A question/concern about Star Princess Hawaii cruise

[ronmar22]

Have a hold on a cabin on the Star cruising to Hawaii for this coming October. Have cruised 9 times in past but not for past 10-12 years and never on a cruise with so many sea days. I feel that I will enjoy all the sea days but wife isn’t so sure. Can I get some feedback on what activities we can expect on sea days that would be of interest to mid 60’s couple? Thanks in advance.

[ceilidh1]

Have a hold on a cabin on the Star cruising to Hawaii for this coming October. Have cruised 9 times in past but not for past 10-12 years and never on a cruise with so many sea days. I feel that I will enjoy all the sea days but wife isn’t so sure. Can I get some feedback on what activities we can expect on sea days that would be of interest to mid 60’s couple? Thanks in advance.

 

We have done this trip twice - most recently over the holiday season on Star. The sea days are what makes it for us! We had Elua (Hawaiian ambassadors ) onboard for both cruises and they were fabulous - Hula classes, Ukelele lessons, Hawaiian crafts, amazing talks and presentations about the ports, as well as the usual trivia, bingo, games, sales, art auctions, etc. I had trouble fitting in everything I wanted to do, rather than feeling there wasn't enough to do!

[moki'smommy]

We also love the sea days...but then, we cross oceans on cruise ships as often as possible.

[Pam in CA]

There’s far more options for things to do on longer cruises. You’ll have a hard time choosing what to do.

[phred119s]

This is one of our main concerns as well. It’s on my possibility list.

[JF - retired RRT]

This is one of our main concerns as well. It’s on my possibility list.

You won't know, if you don't try. Once you've done a long cruise, you can say, "that was great!" or "won't do that again".

We've done Hawaii cruises 6 times (that was before we moved to HI) and one South Pacific (that has some REAL sea days). Loved every minute. Sea days for us is what cruising is all about.:hearteyes:

[HomelessBear]

It’s just a personal thing but all those sea days were too much for me. I like one or two together, but three or four in a row were just too much. I was chomping at the bit to put my feel on shore again. We couldn’t sit out on our balcony because it was too windy and too cool. If it had been warmer and we could have used the balcony more, it would have been better.

I know many folks love lots of sea days, but even with a lot of activities on offer, I just know now that it’s not for me.

Please don’t let me put you off, but just be aware that lots of sea days are not for everyone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[XBGuy]

As HB said, yes, it is a "personal thing," and, as was also posted, you really have to try it in order to find out, definitively, whether it is for you.

 

Mrs, XBGuy and I love sea days. The 15-day roundtrip to Hawaii is excellent.

 

I have a coffee shop buddy who is very much into cruising. He was reluctant to take the 15-day HI cruise because he did not know if he and his wife would enjoy all the sea days. You can probably guess what is coming. A couple years ago they booked it, and absolutely loved it. They book it every year now, and, in fact they specifically like the Star Princess. That is their favorite ship. Get a load of this. Next spring they've booked a 22-day transpacific cruise--Australia to Los Angeles.

 

I get that some people don't enjoy sea days. I get that some people love them.

 

Now, here is the problem that I see. In my case, if Mrs. XBGuy expressed any negativity about a cruise, I would just move on to an alternative. If she starts out negative, my enjoyment is going to be affected because I am going to concerned about whether she is enjoying herself and hoping that nothing goes wrong. If in this case, your wife had posted the question, I would look at that as a sign, that she does want to consider it.

 

Again, it's a "personal thing." I don't know you, and I don't know your wife.

[skynight]

Have a hold on a cabin on the Star cruising to Hawaii for this coming October. Have cruised 9 times in past but not for past 10-12 years and never on a cruise with so many sea days. I feel that I will enjoy all the sea days but wife isn’t so sure. Can I get some feedback on what activities we can expect on sea days that would be of interest to mid 60’s couple? Thanks in advance.

Just a few

Organized daytime activities (*cost involved)

Trivia twice maybe three times a day

Art Auctions* (free to look expensive to buy)

Lectures

Uke lessons

Hula classes

Ballroom dance classes

Silly games like putting contests, drink mixing, ring toss, and more

Bingo*

Casino*

Cooking demos

Drink mixing demos

Some crafts*

Knitters & Natters

 

Unorganized activities

Cards and other games

Roll Call activities such as slot pulls

[LarryL]

We were very busy every sea day on our "Star" Hawaii cruise. In fact, we had wanted to take in the Hawaii enrichment classes and never did get to them. The ships staff has included a nice variety of activities through the day and it would be hard to not find one you would enjoy. Last year I posted the Patters from our cruise so I am adding the link for you. I hope you can get some, better, insight. I think you'll love this cruise and ship. Both were our all time favorites.:)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2463736

[piescruises]

You'll love the star it's nice it has 3 different types of pools:shaded, enclosed and open. the food is Delicious, especially the international cafe. There is great views during the day from skywalkers and there's a lot do like any grand-class princess ship

[Roatanfans]

The first time we took this cruise was because I had just got my twins out of the toddler stage and I was ready for my first break away from 3 children- I couldn't wait for those sea days- sleeping in, napping, relaxing, eating hot food, reading a book sounded like heaven. Problem was there were so many things to do and see I never really got to sleep as much as I had hoped- I was too busy with lectures, crafts and all kids of things (usually had to try and choose between more than one thing). We have since gone twice more and I still can't quite get enough down time (the kids come with us now)- but we love this itinerary!

[KBS1607]

I loved the cruise long trivia on our Panama Canal cruise.

 

The five sea days in a row is a lot, though.

[phred119s]

You won't know, if you don't try. Once you've done a long cruise, you can say, "that was great!" or "won't do that again".

We've done Hawaii cruises 6 times (that was before we moved to HI) and one South Pacific (that has some REAL sea days). Loved every minute. Sea days for us is what cruising is all about.:hearteyes:

I’m for it. My husband isn’t as much. Capt Tuvo’s fault for even planting the seed in a discussion we were having about my daughter’s 50th state.

[ronmar22]

You folks are all awesome. Thanks for honest replies. When I asked the question, I did realize that without knowing us it’s obviously difficult to predict if we would enjoy sea days or not. However, the input that we have received has very much helped us make the decision. Like some have said, “ya won’t know until ya try it”. We have decided to go for it. In younger days, maybe not. We are a little more “layer back” these days. Also, some of the activities mentioned sound interesting. Thanks again and we “both” are looking forward for to get back into cruising.

[durangokid]

We did this cruise last October and have booked it again for December 2019. Enjoy your cruise! (Met some people on board that do this cruise every year - how I wish I could do that!)

[phred119s]

We were very busy every sea day on our "Star" Hawaii cruise. In fact, we had wanted to take in the Hawaii enrichment classes and never did get to them. The ships staff has included a nice variety of activities through the day and it would be hard to not find one you would enjoy. Last year I posted the Patters from our cruise so I am adding the link for you. I hope you can get some, better, insight. I think you'll love this cruise and ship. Both were our all time favorites.:)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2463736

 

Thank you for referencing the link!!!

[XBGuy]

I know you'll have a great cruise, Ronmar.

 

(y)

 

When you return, come back here and give us a report.

[ronmar22]

Thanks XBguy. Will do.

[Thrak]

We did the 28 day Hawaii and South Pacific cruise last year. 18 sea days on that one and the last 8 days were all at sea coming back from Moorea to LA. We had a great cruise. Glad you decided to give the Hawaii trip a try. We love that cruise and will be doing it again one of these days. We did a 14 day Circle Caribbean in March and, even though the first port stop was cancelled, it wore us out with all the other port days. We need sea days so we can relax. I have a neighbor who won't take even a 7 day cruise because he says he wouldn't be able to handle being "stuck" on a ship for that long even if there were port stops most days. People are different.

[cmdchiefthom]

My wife and I are booked aboard the Star for the 4 November Cruise, and are very much looking forward to enjoying the sea days this cruise offers. For us, the ship is part of the whole experience, and we always enjoy booking a suite with a large balcony to enjoy the ocean views. So this is just perfect for us:)

[ORB]

Not sure if you’re on the same date we are, but this is our next cruise and we are really looking forward to it. It will be more sea days than we’ve had in a row before, but we usually like sea days so we haven’t been too concerned. We also like to read, so the Kindles will be loaded.

 

We usually find too many port days in a row wear us out, so we expect the sea days on the way back to be a time to recover!

[TriumphGuy]

We did the Hawaii cruise in April 2017 on the Grand, four sea days out, five back to San Francisco with a stop in Mexico. I was wondering how we'd fare, as it was only our second cruise. But we loved it. Very relaxing, I love to read, I would grab a chair on the aft deck near the pool and read, or sit on the balcony. There were plenty of activities, we enjoyed trivia and the BOGO1 Happy Hour was always looked forward to. Not sure if they still have that.

We have never felt the need to be entertained non stop, we just enjoyed the relaxation.

On the last sea day did the Ultimate Ship's Tour which was very interesting and worth the cost.

Our next cruise is port intensive, with only three sea days. Hoping to do Chef's Table. We'll see how that goes.

If you like to relax, you'll love it.

[ronmar22]

Thanks again for all the feedback. We have really never cruised for the ports of call, that is up to now that is (as Hawaii is a bucket list item). Cruise days were always a joy for us on our previous 9 cruises. It was just a concern over SO many sea days in a row that kinda bothered us. However, after the many replies, and more thought on our part, we are very much looking forward to our Oct 20 cruise, both the ports in Hawaii and the relaxing sea days. Now to just find reasonable air fare from Illinois to LA.

[casandbliz]

For those of you that have done the lei making class, how often is it offered? I'm sure it's quite popular, how soon should I plan to get there to get a seat?