The City of Angels is renowned for Hollywood and Rodeo Drive, Monterey for Cannery Row (made famous by John Steinbeck) and San Diego for its Old Town, Zoo and beaches.

Both Los Angeles and San Diego are starting points for cruises up and down the west coast of the USA, going to Mexico, South America and through the Panama Canal. Whenever taking a cruise it can be a good idea to extend the vacation by a few days to spend time in the departure/arrival city. This pair of cities have a lot to offer.

Los Angeles

There are so many parts of Los Angeles that it can be difficult to know where to begin. The best idea is to take a City Tour. These usually last about five hours, but it is time well spent.

Some of the areas visited are Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Here are Mann's Chinese Theater with the foot and hand prints of the famous in the sidewalk in front; and the famous Hollywood sign up in the hills.

The tour stops at the Grand Central Market for lunch, then goes to El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic State Park.

Other tours include a Scenic Drive, a visit tot he Queen Mary at Long Beach and there are also plenty of museums and art galleries to visit.

Monterey

At Monterey the ship anchors off-shore and liberty boats take passengers ashore.

This is a walking city with historic buildings to discover, including the San Carlos Cathedral in the downtown area. Along the waterfront is The First Theater, the Vizcaino-Serra Landing Site and Cannery Row.

Information about the walking tours is available from the City of Monterey.

Cruise ships have tours available covering most people's interests. For example, there is the 17 Mile Drive to Carmel-by-the-Sea. This passes through the Del Monte forest and makes a couple of stops en route to the Pebble Beach Golf Club. The views along the coastline are stunning, from the shoreline with birds, seals and sea lions on the rocks and, inland, towards the Gabilan mountains.

The tour stops at the famous golf club where there is time for refreshment (expensive), shopping (also expensive) and a chance to look at the Green nearest the Club House.

Then it is on to Carmel, which advertises itself at pet-friendly with shops and restaurants welcoming dogs. Most people stay around the center of the hamlet to look at the shops and have lunch.

San Diego

Like Los Angeles, San Diego is somewhere you have to make time for as there is a great deal to see and do.

Between the Old Town with its historic buildings, Balboa Park with its museums and the Zoo, Coronado and the beaches, it is difficult to know where to begin.

Probably with a hop-on-hop-off trolley tour, which goes to almost all of these places. The San Diego Trolley System is another excellent way to get around and, of course, there are plenty of tours to places outside the city such as La Jolla, Del Mar and Carlsbad.

Not to be recommended - a trip to Tijuana in Mexico. It is easy getting in, the problem is getting out. You usually have to stand in a long, long, long line in the hot sun and it can take hours to get through Immigration onto US soil.

Cruise lines using Los Angeles and San Diego include Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess and NCL.

There is another port of call in California, a very famous one called San Francisco.