Tahitian Princess - enough onboard activities for 18 days? Have any Patters?

[YoPhilly]

Considering an 18-day northern Europe transatlantic next year on TP. Since the ship is small, I'm wondering if there is enough onboard activities to keep us occupied for 8 sea days?

 

Remember that we'll be cruising from British Isles to Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland to NY, so I doubt there will be much lounging in the warm sun!;)

 

Do they offer daytime movies? Will they have an onboard naturalist for this itinerary?

[Spikesgirl]

I guess it really depends upon how much it takes to keep you busy. We were on her for 16 days (SE Asia), but have to confess that it was port, sea day, port, sea day. i think we only had one case of two sea days back-to-back.

 

We did have a guest lecturer on board, ours was a specialist in ship wrecks and gave lectures on Titanic (he was a consultant on the movie), other famous ship wreck, pirates, etc. He was a good speaker and I enjoyed listening to him. There were also a variety of activities from Scholarship @ Sea classes to the usual tours, exhibitions, sport activites (ping pong was very popular on the ship) and lots of folks were playing mah jong. I enojyed the jigsaw puzzels that seemed to be constantly changing due to the large number of folks working on it. Mostly, however, I used the time to read and just relax (I don't sunbathe, so I mostly stuck to our balcony.)

 

I think you can be as busy or not on the ship and i'm sure that there will be plenty to do during those sea days.

 

Charlie

[texswamper]

Just my personal experience with 10 days on the Tahitian (3 sea days in a row), I would have a hard time with that many sea days. We loved the ship and the intimate size and we would sail on that size ship again. However, many of us in our CC group were pretty bored by the 3rd sea day and ready to get off on dry land. Beautiful ship and lots of great things about it, but just not for us with lots of days at sea. As the last person stated, it depends on how you enjoy filling your time.

[whale-watcher]

We are booked on a 14 day cruise on the TP...to Alaska. I am a little worried about our kids, although we will have a busy port schedule, and there should be a lot to look at on most of the sea days.

[YoPhilly]

I guess it really depends upon how much it takes to keep you busy. We were on her for 16 days (SE Asia), but have to confess that it was port, sea day, port, sea day. i think we only had one case of two sea days back-to-back.

 

We did have a guest lecturer on board, ours was a specialist in ship wrecks and gave lectures on Titanic (he was a consultant on the movie), other famous ship wreck, pirates, etc. He was a good speaker and I enjoyed listening to him. There were also a variety of activities from Scholarship @ Sea classes to the usual tours, exhibitions, sport activites (ping pong was very popular on the ship) and lots of folks were playing mah jong. I enojyed the jigsaw puzzels that seemed to be constantly changing due to the large number of folks working on it. Mostly, however, I used the time to read and just relax (I don't sunbathe, so I mostly stuck to our balcony.)

 

Normally, I could happily sit on deck or on my balcony for hours at a time. I guess I'm concerned that the weather will be rather cool-cold through Iceland/Greenland/Newfoundland - too cool for relaxing outside. What about inside activities?

 

(I'm getting a bad vibe here......wondering if this is the best choice of ship for a cold weather route.)

[Toto2Kansas]

8 Sea Days in a cold climate? Nope, that would not interest me at all on this ship. Just too small with two few indoor activities to keep me busy for that length of time I am afraid. IMHO of coarse! ;) A port intensive cruise, that might be different. But that is a lot of sea days trying to stay inside and keep warm on a ship this size.

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Considering an 18-day northern Europe transatlantic next year on TP. Since the ship is small, I'm wondering if there is enough onboard activities to keep us occupied for 8 sea days?

 

Remember that we'll be cruising from British Isles to Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland to NY, so I doubt there will be much lounging in the warm sun!;)

 

Do they offer daytime movies? Will they have an onboard naturalist for this itinerary?

 

 

We did a transatlantic on the TP's sister ship on the Oceania line. We watched more movies than I think I have seen in the last two years! Very boring if the weather is cool or rainy. We had one guest speaker & while he was great, there was only one each day. I like a more port intensive cruise.

 

Jan

[caribill]

Remember that we'll be cruising from British Isles to Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland to NY.

 

 

And, going in that direction you will have some 25-hour days as you change time zones.

[Spikesgirl]

It sounds like from what folks are saying that you might want a bigger ship to do a TransAtlantic. I'm easy to amuse and rarely leave my cabin on a sea day (even to sit out on the balcony), so I'm probably not the best judge of 'busy'.

 

Charlie

[Pam in CA]

I don't think the size of the ship matters so much as the CD. We were on the Golden Princess just over a year ago and the CD planned so few activities that everyone was pretty much sitting around and doing nothing most of the sea days. Yet on the Regal Princess (about half the size and number of passengers as the Golden) several years ago to/from HI with 10 sea days out of a 15-day cruise, the CD was fantastic and had a wide range of activities (indoor and outside) that no one appeared to be bored or just wandering around looking for something to do.

 

This is where a good CD is important and can make a difference. It doesn't matter a hoot whether they can sing, dance, tell a joke or juggle as long as they are good and creative planners. IMHO, that makes all the difference. I've been on many cruises with CDs people think are great because they're so "funny" but they couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag.

[YoPhilly]

I'm convinced.....I'll scrap that idea! Thanks for all of your input.

 

I do want to try one of the small ships and will try for a warmer climate.:)

[Hoyaheel]

I do want to try one of the small ships and will try for a warmer climate.:)

Doesn't have to be that warm;) We did Alaska on the Pacific Princess in Sept 07 and LOVED it--we were out on the balcony as often as possible, no matter what the weather! (this is where your goretex layers come in handy:D )

 

Hubby had been thinking about doing that northern Atlantic TA on the Tahitian but we decided to book northern europe instead--it wasn't the sea days on the small ship that concerned us, but the possibility of rough seas on a small ship....

[ellbon]

several years ago i did a costal steamer in Norway. i waS able to get on/off the boat everytday amnd enjoy the land scape. But i read 3 large paperbacks in 12 days. I can ont imagine being on hte TP at sea. There are only so many books to read...

 

i would do a new large ship for the crossing. Now the TP in Alaska would be prefect. all those ports.

 

please remember there is a steam room to warm up and you can use the hot tubs in Alaska.

[YoPhilly]

Doesn't have to be that warm;) We did Alaska on the Pacific Princess in Sept 07 and LOVED it--we were out on the balcony as often as possible, no matter what the weather! (this is where your goretex layers come in handy:D )

 

Hubby had been thinking about doing that northern Atlantic TA on the Tahitian but we decided to book northern europe instead--it wasn't the sea days on the small ship that concerned us, but the possibility of rough seas on a small ship....

 

Yes, I agree. We're thinking of doing roughly the same itinerary on the Crown Princess.....more things to do in the event of poor weather, plus a bigger ship for riding out rough seas.

[Hoyaheel]

you can use the hot tubs in Alaska.

 

The hot tub on the PP was not very warm during our trip--and even though the air temp was pretty nice on many days, we saw very few hardy souls trying out the hot tub:p

 

We keep our hot tub at home around 98-99 (it's indoors, we use it year-round, and we like to stay in for longer periods of time--so for us, cooler is better) I think the PP was maybe 95? And with air temps of 60 or even 70--that's too chilly for me! Needs to at least be body temp! Maybe that was an off-day when we actually checked the temp, but I do remember that it wasn't used often at all!

[whale-watcher]

My hearty MN-born kids will probably use the pool on the TP this summer...when we were on the coral a few years ago they were the only ones that swam. I used the hot tub once, but mostly DW and supervised (wearing multiple layers and drinking something warm) while the kids swam.

[Hoyaheel]

Well, kids will swim in ANYTHING:p I used to swim in Maine in the summer and break ice in rivers in the Adirondacks to swim, and my husband swam in Lake Erie whenever he could. Then we got older and our skin got thinner.

 

It's not a dealbreaker for us, but I just thought I'd throw out the possibility that the "hot" tub might not be all that...hot:o

[YoPhilly]

Yep, I've bailed on the TP for the TA. :p

 

Today, we booked the Crown Princess on a very similar itinerary. Now I'm happy and confident in my choice. Indoor pool, plenty of hot tubs, plenty of indoor activities in case of poor weather, big ship in case of big waves! AND I snagged the farthest aft mini-suite on Emerald deck for the sunny days. Could it get any better??!! :D

 

Thanks again for your comments.

[whale-watcher]

sounds like a great option...I am really excited about cruising on a smaller ship in AK (and hopefully again in the Med/Holy Land next summer), but would choose the megaship hands down for a transatlantic.

[YoPhilly]

sounds like a great option...I am really excited about cruising on a smaller ship in AK (and hopefully again in the Med/Holy Land next summer), but would choose the megaship hands down for a transatlantic.

 

AND I booked the Royal Princess for the Caribbean this December, so I will get the small ship experience after all!!:D

[whale-watcher]

AND I booked the Royal Princess for the Caribbean this December, so I will get the small ship experience after all!!:D

sounds like the best of both worlds...you can never have too many cruises booked!

[YoPhilly]

you can never have too many cruises booked!

 

So true, so true!