California Coastal Cruise - is it worth it?

[Nebr.cruiser]

We just put a California coastal cruise on hold because of a great price and we can make it a back-to-back with the Mexican Riviera we are already doing--same shp, same cabin even.

 

But, and a big one, it will only work if our air (through Princess) can be changed without penalty or a big price increase. 

 

Too late to call tonight, so we will see what tomorrow brings!  Hoping it all works out--we'd much rather do 14 nights when having to fly from Nebr.

 

I know it will be cooler and maybe rougher.  April 3.

[cvpends]

I love a California Coastal!  But to each his or her own.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We love CA Coastals.  In San Francisco we’ve enjoyed sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge (our favorite), touring Alcatraz and walking around Pier 39.  The courthouse in Santa Barbara is beautiful.  There is a lot to see and do in beautiful San Diego.  I’m just sad that Monterey is no longer on the itinerary. We’ve done so many coastals that I’ve lost count. We have another one booked for this year.

Edited February 24, 2022 by MsSoCalCruiser

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, suekel said:

I'm looking forward to ours in April.  We're doing it as a B2B with Mexico.  Hd a bunch of FCC and thought it would be nice to only pay for one flight.  We're doing a Sonoma Wine Tour for our SF day, the rest we'll just wander on our own.  I've never been to Santa Barbara but I hear it's beautiful  My husband has spent a lot of time in San Diego so I'll follow his lead.  

You may want to check out the courthouse in Santa Barbara.

[Astro Flyer]

41 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

You may want to check out the courthouse in Santa Barbara.

It’s rated the #1 thing to do in SB by TripAdvisor & we greatly enjoyed touring it.
 

There are wine tasting rooms within walking distance of the tender pier if not going to the Santa Ynez wine tasting region known for it’s Pinot Noir & also the Danish themed town of Solvang.

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

13 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

As for Monterey, I don't know if you are aware but there are 3 sailings in the Spring of 2023 for that port. 

Hopefully it will remain on the itinerary because it was canceled on our 2 most recent CA Coastal cruises.

[donaldsc]

I can't imagine how it can possibly be worth it.  The driving distance from San Francisco to San Diego is 502 miles and you are 5 or 6 days covering that distance by ship.  If you want to do a San Francisco to San Diego trip, rent a car so you can stop when and where you want instead of spending all your time getting from city to city.  Yes - I know that packing and unpacking bit and I know that it is nice being served but I just don't see the point of the cruise.  

 

Now if you are doing it to get Princess points and/or the cruise is really really cheap maybe it is worth it but I don't see ever bothering to get off the ship at any of the ports.

 

DON

Edited February 24, 2022 by donaldsc

[Jeter02]

11 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I tend to choose only two types of itineraries:  ports I want to see (such as Europe) or R&R (warm weather sun).  Having lived in L.A. for about 30 years, I have been to Santa Barbara and SF and SD more times than I can count.  So I have never considered the CA Coastal Cruise -- not warm R&R and not interesting ports.   (I have sailed L.A. to SF and beyond to Alaska on a repositioning cruise.   We spent the day in S.F. with some of my family who live in S.F., making that a great port visit.)

 

Living in L.A. (and later, in Las Vegas), I have sailed the Mexican Riviera itinerary almost every year for sun/warm weather/ beaches, easy access [drive instead of fly, no airline hassles and stress], good food, and R&R.  Much the same reasons why the OP does Caribbean cruises!  But I would do the CA Coastal only if it were a back-to-back with the Mex Riv cruise.

 

Was kinda thinking the same, about the B2B, might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Jeter02

[MsSoCalCruiser]

8 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

As for Monterey, I don't know if you are aware but there are 3 sailings in the Spring of 2023 for that port.  

 

 

Thank you!  I did not see that!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

8 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

It’s rated the #1 thing to do in SB by TripAdvisor & we greatly enjoyed touring it.
 

There are wine tasting rooms within walking distance of the tender pier if not going to the Santa Ynez wine tasting region known for it’s Pinot Noir & also the Danish themed town of Solvang.

 

It’s beautiful there. We’ve toured it twice. Once there was a group of us and someone had friends in the area so the friends met us at the courthouse with a picnic lunch.  We sat on blankets on the lawn.  After lunch they drove us all over SB.  We went up in the mountains and looked down on our ship. It was a wonderful day.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I can't imagine how it can possibly be worth it.  The driving distance from San Francisco to San Diego is 502 miles and you are 5 or 6 days covering that distance by ship.  If you want to do a San Francisco to San Diego trip, rent a car so you can stop when and where you want instead of spending all your time getting from city to city.  Yes - I know that packing and unpacking bit and I know that it is nice being served but I just don't see the point of the cruise.  

 

Now if you are doing it to get Princess points and/or the cruise is really really cheap maybe it is worth it but I don't see ever bothering to get off the ship at any of the ports.

 

DON

I think it’s totally worth it. I’m not a fan of road trips. I’m more than happy on a cruise ship taking five or six days to cover the same distance you can drive. Getting  Princess points has nothing to do with it for me.

[julia]

It depends on what "worth it" means to you!  It's totally "worth it" for us to have a short flight, and be on board a nice ship within hours.  The ports are irrelevant...  we are sailing for the ambience, food, drinks, entertainment, and relaxation of being on the ocean.

[Calnev1]

16 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 We will love visiting all the cities because each are unique in their own California way.....we have seen plenty of homeless living in parks by our cruise hotels  in Fort Lauderdale and feel much safer in San Francisco then lots of the places we have been in Florida......

+1

[Ombud]

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I can't imagine how it can possibly be worth it.  The driving distance from San Francisco to San Diego is 502 miles and you are 5 or 6 days covering that distance by ship.  If you want to do a San Francisco to San Diego trip, rent a car so you can stop when and where you want instead of spending all your time getting from city to city.  Yes - I know that packing and unpacking bit and I know that it is nice being served but I just don't see the point of the cruise.  

 

Now if you are doing it to get Princess points and/or the cruise is really really cheap maybe it is worth it but I don't see ever bothering to get off the ship at any of the ports.

 

DON

Umm there's a lot on a ship that you don't get in a car. But in a car I can take my dog. Have a Pacific Northwest Cruise booked for April 2022 and will look for that 2023 Cruise that has Monterey (2 hr drive but who wants to drive for 2 hrs?) and hoping it also has Santa Barbara or San Diego. LA isn't worth it IMHO and I live here (SF East Bay) so that's not a draw for me. Sort of like Fort Lauderdale isn't worth it for those who live in Dania Beach, FL

[RJAM3]

On 2/23/2022 at 10:22 AM, RMMariner said:

We have taken two California 10 days out of Vancouver, and we are taking another 7 day out of LA in March. All with Princess. 

We enjoy them because they are close to home, and obviously would do them as a quick trip with minimal flying.

 

I do agree with a previous poster, that every cruise we have taken that has cruised off the Oregon coast (several to Hawaii as well) the sea has been quite rough. I don't know if that is just a rough patch of ocean or if we have been unlucky.

 

Once we were south of San Francisco the ocean seemed to become much calmer.

 

[RJAM3]

From a long time Oregon resident if your port includes Astoria you are correct the waters are usually very rough.  To enter Astoria you pass over the Columbia River Bar which is considered factually one of the worst bars in the world.  The Coast Guard trains on the Columbia bar..the actually go sideways to purposely roll the boat over…got to love those guys that will do that so they can save us crazy fishermen that fish the Pacific and Columbia river!

[Muttster]

19 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I can't imagine how it can possibly be worth it.  The driving distance from San Francisco to San Diego is 502 miles and you are 5 or 6 days covering that distance by ship.  If you want to do a San Francisco to San Diego trip, rent a car so you can stop when and where you want instead of spending all your time getting from city to city.  Yes - I know that packing and unpacking bit and I know that it is nice being served but I just don't see the point of the cruise.  

 

Now if you are doing it to get Princess points and/or the cruise is really really cheap maybe it is worth it but I don't see ever bothering to get off the ship at any of the ports.

 

DON

My wife and I signed up for the April 30th cruise on the Majestic Princess from LA to Vancouver.  We were originally going to just visit San Diego, LA, and the surrounding area but frankly, driving around in a city that I don't know and moving from one hotel to the next is not my idea of a fun vacation.  With this itinerary, I can see 5 cities and decide later if we would like to come back for a more extended stay.

 

We're from the lowcountry of South Carolina so we are traveling a distance for this cruise.  Most of the people that we know from here go on Caribbean cruise as you can drive to Port Canaveral in about five hours from here but our attitude is that we have nice beaches here and frankly, I think that the Sarasota beaches are better than on the many items.  Anyways, to each his own. 

[justafem]

We do CA coastals every couple of years.  For us, the ship is the destination.  It doesn't matter where it goes.  Well, I personally don't like north. 

 

We're about 200 miles north of San Francisco, train is our preferred transportation.  Cheap, comfortable and gets us there and home. 

 

We have 2 scheduled, April and May.  May is carnival since they're now leaving from San Francisco.  And couldn't pass up the $79 fare for April.