Tahiti and Hawaii

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Just booked Viking Ocean 32 night LA-Hawaii-Bora Bora-Moorea-Tahiti-Marquesas Isles-SD-LA.  Originally looked at Jan '24 sailing but Memorial Day sale prompted us to switch to 11/10/23.  Promo code is MDS23 and includes price break + stateroom upgrade + free air + bev pkg.

I guess my question is regarding Viking vs Princess vs HAL on a 30+ day Tahiti cruise out of LA or San Diego, since Celebrity doesn't offer a similar cruise, which one would offer more fun during the evening and on sea days?

 

For example, we very much enjoy going to evening shows in the main theater, laugh a lot at game shows, go to a lecture or 2 on sea days which there will be quite a few, and have the option to go to multiple trivias on sea days as well? On Princess and HAL, our loyalty level will also provide us unlimited laundry whereas on Viking I'm guessing laundry is not cheap. Hey, what can I say, those laundry slips can add up on a 35-day cruise! 😉

Edited May 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[alyssamma]

18 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I guess my question is regarding Viking vs Princess vs HAL on a 30+ day Tahiti cruise out of LA or San Diego, since Celebrity doesn't offer a similar cruise, which one would offer more fun during the evening and on sea days?

 

For example, we very much enjoy going to evening shows in the main theater, laugh a lot at game shows, go to a lecture or 2 on sea days which there will be quite a few, and have the option to go to multiple trivias on sea days as well? On Princess and HAL, our loyalty level will also provide us unlimited laundry whereas on Viking I'm guessing laundry is not cheap. Hey, what can I say, those laundry slips can add up on a 35-day cruise! 😉

One other thing to consider is price...I priced out the Viking trip and it's almost 3x what I paid for the Princess trip.

 

Not saying it isn't worth it...just saying cost-wise there is a huge difference.

 

I haven't been on this Princess cruise but people seem to love it. On my roll call there are many people who are doing it for the 3rd and 4th time. Others I know have said it's the best cruise they've taken.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

One other thing to consider is price...I priced out the Viking trip and it's almost 3x what I paid for the Princess trip.

 

Not saying it isn't worth it...just saying cost-wise there is a huge difference.

 

I haven't been on this Princess cruise but people seem to love it. On my roll call there are many people who are doing it for the 3rd and 4th time. Others I know have said it's the best cruise they've taken.

That's what I'm hearing as well. Obviously, there is a reason why Princess does this cruise twice a year, probably because all of us old folks like it so much! 😉 We'd consider HAL, but they just became too boring for us when they implemented their Music Walk entertainment strategy around 5+ years ago.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[debsjc]

I now prefer Princess to HAL, better food quality, younger passenger demographic, and more daytime entertainment (Jenga, bean bag toss, quizes, etc) 

Also The Retreat is a reasonable price, we did half a day for $20 in there on most sea days and it was very luxurious. 

We just do a few bits of laundry in our cabin and hang it to dry over the shower! 

[marieps]

5 hours ago, Texed said:

If I were doing a French Polynesian cruise I would pick a small ship that can enter the lagoons.  😊

That's some big text, Texed. 😁

[Baron Barracuda]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I guess my question is regarding Viking vs Princess vs HAL on a 30+ day Tahiti cruise out of LA or San Diego, since Celebrity doesn't offer a similar cruise, which one would offer more fun during the evening and on sea days?

 

For example, we very much enjoy going to evening shows in the main theater, laugh a lot at game shows, go to a lecture or 2 on sea days which there will be quite a few, and have the option to go to multiple trivias on sea days as well? On Princess and HAL, our loyalty level will also provide us unlimited laundry whereas on Viking I'm guessing laundry is not cheap. Hey, what can I say, those laundry slips can add up on a 35-day cruise! 😉

We're in our 60's and began sailing with X 30 years ago but now prefer Viking.  VO's prices are higher than an X balcony, somewhere around that of a JS.  There are lots of inclusions like free beer & wine with meals (bev pkg is $25 per day), FREE SELF SERVE LAUNDRY including soap, free shore excursions, free wifi, free specialty restaurants and IMO food quality on par with where X was 10 years ago.  Love having sushi and crab legs at the buffet nightly.  No kids under 16 allowed.  One downside is entertainment where the theater is small featuring a small ensemble group of singers.  There is also no casino. 

[floridatravelersforlife]

5 hours ago, Texed said:

If I were doing a French Polynesian cruise I would pick a small ship that can enter the lagoons.  😊

We did that on the Oceania Marina and had a great time.  Some of the channels out through the reefs are really tight, even with the 600 pax ships.

[Gaynors]

5 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Personally, I'm 70 and glad Celebrity doesn't offer longer itineraries. Can you imagine if you were Elite+ trying to stretch those 2 free laundry bags per person over a 35 day "single leg" Celebrity cruise? It took quite the planning for us to stretch our 2 free bags each on our recent Sydney to Honolulu 18-day leg! 🤣

 

Another reason to cruise princess.. love the self service laundry room on each deck 😁.  I'll definitely be spending some time there.  I'm only a lowly platinum member on princess no freebies for me yet.

 

I do enjoy the free laundry on celebrity better though... since they do it for me!

Edited May 31, 2023 by Gaynors
Edit

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Gaynors said:

Another reason to cruise princess.. love the self service laundry room on each deck 😁.  I'll definitely be spending some time there.  I'm only a lowly platinum member on princess no freebies for me yet.

Us too, but we’re closing in on Elite and should get there by the end of this year! 🕺😁

[Gaynors]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Us too, but we’re closing in on Elite and should get there by the end of this year! 🕺😁

I'm a little farther out than that but next year's 32 night cruise will definitely get me closer!

[rollie]

Here are the reasons we chose HAL.  We've been on 32 Celebrity, 1 Viking, and 1 Princess cruise.  We thought Viking would be too boring with all the sea days, and on our last cruise on the Venus, the food was just ok. Princess only does this cruise in the fall and spring, we want to go in the dead of winter.  HAL seems to do a lot of things right for us, and we got a pretty good price.

 

Rollie