Cruising the us pacific coast

[thewhip]

Hi everyone,

 

Are considering a 10 day cruise on Star Princess along California coast in Oct. 2019. Of special interest to us is the overnight dockage in San Francisco. Have never sailed Pacific before. Questions...

 

Will we likely encounter rough seas?,

 

Is the fall a good time to travel this route?

 

Are there 1-2 hr travel times to get to excursion destinations in ports of call?

 

Any general info on this itinerary would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[skynight]

Hi everyone,

 

Are considering a 10 day cruise on Star Princess along California coast in Oct. 2019. Of special interest to us is the overnight dockage in San Francisco. Have never sailed Pacific before. Questions...

 

Will we likely encounter rough seas?,

 

Is the fall a good time to travel this route?

 

Are there 1-2 hr travel times to get to excursion destinations in ports of call?

 

Any general info on this itinerary would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Any trip into L.A. is at least an hour away.

San Diego attractions are not that far from the pier and can easily done on your own. We toured the USS Midway carrier which is docked close by. Seaport village is also within walking distance. The famous zoo is across town.

In San Francisco the ship docks at pier 27. It's a short walk to all the locations along the waterfront area, Ferry Building, Alcatraz boat, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, cable cars and more. Alcatraz may require reservations. The city's trolley system can take you places like Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden Chinatown and many other locations. If you like guided walking tours check out the site below. They provide free narrated city walks, many right in the pier area. Just show up, no charge, but they do ask for a donation. www.sfcityguides.org

Rough? Maybe choppy. The Alaska current runs along the coast. The seas were pretty smooth when we sailed during winter.

[CruiserBruce]

Hi everyone,

 

Are considering a 10 day cruise on Star Princess along California coast in Oct. 2019. Of special interest to us is the overnight dockage in San Francisco. Have never sailed Pacific before. Questions...

 

Will we likely encounter rough seas?, You might encounter rough seas. This is true any time you get on a ship. Seas are not predictable more than a couple days in advance, and if you have a sea sickness problem, you must be prepared everyday you are on a ship.

 

Is the fall a good time to travel this route? These routes are repositioning routes, so you will likely see them scheduled in April or October. Neither is the peak of summer. October is probably a little better.

 

Are there 1-2 hr travel times to get to excursion destinations in ports of call? Don't know where you are stopping. In San Francisco, you dock right in town, but if you are taking a Napa Wine tour, you will be traveling over an hour to your destination. Sort of a broad question...

 

Any general info on this itinerary would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

[thewhip]

Any trip into L.A. is at least an hour away.

San Diego attractions are not that far from the pier and can easily done on your own. We toured the USS Midway carrier which is docked close by. Seaport village is also within walking distance. The famous zoo is across town.

In San Francisco the ship docks at pier 27. It's a short walk to all the locations along the waterfront area, Ferry Building, Alcatraz boat, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, cable cars and more. Alcatraz may require reservations. The city's trolley system can take you places like Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden Chinatown and many other locations. If you like guided walking tours check out the site below. They provide free narrated city walks, many right in the pier area. Just show up, no charge, but they do ask for a donation. www.sfcityguides.org

Rough? Maybe choppy. The Alaska current runs along the coast. The seas were pretty smo'oth when we sailed during winter.[/quot

 

 

Thanks for the info. We have a lot of time to research tours, especially SF since we are keen to see the city. This info gives us a place to begin our planning.

 

Have cruised mostly in the Caribbean, one trip to Alaska and to Med. Just weren't too sure what California coast was like in October.

[ehogan]

We have taken this trip several times, usually round trip out of Vancouver.

 

Lovely cruise. We havent encountered rough seas. However we do not get seasick so good advice to always be prepared with meds.

 

Both San Francisco and San Diego are easy ports to do on your own. In both cities we have done food walking tours which were excellent and usually fit easily into time in port. If the cruise you choose has an overnight in S.F. you could try some evening theatre. Otherwise there is no lack of things to do in either city. LA is more difficult, we usually stay on board and enjoy the quiet. San Pedro where you port has little to offer and as another post has stated, anything else at this port is a min. of an hour away.

[riffatsea]

The LA port is closer to the city of Long Beach than to the sights of LA.

You could easily get to the wonderful aquarium in downtown Long Beach if you wanted something to do that is closer to the port.

[DrivesLikeMario]

The wind may be heavy in October but the seas usually aren't too bad compared to January IME. The wind can sometimes have a bigger affect on ship movement than waves. Take Bonine before you leave the first port if you think you might get sick.

[jennybenny]

This is a great itinerary. Have done it twice out of Los Angeles, this is funny because SF is our home port. However, I did enjoy having a day in SF rather than Los Angeles because what we do in LA would take longer than in port, wine country in Temecula, Disneyland, Huntington Beach. Well, we probably could do Huntington, but we don't :)

I'm also not opposed to spending a day on the ship which is likely what I would do in LA.

 

You can't really predict the seas, but on a California Coastal you are not far from shore. I don't think you will notice the "rough seas" much expect for likely the last night. We've done many Mexican riviera cruises from September to December. The only time we've experienced rough seas has been on the return trip whether to LA or SF.

 

Have a great cruise! This is my second favorite itinerary. The first being Hawaii. :)

[satxdiver]

Fall is a great time to do this cruise as it should be a bit milder in SD and LA.

 

In LA the USS Iowa is berthed next to the ship port and an easy walk. Long Beach next door to San Pedro (world cruise port) has an aquarium and developed port area that is quite nice. All other destinations are hour(s) away depending on the traffic which is normally horrible.

 

The ship will berth next to the USS Midway in SD. There is an excellent HOHO bus that can be either booked through the ship or simply go outside the area to get it for a lot less. It goes to Old SD, zoo and other areas.

 

 

SF is a really interesting city by the bay. Here there also is a HOHO waiting near where the ship berths that will take you across the Golden Gate bridge and stop at the park overlooking the strait with a later stop at downtown Sausalito which is very walkable with restaurants etc. You will be very busy in SF with a plethora of things to do. Finally you can rent a car in the Fisherman's Wharf area and drive it to wine country in either Sonoma or Napa.

 

Finally the Sip'n'Sail offer expires on 9/5 and on 9/6 the 3 for free sale starts if you book a balcony or above. You may want to consider the S'n'S before it goes away. Where would we all be without the endless Princess sales?

[neverbeenhere]

If the cruise goes to Astoria, Nanaimo or Monterey, it can’t be bad.

[ROCruiser]

We did a similar cruise in 2015 on Crown Princess but it was in Spring. Totally enjoyed this trip and would love to do it again especially with a SF overnight. Here is the start of that trip report if you are interested. Have a wonderful cruise!

[Quince]

I lived on the California coast for 20 years, and I would always recommend a fall cruise over a spring one. In spring you're much more likely to have thick marine layer (fog) for much of the journey. Also the afternoon wind is much stronger, sometimes "blow you off the beach" strong, from about March to August. Fall on the California coast is lovely and usually sunny.

[OR_Cowboy_1952]

Hi everyone,

 

 

 

Are considering a 10 day cruise on Star Princess along California coast in Oct. 2019. Of special interest to us is the overnight dockage in San Francisco. Have never sailed Pacific before. Questions...

 

 

 

Will we likely encounter rough seas?,

 

 

 

Is the fall a good time to travel this route?

 

 

 

Are there 1-2 hr travel times to get to excursion destinations in ports of call?

 

 

 

Any general info on this itinerary would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

Rough Seas: You are in the open Pacific Ocean, there is always the risk of rough seas, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Our transition from late summer to fall normally occurs in mid October. The farther south you get the seas will improve. The ships stabilizers will help a lot. If you get motion sickness, take Dramamine patches, and get a midship stateroom on a lower deck; less rock and roll.

 

Fall Travel: Yes, the kids are back in school. The big crowds are gone, prices have dropped, but the weather is still nice, and it’s cooler.

 

Excursions: It depends on what you want to do. If you are taking about San Francisco, the pier is actually pretty close to some of the city’s attractions. Also the Muni (city’s transistor system) historic streetcars (‘F’ route) runs right by the pier and takes you to a lot of tourist points. Muni sells a Visitor’s pass, 1, 3, & 7 days: $22, $33, and $43 respectively. You can download the ‘MuniMobile’ app on your phone and buy the pass. You can ride the streetcars, buses, and the famous cable cars with the pass. If you never never visited the city you might consider the hop-on / hop-off bus to get your bearings.

 

We are considering the trip too. it looks like a nice RT.

 

 

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