February Hawaiaan cruise-lots of sea days

[Texed]

I personally observed a roaring fight between two passengers well in their 70's at the waffle bar.

 

I want everyone to know, I was not one of these folks. First of all, I am not in my 70's, and most of all, I am too much of a coward to fight. :cool:

[houtbay]

Sea days are wonderful. A time to relax, read and enjoy nature. I have just returned from Auckland to CA on a container ship where there are no activities but loved every moment, even the gale we experienced between Ensenada and Oakland.

[Kellie Poodle]

We did the April 20,2012 sailing.

 

The weather was a little cool the first day then it warmed up. The weather on the return sailing was not nice. Cool and windy and choppy seas.

 

The weather in the Hawaiian ports was very pleasant. We did get rained on in Hilo at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The sun was shining when we walked from the car but a sudden storm came up and we got soaked. Don't ever walk around without a rain poncho in Hilo.

 

There is a Hawaiian Ambassador on the ship named June. She and her two ukelele-playing friends are just fabulous.

 

On the days we sailed to Hawaii, there were ukelele lessons and hula lessons. We also learned to make kakui nut leis and ribbon leis. There were more craft classes on the return voyage.

 

June not only taught the crafts, but we learned a good deal about Hawaiian culture and history from the little anecdotes she shared while we were with her.

 

There were numerous trivia games, lots of people playing bridge and board games. We had a group for Mah Jongg and played just about every day. There was also line dancing and events like putting contest, shuffleboard contest, ping pong tournament, etc.

 

I was never, ever bored during the entire cruise. As a matter of fact, I had brought several books on my Nook that I wanted to read and never found the time to read them.

 

My DH, who is not overly fond of sea days did not have a problem at all.

[misha1]

I want everyone to know, I was not one of these folks. First of all, I am not in my 70's, and most of all, I am too much of a coward to fight. :cool:

 

Ha Ha Texed! I pictured you at the waffle bar trying to get at your daily portion while the battle was being waged.

[Texed]

Ha Ha Texed! I pictured you at the waffle bar trying to get at your daily portion while the battle was being waged.

 

That is why I wanted to clarify it. ;)

[fleckle]

That is why I wanted to clarify it. ;)

Well, it is a good thing you did.

Whenever a Celebrity ship and waffles are mentioned together, we all know who immediately comes to everyone's mind, the one and only Celebrity waffle celebrity. :D

[LynnObie]

LynnObie,I wish we were doing this cruise next February but we already have our Caribbean cruise booked. I am a long range planner and am looking at Feb. 2014. it would have been fun to meet you!

 

I am assuming that this itinerary will still be offered. I wonder if they will continue with the Century for the 15 day, San Diego, roundtrip. We are long time Celebrity cruisers and, for some reason, we have never sailed on the Century.

Beebee, Looks like Century is currently scheduled to do some 15 day Hawaii cruises in Feb & Mar, 2014 but out of Los Angeles. Who knows, maybe we'll even to decide to go again in 2014.:D

[allatrop1]

I wish... the weather will be a good 82 to 85 with 68 to 74 at night.

Ir rains daily on the east side and Kauai, Maui, Kona, Honolulu are all on the warn dry west side.... Rainy season? more in the summer, really

due to higher humidity... Winter no so much....but what do I know I only live here for the past 10 years

 

Seriously the paccific transit is a piece of cake... the rough is so minimal I dont notice it... some do. I have done it in vessels from 42 ft to 986 ft

 

The sea days are the jewels they give you ancicipation in a world of instant gratification. The are the essence of the spirt of ocean travel.; the romance of the sea thet Melville, Stevenson and CS Forester wrote of.

Discovering Hawaii by air is a shallow and empty experience by comparision... By ship , however, it is a special experiece, seeing the moody predawn give way to a vague shape and watching it slowly evolve in a spectral array of color. You will thus discover the islands as did Cok and the marquseans did centuries before.

 

In addition, you will travel to the best spots of all Hawaii, , the travel to each island is only by air and costs $100 min one way per island with an average of 150 for the good times.

 

Then the return trip will give you a time to also refelect of your experience and enjoy the discoveries you have made... You would never get to experience by flying.... not in a million years.

 

WOW sitting here on a sunday morning in New Hampshire and reading those words............... I feel the sun on my face and the ocean breeze,,,,,,,, you write like a poet OOOOOOOO sea days...........

[phoenix_dream]

I have come to enjoy a few sea days on cruises, but I personally just cannot imagine that much time at sea, particularly in a row. I don't care how many activities are planned - I would be bored silly after the first two or three. I also do not have good sea legs and would be concerned about the state of the seas - if you encounter a bad sea day in the Caribbean for example, chances are it will ease the next day and/or you will hit an island. If by chance the seas are rocky all the way to Hawaii - OMG I can't even imagine how horrid that would be! The odds may be that most of the trip will be calm, but sometimes the odds go against you.

 

But I am not others - what is too much risk for me may be just right for others. And with due respect to my elders (and I am no youngster myself at 60), there is a different ambiance on a cruise where the demographic is mostly over 70, and many considerably so. Elevators are more crowded and difficult to get onto, buffet lines are longer and slower, the music is geared more towards swing than current music, and the night venues dry up after 10 pm. This has been my experience on the couple of cruises I have taken with this demographic. Didn't bother me a bit and it is not a criticism, but it was different. Whether you care about those differences or not is up to the individual's preferences.

[We're The Groupnors]

We did the LA-Hawaii round trip on the Summit in April a number of years ago. We had warm weather and the seas were like glass both ways. I know we got lucky as the cruise before us was apparently so rough even the crew was having a hard time handling it. We absolutely loved all the sea days and were never bored. We also found the age mix was very good; we were in our mid-30s at the time. What we loved about going to Hawaii by ship was a lot of what Hawaiidan described in his lovely post: cruising through the morning mist into port, sailing past the lava flows one dark evening and seeing new land being created as the red lava flowed into the sea, and the best was sailing out of our last port and knowing we still had four more days of vacation ahead! Have a wonderful cruise!

[CRUZBUDS]

That's the beauty of cruising, there is something for everyone.

 

LA in 2014. :eek:

[fleckle]

.....What we loved about going to Hawaii by ship was a lot of what Hawaiidan described in his lovely post: cruising through the morning mist into port' date=' sailing past the lava flows one dark evening and seeing new land being created as the red lava flowed into the sea,.....[/quote']Yes, you can have all these experiences on whichever cruise you take, the round trip cruise, or the one way cruise, or the inter-island cruise.

 

They all go around from island to island, with slight differences in their itineraries, except that the inter-island cruise gives you more time visiting the islands than any of the others.

 

.... and the best was sailing out of our last port and knowing we still had four more days of vacation ahead!

This is where the major difference occurs.

 

Some like to spend those last four or five days cruising out in the ocean reminiscing about Hawaii.

Others would rather actually spend those additional vacation days in Hawaii and do their reminiscing after they get home.

 

In most cases it basically comes down to a combination of personal preference and cost.

[fleckle]

Delete dup

[Cruise Arizona]

All this talk about the Hawaii cruise and sea days got me sentimental so I watched my DVD home movies out last night at watched the cruise.

 

It was such a wonderful cruise for a person with a busy schedule. 4 1/2 days at sea, followed by 5 whirl wind days to touring the islands, followed by 4 1/2 days at sea. It was just perfect for us. We got to see the islands and get lots of relaxation and pampering on the way there and the way back.

 

It fit my busy family perfectly, but may not be right for everyone. My husband likes to do very little on vacation, but on this trip we crammed a lot into our 5 days in Hawaii.

 

Kauai (which I think only NCL visits now) - we rented a jeep and drove up to Waimea canyon and then went snorkeling at Poipo beach.

 

Oahu - we went to the AZ memorial in the morning and then hiked diamond head in the afternoon. We even had time to buy silk leis, Hawaiian shaved ice, and swing by the King Kameahmeah statue and Iolani Palace.

 

In Hilo, we visited Volcanoes National park.

 

In Kona, we chartered a snorkle boat to Kileakua Bay.

 

In Lahaina, we did a walking tour and souvenir shopping.

 

After all that it was so much nicer to have a few days of pampering, fun and relaxation rather than have to board a plane and fly back to the mainland. We enjoyed the band by the pool and the kids had a great time either in the fun factory or playing a game of ping pong with some senior passengers. We also had two formal nights on the return trip and the Captains Club party. It was really a lot of fun.

 

I discovered that Sea Days were my thing when I took my first longer cruise in 1980. It was on the Stattendam Christmas cruise and because it was a longer voyage it had many more sea days than a typical 7 day cruise. My favorite part was enjoying my fellow passengers and the on board activities. I am very lucky that my husband loves Sea Days too, and we have tried to book cruises with as many sea days as possible. We've done the Hawaii cruise and two Trans Atlantic. We loved the 6 or 7 days in a row on the TA's.

 

But it might not be for everyone, so that is why as some one mentioned before that cruise lines offer different options for different kinds of people.

 

Only you can decide what it the best option for you. Book what is best for you and enjoy!

[LynnObie]

.....It was such a wonderful cruise for a person with a busy schedule. 4 1/2 days at sea, followed by 5 whirl wind days to touring the islands, followed by 4 1/2 days at sea. It was just perfect for us. We got to see the islands and get lots of relaxation and pampering on the way there and the way back.

 

Kauai (which I think only NCL visits now) ........

 

.....After all that it was so much nicer to have a few days of pampering, fun and relaxation rather than have to board a plane and fly back to the mainland..........

Suzanne... Your experience & feelings about the Hawaii cruise pretty much mirrors ours. We loved all 3 we've done and have another booked. I wish we were going to Kauai again this time but looks like =X= doesn't go there right now as they did the last time we went with them. We also went to Kauai on both Holland America cruises and see that they still visit that port.:)