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I posed this question and I was surprised at some of the answers I received, so I thought I would post it here to get your feedback.
I have to preface the question by saying regardless of current laws (such as Jones Act et al) and based solely on cruise itinerary and if it was available to you on a regular basis, would you...
take a seven day cruise that would begin say in Los Angeles (San Pedro) and visit ports on the West coast such as San Diego, Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Cruz and end in San Francisco? Or, how about Los Angeles to Seattle with some of the already mentioned ports with Astoria and Portland Oregon included?
I realize that passengers would have to tender into some of these ports, but regardless I said I would definitely take it because it sounded exciting and would be completely new and different than any cruise itinerary out there today.
However, a few of my colleagues said they would not be interested because basically they feel that coastal towns such as Santa Barbara, Monterey and Astoria Oregon would be boring. One guy even said "Portland, what the Hell is in Portland"? I couldn't believe I was hearing this since the coastal regions or California, Oregon and Washington have some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet. In fact, I told them that I had been to Astoria on repositioning cruise a few years back and it was a great little town, in which one of the guys replied "snore"!
I know there are a lot of experienced cruisers on this forum that have sailed all over the world and I was curious to hear what you would have to say. Am I in the minority here thinking that these places would be fantastic to visit via a cruise ship?
Thanks for your feedback.
dmrorx
[ 05-06-2006: Message edited by: dmrorx ]
At the moment the only chance you get to visit these ports is in May? and September when ships reposition to/from Alaska. The question is do people book these trips for the ports of call? or because they get cheap 'repositioning' prices?
I took Norwegian Sun from Vancouver to LA last september and stopped at Astoria and Monterey... now I didnt take any tours, i basically explored the towns by foot. Too be honest I would rather have stopped at bigger cities such as San Fransico and Seattle as i found these places quite boring.... i ended up back on the ship for lunch and the afternoon!
I was on Norwegian Sun the September repositioning cruise the year before you. I tought it was a great cruise. We did Vancouver, Astoria, San Francisco to Los Angeles. I thought Astoria was a fantastic town. My wife and I had lunch in this little restaurant. It was really charming. Did you tender into the port or dock. We tendered because the HAL Amsterdam arrived before we did, but I heard on board that the year before the Norwegian Sun docked.
Seeing these ports was really refreshing. San Francisco was fun and on another Northbound repositioning cruise we visited Monterey. What a great city that was too.
I just feel that these ports would be great fun it they were offered. Thanks for your feedback.
Regards,
Astoria - a 20min walk into the city however they had a shuttle tram running occassionally for a small fare. Great 360degree views from the top of the hill/lookout (Astoria Column) In Monterey the aquarium seemed to be a major attraction however it didnt open till late the day i was there so i didnt bother hanging around. I think golfing tours were also popular?
I'll see if i can find some pics to share...
The Astoria Column
Astoria - taken from Column/lookout (towards town)
Astoria - taken from Column/lookout (towards mountains)
View looking across Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay - locals playing petanque
I think a West Coast Itinerary could be done all summer long, instead of just May and Sept.
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