Cruising on California coast

[cherylrrt]

Thinking of the California Coastal cruise 2016...we have to decide by Jan or 2015. What are the waters like on this cruise as far as comfort? My husband is very skeptical and is not sure he wants to do a cruise on the Pacific Ocean.

[Talisker92]

It depends on your Itinerary, Are you looking at going to Mexico or up the coast towards Vancouver

[Krazy Kruizers]

What time of year are you planning this cruise?

We have done repositioning cruises where part of them are from San Diego to Seattle (via Vancouver) in the spring time and the waters were very choppy.

[cherylrrt]

We will be going out of Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Santa Barbara, California San Diego, California, Ensenada, Mexico Los Angeles, California in March

[CruiserBruce]

Seas can be smooth, or choppy, any time, and they are not predictable. If you have issues with sea sickness, you need to be prepared everyday you are on a ship.

[SadieN]

The Alaska current runs down the coast with no breaks.

 

We've cruised primarily in the West Coast, Mexico to Alaska. Northbound is always a bumpier ride the southbound.

That being said, we've done three cruises from SoCal to British Columbia. Two cruises were smooth as glass (April and June) the third (April) was very rough.

[spookwife]

Thinking of the California Coastal cruise 2016...we have to decide by Jan or 2015. What are the waters like on this cruise as far as comfort? My husband is very skeptical and is not sure he wants to do a cruise on the Pacific Ocean.

 

comfort how? temperature? size of the seas/waves?

 

The Pacific Ocean is, as a general rule LESS choppy than the Atlantic along the coast and no worse than the Atlantic on the open sea I had far more rough seas in all my atlantic coastal( New England) and my Caribbean/Bermuda itineraries than I did on my Mexican Riviera or CA Coastal/Wine country trips.

 

in fact on my CC, we were within sight of land for nearly all of the trip.

 

what is he skeptical about?

[spookwife]

We will be going out of Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Santa Barbara, California San Diego, California, Ensenada, Mexico Los Angeles, California in March

 

we did this itinerary in late April. smooth sailing the entire way. in fact the temps were above normal and the SB stop it hit 80. we also hit Monterey.

 

however that time of year is unsettled as far as weather is concerned and it can be very cold drizzly/rainy in port.

[taglovestocruise]

IMO, and I say this because I am born and raised in Ca. the only reason to do a Ca. Pacific Coastal cruise is to save on airfare out of CA. In the last few years RCCL has left CA. Carnival has removed it's large ships and only has small 3 or 5 day party cruises, NCL stays away, HAL is only out of San Diego to go to Alaska or South America, Disney is about to leave, Princess does mostly 3-5 day coastal cruises or 7 day Mexico. And most cruise lines only go to Ensenada Mexico because they are required to. Since you have to fly why not try a Southern Caribbean out of San Juan.. happy cruising. PS, I love California but it is not a place to cruise from.

[pris993]

We will be going out of Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Santa Barbara, California San Diego, California, Ensenada, Mexico Los Angeles, California in March

 

This time of year on the California coast is cool, can be rainy as well. The fall is a better time to go. From LA south generally warmer, both in the spring and fall.

 

I am a native born in San Francisco. We have done the cruise you mentioned in the fall, have done a number of 10 day cruises over the past 10 years down to Mexico and back generally go Sept thru November.

 

Sometimes the current is strong and if it is windy, a bit rocky (nothing that really bothers us) ... coming up the coast from southern CA, going south is generally find since you are going with the current.

[Dayenu]

We will be going out of Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Santa Barbara, California San Diego, California, Ensenada, Mexico Los Angeles, California in March

 

We did this cruise in October, it was perfect. In March - who knows.

[agabbymama]

I've only done 3 California Coastal cruises and they were all stormy & rough sailing.

 

The first from Los Angeles South to Puerto Vallarta. Everyone was very green. Lots of rocking and rolling. I don't remember the month we went.

 

Second cruise was from Long Beach North to Vancouver. The first 3 nights were rough high seas. So much so we were about 5 hours late arriving into Seattle. This cruise was in April.

 

But the worst was Vancouver South to Long Beach in September. We had bottles, glasses anything that wasn't tied down flying around our cabin. We had broken glass on the floor, on the bed, everywhere when we awoke in the morning. Then on the Bridge Tour, the 2nd in command stated he had to really slow down during the night as he was afraid the ship would break apart in 25-30 foot seas. NOT WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR. The winds closed the port of Victoria BC and Astoria OR was scrubbed as the channel to get in is too dangerous in high seas. This one scared me and my friend so bad, we've decided to forgo cruising for awhile.

 

SO, OP, your husband has every right to view a California Coastal cruise with trepidation, JMHO.

Edited December 28, 2014 by agabbymama

[slidergirl]

The California Coastal repos are probably my favorite cruises. I've done both directions, both seasons. Maybe I've been fantastically lucky, because I've not had rough seas. One of the cruises, my LA-Vanouver, had some rain one day, but other than that, perfect weather. I love them because I have the chance to just relax and recharge; don't have to worry about dealing the all the ports and trying to get away from the thousands of people on my ship while in port. I can squirrel myself away in some quiet corner and just relax. I love Vancouver, so I always plan a few extra days there. I have friends in SoCa, so I always put in a few days there to visit with them. It turns a 4 night CC trip into a 10 day vacation.

Victoria is OK for a quick stopover; before we got our own Lush store, I'd stop at that one to pick up some of my standard lotions & potions.

The long stop in San Francisco is always fun - I'll go grab some raw oysters at my favorite oyster purveyor, grab some dim sum at my favorite dim sum restaurant, walk from Fisherman's Wharf up over the hills to Union Square. I'll walk the back streets of Chinatown to see an herbalist to get some stuff (my ex-SIL is a Dr of Chinese Medicine and turned me on to this). I'll take BART across the bay to Berkeley and hit some shops there.

Astoria is good for a quickie walk into town to some of the craft beer bars…

 

You needn't fear these cruises; any cruise can turn into bad weather, you can get ripped off by the locals, etc… Take them for what they are.

[LHT28]

We have gone R/T San Francisco to Mexico in Oct ..some bumpy seas but not too bad

 

We have gone end of Feb from LA through the Panama ..down the coast was fine warm & sunny

 

We did SFO through the Panama ..Down the coast was fine as well

 

the point is you never know what the seas will be like ;)

 

Take meds with you in case you need them

[fortinweb]

March is at the end of the rainy season on the west coast. The weather experts are predicting a normal to above normal rainy season this year.

[norfolk53golf]

We have done both North and South in May/June. LA to Victoria and LA to Mexican Riveria and both times seas were like a pond. Absolutely perfect. Loved both

[Flatbush Flyer]

This is why any California cruise needs to include San Francisco Bay:

And, of course, there is the city itself, which is 49 sq mi surrounded by reality.

 

 

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[Merrymeet]

I did a Princess Ca Coastal this past October with no heavy waves and warm weather.

 

 

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[BridgeMates]

We are pretty experienced cruisers and have encountered rough seas many times, but have to say one cruise coming back from Cabo I won't forget and we've been in those waters a few times before but the only time I've gotten sick was that one. But... We were at the very back of the ship and the rockin & rollin was really bad. Went and sat in the middle/lowest deck we could for about 30 minutes and felt much better. Ran back to cabin, changed and went to dinner. Since then we generally pick a cabin, low/midship. I want to do that Calif coastal cruise myself but we keep finding others that push it down on the list.

Hope you go and have smooth sailing.

[dadroy]

Oh boy, what is the weather going to be like in Northern Ohio in 2016?

 

Answer that and we can answer your question. If the weather is nice you will have a great cruise, if it is stormy, I would guess the seas will be choppy and the weather will be lousy.

 

If you are asking the general question (not considering storms at any time of the year), southern CA weather is gnerally in the low 70's. The further north you go the lower the temps. San Francisco is ofen the low 60's during the spring and winter. Warms to the 80's in summer and back to the lower temps in fall.

 

But like the Rose Parade this year, normally 70's, this year in the 50's. Never know about the weather. Kind of like asking "what mood will my wife be in tomorrow?" Who know!!!:D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The waters were flat and it was a great cruise..

[Cuizer2]

We will be going out of Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Santa Barbara, California San Diego, California, Ensenada, Mexico Los Angeles, California in March

 

I did this cruise in April 2012. You can read my review (link below) to get a better idea of what this cruise is like ...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1630011

[cherylrrt]

Thanks for all the replies!!!!! We will consider all of them.