Which Cruise Line Does the best West Coast Cruise?

[swanlady2000]

I would love to do a cruise which sails most of the west coast, stopping at as many ports along the way, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc... even better if it sails from Canada to Mexico or Honolulu. I have seen lots of cruise that do segments of this, but can’t find any that do the whole West coast. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

[CruiserBruce]

There are some issues to resolve.

 

First, a roundtrip would require stopping outside the US, like in Vancouver, or Ensenada.

 

A one way would require starting or ending outside the US.

 

Vancouver is already pretty busy, so using Vancouver would require possible out of season stops...times when it is less desirable to cruise the area.

 

Ensenada has been tried as a starting or ending port. Not very desirable.

 

It boils down to money. Is it a money maker? There are variations of what you propose.

[capriccio]

In 2012 we took a 'wine coastal' cruise on Princess that was offered only twice a year in connection with repositioning ships to/from Alaska. It started in LA and ended in Vancouver with stops in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria (Oregon), Seattle, and Victoria (Canada). It was wonderful and, if I remember correctly, sold out many months in advance.

[swanlady2000]

Capriccio, that sounds exactly what I am looking for. I will go and see if I can find it. I am coming from the UK so happy to fly in and out of different airports. Thank you

[Bruin Steve]

I would love to do a cruise which sails most of the west coast, stopping at as many ports along the way, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc... even better if it sails from Canada to Mexico or Honolulu. I have seen lots of cruise that do segments of this, but can’t find any that do the whole West coast. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

 

A few cruise lines do it--but mostly to "reposition" ships heading into or out of the Alaska season--so either in Spring going north or in Fall heading south. My personal favorite major cruise line is Celebrity. A superior cruise in terms of service and spaciousness of their ships. For examples, here are two of those repositioning cruises this Spring and next:

 

On the Celebrity Infinity:

Day 1, Thu, May 17, 2018 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Departs 5:00PM

Day 2, Fri, May 18, 2018 SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA Tendered 7:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 3, Sat, May 19, 2018 MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Tendered 8:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 4, Sun, May 20, 2018 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Arrival: 7:00AM

Day 5, Mon, May 21, 2018 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Departs 5:00PM

Day 6, Tue, May 22, 2018 AT SEA

Day 7, Wed, May 23, 2018 ASTORIA, OREGON Docked 8:00AM to 4:00PM

Day 8, Thu, May 24, 2018 AT SEA

Day 9, Fri, May 25, 2018 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Docked 7:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 10, Sat, May 26, 2018 VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA Docked 7:00AM to 6:00PM

Day 11, Sun, May 27, 201VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA Arrival: 7:00AM

 

On the Celebrity Eclipse:

Day 1, Mon, Apr 8, 2019 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Departs 5:00PM

Day 2, Tue, Apr 9, 2019 AT SEA

Day 3, Wed, Apr 10, 2019 MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Tendered 8:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 4, Thu, Apr 11, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Arrival: 8:00AM

Day 5, Fri, Apr 12, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Departs 5:00PM

Day 6, Sat, Apr 13, 2019 AT SEA

Day 7, Sun, Apr 14, 2019 ASTORIA, OREGON Docked 8:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 8, Mon, Apr 15, 2019 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Docked 11:00AM to 9:00PM

Day 9, Tue, Apr 16, 2019 VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA Docked 8:00AM to 5:00PM

Day 10, Wed, Apr 17, 2019 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA Arrival: 5:00AM

 

Oceania is a very nice and more upscale (and a little more expensive) line that brings a ship out here in December...here's one of their itineraries on the Sirena (they have a second, similar itinerary on the 14th):

Dec 7 Sat Los Angeles, California, United States Embark 1 PM 9 PM

Dec 8 Sun Catalina Island, California, United States 8 AM 7 PM

Dec 9 Mon Ensenada, Mexico 8 AM 6 PM

Dec 10 Tue Cruising the Pacific Ocean

Dec 11 Wed San Francisco, California, United States 8 AM 10 PM

Dec 12 Thu Monterey, United States 8 AM 5 PM

Dec 13 Fri Santa Barbara, California, United States 8 AM 6 PM

Dec 14 Sat Los Angeles, California, United States Disembark 8 AM

 

Princess (They would be my third choice) has more cruises out here...but most are shorter in duration...the one exception upcoming is this one in September 2018 on the Emerald Princess:

Mon, Sep 24 Vancouver, British Columbia 04:30 pm

Tue, Sep 25 At Sea

Wed, Sep 26 At Sea

Thu, Sep 27 Los Angeles, California 07:00 am 11:00 pm

Fri, Sep 28 San Diego, California 08:00 am 06:00 pm

Sat, Sep 29 Santa Barbara, California 07:00 am 05:00 pm

Sun, Sep 30 San Francisco, California 12:00 pm

Mon, Oct 1 San Francisco, California 11:00 pm

Tue, Oct 2 At Sea

Wed, Oct 3 At Sea

Thu, Oct 4 Vancouver, British Columbia 07:30 am

 

Good luck...

[capriccio]

Capriccio, that sounds exactly what I am looking for. I will go and see if I can find it. I am coming from the UK so happy to fly in and out of different airports. Thank you ��

 

I found it listed under September 2018 cruises on two different ships with slightly different itineraries: the Coral Princess and the Island Princess and under April 2019 cruises on the Island Princess and the Emerald Princess. Good luck with your researching!

[em-sk]

Have a look at NCL.

 

During the sprint they preposition ships from the Caribbean through the panama canal up to California and then Vancouver or Seattle. They also have a ship that spends the winter doing South America that they bring up along the west coast to Vancouver. I think this year they also have from Asia that is coming in via Hawaii.

 

During the fall the same happens in the reverse.

 

These get divided up into aprox 7 to 10 days cruses, however it is quite common to see people do them back-to-back booking the same state room on all the segments.

Edited May 6, 2018 by em-sk