Thanks for the info!  I think we'll go that route rather than a hotel with parking.  At least it looks like the convention center is indoors and relatively secure.  We've left our car in terminal lot in San Pedro before, it was filthy after two weeks.  We started carrying window cleaner and paper towels to clean the windows before hitting the road home 😉 

This thread has useful information for us, we'll be on the Miracle in April for a 14 day Alaska.  

I have a question that I don't think has been addressed.  When you return, does the shuttle back to the convention center take your entire party and luggage?  Does the driver take the shuttle and retrieve the car and return the the terminal to pick up his party and baggage?

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

On 2/8/2023 at 3:05 PM, mcmarya said:

Here's a photo of the beach at the King K Courtyard--open to the public.  If it's not windy, the water is actually clear and you can even snorkel.  The big island is not known for sandy beaches since it is a volcanic island. 

This it the beach we've been referring to -- We were there a couple of days ago, we're currently on on the Koningsdam.  There are restrooms and showers as well as rentals for umbrellas and chairs.  There are restaurants in the hotel as well as in the immediate area.  Ullani's Shave Ice has a service window to the beach.  They have some of the best shave ice in the islands.  

The hotel has been renovated and there was a nice art gallery as well as some Hawaiian artifacts.  It's worth a walk through. 

We didn't snorkel this time, but in the past we were surprised to find the snorkeling better than we expected.  The conditions depend on the tides and weather.  It was a little windy for us this week.

Yes, the other side of the tender pier is not very nice for swimming.  

Aloha!

10 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Samsung on Koningsdam and most other ships, but Rotterdam has LG

Thank you!  

Does anyone know the brand of the TV's on the Koningsdam?

Thanks!

Aloha - not sure on umbrellas, but it is a nice beach.  Here is a link for an earlier thread about it

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2905611-kona-beaches/?do=getNewComment

We'll be there in a couple of weeks  

Aloha!  

That was our experience.  We showered the sand off right there. 

Ululani‘s Hawaiian Shave Ice is right in the hotel, it is one of the better shave ice chains in the islands. We've never tried that location, but have been several times to the ones in Lahaina and Khei on Maui. It has always been excellent.  

There are numerous restaurants across the street.

Aloha 

PS - There is a nice sand beach there also. This is the name - Kamakahonu Beach

Aloha! 

We've snorkeled at the beach right next to the tender pier in Kona, in front of the King Kamehameha hotel.  Considering how incredibly easy it was, the snorkeling was pretty decent.  There are plenty of food options with an easy walk.  

Aloha!

We've also done Hawaii many times from San Diego and a few from LA.  The weather has always gotten better as my get closer to Hawaii.  We've had pretty rough sea a few times the first day out of S.D.  

We'll be on the Koningsdam on the 31st - it's one of our favorite cruises.

Aloha!

It is right in the center of town. Google this name;  This is where it has been in the past. 

Terminal Turistica Aguila Malecon

Our experience there was also years ago,  We had left over credit also, we used it at their convenience store and brought cans of Coke back to the ship.

We had a good time  

On 5/10/2021 at 11:22 AM, pbenjamin said:

"Mexican Riviera" cruises don't stop in Acapulco, they all seem to do Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán, but if you look at a map it would seem that Acapulco is way too far south to be included in such an itinerary.  Panama Canal and repositioning cruises do stop in Acapulco, at least at times.

they used to do Acapulco on 10 day Mexican cruises.  We were there many times. it's too bad what has happened there.  (Carnival used to do an 8 day from San Diego, it was Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo -- we did that several times also)

We always get a port side balcony on west coast Mexican cruises. If the arrival time in Cabo is later in the morning most lines cruise close to the beautiful Baja peninsula.  it is gorgeous,  from the blue water, to the strip of empty beaches to the rugged mountains.  It is our favorite part of the cruise.

On the way back, they do not do this.  If you want to see almost nothing but water,  go starboard.  

sad to think that they are taking crow bars and torches to it now -- what a waste 

7 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I would not expect much. 2019 did not sell well, and 2020 had a reduced schedule compared to 2019. 2021 was further reduced both in number of departures and ship size (original deployment on Sun for only 4 sailings, now on Crown for only 2 sailings.

 

The sailings from LA are not as popular due to the number of days (usually 3 in each direction) at sea with only minimal gain in the number of ports as compared to a 10 day from San Francisco or Seattle/Vancouver.  I’d rather see Princess offer a 10 to 14 day sailing round trip from either Seattle or Vancouver with 6-8 ports and 2 Glacier viewing days (similar to what HAL has traditionally offered)

All good points, but how important not flying will be to people remains to be seen.  The San Pedro cruise port is an easy drive for over 16.5 million people (LA & San Diego metro areas) and we have several friends that drive over from Arizona and southern Nevada for cruises, so maybe another 10 million.  That is a heck of a lot of folks, some of those, may have flown in the past and now prefer not to if there is another option.  Our last San Pedro cruise we had a couple at our table that drove to the port from central Texas.  

Princess is positioning the Crown in San Pedro for the entire summer next year for Mexico and Coastals. Those have not been offered in recent history, if ever, during the summer. 

This are interesting times  (not in a good way)   

We have our fingers crossed from more options from LA 

3 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

With Alaska so much of one's enjoyment can be affected by the weather and choice of activities.

Our weather was so bad, most excursions were canceled, including the famous zipline.  The was late September, we knew we were taking a gamble.  

We're just a little disappointed to not have Victoria.  That city is absolutely stunning.  We were looking forward to returning.  

We're not hikers, and with all of the other Alaskan ports, there is more than enough outdoor activities for us, once you get out of town past the tacky tourist shops. 

We were bored to tears in Icy Straight several years ago -- heavy rains and high winds didn't help  😉

That's what's great about cruising there is something for everyone.

We're looking forward to booking the 17th -- it will be great to have a nice balcony compared to the Sun  

Someone on one of the Sun Princess Roll Calls discovered from the San Pedro cruise site that the Crown Princess is scheduled to sail on 7-3 and 7-17 for 14 day cruises.  I think that confirms the speculation about which ship it will be  

The Ruby is currently booked for some 10 day Alaska's May 2021 from San Francisco 

5 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

Why gas no one mentioned Royal as a possibility. She has sailed LA to Alaska last summer, 10 days if I remember correctly.

If it was 10 days, it may have been out of San Francisco.  The shortest I've seen from LA is 12 days.  (Golden a couple of years ago) 

The possibilities are fascinating, plus it gives us something to talk about 😁

Looking forward to the 7th (we would have been Elite and could have booked on the 6th, if we could have taken all of our canceled cruises)

We hope the price is reasonable.  We booked our Sun cruise with FCC's purchased on board so the 125% offer doesn't mean much.

If it's the Crown and she's uncommitted, I wonder why just two cruises.  2019 they did them all summer on the Golden. 

Flying isn't going to be very popular anytime soon, so I would think there would be more of a demand for it.  Of course, it remains to be seen if cruising will be popular again.  

19 hours ago, weedpindle said:

Always the chance the Sun will go after the last Aug cruise

not much of one, Peace Boat has already announced their "new" ship will sail in spring of 2021