West coast sailings

[sillecruisers]

Anyone who has done the San Diego to Vancouver sailing- I am considering this for May. We would like to visit San Francisco. Just wondering what this cruise is like, weather wise, activities. Do they have pirate night? What is there to do in Vancouver? My son's best friend moved to San Francisco and we would like to surprise the kids, particularly our son, with this cruise and a chance to spend a day with his friend, who comes back to visit us quite frequently, but we have never been there. I know it would be cheaper to just go to SF but where's the Disney cruise in that?!?!?

 

[jdb in AZ]

We had Pirate Night when we cruised up the west coast, but that was before DCL started doing their "Frozen Experience" in Alaska. Not sure which one DCL will do on next year's west coast repositioning cruise. Weather varies from week to week, so we can't predict what next May will be like, but it was fine when we went. There's so much to do in San Francisco, and a whole lot to do in Vancouver as well. We really liked the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Stanley Park.

http://www.tourismvancouver.com/do/...ttractions/10-vancouver-must-see-attractions/

 

[disnygirl55]

We went on this sailing in May 2014. Fantastic weather until north of San Francisco, and then typical northwest weather - drizzle, rain, fog. However, we still had a wonderful time. They DID have pirate night with fireworks on our cruise. You can read about our activities in my trip report - the first couple of pages deal with Disneyland, but you can skip ahead. See my signature for the link. It was a great cruise, with all the usual activity offerings. Fantastic to visit San Francisco, although our wine country excursion was cancelled, but San Francisco is a terrific city to visit and walk around in, so it turned out just fine.

 

[bcwife76]

We just did the opposite cruise (Vancouver to San Diego) at the end of September and we had pirate night on night 3.
Vancouver has LOTS to do. Granville Island, Stanley Park, Grouse Mountain, botanical gardens, day trip to Whistler, shopping on Robson Street, they film Once Upon a Time here.....May is a nice time to come. The weather is warming up, flowers are in bloom....

 

[jenmiller114]

We just did the northbound San Diego to Vancouver cruise in May and we really enjoyed it. It is definitely not a cruise to the caribbean so be prepared for colder temps as you head up north. However, they provide blankets on deck and it wasn't cold enough to keep the kids out of the pool. Really, most everything we did was inside and the climate is controlled so we still wore shorts every day. The weather in San Francisco was cool but I got by with a sweater and jeans and my boys wore hoodies with their shorts.

I think that particular itinerary is worth doing just for the experience of sailing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. They time it so you are going under right at sunrise and it's pretty amazing. Then you dock at Pier 35 which is right in the middle of the city so there is a TON to do in walking distance. We have been to San Francisco before so we just walked around the Wharf a bit and did a tour of Alcatraz which was right next door to our pier. We wanted to be back on the ship so we could see the premiere of Tomorrowland. However, all aboard was pushed back until 2:45 a.m. for those who wanted to enjoy some of the night life which I am sure a lot of people appreciated. (It was supposed to be 9:45 p.m.)

We did not get to stay in Vancouver but I wish we had. I have heard a lot of great things about the city. And the weather was at least as warm there than it was in San Francisco.

We did have Pirate night on the ship. I think that is the last sailing with it because once they get to Alaska, I don't think they can shoot off the fireworks so they switch to the Frozen theme day. We also enjoyed the 3 sea days because we like just hanging out and letting the kids enjoy the club activities.

And if you have time, make sure you go early and spend a little time in San Diego, too. It was beautiful when we left.

I hope you decide to go... it would be a wonderful surprise for your son. And talk about doing it in style!

Jennifer

 

[twopeasonepod]

We will be on the May sailing, too. We've done a similar itinerary before on the Pixar cruise. As mentioned above, going under the GGB is pretty spectacular. And we love SF! Too bad it isn't longer.

 

[katds10]

We did LA-Vancouver in May a couple of years ago and it was the worst weather of all of our cruises (including CA coast with similar stops but in September and Alaska in May). It was nice at first but at least half of it was terribly windy with some rain. Like the wind made it hard for my then 2 year old to walk on the upper decks outside. It was also the rockiest seas we have experienced. I think our cruise may have been a 7 night. There was a stop in Victoria and lots to do there for little kids and Vancouver is great too but I would spend that $ on a different disney cruise and go to SF for your son to visit his friend without the time constraints of having to be back on board by a certain time (unless it's one of the cruises that stays overnight in SF)?

 

[ludari]

I have done three west coast cruises including the Vancouver to SD cruise and enjoyed it very much. As others have mentioned yes they have a pirate night and during my cruise the weather was so, so until we reached San Diego. Vancouver has all sorts of things to do... shopping, museums, tons of great restaurants, etc... On my reposition cruise we also stopped in Victoria and although it was very pretty I've been there four times and I find it difficult to find something I'm really interested in doing.