7 Day California Coast Cruise
April 18 - 26, 2026
Simon is the naturalist aboard this 7 day Princess Cruise Lines cruise aboard the Ruby Princess that starts and finishes in San Francisco, California. He will be doing several on-board programs, as well as looking for seabirds and sea mammals as we sail along the California coastline into the tip of Mexico.
This cruise leaves San Francisco at 4 PM on Day 1 and sails south along the coast of Southern California. We will look for seabirds and sea mammals along the way and may even find a stray land bird if it lands on the boat. The Ruby docks at 3 ports in California - Santa Barbara, Sand Diego and Los Angeles, where you can spend time exploring the cities, and the city of Ensenada in Mexico. You can take advantage of the cruise ship’s excursions or simply do your own thing. Simon may be doing some land birding, so if you’re interested, talk to him ahead of time. The ship sails back south again along the California coast with more chances for seabirds along the way.
Itinerary of the Ruby
Day 1 - Leave San Francisco
Day 2 - At Sea
Day 3 - Santa Barbara
Day 4 - Ensenada, Mexico
Day 5 - San Diego, California
Day 6 - Los Angeles, California
Day 7 - At Sea
Day 8 - San Francisco
You will have to call Princess Cruises to make your reservation on this cruise and make your own flight reservations to San Francisco. All of this can be arranged and coordinated with Princess Cruise Lines and not with us in the Ventures Birding Office.
Please contact Greggory Howard at Princess Cruise Lines on 1.800.901.1172 Extension 41618 and mention the ship and dates and by mentioning that it’s through Ventures Birding you will be entitled to some on-board credit.
Sea Birds & Mammals We Could See
Sea birds: Surf Scoter, Red and Red-necked Phalarope, Black Turnstone, Parasitic Jaeger, Rhinoceros and Cassin’s Auklets, Scripp’s and Guadalupe Murrelets, Sabine’s, Heermann’s and Western Gulls, Elegant Tern, Black-footed Albatross, Black, Ashy and Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Black-vented, Pink-footed, Flesh-footed, and Sooty Shearwater.
Mammals
Humpback, Gray and Minke Whale, Orca, Harbor Porpoise, Sea Otter, California Sea Lion, Steller’s Sea Lion and Harbor Seal.
