Hawaii Cruises

[jondfk]

On 6/23/2021 at 7:21 AM, CeCe_ said:

For those who had taken the 15 days Hawaii cruise, would 9 days at sea too much?  Is there enough of activities to get pass so many sea days?

 

Thank you.

We love these cruises, we've done six so far and have another booked for January.

 

As to the question of whether the sea days are a problem, look within yourself.  We love the sea days and fall into a pattern, a light breakfast, a lecture or Hawaiian culture event, lunch in the MDR, an afternoon movie, tea time (usually in the Sanctuary in our case), cocktails in one of the lounges and a later than usual dinner.  

 

Princess do a good job loading up the activities on sea days.  We've literally never been bored but we do meet passengers on every sailing that are chomping at the bit to make that first port call.  

 

Personal preference really.

[bonsai3s]

Love the Hawaii cruises.  Sail away out of SF, looking at the beautiful skyline, sailing by Alcatraz and Angel Islands, the sailing under the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge, as the fog rolls in.......is magical.

 

We love sea days.  Just wanted to mention the husband and wife team of Elua, Dave and Leialoha.

They provide the wonderful Hawaiian music onboard, along with ukelele lessons, hula dancing and lessons, Lei making, and onboard presentations...i.e. Hawaiian food and culture.

 

Note: At the end of the cruise, passengers who participated in the ukelele lessons and hula lessons are encouraged to join Dave and Leialoha on stage to perform......fond memories.

[Thrak]

12 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Note: At the end of the cruise, passengers who participated in the ukelele lessons and hula lessons are encouraged to join Dave and Leialoha on stage to perform......fond memories.

 

At least for now that won't happen. Princess has specifically said that entertainers won't have any on-stage interaction with passengers. Guess that means the magicians can't use audience members. (I was once dragged onto the stage to "assist" a magician. It was right after some guy had dumped a Bloody Mary down the leg of my pants. I was wearing light colored pants. I was not "happy to assist".)

[CeCe_]

I just booked us for Fall 2022 sailing on Ruby, YAY!  Thanks for all the help!  We will do the land trips in Spring.   I'll keep the cruise a secret from hubby for now.

Edited June 24, 2021 by CeCe_

[voljeep]

we've never done the Hawaii sailing - talked about it - just haven't done it ... yet

 

not really concerned about the 5 days over - seems to be lots of activities, at least pre-'rona

 

a little concerned about the 5 days back, but we would somehow survive those first world problems, huh?

[CeCe_]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

we've never done the Hawaii sailing - talked about it - just haven't done it ... yet

 

not really concerned about the 5 days over - seems to be lots of activities, at least pre-'rona

 

a little concerned about the 5 days back, but we would somehow survive those first world problems, huh?

 

About the 4 days back, there is something to look forward to in Mexico, then time will go by quickly.  🙂

[Thrak]

Love the sea days. We did a 15 day Hawaii in the past and loved it. Our favorite cruise to date was 28 days and went not only to Hawaii but then on to Bora Bora, American Samoa, Tahiti, and Moorea. Lots of sea days - in fact the last 10 days or so coming back from Moorea were all sea days. Not a problem for us at all. (Now a 14 day Circle Caribbean with lots of port days wore us out!)

 

We're booked for Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania in January of 2022. I fully expect those cruises to be cancelled. Once they are actually - officially - cancelled we're thinking about replacing them with a 10 day Mexican Rivera and a 15 day Hawaiian Islands B2B out of SF. Plenty of sea days there as well.

[CeCe_]

11 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Love the sea days. We did a 15 day Hawaii in the past and loved it. Our favorite cruise to date was 28 days and went not only to Hawaii but then on to Bora Bora, American Samoa, Tahiti, and Moorea. Lots of sea days - in fact the last 10 days or so coming back from Moorea were all sea days. Not a problem for us at all. (Now a 14 day Circle Caribbean with lots of port days wore us out!)

 

We're booked for Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania in January of 2022. I fully expect those cruises to be cancelled. Once they are actually - officially - cancelled we're thinking about replacing them with a 10 day Mexican Rivera and a 15 day Hawaiian Islands B2B out of SF. Plenty of sea days there as well.

 

I am Green with envy!  The Tahiti is also on my radar.

[Astro Flyer]

14 minutes ago, CeCe_ said:

 

I am Green with envy!  The Tahiti is also on my radar.

Whenever OZ & NZ reopen to cruising you might consider the month long Sydney to LA (or reversed order) cruise.

 

We enjoyed flying one-way to SYD to see the Sydney area and then beautiful NZ. We thought adding NZ & a few other South Pacific islands was better for us than the roundtrip LA to HI & French Polynesia. For us NZ was the highlight of that cruise. 😊

 

Our September 2020 cruise of 30 days around OZ was obviously canceled but hopefully someday we’ll be able to experience our final cruise bucket list destination. 🤞🤞

[Thrak]

3 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Whenever OZ & NZ reopen to cruising you might consider the month long Sydney to LA (or reversed order) cruise.

 

If they were open now we would possibly book the Sydney to SF cruise that then connects onto our 12 day Alaska cruise that is already booked. That would be a great combination!

[Astro Flyer]

32 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

If they were open now we would possibly book the Sydney to SF cruise that then connects onto our 12 day Alaska cruise that is already booked. That would be a great combination!

That would be great!!! 😃

 

With your cruise early next year downunder that will likely be canceled hopefully you could replace it with those B2B cruises.

 

In Fall 2009 the Star sailed a month from SF to Sydney & then a month to LA. Talked to several Canadians who took the train to SF and then from LA…60 great days without ever getting on a plane! 👍

Edited June 24, 2021 by Astro Flyer

[phoebe2m]

We are going on the 15 day Hawaii cruise on the Sapphire 9/28/22. This will be our longest cruise but we've wanted to do it for a long time. I'm sure we will find fun stuff to do on the sea days. 

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

Whenever OZ & NZ reopen to cruising you might consider the month long Sydney to LA (or reversed order) cruise.

 

We enjoyed flying one-way to SYD to see the Sydney area and then beautiful NZ. We thought adding NZ & a few other South Pacific islands was better for us than the roundtrip LA to HI & French Polynesia. For us NZ was the highlight of that cruise. 😊

 

Our September 2020 cruise of 30 days around OZ was obviously canceled but hopefully someday we’ll be able to experience our final cruise bucket list destination. 🤞🤞

We are already booked for April of 2023, 28 day, Sydney to LA, on the Majestic.  We have also been on the 28 day, round-trip LA to Tahiti several times. One of our favorite itineraries!

[AZjohn]

To OP's question, It might come down to if you have the time and money as far as days at seas.

I'm still working and go to Maui every year for two weeks. Thus, we would much rather spend our days on the beach at our timeshare.

 

Sea days we can handle and really enjoy is a max of 3 days in a row. But, then again we cruise for the ports and exploration. Perhaps in a few years when I retire we will think about itineraries with more sea days.

 

As I opened with, if you got the time and money, enjoy the SF-HI cruises. I personally always seem short on time or money (or both:) )

 

Aloha,

John

[cr8tiv1]

Time to chime in.  I fly to Honolulu multiple times a year.  IF....IF...given the opportunity to sail over on a cruise ship for 5 days, I'd do it in a heart beat.

 

Princess provides many many activities (pre Covid).  Don't know how that will change.  There used to be port talks and lectures on the way over. On the way back, there would be Hawaiian history lectures or a naturalist on board.

 

I am afraid that the ukulele classes and hula lessons may have to be modified since they are always packed with enthusiastic passengers.

 

I have done the cruise many times even though I grew up on the islands and return frequently.  

 

If possible, I would move your cruise up a few months.  Most humpbacks have left the island by April.  

[LACruiser88]

The Governor of Hawaii just announced that as of July 8th, no covid testing will be required for those that are vaccinated.  This is great news for the upcoming Hawaii cruises with vaccinated passengers!

[CeCe_]

22 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The Governor of Hawaii just announced that as of July 8th, no covid testing will be required for those that are vaccinated.  This is great news for the upcoming Hawaii cruises with vaccinated passengers!

 

What a wonderful perk!

 

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Time to chime in.  I fly to Honolulu multiple times a year.  IF....IF...given the opportunity to sail over on a cruise ship for 5 days, I'd do it in a heart beat.

 

Princess provides many many activities (pre Covid).  Don't know how that will change.  There used to be port talks and lectures on the way over. On the way back, there would be Hawaiian history lectures or a naturalist on board.

 

I am afraid that the ukulele classes and hula lessons may have to be modified since they are always packed with enthusiastic passengers.

 

I have done the cruise many times even though I grew up on the islands and return frequently.  

 

If possible, I would move your cruise up a few months.  Most humpbacks have left the island by April.  

 

Thank you for the suggestion.   Look like most of good cabins have been sold out in that timeframe.

Edited June 24, 2021 by CeCe_

[Astro Flyer]

14 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The Governor of Hawaii just announced that as of July 8th, no covid testing will be required for those that are vaccinated.  This is great news for the upcoming Hawaii cruises with vaccinated passengers!

That’s encouraging news for flying to Hawaii & hopefully by 7/8/21 they’ll reach their state-wide vaccination rate of 60% to not require tests when fully vaccinated. His previous statements said that rate is based on the total population & not only for those who are eligible for the vaccines.

 

Looking forward to eventually learning about their requirements to reopen to cruising. 😊🛳

[cr8tiv1]

Deleted.  

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by cr8tiv1

[caribill]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I am afraid that the ukulele classes and hula lessons may have to be modified since they are always packed with enthusiastic passengers.

 

 

 

By the time the cruises to Hawaii restart, on board rules may change from what they will be this summer.

[DaveB42]

We did it R/T from San Francisco,

I loved the sea days, the only bit I didn't like was the detour to Ensenada to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act. If not for the PVSA we could have had another stop in Hawaii, or it could be a 14 night trip.

[CeCe_]

Some of the violent incidents toward cruise ship tourists in the past still concerned me.  State Department has Mexico as "Reconsider" travel alert just below "Do Not Travel".  In our last pre-covid Mexico cruise, we did not get off the ship on one of the port.

Edited June 25, 2021 by CeCe_

[JF - retired RRT]

23 hours ago, skynight said:

There were tours which included cultural shows and luaus. 

Or you can DIY a luau. The best time to do that is Oahu, since the ship stays in port until late evening.

We did this: https://www.halekoa.com/experiences/events/luau

It's for active/retired military or if you can find someone to "friend" you for the event. On our roll call we had several retired military and the Hale Koa allowed all of us (approx. 12) to attend with our new "friends".

[JF - retired RRT]

18 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

In Fall 2009 the Star sailed a month from SF to Sydney & then a month to LA. Talked to several Canadians who took the train to SF and then from LA…60 great days without ever getting on a plane! 👍

I would book that B2B in a New York second!!!

The only reason we haven't booked a cruise to OZ/NZ is the flying that's needed in one direction or the other.

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

I would book that B2B in a New York second!!!

The only reason we haven't booked a cruise to OZ/NZ is the flying that's needed in one direction or the other.

In 2009 we flew on 3 flights (LAX/SFO/AUK/SYD) because of a great airfare; for our 2020 canceled 30 day around OZ we got non-stops. But either way when flying in steerage it’s not a comfortable experience. For us even a short visit in Sydney (arrived 3 days early) and several days in NZ ports was preferable to driving to the Port of LA for the 28-day roundtrip which we would still like to do someday…no flying!!! 😊