Anyone go on the 14 day Hawaii cruise??

[jcastro1202]

im thinking for my second cruise to go to hawaii. i saw that there will be a 14 day roundtrip from L.A. Has anyone gone on this cruise....any advice

 

Thanks!! :)

 

My mom did this cruise this past January and loved it. She did encounter some rough seas from LA to the islands, but what do you expect when crossing the Pacific ocean? They loved it and we are actually planning a family reunion cruise to Hawaii soon.

 

Book it and enjoy!

[latohawaii]

We took this cruise in Nov 2008. I would suggest getting a balcony because the islands are so beautiful to see when pulling into or out of the port. The seas were a little rough but when we got to Hawaii it was worth it. We needed the days at sea before and after to rest. Most memorable thing on the islands was the helicopter ride on Kaui (I had never seen my husband speachless before!) and motorcyle ride thru Volcanoes National Park. This was our third cruise and my favorite by far even though I was sea sick for 2 days.

[vjmatty]

We just did the Hawaii RT this past April and I loved it. We had an aft balcony which we were able to enjoy pretty much every day, even when crossing the Pacific each way. The weather was pretty nice and I was able to walk the promenade deck all but the first and last sea days.

 

Also make sure to take advantage of all the culinary experiences.... we tried the chef's table, ultimate balcony dining and Sabatini's... all of which were excellent. There is plenty to do on the sea days, we went to every trivia game, afternoon tea, saw one or two movies, and did some of the Hawaiian activities. I highly recommend the LA to Hawaii round trip cruise on Princess.

[Glassman]

Just signed up for the April25,2010 Hawaii round trip. This is the second time for us. We really liked the sea days because they are relaxing. The only bad part was you spend very little time on each stop. We found last time you can get personal tours from people on the dock that are many times better than the ship tours. We really liked the submarine tour. If that is your thing they went down to 150 feet and the view was nice, It is close but every one has their own window. After setting it up on the ship we found it was $15 cheaper on the dock. Would be interested in anyone on the same cruise. Will get on the specific cruise list soon. Glassman

[ASeaPrincess1]

Just signed up for the April25,2010 Hawaii round trip. This is the second time for us. We really liked the sea days because they are relaxing. The only bad part was you spend very little time on each stop. We found last time you can get personal tours from people on the dock that are many times better than the ship tours. We really liked the submarine tour. If that is your thing they went down to 150 feet and the view was nice, It is close but every one has their own window. After setting it up on the ship we found it was $15 cheaper on the dock. Would be interested in anyone on the same cruise. Will get on the specific cruise list soon. Glassman

I will be on this cruise, too. I have never been to Hawaii, so I am especially excited.

Any info you can supply will be greatly appreciated.

Have you joined the Roll Call?

[latterdayesther]

Sorry! :o

Didn't mean to offend anyone, just telling of our experience, and saying that we would have seen much more with limited time on the islands, if we had rented a car in port instead of taking fully loaded tour buses. :D

Please exclude yourselves from afore-mentioned group; obviously your minds are sharp! :)

[SeaMatesNYC]

We rented car on Big Island, Oahu, and Kaui.

 

For Kauai, did you have to go to the airport to rent your car (and if so did they "pick you up"), or did you find an outfit near the port in Nawiliiwili? Thanks. Of course, others with experience may reply also.;)

[icemountain]

We did this cruise 3 years ago in January and loved it. Looking forward to it again.

[green eyed lady]

Anyone know how old the Golden Princess is?

[ASeaPrincess1]

This from Wikipedia:

 

Golden Princess is a Grand Class cruise ship for Princess Cruises that entered service in 2001. It is the sister ship of Grand Princess and Star Princess. It measures 109,000 gross tons and carries 2,600 passengers (double occupancy) plus 1,100 crew members. As of 2007, she primarily operates on the Mexican Riviera and the West Coast of the United States.

The Golden Princess had a dry dock in Victoria from mid-April to early-May 2009, in order to refurbish the entire ship.

 

Maiden voyage, May 16, 2001

[green eyed lady]

Thanks SeaPrincess :D

[Minoushka]

WE did this cruise in summer 2007 .LOVED it /I really enjoyed the relaxing seadays

Sat at the back of the ship and enjoyed watching the Pacific Ocean

VERY relaxing

[slowpoke58]

We have done the 15 day Hawaii and the 14 day Hawaii. We loved both of them. If you like sea days this is a great cruise. The first few days out of LA can be a bit rough and chilly. Then after that the weather gets much nicer. We went in June and again in March. On the return trip in March we had very rough seas and some rain. The weather in Hawaii was great. We will do this cruise again as we love sea days and love the idea of being in 4 different places in Hawaii.

 

We are looking at this cruise also. You went in June and then in March. Which was the better month to go for the flowers to be blooming?

 

Joyce

[Leafpeeper]

We have friends and relatives who did the 14 day cruise and said they were disappointed because they didn't have enough time in Hawaii. Half their cruise was spent at sea.

 

We took a 10 day cruise that sailed from Hawaii to the west coast. We also agreed that with 4 or 5 sea days each way that we would rather fly and spend that time in Hawaii and take a cruise that stays in the islands. We had bad cold windy weather with rough seas on our last 2 days going across the Pacific in March. Kept wishing we were still in Hawaii where it was sunny and warm.

[drjpreston]

We have friends and relatives who did the 14 day cruise and said they were disappointed because they didn't have enough time in Hawaii. Half their cruise was spent at sea.

 

We took a 10 day cruise that sailed from Hawaii to the west coast. We also agreed that with 4 or 5 sea days each way that we would rather fly and spend that time in Hawaii and take a cruise that stays in the islands. We had bad cold windy weather with rough seas on our last 2 days going across the Pacific in March. Kept wishing we were still in Hawaii where it was sunny and warm.

I think this exposes the often written about two types of cruisers. Those that cruise because they love to cruise and those that cruise because they love the destinations. Lest I get flamed LOL I guess there are those who enjoy both. My DW and I sadly have friends that divorced partially over this very issue. The husband an ex-navy man loved the ship and would not get off in any port. His wife got sick when on the ship for very long and just wanted to fly and spend as much time as possible at the destination.

Guess there are two types on the ship as well. Those that need to be entertained and those that would be happy if they never had to leave their balcony.

For me and my DW give us all the sea days we can get and leave the do not disturb sign on the door. We work around people 24/7 about 345 days a year. A locked door, a quiet room for sleeping, my DW and room service is all we need. Oh ya…. and lots of ice cream

[hughdm]

[quote name='slowpoke58']We are looking at this cruise also. You went in June and then in March. Which was the better month to go for the flowers to be blooming?

Joyce[/quote]I don't know about June, but PLENTY of flowers in late March. Don't see how there could be more at any time of year!

[vjmatty]

[quote name='drjpreston']I think this exposes the often written about two types of cruisers. Those that cruise because they love to cruise and those that cruise because they love the destinations. Lest I get flamed LOL I guess there are those who enjoy both. My DW and I sadly have friends that divorced partially over this very issue. The husband an ex-navy man loved the ship and would not get off in any port. His wife got sick when on the ship for very long and just wanted to fly and spend as much time as possible at the destination.
Guess there are two types on the ship as well. Those that need to be entertained and those that would be happy if they never had to leave their balcony.
For me and my DW give us all the sea days we can get and leave the do not disturb sign on the door. We work around people 24/7 about 345 days a year. A locked door, a quiet room for sleeping, my DW and room service is all we need. Oh ya…. and lots of ice cream[/quote]

Because of how hectic our lives are, part of every vacation has to be about not doing a whole lot of running around. Some port days are great, and even having some port-intensive cruises are ok, but sometimes the joy of a vacation is having the days to sit on the deck with a book facing the ocean, taking our time through dinner or afternoon tea, walking the promenade deck with my ipod, or having drinks on the balcony.....many times the relaxing component of a vacation is more important to me than the activities.

We have actually done several transatlantics for this very purpose, so a few sea days before and after running around the islands created the perfect balance.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We took this cruise on the Island Princess in 2005/06 and loved it. We did miss Kona due to high waves and wish Princess would return. The lava flow at night was incredible -- everyone, including many crew members were out on deck or on balconies watching the lava dropping into the ocean.

There's so much to do in terms of activities that you can go crazy trying to pick just one thing to do at a time. When Kona was cancelled, a revised Patters was distributed within an hour or so, listing activities such as ukelele class (this was the third one offered during the cruise), many trivia matches (a bunch of us managed to get to four or five of them that afternoon), classes, arts and crafts....

We had rough seas the first couple of days which led to the pools being closed til the third day, and cool temps until we got closer to the Islands. Then we had partly cloudy skies and no rain, not even in Hilo. Relatively smooth seas and warm weather the rest of the way to Ensenada and LA.

When we are able to cruise again, we'll probably repeat this one as we live about an hour away from the port (I'm not big on flying). And we love the sea days.

[slowpoke58]

[quote name='hughdm']I don't know about June, but PLENTY of flowers in late March. Don't see how there could be more at any time of year![/quote]

Thanks, We want to go when all the flowers are blooming. I can't make up my mind though to fly to Hawaii then cruise or to fly to CA and take the ship from there.

Joyce

[hughdm]

[quote=Cruisin' Chick;20909032]We took this cruise on the Island Princess in 2005/06 and loved it. We did miss Kona due to high waves and wish Princess would return. The lava flow at night was incredible -- everyone, including many crew members were out on deck or on balconies watching the lava dropping into the ocean.

There's so much to do in terms of activities that you can go crazy trying to pick just one thing to do at a time. When Kona was cancelled, a revised Patters was distributed within an hour or so, listing activities such as ukelele class (this was the third one offered during the cruise), many trivia matches (a bunch of us managed to get to four or five of them that afternoon), classes, arts and crafts....

We had rough seas the first couple of days which led to the pools being closed til the third day, and cool temps until we got closer to the Islands. Then we had partly cloudy skies and no rain, not even in Hilo. Relatively smooth seas and warm weather the rest of the way to Ensenada and LA.

When we are able to cruise again, we'll probably repeat this one as we live about an hour away from the port (I'm not big on flying). And we love the sea days.[/quote]The Golden 14 day does not go to Kona or cruise the coast where the lava is. We took the Princess helicopter excursion in Hilo to do that. A great cruise, just don't want anybody misled.

[hughdm]

Flower pics:

[Celest1022]

[quote name='slowpoke58']We are looking at this cruise also. You went in June and then in March. Which was the better month to go for the flowers to be blooming?

Joyce[/quote]

[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3][COLOR=seagreen]Joyce,[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3][COLOR=#2e8b57] Several years back I had a pass from ATA which gave me unlimited travel to Oahu or Maui from Los Angeles for a year. I went 11 times in one year almost every month. I never saw any difference in the blooming of the flowers except for,,,,,,,,between Nov and Dec, wild poinsttias were blooming. I was amazed because we usually traveled to Hawaii in Sept and never saw them .[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3][COLOR=#2e8b57] :o[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Nancyquilts]

[quote name='slowpoke58']Thanks, We want to go when all the flowers are blooming. I can't make up my mind though to fly to Hawaii then cruise or to fly to CA and take the ship from there.

Joyce[/quote]
It all depends on whether you enjoy sea days or excursion days most.

[Tootzie]

My fiance & I are planning our wedding for April 2011. We were talking about our honeymoon plans and thought the LA to Hawaii return trip on the Golden Princess (if possible) would be a good way to see the islands and also have a relaxing time with the sea days. We were wondering if April is a good time to visit the islands weather wise (then again I think Hawaii is pretty good year round vs our weather in Eastern Canada....lol). Any advice would be great.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[quote name='hughdm']The Golden 14 day does not go to Kona or cruise the coast where the lava is. We took the Princess helicopter excursion in Hilo to do that. A great cruise, just don't want anybody misled.[/quote]

Princess dropped Kona a couple of years ago. I think we were the only sailing that season that missed that port; usually Kauai or Maui is missed, if any port is. I was sad when Princess changed the itinerary as we would have to either do a land trip there and stayed in Kona to see it or else repeat the Hawaii cruise and try to get over to Kona on the Big Island day.

Now Holland is dropping Kona too.