Cruise: Pacific Coast
Albatrosses, Pterodromas, and Seabirding in Comfort
2025
April Tour Price (6 Day Holland) $890
2025
May Tour Price (4 Day Holland) $670
2025
Tour Price to be Determined
2025
April Tour Price (6 Day Holland) $890
2025
May Tour Price (4 Day Holland) $670
2025
Tour Price to be Determined
Recently West Coast birders have used these cruises as a comfortable platform to look for offshore species, including petrels, storm-petrels, and albatrosses. Our Spring cruises are during peak season for Murphy’s, Hawaiian and Cook’s Petrels, and have had success as well with Laysan Albatross. Our Fall cruises have increased chances for Buller’s, Flesh-footed and Short-tailed Shearwaters, Laysan Albatross, and South Polar Skua, plus the potential for mega-rarities like Short-tailed Albatross, Streaked Shearwater or Mottled Petrel.
22 –26 Oct 2024 on Holland America (Koningsdam) from Vancouver to San Diego: This 4-Day cruise with Holland American Cruises departs from Vancouver at 3pm on 22 October. We’ll enjoy two days at sea, with a stop in Avalon on the 25th. Then we’ll arrive in San Diego on the morning of the 26th. No land excursions will be organized. WINGS price (guiding while on ship) is $565, plus the cost of your berth which should be booked directly with Holland America at the number below. Non-birders traveling with you are exempt from the WINGS charge. Berth prices for this cruise start at only about $219 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $136). Details on booking a berth with Holland America Cruises can be found here.
26 Apr–2 May 2025 on Holland America (Eurodam) from San Diego to Vancouver: This 6-Day cruise with Holland American Cruises departs from San Diego at 4pm on 26 April. The first stop is on day 2 in Avalon, then one full day at sea, and then arrives in San Francisco on the afternoon of 29 April. The cruise then departs San Francisco that evening and followed by two full days at sea. The cruise arrives in Vancouver on the morning of 2 May. No land excursions will be organized. WINGS price (guiding while on ship) is $890, plus the cost of your berth which should be booked directly with Holland America at the number below. Non-birders traveling with you are exempt from the WINGS charge. Berth prices for this cruise start at only about $609 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $215). Details on booking a berth with Holland America Cruises can be found here.
3-7 May 2025 on Holland America (Zaandam) from San Diego to Vancouver: This 4-Day cruise with Holland American Cruises departs from San Diego in the afternoon. The first stop is on day 2 in Avalon, then two full days at sea. The cruise arrives in Vancouver on the morning of 7 May. WINGS price (guiding while on ship) is $670 plus the cost of your berth which should be booked directly with Holland America at the number below. Non-birders traveling with you are exempt from the WINGS charge. Berth prices for this cruise start at only about $259 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $140 per person). Details on booking a berth with Holland America Cruises can be found here.
11–15 October 2025 on Princess Cruises (Sapphire Princess) from Vancouver to Los Angeles (San Pedro): This 4-Day cruise with Princess Cruises departs from Vancouver in the afternoon, has three full days at sea and arrives in Los Angeles on the morning of 15 October. WINGS price (guiding while on ship) is $XXX plus the cost of your berth which should be booked directly with Princess at the number below. Non-birders traveling with you are exempt from the WINGS charge. Berth prices for this cruise start at only about $347 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $130 per person). Details on booking a berth with Princess Cruises can be found here.
Note: The information presented below has been extracted from our formal General Information for this tour. It covers topics we feel potential registrants may wish to consider before booking space. The complete General Information for this tour will be sent to all tour registrants and of course supplemental information, if needed, is available from the WINGS office.
RESERVING YOUR CABIN WITH HOLLAND AMERICA CRUISES: Your berth on this cruise should be booked over the phone with Holland America Cruises to make sure your booking is added to our group number (see details below). All cabins will work equally well with the planned activities. Price depends largely on cabin class with cabin base prices beginning at about $350 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $110). Holland America Reservation Telephone: 1-800-355-3017 extension 29035.
Note: Because we’re a group, all bookings from North America should go through our group organizer with Holland America Cruises, Jim Picicci at 1-800-355-3017 ext. 29035 or [email protected] His hours are 9:30 am-6:00 pm Pacific Time, Monday – Friday. It’s best to book your cabin through the number above and not through a standard travel agency or website such as Kayak, Expedia, or Travelocity (or over the cruise company’s website). If you get his voicemail leave a message with the following information (or dial 0 during the message for one of his support team).
RESERVING YOUR CABIN WITH PRINCESS CRUISES: Your berth on this cruise should be booked over the phone with Princess Cruises to make sure your booking is added to our group number (see details below). All cabins will work equally well with the planned activities. Price depends largely on cabin class with cabin base prices beginning at about $350 per person (interior shared cabin) plus tax, gratuity, and port charges based on double occupancy (about $110). Princess Reservation Telephone: 1-800-901-1172 extension 21678.
Note: Because we’re a group, all bookings from North America should go through our group organizer with Princess Cruises, Melissa Mesker at 1-800-901-1172 ext. 21678 or [email protected] . Her hours are 7:00 am-3:45 pm Pacific Time, Monday – Friday. It’s best to book your cabin through the number above and not through a standard travel agency or website such as Kayak, Expedia, or Travelocity (or over the cruisie company’s website). If you get her voicemail leave a message with the following information (or dial 0 during the message for one of her support team).
Cruise Dates: 22 - 26 OCTOBER 2024
Cruise Route: 4 Day Pacific Coastal (Vancouver, Canada to San Diego)
Ship: Koningsdam
Group Name: FALL WINGS GROUP 2024
Our group code is TNR
Our cruise number or voyage code is K467
————————————————-
Cruise Dates: 26 Apr – 2 May 2025
Cruise Route: 6 Day Pacific Coastal (San Diego to Vancouver, Canada)
Ship: Eurodam
Group Name: WINGSBIRDS GROUP
Our group code is TNW
Our cruise number or voyage code is D527C
————————————————-
Cruise Dates: 3 – 7 May 2025
Cruise Route: 4 Day Pacific Coastal (San Diego to Vancouver, Canada)
Ship: Zaandam
Group Name: WINGS PACIFIC GROUP
Our group code is TNJ
Our cruise number or voyage code is X525B
————————————————-
Cruise Dates: 11- 15 October 2025
Cruise Route: 4 Day Pacific Coastal (Vancouver, Canada to Los Angeles)
Ship: Sapphire Princess
Group Name: WINGS COASTAL 2025
Our group code is TNC
Our cruise number or voyage code is H529
Choosing a cabin with Holland America:
KONINGSDAM: most interior and window view rooms are on lower deck 1. Partial lifeboat-blocked view verandah balcony rooms are midship deck 4. Verandahs are on decks 4-8 and 10 & 11. Signature Suite verandahs and Neptune Suites are on deck 7 and some are at the back of ship on other decks. This ship (975 feet long) has 3 elevators & staircase lobbies to allow you convenient access outdoors on deck 3 (Promenade Deck) or to the high level midship outdoor public viewing deck on deck 11, Sun Deck.
Choosing a cabin on the Sapphire Princess (Open Bow): The closest interior (non-view) cabins to the birding spot are on Deck 5, in the front of the ship, between the elevator and the laundry. If you are worried about the movement of the ship then more stable interior cabins are on Deck 5 near the Art Gallery, though these are also near the Casino and may be noisy. There are also interior cabins mid-ship on Deck 10.
If you prefer a more expensive cabin with an ocean view the closest cabins to the birding location are on Deck 8, in the bow of the ship. Cabins on deck 8 mid-ship are also close to the birding location and more stable than in the front.
Additional information to have at hand before calling to make your booking:
- - Your name(s) as they appear on your passports (first, middle and last)
- - Your date(s) of birth
- - Phone numbers, mailing addresses, and email addresses for all persons who do not have Captain’s Circle or Mariner member numbers
- - Preferred bed configuration (queen vs. twin) for all staterooms – please note for cabins of 3 or more bed configuration may not allow a queen bed. The specific cruise company can provide specific bedding configuration details for each cabin as needed.
- - Family stateroom configurations planned in advance (i.e., for families exceeding 4 persons; maximum stateroom occupancy is 4) or ask about Family Suite accommodations for up to 8 passengers.
- - Dining selections (early, first, or late Traditional Dining, or Anytime dining) Note: Select “Anytime” dining.
- - Any Special Requirements, including but not limited to: special dietary requests like food allergies and dietary restrictions (i.e., vegetarian, kosher, vegan, etc.), or medical considerations.
- - Any birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions that you would like celebrated while onboard
As a general rule, your passport should be valid for at least six months after the date the tour ends. It is always a good idea to take photocopies of your passport and air ticket with you when traveling abroad. They can prove invaluable in helping you get replacements if your original documents are lost or stolen. You should pack the photocopies separately from the originals.
SECOND ID: When boarding on the cruise, the staff will sometimes keep your passport until the end of the cruise (and present it to the immigration service at each landing if applicable). That means that during the land excursions, you will travel with your cabin key replacing your ID on the ship. It is highly recommended you bring a second ID with photo (Driver’s license for example) in case you need to prove your identity for any reason.
TRANSFER BETWEEN AIRPORT AND HARBOR: Transfers to the harbor (from the airport) and back from the harbor are not included in the WINGS quote. We highly recommend that you organize your transfer to/from the airports through Holland America or Princess Cruises. It is easier to do it this way. They can also help with airline reservations.
Important: The cruise lines will not allow you to take one of their shuttles between the airport and harbor if your flight time for your arrival/departure is under the 6hr minimum before/after your embarkation/ disembarkation. In this case you will be obliged to organize your transfer by yourself (by taxi for example), but we highly recommend considering at least 6 hours between your flight and embarkation/disembarkation.
HEALTH: The most current information about travelers’ health recommendations can be found on the Centers for Disease Control’s Travel Health website at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. Specific vaccinations and proof thereof may be required to enter the country.For entry and exit information please visit the U.S. State Department’s website at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html. We strongly recommend contacting your doctor well in advance of your tour’s departure as some medications must be initiated weeks before the period of possible exposure.
Holland America and Princess Cruises places a strong emphasis on keeping healthy and many Purell hand disinfectant are provided throughout the ship. Unfortunately with 2000+ customers on the ship (plus a crew of over 1000), it is always possible to catch a bug, and we recommend bringing cough and cold medications.
Since it may be impossible to obtain personal medications while on the cruise, please bring what you will need.
SMOKING: We follow the cruise lines policy while onboard ship. Clearly marked “Designated Smoking Areas” are available onboard. Generally, these areas include cigar lounges, a section of the nightclub, as well as a portion of the open decks. Please do not smoke near the birding group or in your staterooms. The use of electronic cigarettes is allowed within the confines of the guest’s stateroom (balcony not included) and within designated smoking areas only.
PACE OF THE TOUR: The main tour starts after meeting on the cruise ship at a time and location to be discussed in your Final Information packet sent about a month prior to the cruise. The location of the group for birding while on board the ship will depend on the weather conditions and time of the day. This will be explained by your leader during the first meeting. When sailing, the leader will indicate exactly where and when he will be birding, and you can join for him as long as you want: for just a couple of hours if you also want to enjoy some of the activities offered by the cruise line, or full day if you don’t want to miss any seabirding action.
During the sailing days, the leader is usually on deck birding from dawn to 6:00 p.m. and you can join him when and as long as you want. The leader will need to take occasional breaks, of course. There may of course be special areas during which we’ll want to be on deck regardless of the time. The leader will brief you on these well in advance.
CURRENCY: USD on board ship. Your credit card will be used for incidentals and drinks, etc.
CLIMATE: Bring plenty of warm, layered clothing for being out on the decks for hours. It will be quite chilly in spring! Wool cap, light gloves, down parka or down jacket or vest and sweater with windproof jacket, rain pants to cut any wind and/or a light pair of long underwear. Footgear should be the MOST comfortable thing you have for standing for a bunch of hours. For dinner attire, see below, under Meals. Bring a bathing suit if you want to visit the pool, jacuzzi, etc. There is also a fitness room.
ACCOMMODATIONS: During the cruise, you can choose between several levels of accommodations.
FOOD: An impressive variety of food is served on board ship. Food is served 24 hours a day, and there is no obligation to eat all meals with the group. For lunch, the easiest option is usually to eat at one of the buffets or have a pizza or sandwich. The buffet option is available for dinner as well, though some participants may opt to have a more formal dining experience at one of the ship’s restaurants. Each day the leader will let you know where and when the group will meet for the daily list round-up, and at which restaurant the group will take dinner.
Note: Be sure to select “Anytime dining” when registering for your cabin booking with Holland America Cruises.
DRINKS ON BOARD: The cruise lines offer at no charge water, ice tea, or lemonade. When on board, WINGS doesn’t cover other drinks. Therefore, any other drinks such soft drinks, mineral water, or any kind of alcoholic beverage will be charged to you. Luggage is scanned every time we go on board, and only one bottle of wine, for the entire cruise, is accepted per passenger. If you bring more than one bottle (or another bottle at another landing) Holland and Princess will charge you a corkage fee (approximately 15 US$ per bottle).
TIPPING: Gratuities for WINGS leaders are at your discretion and are not included in the tips that the cruise line adds. The cruise line simplifies the tipping process by adding, a discretionary gratuity of $16.50 per guest for suites, $15.50 per guest for mini-suites and $14.50 per guest (including children) in all other staterooms, per day, is automatically added to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This gratuity will be shared among those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet.
INTERNET: Internet is available on the cruise ship but is quite expensive and often very slow.
ELECTRICITY: On the ship, current is 220V AC. The outlets in your rooms are the standard flat pin as in the United States. Most rooms have two outlets; the obvious one at the desk in the room but also a second behind the TV (which may or may not require unplugging the TV). If you have more than four items you’ll need to charge, it’s recommended to bring a plug-in that will give you more outlets. You shouldn’t have any issues plugging in anything that is considered dual-voltage (120/220). Check for this in the fine print on your device or adaptor. You may want to consult Magellan’s International Travel (www.magellans.com), which features a complete range of adapters and converters (and has details on whether or not you’ll need them).
DRESS: Informal dress is acceptable everywhere, but a nicer outfit is useful if attending more formal dinners on your own or with the group at the end of the cruise.
2022 Narrative
In April, WINGS BIRDING TOURS boarded the cruise ship Discovery in the Port of L.A. for a short but dynamic voyage up the Pacific to Vancouver, BC. A troop of birders had just ran the route a few days earlier than our voyage and they had turned up some great sightings so we were pretty stoked to get underway and see what the far offshore waters would yield for us!
We got underway in the dim light of the evening, nothing of note was recorded that night but the next morning dawn found us off the coast of Santa Barbara still close enough to shore to get a nice selection of gulls as well as another inshore specialty and the only ones we would see on the tour, Black-vented Shearwaters. But we would quickly leave the sight of land and move off the continental shelf into the waters inhabited by various members of the tubenose family. Pink-footed Shearwaters and Black-footed Albatrosses made regular showings and slowly but surely the quarry we sought began to be encountered. Not long after reaching deeper water we saw our first Cook’s Petrels. We would only see a handful of these handsome beasts, but served alongside with our first Laysan Albatross, no one minded too much. Flocks of Sabine’s Gulls were not infrequent, and we plowed through many large flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes. Apparently a few days later, observers at Point Pinos in Monterey Bay would record exceptional numbers of migrant Red-necks; highest ever for that site and we certainly got a nice slice of what the Pinos birders were going to get in a few days.
The winds were pretty strong out there in the deep, but that worked in our favor and though we would not have too many Cook’s Petrels, by midday we had recorded a handful of another major target species, those tasty chocolate treats that are Murphy’s Petrels! We also had a few alcids scattered about, little pods of Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets. Late in the afternoon we were really thrilled to have our first Hawaiian Petrel of the trip! While not the only one we would see this voyage, it was the only one we would see on what turned out to be an incredible day on the ocean. As we moved across the outer mouth of the Monterey Bay that evening, we were treated to thousands of Sooty Shearwaters moving northwards, peppered with Pink-footed Shearwaters and our only Short-tailed Shearwater of the trip.
The next morning we were docked in San Francisco for a day at port. Various tour participants wandered this lovely city, and this break allowed a certain tour-leader a chance to go repair his busted tripod as well as bumping into a family of Chestnut-backed Chickadees outside the camera shop. We boarded the ship later that afternoon to head back out. It was quite the experience sailing out from underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. As we left San Francisco Bay we were treated to lots of Common Murres and Surf Scoters milling about, along with several flocks of Western and Clark’s Grebes.
Our next full day at sea was simply put- fantastic! Northwest winds had blown all night long and even a ship as large as the Discovery did a bit of rolling through the waves. But choppy seas often equals dynamic seabirding and today certainly was the case. Dawn found us somewhere off the shelf on the watery borders of Mendocino and Humboldt counties and we had our first Murphy’s Petrel of the day before our first hour of birding had ended. Their numbers would build all morning culminating in a flock of 47 roosting in the waves before the passing of the ship kicked them up! We would record a total of 139 for the tour- one of the higher totals ever recorded in North American waters! Our first half of the day was in California waters and late in the afternoon passed into Oregon. Same as yesterday, we had nice numbers of Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters, lots of Black-footed Albatrosses, some Northern Fulmars, our first Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels along with some Leach’s Storm-Petrels along with steady numbers of Sabine’s Gulls punctuated by Long-tailed and Pomarine Jaegers. And we had some rarities again as well. No Cook’s Petrels today, but we encountered 7 more Hawaiian Petrels and a handful of Laysan Albatrosses.
Our final morning at sea we woke in northern Washington State. We wouldn’t get any Pteradroma petrels today, there were lots of Black-footed Albatrosses milling about. Our first couple hours we cleaved through large flocks of Red Phalaropes, many in full breeding dress, the morning sun illuminating their brick red coloration. As we drew closer to shore, alcids became more commonly sighted including several Tufted Puffins. Good numbers of Pacific Loons winged by as did several flocks of migrant ducks. We turned inward towards Victoria through the Straits of Juan de Fuca as our Sabine’s Gulls morphed into flocks of Bonaparte’s and the occasional flock of Brants would fly by. We pulled in to dock in Victoria where several Pigeon Guillemots were there to greet us, becoming the last species to be recorded on this year’s tour.
The Tour Information section above links to details on booking cabins, deposit and payment dates and other relevant information.
* The WINGS tour price covers the leaders’ guiding and time on board ship.
* The deposit for this tour is $250.
** Note that a WINGS deposit or payment is not required of non-birding companions who should not expect to join the daytime birding activities. Non-birding companions must of course book their cruise berth with the cruise line.
The max number of birders for these cruises is 8 with one leader and 13 with two leaders.
More Tours with these Leaders
More Tours in this Region
