Round Trip Cruise to Hawaii from LA or San Francisco

[MTJSR]

Did you find it in the patter? It goes by all types of names from scrap heap challenge to junk yard boat, and beer barge.

 

I have not looked yet, but now that I see the pictures, I remember seeing that on my last Star cruise but I'm not sure on the Grand cruise last April/May. But when I get the chance I will comb thru the patters and see.

[brt49]

We are thinking about doing a 15 day cruise out LA or San Francisco to Hawaii...if I recall, it makes stops at 4 islands. I am looking for thoughts from anyone who has done this similar cruise. Did you enjoy the stops and all the sea days? We haven't cruised on Princess in awhile but do have done some 7 day and a 10 day cruise on the line. This past year we cruised on another cruise line out of New York City (convenient train ride for us) but didn't enjoy it as much as our cruises on Princess. Please feel free to share your likes and dislikes about this cruise. Thanks.

I just got off the 3/23 - 4/7 out of SF. If you have the extra few days I highly recommend spending some time in SF.

 

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[alexand278]

Thanks so much for your detailed review, Richard.

 

Recently completed just that on Star princess out of Los Angeles.

 

Here is the link to my full review...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2018/04/01/star-princess-hawaiian-islands-adventure/

 

...which has over 70 photographs including the itinerary.

 

 

Early morning arrival at Honolulu...

 

[cmdchiefthom]

Thanks for your review, and fantastic review Richard!;)

[jennybenny]

Do you remember which month it was that you had the very rough weather? Thanks.

Weather can be bad at any time of year.

 

I prefer the Ruby to the Grand, but the Grand is based out of my home port. So, we've done Hawaii twice on the Grand. Both times December/January holiday cruise. First cruise had very rough seas, second cruise this last year was super calm seas.

 

You can never predict weather.

 

I love SF and sailing under the Golden Gate, but if I was flying in for the cruise I'd pick Cruise/air cheapest combination. Princess does an amazing job in general. I have heard people talk about their love for the Elua group, but the Hawaiian ambassadors out of SF have done a good job in my opinion.

 

Hawaiian cruises are my favorite. I love 15 days on a ship, love the sea days and love Hawaii.

[TheRabbit]

I have not looked yet, but now that I see the pictures, I remember seeing that on my last Star cruise but I'm not sure on the Grand cruise last April/May. But when I get the chance I will comb thru the patters and see.

This event has come up for discussion on an up coming cruise, so I think they are still doing it. Someday I'm going to just get to watch it, it should be fun. On a longer cruise in 2009, there were about 8 to 10 teams. In 2011 on a shorter cruise, there were even more.

[1emerald1]

Weather can be bad at any time of year.

 

I prefer the Ruby to the Grand, but the Grand is based out of my home port. So, we've done Hawaii twice on the Grand. Both times December/January holiday cruise. First cruise had very rough seas, second cruise this last year was super calm seas.

 

You can never predict weather.

 

I love SF and sailing under the Golden Gate, but if I was flying in for the cruise I'd pick Cruise/air cheapest combination. Princess does an amazing job in general. I have heard people talk about their love for the Elua group, but the Hawaiian ambassadors out of SF have done a good job in my opinion.

 

Hawaiian cruises are my favorite. I love 15 days on a ship, love the sea days and love Hawaii.

Thanks Jenny. LA is my home port so I will be sailing from there on the Emerald next February. I totally agree with you about sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. I did that years ago on the original Regal right after dinner (we got a late start due to a horrible embarkation). Not only is the city at night breathtaking as we started to go under the bridge they played Tony Bennett's "I Left my Heart in San Francisco". Beautiful romantic moment, too bad I was with my mom....

[jennybenny]

Thanks Jenny. LA is my home port so I will be sailing from there on the Emerald next February. I totally agree with you about sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. I did that years ago on the original Regal right after dinner (we got a late start due to a horrible embarkation). Not only is the city at night breathtaking as we started to go under the bridge they played Tony Bennett's "I Left my Heart in San Francisco". Beautiful romantic moment, too bad I was with my mom....

 

 

 

Emerald is the sister ship to the Ruby!! I hope you have a great cruise!

 

 

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[Desert Cruizers]

Daughter & myself are booked on the March 11, 2019 Emerald RT Hawaii out of San Pedro and this will be my 4 trip to Hawaii. Our family took the 18 day Transpacific then 12 day Hawaii back to Seattle back in 2014 My main reason for going out of San Pedro is it is closer to home and no flying involved. Love the Islands.

[Haboob]

Daughter & myself are booked on the March 11, 2019 Emerald RT Hawaii out of San Pedro and this will be my 4 trip to Hawaii. Our family took the 18 day Transpacific then 12 day Hawaii back to Seattle back in 2014 My main reason for going out of San Pedro is it is closer to home and no flying involved. Love the Islands.

 

A tip for you...

 

If you are considering parking your vehicle at the WCC, there is a hotel at which

it's around $50 cheaper to stay the night before and leave your car with them for

your cruise to Hawai'i. And, yes, free shuttle.

 

Google " 'Park Stay Go' San Pedro". There are actually two hotels that do such,

but the one that has "Park and Sail" won't keep your car long enough for Hawai'i.

 

---

Yeah… Drive and as much luggage as you can stand instead of as can afford. ;p

[1emerald1]

A tip for you...

 

If you are considering parking your vehicle at the WCC, there is a hotel at which

it's around $50 cheaper to stay the night before and leave your car with them for

your cruise to Hawai'i. And, yes, free shuttle.

 

Google " 'Park Stay Go' San Pedro". There are actually two hotels that do such,

but the one that has "Park and Sail" won't keep your car long enough for Hawai'i.

 

---

Yeah… Drive and as much luggage as you can stand instead of as can afford. ;p

I am doing the Hawaii cruise on 2/24/2019 and staying the night before at the Double Tree, and using the Park and Stay promotion. The promotion details says it's good for one week, but when I called and spoke with a manager she said it didn't matter, I could park for however long the cruise is.

[elliair]

We are thinking about doing a 15 day cruise out LA or San Francisco to Hawaii...if I recall, it makes stops at 4 islands. I am looking for thoughts from anyone who has done this similar cruise. Did you enjoy the stops and all the sea days? We haven't cruised on Princess in awhile but do have done some 7 day and a 10 day cruise on the line. This past year we cruised on another cruise line out of New York City (convenient train ride for us) but didn't enjoy it as much as our cruises on Princess. Please feel free to share your likes and dislikes about this cruise. Thanks.

 

We have left out of SF several times to Hawaii. We've cruised on the Star Princess and the Grand Princess. We just did Alaska on the Grand and we're done with the Grand. She's old and getting tired for us. If we were to cruise to Hawaii again, it would be out of LA, BUT depending on which ship is cruising there. We cruise out of SF because it's closer for us to drive there.

[1AL]

One of Princess's best itineraries......about 6-7 years or so ago these LA to Hawaii cruises were dirt cheap...at that time they were 14-day trips as Ensenada was not a full-day stop but just a 4-hour stop or so. Numerous times we only paid $399 (plus port charges) and up until Nov 2016 we paid $699 (plus port charges). Now we find it hard to justify paying $1300 (plus port charges).

That LA/Hawaii/South Pacific sailing is also a fantastic itinerary....we managed to nab a balcony on Lido Deck in Oct 2016 for

$1800 (plus port charges).

The days for last-minute cheap cruises on most cruiselines (but more so on Princess) seem to have gone the way of the Dodo

bird lately. :-( :-(

[caribill]

The days for last-minute cheap cruises on most cruiselines (but more so on Princess) seem to have gone the way of the Dodo

bird lately. :-( :-(

 

Princess, as well as other cruise lines such as RCCL, are encouraging people to book early and not wait until close to embarkation to get great price reductions, They want to maintain "price integrity" so that in many cases the early bookings may end up being the lowest priced ones.

 

But to have sales, instead of reducing the cruise price, they keep the price about the same and have perks included such as a beverage package or gratuities. The net effect is lower cost, but they have not lowered the basic cruise price.

 

This seems to be working as both Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) and RCCL Corp have been reporting for a couple of years now more advance bookings at higher ticket prices.

 

Yes, there are still some Princess cruises with great last minute rates, but there are also cruises that have moveover offers because they are overbooked. And the last minute rates may not be that good if you do not live near the port and must pay last minute airfares to get there.