. How rough is it? I mean, does it get really rough where it feels unsafe? That is my fear..

 

 

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[CruiserBruce]

You are on a ship, on water. It can be rough anywhere. Roughness is a possiblity. People shouldn't expect oceans to be flat. That is like saying it will always be sunny and warm. It all depends on conditions. Yes, we have done many calm cruises in the Caribbean, the Med, the Baltic, the Pacific. But we have also had moderately to pretty rough conditions, some on the Caribbean, most on the Pacific.

 

Some reading on the Hawaii board would reveal it is cooler and rough most of the time, for the first two days off the West Coast, getting smoother and warmer as you get closer to the Hawaii area.

[Keith1010]

You just never know I have sailed this route several times and sometimes in the same month in different years and the experience was different.

 

In general expect some rough seas the first day to day and one half after leaving California and as CruiserBruce said expect that it will get warmer as you get closer to Hawaii.

 

I think this is a great cruise. Personally I like going in January or February because it is cooler in the continental USA and warmer in Hawaii.

 

But I would not hesitate to go other times.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Our first 2 days out of San Diego and the last 2 days back to San Diego - the seas were rough. March/April.

[fam2cruise]

I appreciate all the input, we are looking at January so I'll probably just stick with that. We will likely sail Carnival because we have small children (2 & 5)...I'd prefer one of the *nicer* lines for this cruise but I don't think kids are as welcome though I'll be doing more research to be sure.

 

 

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[beachchick]

The California Current, which flows south and includes significant upwelling of cold water, means cruising from any California port at any time of year will have a risk of cool to cold air temperatures and some rough conditions crossing the current. Once you get past that, it's just a matter of how the weather patterns are forming at that time and for that year. They really do vary year to year and even week to week.

 

A note about the upwelling: This is a major reason why the surface ocean temperatures in even southern California are not really warm. I can't tell you how often people ask why we're not in the water in our bikinis all year. Leaving aside the fact that my middle aged self can't quite fit into her teeny bikinis these days, the water is freaking cold! We are in September and the ocean temps along the central coast are in the mid 50s, which is roughly the same or a tiny bit warmer than Alaska! The upwelling also accounts for some of our summer coastal fog and cold weather. A couple of years, several towns didn't break 60 degrees even once between June and September. Our daughter lives in Seattle, where they have significantly warmer summers than we do. In fact, one year my hubby and I had to go visit just to get some sun and warmth in August.

 

In any case, the weather and ocean conditions of the eastern Pacific are extremely changeable and often anything but "peaceful."

 

beachchick

[fam2cruise]

Now I did know about y'all's cold water over there in Cali...I came to visit my brother when he was stationed there and he thought it was hilarious when he took me to the beach (didn't mention freezing water) and I RAN out to the water and then RAN back out!!! I had no idea previous to that, so yes, it now makes sense when I think about these two water systems meeting and causing turbulent sailing.

 

 

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[Gunner22aa]

The first two days out of LA we had some choppy water on our Hawaii cruise. As we always sail in an aft cabin we could feel a little more motion than normal but nothing appreciable. As to rough enough to ever feel unsafe, never on this route. While the Pacific can get rough it was named this way because of it's calmer waters. The North Atlantic in November however is not on my cruise bucket list. We hit 30 foot swells on the QE 2 the second day out of Southhampton on a TA once and that was late Aug. The cruise immediatly before she ran aground off the east coast of the US and was out of service for about a month. My wife usually does not suffer at all from motion sickness. That TA flattened her for a day and a half. The wind was straight out of the north so dead on broadside to the ship. The ship had a 3 degree list to the port for the entire gale. Sure threw off my sense of balance when waling in an enclosed passageway. Even in this weather I never felt like it was the Poseidon Adventure revisited.

[Roz]

The first day or so out of San Diego, the seas were very rough, but not unsafe. Many people were sick.

 

Not sure what you mean about children not being welcome. What lines are you considering?

 

Roz

[Alliezona09]

Did the RT out of San Pedro in December~ 1st 2 days going and the last few days coming home were really rough~ enough that they had to put out the barf bags~ but not enough where you felt *unsafe* just felt and looked like everybody was drunk and couldn't walk a straight line~ lol~ if you are prone to motion sickness than you should probably take something for it but if it doesn't bother you than you'll be fine~

[fam2cruise]

 

Not sure what you mean about children not being welcome. What lines are you considering?

 

Roz

 

Holland and Celebrity...never been on either so I'm not saying kids aren't welcome, maybe just not AS welcome as on Carnival.

 

 

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[Roz]

Both HAL and Celebrity have clubs for kids. Do you think the cruise line doesn't want the children or the passengers? I've been on many HAL cruises, and have never seen children slighted or mistreated. If anything, the staff dotes on them, and so do the passengers.

 

On a longer voyage there will be fewer children, and they will get more of the staff's attention.

 

Roz

[Keith1010]

You are not going to see many kids on these R/T cruise unless they are over the Christmas Holidays due to the length of most of these cruises and their time frames.

 

Keith

[fam2cruise]

I guess I didn't word that right...I have no doubt the staff will dote on then, we've always had that experience. I just mean that I think the other cruisers might be older on those line and itinerary and might not appreciate my kids cuteness quite as much as I do. I only say that because before I had my kids I didn't like other people's kids either :-). Though I do keep that in mind and remove them when they are behaving badly.

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

You are on a ship, on water. It can be rough anywhere. Roughness is a possiblity. People shouldn't expect oceans to be flat. That is like saying it will always be sunny and warm. It all depends on conditions. Yes, we have done many calm cruises in the Caribbean, the Med, the Baltic, the Pacific. But we have also had moderately to pretty rough conditions, some on the Caribbean, most on the Pacific.

 

Some reading on the Hawaii board would reveal it is cooler and rough most of the time, for the first two days off the West Coast, getting smoother and warmer as you get closer to the Hawaii area.

 

Our three Hawaiian cruises on Princess were all at the same time of year (the holidays) but we had different sea conditions and different weather conditions all three times. In fact, on our first time (2005/06), we had a couple of rough days leaving LA (and there were record high surf on the beaches there at that time) and cool weather. On the way back, very smooth seas the whole way back, plus warm weather as the west coast was having a post-storm Santa Ana condition. It was quite interesting driving back to the San Fernando Valley while it was in the 80s but with snow in the mountains in the background.

 

We've had some rough seas on both of our Caribbean cruises too. But our Alaskan cruise was very smooth (which was for the best as we had a far-forward cabin on that one).

 

I guess I didn't word that right...I have no doubt the staff will dote on then, we've always had that experience. I just mean that I think the other cruisers might be older on those line and itinerary and might not appreciate my kids cuteness quite as much as I do. I only say that because before I had my kids I didn't like other people's kids either :-). Though I do keep that in mind and remove them when they are behaving badly.

 

 

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The age on the Hawaiian cruise will vary depending on when you go. But it's not a guarantee. A couple of cruises ago, I was surprised that there was a huge number of elderly on the holiday cruise -- they would have saved a lot of money if they went on the cruise before or after ours. I can only figure many of them didn't want to hang out at home during the holidays. Go figure. And if they had any trouble being on a ship with kids on board, tough. That's the only time many of us with school-aged kids can take the Hawaiian cruise as else they have to be in school.

 

Carnival would be a good choice as the OP has a 2-yr-old and can participate in the kids' program at that age. But HAL and Celebrity do have some fans for their kids' programs too. I think it would come down to those may not start at age 2 (I would have to look them up on their websites or someone who has kids who've been on them would have to post).