igraf Posted October 13, 2015 #1 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Here is an interesting news article regarding the number of cruises originating from San Diego. In particular, the article discusses the upsurge in the HAL Mexican Riviera cruises starting next year. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/12/sandiego-tourism-cruise-ships/ I believe that this is true as HAL has already announced the return of the larger Vista-class ships for the Mexican Riviera itinerary in 2016. One can also see from the article photo that Disney is now operating out of San Diego. igraf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78232 Posted October 13, 2015 #2 Share Posted October 13, 2015 We have booked a cruise to Mexico on the Westerdam for Oct 2016. We are very much looking forward to it. The general feeling in south Texas is that Mexico is much safer now than it was several years ago. We think Mexico will be a nice change of pace from the Caribbean cruises. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayS Posted October 13, 2015 #3 Share Posted October 13, 2015 The article did not mention any labor problems. In 2012 the Hotel Manager on the Westerdam said labor problems with the dock workers were causing HAL to think about leaving SD. Here is a link to discussion about SD. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1732656&highlight=leaving+san+diego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted October 13, 2015 #4 Share Posted October 13, 2015 The article did not mention any labor problems. In 2012 the Hotel Manager on the Westerdam said labor problems with the dock workers were causing HAL to think about leaving SD. Here is a link to discussion about SD. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1732656&highlight=leaving+san+diego We haven't been to San Diego since 2012. And they sure did have problems -- mostly with people who didn't think they needed to go through immigration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted October 13, 2015 #5 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Years ago when HAL offered 2 different itineraries -- each 10 days in length -- one for the Sea of Cortez and one for the Mexican Riviera -- it was worth all the hassle of flying across the country and cruising for 20 days. We did that Itinerary 3 times and loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassyredhat Posted October 13, 2015 #6 Share Posted October 13, 2015 We have booked a cruise to Mexico on the Westerdam for Oct 2016. We are very much looking forward to it. The general feeling in south Texas is that Mexico is much safer now than it was several years ago. We think Mexico will be a nice change of pace from the Caribbean cruises. Marcia Marcia, we are also booked on this cruise. As soon as my TA heard about it, she sent out an invitation. We are sooooo happy to be sailing from SD, and excited to be back on a HAL ship. Patti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted October 13, 2015 #7 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Here is an interesting news article regarding the number of cruises originating from San Diego. In particular, the article discusses the upsurge in the HAL Mexican Riviera cruises starting next year. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/12/sandiego-tourism-cruise-ships/ I believe that this is true as HAL has already announced the return of the larger Vista-class ships for the Mexican Riviera itinerary in 2016. One can also see from the article photo that Disney is now operating out of San Diego. igraf That's welcome news. The west coast of Mexico is a really great cruise. My wife picked it for her birthday a few years ago. It would not have been my choice, but I was absolutely wrong. It was a great trip. The ports were nice. The locals were great. Our pre cruise stay in La Jolla (Torrey Pines) and our post cruise stay in San Diego were great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Copper10-8 Posted October 13, 2015 #8 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Good to have Westy based out of San Diego next Fall, doing ten 7-Day Mexican Riviera cruises, starting on 22 OCT 2016 with interim stops on 02 APR 2016 & 02 May 2016. She also does a 4-Day Pacific Coastal southbound out of Vancouver, BC with a rare, but unique, call at Santa Barbara, CA. on the way to the city of the Padres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted October 13, 2015 #9 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Good to have Westy based out of San Diego next Fall, doing ten 7-Day Mexican Riviera cruises, starting on 22 OCT 2016 with interim stops on 02 APR 2016 & 02 May 2016. She also does a 4-Day Pacific Coastal southbound out of Vancouver, BC with a rare, but unique, call at Santa Barbara, CA. on the way to the city of the Padres Where is the Santa Barbara port call? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Copper10-8 Posted October 13, 2015 #10 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Where is the Santa Barbara port call? Where physically or on what date? ;) SB port is not big enough to handle cruise ships so that's going to be a tender call on Friday, 21 OCT 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowPrincess Posted October 14, 2015 #11 Share Posted October 14, 2015 That's good news! I hope they bring back the Sea of Cortez, and the one that does Ixtapa, Huatulco, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted October 14, 2015 #12 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Where physically or on what date? ;) SB port is not big enough to handle cruise ships so that's going to be a tender call on Friday, 21 OCT 2016 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvertoGold Posted October 14, 2015 #13 Share Posted October 14, 2015 That's good news! I hope they bring back the Sea of Cortez, and the one that does Ixtapa, Huatulco, etc. Only reason we would do Mexico would be the Sea of Cortez, back-to-back with the same or the 7 days. I wonder if HAL will ever do this again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeniEncinitas Posted October 14, 2015 #14 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Years ago when HAL offered 2 different itineraries -- each 10 days in length -- one for the Sea of Cortez and one for the Mexican Riviera -- it was worth all the hassle of flying across the country and cruising for 20 days. We did that Itinerary 3 times and loved it. Krazy Kruizers, This is my home and have done so many of those cruises when The Ryndam, Oosterdam, and Zandam were doing them for several years! Loved Sea of Cortez, and the 10 day Mexican Riviera! Our last cruise on the Oosterdam was the day after Xmas in 2010 doing the Mexican Riviera and we were coming back on a charter bus with Hal out of Acapulco! We were on the main drag of their busy crowded Main Street bumper to bumper in the heart of tourists central. Out of nowhere a band of men with masks started going through traffic with guns and we actually saw them drag a man out of a car across the other side of the street! One of them hit the man on his head and some women started screaming and hitting these men with her purse! We were told to by our guide to bend down away from Windows and asked us to stay calm. Ya right! I remember looking up to a poster of the US open tennis tournament with a picture of Andy Roddick that was advertised on a billboard. After that cruise we noticed I believe in 2011 that HAL started to dwindle down those cruises and eliminate Sea of Cortez especially! I sure hope they do bring them back! Denise:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbhcw Posted October 14, 2015 #15 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Good to have Westy based out of San Diego next Fall, doing ten 7-Day Mexican Riviera cruises, starting on 22 OCT 2016 with interim stops on 02 APR 2016 & 02 May 2016. She also does a 4-Day Pacific Coastal southbound out of Vancouver, BC with a rare, but unique, call at Santa Barbara, CA. on the way to the city of the Padres Sounds wonderful..have been patiently waiting for the Fall Pacific Coastals...are they out yet? And since San Diego is my former home town...very happy to see more cruises will be leaving from there:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted October 14, 2015 #16 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Krazy Kruizers,This is my home and have done so many of those cruises when The Ryndam, Oosterdam, and Zandam were doing them for several years! Loved Sea of Cortez, and the 10 day Mexican Riviera! Our last cruise on the Oosterdam was the day after Xmas in 2010 doing the Mexican Riviera and we were coming back on a charter bus with Hal out of Acapulco! We were on the main drag of their busy crowded Main Street bumper to bumper in the heart of tourists central. Out of nowhere a band of men with masks started going through traffic with guns and we actually saw them drag a man out of a car across the other side of the street! One of them hit the man on his head and some women started screaming and hitting these men with her purse! We were told to by our guide to bend down away from Windows and asked us to stay calm. Ya right! I remember looking up to a poster of the US open tennis tournament with a picture of Andy Roddick that was advertised on a billboard. After that cruise we noticed I believe in 2011 that HAL started to dwindle down those cruises and eliminate Sea of Cortez especially! I sure hope they do bring them back! Denise:) That had to have been scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeniEncinitas Posted October 14, 2015 #17 Share Posted October 14, 2015 That had to have been scary. Your right it was! All I was hoping for was the bus to have wings and fly!!! The federalies came in with protection gear on and smoke bombs! All in all HAL was great and we were 3 hrs delayed, thank goodness for on site bathroom on board! Got to ship and getting on board part of the crew and the Captain greeted us! They gave us all a Pinnicale dinner and a bottle of bubbly! The thought was so nice! Denise:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstrong Posted October 14, 2015 #18 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Love to hear more cruises from my home town! We could cruise more often without the airfare! Hoping for some 10 day itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazey1 Posted October 14, 2015 #19 Share Posted October 14, 2015 That's good news! I hope they bring back the Sea of Cortez, and the one that does Ixtapa, Huatulco, etc. Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie68 Posted October 14, 2015 #20 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Until Royal Caribbean abandoned the west coast, we did Mexican cruises but it was easy for us to get to LA. San Diego, whilst only being what used to be a 3.5 hour flight down the coast for us, is now more difficult because we now have to make connections either through LA or SF. My experience with San Diego port is there were never enough Customs and Immigration officers assigned, though it was better this year when we transited through. Edited October 14, 2015 by Lizzie68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78232 Posted October 15, 2015 #21 Share Posted October 15, 2015 To Sassyredhat, what is the date of your cruise? We are departing on Oct 29. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igraf Posted October 15, 2015 Author #22 Share Posted October 15, 2015 FWIW, it is just as awkward for us to fly up to (and back from) Vancouver BC for our Alaska cruises! A lot of people end up completing the trip with a 4-hour bus ride from Seattle. Keep in mind that immigration is a US federal issue and not a San Diego port issue. Our recent experiences with disembarkation in San Diego have been without issue, however, we never try to be the first off the ship since we live in San Diego. igraf Until Royal Caribbean abandoned the west coast, we did Mexican cruises but it was easy for us to get to LA. San Diego, whilst only being what used to be a 3.5 hour flight down the coast for us, is now more difficult because we now have to make connections either through LA or SF. My experience with San Diego port is there were never enough Customs and Immigration officers assigned, though it was better this year when we transited through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassyredhat Posted October 15, 2015 #23 Share Posted October 15, 2015 To Sassyredhat, what is the date of your cruise? We are departing on Oct 29. Marcia Ah~~I guess we will be on different cruises. Ours is the one before yours, on the 22nd. :) Patti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZWTRLVR Posted October 16, 2015 #24 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Copper, I am interested in the coastal that includes the stop in Santa Barbara. There was no information on HAL's website about it that I could find. What is the date? Would my TA have information yet if I contact her? Or perhaps I should call HAL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricktan Posted October 16, 2015 #25 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Copper,I am interested in the coastal that includes the stop in Santa Barbara. There was no information on HAL's website about it that I could find. What is the date? Would my TA have information yet if I contact her? Or perhaps I should call HAL? Not Copper but I see. 5- day under the Pacific Coast on May 16, '16 that lists Santa Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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