Princess Trans Pacific

[Tedferg]

15 hours ago, pcur said:

 

I recommend you break the flight back from Sydney, and it could cost less, too.  We have flown SYD-HNL and stayed in Honolulu for a few days.  Then, flown from there to CA.

Out of curiosity I tried United Multi City Sydney - Honolulu - Sacramento. They want to go Sydney to SFO then SFO to Honolulu 🙂

We have a lot of United air miles that is why I tried them first.

[Ombud]

Personally I will always book a NS if available. I even pay more sometimes. Just grab the late night flight and half doze (with meds) to the final destination.  Nap for 1-2 hours then off to explore the city or ship. 

[Sea Hag]

22 hours ago, Ombud said:

I would love one from my home (SF) to Australia but cannot find it either. Maybe I'm just dense

While we're both wishing for more options from San Francisco, I wish they're do the long one to Tahiti, round trip SF instead of LA. That would get my attention!

[pcur]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

Out of curiosity I tried United Multi City Sydney - Honolulu - Sacramento. They want to go Sydney to SFO then SFO to Honolulu 🙂

We have a lot of United air miles that is why I tried them first.

Try booking separate flights on two tickets.  Ticket 1 = SYD-HNL, then ticket 2 = HNL-Sacto

[casofilia]

I think, in general, that Princess keeps ships based in Australia all year and so has fewer repositioning cruises.   NCL only brings one ship to this part of the world, sometimes the repositioning is via the southern Pacific and at other times via Asia and the very north Pacific.

[generichandle]

Just my opinion, but we prefer by far to go LA or Seattle to Sydney, rather than the other way. Living in the US [Cincinnati], we find it so much easier to endure the lag time at the end, when we can rest at home. Hard for us [or at least me] to adjust to that much change at the beginning, them in reverse going home. 

 

We did LA - Sydney last year and it was wonderful on the Ruby. Love the long sea days and easy pace. And I sleep so well at sea. Cannot wait till this has passed and I can get back aboard.

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, pcur said:

Try booking separate flights on two tickets.  Ticket 1 = SYD-HNL, then ticket 2 = HNL-Sacto

I tried a mock cruise booking and tried EZ Air flight quote for HNL to Syd - same result wants to route via SFO, LAX or HND. Not important at this time since it is an idle search for Pacific Cruise itineraries.

 

Update: Test booking on R/T Sydney EZ Air Return only, Hawaiian Air has some flights to HNL. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Tedferg

[Tedferg]

38 minutes ago, generichandle said:

We did LA - Sydney last year and it was wonderful on the Ruby. Love the long sea days and easy pace. And I sleep so well at sea. Cannot wait till this has passed and I can get back aboard.

That would be fine itinerary, maybe it is upset by Covid uncertainty, but I do not see anything like that.

[Tedferg]

Thanks for suggestion to pick a port and number of days, nice way to scroll itineraries. Separate but related question, there is R/T from LA that does Hawaii then Tahiti etc. Is it possible to book a segment of that cruise starting in Hawaii for example ?

 

Would be nice to fly to Maui for a couple of days then sail to Tahiti, Morea etc.

[casofilia]

@Tedferg

 

R/T from LA that does Hawaii then Tahiti etc.

 

I have not come across a round trip like that under "normal" circumstances; normally Transpacifics are repositioning.

 

However if Australia and New Zealand remain closed to cruise liners till late 2021 it is possible that a cruise line or two might well put on a cruise like you are interested in.   The various countries/ports they would visit would probably be interested to if they are open. 

[LawDog61]

We did Sydney-LA in 2019.....best cruise yet.   Had a Singapore -LA booked before all the virus thing started.  I have been keeping an eye out for another good transpacific but nothing  showing up yet.  I suspect that because these are essentially reposition cruises from AU or Asia to West Coast for Alaska season, Princess has no idea which ships will be where when cruising resumes. Maybe this thread will stay active and provide alerts when trans-Pac reappears.

[Tedferg]

LawDog I think you have hit the nail on the head. It did not occur to me that the Sydney - Seattle itinerary was a one off repositioning, and as you say, who knows what will need to be repositioned !

[Ombud]

@LawDog61 Sydney -> LA sounds good to me. I'd fly to Australia, spend a week on land, sail back ..... short flight home. I'd rather get off ship and just bart home but that's a close 2nd. Will follow thread and hope it comes back. I've got an extra 3004 FCC if the April TA is canceled (by Princess)

[LawDog61]

31 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

LawDog I think you have hit the nail on the head. It did not occur to me that the Sydney - Seattle itinerary was a one off repositioning, and as you say, who knows what will need to be repositioned !

We were on the Golden, which went all the way to Vancouver  To start the Alaska season. The trip was sold in segments so we go off in LA.  Home in an hour.   I prefer flying only one way on those long pacific flights and it makes sense to do the flying at the beginning, when you are high energy, and be home at the end of the cruise.

[dides]

6 hours ago, LawDog61 said:

We did Sydney-LA in 2019.....best cruise yet.   Had a Singapore -LA booked before all the virus thing started.  I have been keeping an eye out for another good transpacific but nothing  showing up yet.  I suspect that because these are essentially reposition cruises from AU or Asia to West Coast for Alaska season, Princess has no idea which ships will be where when cruising resumes. Maybe this thread will stay active and provide alerts when trans-Pac reappears.

 

Plus don't forget the 2 new transpacifics for Diamond Princess that will be needed between Asia and LA in fall 2021 and spring 2022.

[caribill]

 

12 hours ago, pcur said:

Try booking separate flights on two tickets.  Ticket 1 = SYD-HNL, then ticket 2 = HNL-Sacto

 

The problem is that at the current time United has no direct non-stop flights from SYD to HNL.

 

With the travel restrictions to/from Australia currently in place, there are relatively few flights to/from SYD and the USA.

 

Once the virus is under control and Australia eliminates the travel restrictions, then maybe United will have such a flight back on its schedule.

[casofilia]

@dides

 

Plus don't forget the 2 new transpacifics for Diamond Princess that will be needed between Asia and LA in fall 2021 and spring 2022.

 

Personally I wonder if the Japanese will ever allow Diamond Princess back into Yokohama or even any other port.   I also wonder if Princess would attempt to use Diamond Princess in Japan.

[pcur]

19 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks for suggestion to pick a port and number of days, nice way to scroll itineraries. Separate but related question, there is R/T from LA that does Hawaii then Tahiti etc. Is it possible to book a segment of that cruise starting in Hawaii for example ?

 

Would be nice to fly to Maui for a couple of days then sail to Tahiti, Morea etc.

 

I have always thought Princess was one of the more flexible cruise lines about this sort of thing.  I'd call and ask.  That's how I found out about the 35 night segment from LA to Perth.

[pcur]

Posted in error.

Edited September 1, 2020 by pcur

[Ombud]

I don't like SW for 3 major reasons:

1. Flies into Oakland and that's 3 bart rides to get to my home city, 2 being the middle of a line.  Bart originates at SFO so I can always get 1 seat for me & 1 for my suitcase and not hop off until I hit Walnut Creek 

2. I cannot pre-select my seat

3. Fewer nonstop routes

Edited September 1, 2020 by Ombud

[casofilia]

For those of you wanting to stop off in Hawai'i on your way to or from the USA and Australia or New Zealand the best way may well include Hawaiian Air who travels both southern routes non-stop.

[generichandle]

FYI;

 

Princess HAS moved the Diamond from the Asian area. 

 

We recently [and as a lifeline in our isolation] booked the Sapphire Princess 1/12/21; 34-days LA to Buenos Aires. Then about 10 days ago Princess informed us that the ship had been changed to the Diamond, with the itinerary unchanged [South America and Antarctica]. So now I expect, though not for certain, that the Sapphire may be moved to Australia/ Asia itineraries. I expect this is indeed because of the COVID tragedy. 

[casofilia]

@generichandle

 

FYI;

Princess HAS moved the Diamond from the Asian area.  

We recently [and as a lifeline in our isolation] booked the Sapphire Princess 1/12/21;  I presume this 1/12/21 is a typo and should be 1/12/22 assuming that you are using the American date system.

 

The Diamond Princess is certainly not going to be in Asia over the 2021/2022 Christmas/New Year period BUT it is still supposed to be in Asia following 15th Dec 2020 (the date of the last general cancellation by Princess) as cruises on the Diamond round Asia after that time have not YET been cancelled.

 

We had two booked; Kyushu (7th Dec 2020 Cancelled) and Grand Asia (16th Dec 2020 NOT Cancelled).   The latter is supposed to finish in Yokohama on the 13th Jan 2021.

Edited September 1, 2020 by casofilia

[Mud_Shark]

HAL does have a very nice transpacific from San Diego to Sydney listed for October 2021.  A bit pricey compared with past years, but fantastic itinerary.  Oosterdam to Hawaii, Tahiti and beyond.  Plenty of port stops.

 

I would be very tempted, but this just isn't the time for us to plan anything too exotic.  We will stick with the Caribbean in 2021 and see how that goes, and look to a transpacific for 2022 or beyond.

 

Don

[Tedferg]

55 minutes ago, Mud_Shark said:

HAL does have a very nice transpacific from San Diego to Sydney listed for October 2021.  A bit pricey compared with past years, but fantastic itinerary.  Oosterdam to Hawaii, Tahiti and beyond.  Plenty of port stops.

 

I would be very tempted, but this just isn't the time for us to plan anything too exotic.  We will stick with the Caribbean in 2021 and see how that goes, and look to a transpacific for 2022 or beyond.

 

Don

Thanks Don - I had not seen that itinerary. 'Transpacific' is not listed under "Where We Go' though Transatlantic is. Following your lead and as others suggested, I searched by Port and Date and there it was. I would have missed that !

 

Still don't know how I would have found it on my own. Perhaps if I had asked a TA they would know their way around the site better than I do.

 

Update: It does show up if I select Australia - New Zealand, so I must try harder 🙂

Edited September 1, 2020 by Tedferg