California Coastal on HAL - what's it like on board?

[lupaglupa]

My husband and I will be doing a round-trip from San Diego along the California coast this November. Can anyone who has taken one of these cruises tell me what, for want of a better word, the 'vibe' is like? Is it mostly casual with few people dressing up at night? We've been on HAL multiple cruises and find some (Alaska especially) less focused on formal nights etc.

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can share. 

[DaveOKC]

Did one last Spring on the Koningsdam.  Fairly casual as I recall.  Ship was only sailing about 70-80 percent full, so very nice

[Loreto]

We sailed on the Koningsdam coastal in November 2022.  It was not a good experience.  We are 5* and spent 25 days on her for Hawaii/Mexico in Feb 22 and that was a good experience as ship was not full.

 

The coastal sailing seemed more like a "mass market" ship, very different from what we have experienced in the past on Holland America. Very crowded, slow, poor service, chair hogs, rude people.  Very casual, which is fine with us.  Only port we enjoyed was Catalina.  Unfortunately it rained heavily for other ports...not HALs fault.  Monterey was dropped (expected.)  Excursions were all sold out probably due to HIA package.

We decided no more Pinnacle Class ships...too big.

[lupaglupa]

Sorry you had a bad experience. We expect to lose the Monterey stop, which isn't such a loss for us as we have been there several times before. 

[Copper10-8]

We'll be doing one next Wed on Nieuw A (San Diego - Vancouver, BC, one stop in Victoria, BC) and will tell you all about it 😉 

[lupaglupa]

Thank you! 

[Andi Land]

4 hours ago, Loreto said:

We sailed on the Koningsdam coastal in November 2022.  It was not a good experience.  We are 5* and spent 25 days on her for Hawaii/Mexico in Feb 22 and that was a good experience as ship was not full.

 

The coastal sailing seemed more like a "mass market" ship, very different from what we have experienced in the past on Holland America. Very crowded, slow, poor service, chair hogs, rude people.  Very casual, which is fine with us.  Only port we enjoyed was Catalina.  Unfortunately it rained heavily for other ports...not HALs fault.  Monterey was dropped (expected.)  Excursions were all sold out probably due to HIA package.

We decided no more Pinnacle Class ships...too big.

We were also on this cruise and agree with what you’ve said. We stayed on for the second week and went to Mexico and that was a better experience. 

[fsdj1097]

We were on the October 10th, 2021 sailing aboard Koningsdam....as her first sailing after the COVID cruise hiatus.   The ship was sailing about 50% capacity and it was a wonderful experience for DW and I.  The crew was incredible, and of course the ship was immaculate.  Monterey was dropped, but that wasn't a surprise.  I wouldn't hesitate to sail another California Coastal, and K'Dam is our new favorite BHB.  It was great to be back to sailing again......the crew's mantra was 'Welcome Home'!

[victory2020]

Love the coastal! The best thing is being on top while sailing under the Golden Gate bridge!

[oaktreerb]

We sail out of San Diego and enjoy the November cruise and the overnight in San Francisco on rhe Koningsdam.  Catalina and Santa Barbara are tender ports and lovely places to visit.  Monterrey is sometimes on the itinerary but we know it’s probably not going to happen.   The dining room can be crowded since most people opt for early dining.  You can request fixed dining for your booking so that you always have the same time, table and wait staff.  If you have a Neptune Suite you will have priority tendering and the option to have breakfast in the Club Orange dining room.  If you don’t have a NS you can upgrade to Club Orange which will give you those two priorities …plus other benefits.  See the HAL information for CO online.

 

The dress and the vibe is casual and on “dressy” night it’s more like country club dining casual.  I didn’t take any “formal’ clothing last November;  some people enjoyed dressing up for formal photos.   Recently the only dress restriction is no shorts or ripped jeans in the main dining room at dinner.  The Lido is always casual.  

 

 

[Sharon in AZ]

I was on the same sailing as @fsdj1097 and loved it, although two ports were canceled or changed. Santa Barbara and Monterey. It was our first Pinnacle class ship and loved it. The sailing had less passengers than usual. 

[Greysandy]

HAL is still listing Monterey as one of the ports for 11/23 Coastal cruises, but with Montery's city council voting to not provide port/tender services there, I'm wondering if HAL will pay for that themselves or cancel it one week beforehand??? HAL is letting us book Monterey excursions, which I'm not doing because I expect it will be canceled.

[trixiee]

23 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

We'll be doing one next Wed on Nieuw A (San Diego - Vancouver, BC, one stop in Victoria, BC) and will tell you all about it 😉 

Awesome!  I have a deposit down on next year's version!

[lupaglupa]

2 hours ago, Greysandy said:

HAL is still listing Monterey as one of the ports for 11/23 Coastal cruises, but with Montery's city council voting to not provide port/tender services there, I'm wondering if HAL will pay for that themselves or cancel it one week beforehand??? HAL is letting us book Monterey excursions, which I'm not doing because I expect it will be canceled.

We have not booked anything for Monterey either. I sympathize with the residents and don't mind too much if we miss it. I'm curious to see what we get instead!

[slidergirl]

I like the Coastal cruises.  They are a quick refresh after my hard Winter seasons.  Usually they are nice and relaxing for me.  I did have one on HAL Eurodam that left me with a less-than-good feeling.  The Coastal part started in San Diego to reposition the ship up North for the Alaska season.  There were many guest who stayed onboard from the cruise through the Panama Canal.  I guess they had formed all their groups and friendships with the staff during that cruise.  I felt like an interloper a few times when I tried to get into things at a bar or a place to sit for dinner.  I felt "sorry that I didn't have enough money to do the whole cruise and I had to work anyway".   I moved to other lines for my Coastals.

[rj59]

I've been on 20 or so coastal cruises between San Diego and Vancouver, which usually have Canadians dominating, as well as a lot of Asians from Vancouver, particularly if it visits SF. It can be pretty brutally dull if the weather is bad and they close the outside promenade and decks, and everyone sits all day in the packed Lido. They have a captive audience, so they try to make as much money as possible on sales, bingo, and other events. You can get a weird mix of old and young too, since the coastal ones often continue around the Panama Canal. SF charges high port fees, so that will increase the overall cost, although sailing under the Golden Gate can be memorable, as is sailing under the Lion's Gate bridge in Vancouver (and scary if you go on the Konigsdam or a tall ship on another line, which often have to go under at odd times to fit with the tides). The r/t coastal ones are usually just fillers before and after the Alaska season and are different, because they're all about making excursion money and would seem to be dull and repetitive, with the added required stop in Ensenada. 

[oaktreerb]

2 hours ago, rj59 said:

The r/t coastal ones are usually just fillers before and after the Alaska season and are different, because they're all about making excursion money and would seem to be dull and repetitive, with the added required stop in Ensenada. 

The Koningsdam is not going to be a Panama Canal transit ship.  It does round trip San Diego to Mexican Riviera/Pacific Coast/Hawaii/and South Pacific.  I wouldn’t consider them “fillers”.  Disney also sails out of San Diego on mostly Mexican Riviera 3-4 day short cruises.  

 

The repositioning cruises for other HAL ships happen every fall and spring and they do stop to pick up passengers in San Diego.  Koningsdam is home ported in San Diego between Alaska seasons.  The K also does a Hawaii cruise RT Vancouver before the Alaska season begins.

 

The round trip do have to stop in Ensenada.  The repositioning cruises do not.

Edited April 21, 2023 by oaktreerb

[Florida_gal_50]

6 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I like the Coastal cruises.  They are a quick refresh after my hard Winter seasons.  Usually they are nice and relaxing for me.  I did have one on HAL Eurodam that left me with a less-than-good feeling.  The Coastal part started in San Diego to reposition the ship up North for the Alaska season.  There were many guest who stayed onboard from the cruise through the Panama Canal.  I guess they had formed all their groups and friendships with the staff during that cruise.  I felt like an interloper a few times when I tried to get into things at a bar or a place to sit for dinner.  I felt "sorry that I didn't have enough money to do the whole cruise and I had to work anyway".   I moved to other lines for my Coastals.

That’s just odd.  I’ve done the Panama and rode the ship up to Seattle. I’ve also done coastals.  Never once had that experience.  I’m still in the workforce.  You don’t have a monopoly on that nor did it break that bank unless you go for a suite.  While I’ve enjoyed interacting with the crew they aren’t my besties and I don’t go out of my way to make people feel out of place.

[RoonlouX2]

On 4/20/2023 at 8:12 PM, Copper10-8 said:

We'll be doing one next Wed on Nieuw A (San Diego - Vancouver, BC, one stop in Victoria, BC) and will tell you all about it 😉 

We too will be on this cruise on Wednesday, then staying on for the 7 night Alaskan. 
 

[DesertRat46]

We've done several San Diego to Vancouver or reverse on HAL and found therm all to be very casual and relaxing. If you do the northbound version it's likely a lot of pax will have been on board since FL, but we never found that to be an issue. Last spring we found service to be a little slow due to staff shortages, but the crew, as usual, were cheery and did their best.

Wouldn't hesitate to sail that way again.

[Copper10-8]

11 hours ago, RoonlouX2 said:

We too will be on this cruise on Wednesday, then staying on for the 7 night Alaskan. 
 

 

Cool; we are doing the same thing! Should be a good time! 🤙

[slidergirl]

20 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

That’s just odd.  I’ve done the Panama and rode the ship up to Seattle. I’ve also done coastals.  Never once had that experience.  I’m still in the workforce.  You don’t have a monopoly on that nor did it break that bank unless you go for a suite.  While I’ve enjoyed interacting with the crew they aren’t my besties and I don’t go out of my way to make people feel out of place.

Thanks for calling my experience odd.   Do you work outside in the cold of Winter for $17/hr?  Hard enough to pay for an inside, let alone a suite.  
I wasn’t trying to make “besties” of crew.  It just felt to me that existing crew and passengers had things down and lone me was an afterthought sometimes:

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

Thanks for calling my experience odd.   Do you work outside in the cold of Winter for $17/hr?  Hard enough to pay for an inside, let alone a suite.  
I wasn’t trying to make “besties” of crew.  It just felt to me that existing crew and passengers had things down and lone me was an afterthought sometimes:

No, I went to school for about 15 years at night and worked full time so I wouldn't have to work 2 jobs like my dad did for most of his life.  We didn't have 2 niches to rub together.  I've never seen anything like you've described.  Maybe a few people sit at the bar all day so the crew knows them. That's not my thing.

[oaktreerb]

On 4/21/2023 at 1:05 PM, slidergirl said:

I like the Coastal cruises.  They are a quick refresh after my hard Winter seasons.  Usually they are nice and relaxing for me.  I did have one on HAL Eurodam that left me with a less-than-good feeling.  The Coastal part started in San Diego to reposition the ship up North for the Alaska season.  There were many guest who stayed onboard from the cruise through the Panama Canal.  I guess they had formed all their groups and friendships with the staff during that cruise.  I felt like an interloper a few times when I tried to get into things at a bar or a place to sit for dinner.  I felt "sorry that I didn't have enough money to do the whole cruise and I had to work anyway".   I moved to other lines for my Coastals.

Sorry you felt that way.  There is a travel agent in the Pacific Northwest who offers large group bookings on HAL and other lines and while they are not partial charters they do have assigned dining and some group activities like tours and cocktail parties which leads to developing friendships among cruisers.  These cruisers are from across the US and Canada and are well traveled and friendly for the most part.   I hope your future coastals are relaxing and enjoyable.

[AncientWanderer]

On 4/20/2023 at 12:12 PM, Copper10-8 said:

We'll be doing one next Wed on Nieuw A (San Diego - Vancouver, BC, one stop in Victoria, BC) and will tell you all about it 😉 

 

I noticed that you and several others are doing this cruise and then following on with Alaska cruise.  I didn't think we could do that because of the Jones Act business.  How does this work?  I'd love to sail from San Diego and go on to Alaska!

Thanks in advance for helping out here.