Jump to content

NAVIGATOR FROM LOS ANGELES ... Easy for West Coasters!


WAYNO

Recommended Posts

In the last two days, I've completed booking two more 7-Night Mexican Riviera cruises on Navigator from Los Angeles.  That's 3 for the two of us, and 2 for my Wife and other friends or family.

That makes five bookings on this ship since last fall.  Why would we concentrate so much on one ship with the same itinerary each time?  Well, I've been envious of the folks that live close to the ports in Florida or elsewhere.  A quick jaunt to the port for them and voila!

We're taking advantage of an effortless 2-hour flight to L.A. on the same day as the cruise, and in the same time zone.  The airfare is less than half the cost of flying to Florida, and a hotel is not needed.  I know flights can be late or cancelled, so that's taking a chance flying the day of the cruise, but flights from PDX to LAX are so frequent, if our flight was cancelled, we'd likely find a replacement flight at the next counter.

When we cruise from Florida, most of the folks we meet are from the Southeastern states.  And when we cruise from L.A., most of the folks we meet are from the Western states.  Sounds like other Westerners already knew what we've discovered.  And the Mexican Riviera is wonderful!🥰

I don't think the cruise industry is represented seriously in Los Angeles, but now being frequent cruisers from there, we're learning the ropes.🤩

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've mention it before many years ago and understand not really feasible because of distances but I would love to see roundtrip year round options out of Seattle (preferably Vancouver but Seattle is close enough). Itineraries would be limited as well but doable in 7 days. Seattle, sea day, sea day, San Fran, Santa Barbara or LA, sea day, sea day/ late evening Victoria (to satisfy PVSA), Seattle. Could also do 8-12 night itineraries as well with more options. 

I do also enjoy the 7 night Navigator itineraries as well though. It is also a short easy flight from Vancouver, just not quite as convenient as a short drive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I've mention it before many years ago and understand not really feasible because of distances but I would love to see roundtrip year round options out of Seattle (preferably Vancouver but Seattle is close enough). Itineraries would be limited as well but doable in 7 days. Seattle, sea day, sea day, San Fran, Santa Barbara of LA, sea day, sea day/ late evening Victoria (to satisfy PVSA) Seattle. Could also do 8-12 night itineraries as well with more options. 

I do also enjoy the 7 night Navigator itineraries as well though. It is also a short easy flight from Vancouver, just not quite as convenient as a short drive.

I LOVE THIS IDEA. 

I wish Royal did more cruises from the west coast. When are they going to notice that sailings on Navigator are 100%+ more often than not? We have so few choices that it's constantly Navigator - Navigator - Navigator for us. It's kind of forcing me to look at other lines to get a bit more variety on this side of the country. Still, love Navigator, love the convenience of driving to port or taking a quick flight over, and love not having to fly to the east coast!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

I LOVE THIS IDEA. 

I wish Royal did more cruises from the west coast. When are they going to notice that sailings on Navigator are 100%+ more often than not? We have so few choices that it's constantly Navigator - Navigator - Navigator for us. It's kind of forcing me to look at other lines to get a bit more variety on this side of the country. Still, love Navigator, love the convenience of driving to port or taking a quick flight over, and love not having to fly to the east coast!

Don't tell anyone here but I do the Mexican Riviera itinerary on other cruise lines as well just to mix it up.........

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I've mention it before many years ago and understand not really feasible because of distances but I would love to see roundtrip year round options out of Seattle (preferably Vancouver but Seattle is close enough). Itineraries would be limited as well but doable in 7 days. Seattle, sea day, sea day, San Fran, Santa Barbara or LA, sea day, sea day/ late evening Victoria (to satisfy PVSA), Seattle. Could also do 8-12 night itineraries as well with more options. 

 

And 5-years ago, with Royal, we  cruised Seattle-Astoria-San Francisco-Victoria-Seattle.  Even in the summer, it was not a warm weather cruise, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, WAYNO said:

And 5-years ago, with Royal, we  cruised Seattle-Astoria-San Francisco-Victoria-Seattle.  Even in the summer, it was not a warm weather cruise, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.😀

If they used Ovation or Quantum with both adult and family fully enclosed solariums, as well as the seaplex and 270, there is still plenty to do regardless of the weather. There are ships doing year round trips in the UK which has a very similar climate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've taken a couple of cruises on the Navigator OTS since they brought it here....LOVE it.  Of course, for us, it's really easy as we live about and hour-hour and a half from the port in San Pedro.  We ordinarily cruise all over the world...but, between the more exciting international cruises, we can fill in the longer gaps with quick getaways of a few days to a week for a relatively low cost.

When we first started cruising back in the late 80s/early 90s, Royal Caribbean had the old Viking Serenade based here and it was our go-to quick family vacation.  Then, they put the old Monarch of the Seas here.  For a while, RCCL broughtr the Mariner of the Seas here...and we were invited on the "pre-inaugural"...but a short time later, RCCL abandoned us--leaving the market solely to Carnival--and Princess in the non-Alaska season months.  Due to that abandonment, we found ourselves doing a lot of Princess cruises (We've now done 11 on Princess and 4 on Carnival) though we prefer Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Now, we hope they leave at least one ship here forever...

As to the "limited" itineraries, they really aren't as limited as some think.  We've taken a few different itineraries from SoCal...and there are more that are offered on an infrequent basis that we've never been able to fit into our schedule.  Here's the basic rundown of what is available and what is possible:

1) The "Standard" Mexican Riviera:  Los Angeles round trip 7 nights--Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta.  This is the majority of what one sees from Royal Caribbean and others.  Personally, I think it's an outstanding itinerary...but, of course, we've done it way too often.

1a)  Mexican Riviera alternate routes.  We did one on Princess one time that went for 8 nights and added a stop in Manzanillo.  I've also seen longer ones--up to 10 nights--that add Zihuantenejo and/or Acapulco.

2)  Baja 3/4 nights.  You usually see the 3 night variation to Ens   Mazatlan and PV after Cabo, they turn north into the Gulf of California and visit La Paz and Guaymas.  One day, I'd love to check out that sort of itinerary. 

4)  Panama Canal.  Usually a longer one-way cruise either starting in LA and ending in Florida or vice-versa.  Some cruise lines only do this as a repositioning cruise but no reason you couldn't do several back and forth.

5)  LA to South America.  Another one that's usually a longer repositioning cruise, but, again, no reason you couldn't schedule them back and forth consecutively.  Other end in Santiago, Chile or in Peru or Ecuador.  Would be great for packaging with Macchu Picchu land tours. 

5b) A slightly shorter variation that I don't think anyone has yet tried would be one-way, LA to Panama--canal and back.  The cruise lines do this on the other side of the continent from Florida...Why not here?  There are West Coast ports south of PV in Mexico and in Central America thatcould be used.

6)  Hawaii.  Most cruise lines have a few one-way cruises to Hawaii.  (They used to do longer round trips as well).  Of course, for legal reasons, they usually go from Vancouver or Ensenada...but I am sure there is some way to go from LA and lengthen the cruise with one foreign port to get around the law.

7}  The round-trip "California Coastal".  The cruise lines throw in a few of these...Los Angeles 7 night round trip with Ensenada (to beat the law), and some selection of San Diego, Catalina, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco.  As a local, this couldn't be more dull.  I would drive farther to San Pedro to pick up a ship to take me to the closer to home Santa Baarbara...and all of the ports are easy drives from home.  But for thise from out of the area, it could be a nice sampler of Caliufornia towns.  OTOH, I may book one some time just to spend some time cruising.

8 ) The one-way Pacific Coastal.  Los Angeles to Vancouver or vice versa.  I've taken a couple of these and LOVE them.  Always looking for one that fits into our schedule.  We have daughters living in Portland.  We can fly to PDX, spend a few days, then rent a car or fly to Vancouver, get on the ship and spend 7 nights cruising home.  Last time we did this was on Princess LA to Vancouver...7 nights, stopped in San Diego, San Francisco...Astoria, Oregon...Victoria, BC...ended in Vancouver.  Picked up a rental car there and drove to Portland for a few days with the kids.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am also coming from the point of view of traveling with kids. If it was just my wife and I, the list above would be more meaningful. Most of those cruises listed above are not nearly as feasible or easy to schedule as East Coast cruises. The east coast cruise options for 4-7 days isn’t even close to west coast. Listed above are a lot of one way repositioning cruises (one sailing per year per direction ) and/or are much longer in length than what most cruise travelers want to or are able to do. The one way repositioning cruises are generally in the fall/early spring making them almost impossible to do with a family. If a specific week in October or April do not work….too bad. For every repositioning cruise out of the West Coast, those options are still dwarfed by East Coast repositioning cruises alone. That is the vast majority of the list above. The regularly scheduled 4-7 day options for west coast are either Alaska or Baja/Mexican Riviera that visit primarily the same 3-4 Mexican ports. The Mexican cruises listed above are really all the same cruise, with the cruise length being the variable that dictates how far you go..but you still hit the same 3-4 ports regardless if you do a 5 night cruise or a 10 night one. West Coast just is very limited in cruise options. For every one WC booking option, there are at least 15 for the EC and that’s just a fact and the point I’m making. Think of how many cruise ships JUST RC has leaving New Orleans, Galveston, Miami, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, and Orlando EVERY week. Each one with a unique itinerary. Now compare that to the number of ships leaving LA and Seattle each week. This is my point. The number aren’t even close.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Don't tell anyone here but I do the Mexican Riviera itinerary on other cruise lines as well just to mix it up.........

 

I've cruise with NCL and MSC out of Florida not that long ago just to mix it up.

For me living in Chicago I prefer the 2.5 hour flight to MCO, FLL, or MIA or the 1.25 hour flight to EWR/LGA to sail out of Cape Liberty than to face a 4 hour flight to LAX. So I get it you want convince and something close to home when cruising and if you've gotten to the point where your tired of Navigator thereby all mean go take a couple of cruises on NCL or Carnival. After all I do agree with other who said they would like to see Royal do more, have more variety or ships and destinations out West. With so many new ships coming over the next few years maybe Royal will show LA some love by homeporting another ship out west in LA permanently along side Navigator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/23/2023 at 2:31 PM, Bruin Steve said:

We've taken a couple of cruises on the Navigator OTS since they brought it here....LOVE it.  Of course, for us, it's really easy as we live about and hour-hour and a half from the port in San Pedro.  We ordinarily cruise all over the world...but, between the more exciting international cruises, we can fill in the longer gaps with quick getaways of a few days to a week for a relatively low cost.

When we first started cruising back in the late 80s/early 90s, Royal Caribbean had the old Viking Serenade based here and it was our go-to quick family vacation.  Then, they put the old Monarch of the Seas here.  For a while, RCCL broughtr the Mariner of the Seas here...and we were invited on the "pre-inaugural"...but a short time later, RCCL abandoned us--leaving the market solely to Carnival--and Princess in the non-Alaska season months.  Due to that abandonment, we found ourselves doing a lot of Princess cruises (We've now done 11 on Princess and 4 on Carnival) though we prefer Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.  Now, we hope they leave at least one ship here forever...

As to the "limited" itineraries, they really aren't as limited as some think.  We've taken a few different itineraries from SoCal...and there are more that are offered on an infrequent basis that we've never been able to fit into our schedule.  Here's the basic rundown of what is available and what is possible:

1) The "Standard" Mexican Riviera:  Los Angeles round trip 7 nights--Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta.  This is the majority of what one sees from Royal Caribbean and others.  Personally, I think it's an outstanding itinerary...but, of course, we've done it way too often.

1a)  Mexican Riviera alternate routes.  We did one on Princess one time that went for 8 nights and added a stop in Manzanillo.  I've also seen longer ones--up to 10 nights--that add Zihuantenejo and/or Acapulco.

2)  Baja 3/4 nights.  You usually see the 3 night variation to Ens   Mazatlan and PV after Cabo, they turn north into the Gulf of California and visit La Paz and Guaymas.  One day, I'd love to check out that sort of itinerary. 

4)  Panama Canal.  Usually a longer one-way cruise either starting in LA and ending in Florida or vice-versa.  Some cruise lines only do this as a repositioning cruise but no reason you couldn't do several back and forth.

5)  LA to South America.  Another one that's usually a longer repositioning cruise, but, again, no reason you couldn't schedule them back and forth consecutively.  Other end in Santiago, Chile or in Peru or Ecuador.  Would be great for packaging with Macchu Picchu land tours. 

5b) A slightly shorter variation that I don't think anyone has yet tried would be one-way, LA to Panama--canal and back.  The cruise lines do this on the other side of the continent from Florida...Why not here?  There are West Coast ports south of PV in Mexico and in Central America thatcould be used.

6)  Hawaii.  Most cruise lines have a few one-way cruises to Hawaii.  (They used to do longer round trips as well).  Of course, for legal reasons, they usually go from Vancouver or Ensenada...but I am sure there is some way to go from LA and lengthen the cruise with one foreign port to get around the law.

7}  The round-trip "California Coastal".  The cruise lines throw in a few of these...Los Angeles 7 night round trip with Ensenada (to beat the law), and some selection of San Diego, Catalina, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco.  As a local, this couldn't be more dull.  I would drive farther to San Pedro to pick up a ship to take me to the closer to home Santa Baarbara...and all of the ports are easy drives from home.  But for thise from out of the area, it could be a nice sampler of Caliufornia towns.  OTOH, I may book one some time just to spend some time cruising.

8 ) The one-way Pacific Coastal.  Los Angeles to Vancouver or vice versa.  I've taken a couple of these and LOVE them.  Always looking for one that fits into our schedule.  We have daughters living in Portland.  We can fly to PDX, spend a few days, then rent a car or fly to Vancouver, get on the ship and spend 7 nights cruising home.  Last time we did this was on Princess LA to Vancouver...7 nights, stopped in San Diego, San Francisco...Astoria, Oregon...Victoria, BC...ended in Vancouver.  Picked up a rental car there and drove to Portland for a few days with the kids.

 

Epic Post!!! I agree with everything and learned a lot about the LA to vancouver (we love that city). I am also a 70-90 minute drive to San Pedro and cruised on the Viking Serenade (my first cruise circa 1992 or 1993). I also cruised other lines because of Royal's absence and love that Navigator is here, just went on her and doing NYE on her this year. I think just having a ship here is great for the company to expose the coveted first timers (I've introduced over 15 friends and family to RCL in the past year via Navigator in LA).

Zihuantenejo is a favorite of ours, it really does look and feel like the ending scene from shawshank. Other lines go to La Paz, royal should consider it on the Cabo only cruises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...