14 Day LA to Hawaii return. Too many sea days?

Am looking at the 14 day LA to Hawaii cruise in March 2006 and have a question or two. Although I love sea days I'm not sure that I'd appreciate 8 sea days (4 to start and another 4 to end). While I realize this is ultimately a personal choice I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. Is it too long at sea or does it work?

Also, having cruised out of LA in March I'm a little concerned that a couple of the sea days might be too cold to sit on deck. Anyone have any thoughts? The ship (Summit) is great and I really want to do Hawaii but am thinking that a Cruise to Hawaii with a flight home from Hawaii might make more sense.

Any and all opinions appreciated :)

We did a 15 day San Diego to Hawaii return in 2002 - it was great

We had 10 sea days 5 & 5 and had plenty to do. The only trouble is having the 5 shore days all in a row without any relaxing sea days mixed in makes you very tired by the time you are done your sightseeing in Hawaii.

Go & enjoy. We even got nice calm seas

It really is just a case of whether you like sea days. I personally love them. They could just take me out and sail me around for 2 weeks and I'd be happy.

There is no such thing! At least not in my book! Love em!:D

This sounds like a dream cruise. A real chance to relax. Do as much as you like or as little. We just did a 12 day cruise with only 2 sea days. We never really had time to enjoy the ship. Never got to Words or Notes, no lectures, no art auctions, no cinema. Would have had to miss out on precious deck time. Enjoy the glorious sea days. For me, they are the best bit of cruising.

Like you said, really is personal choice. If you have experience on a cruise and have any doubt about enjoying 8 sea days AND you don't mind flying, maybe a one way is the way to go......or even a R/T flight and just an Island cruise? We will be going from a 7 to an 8, 10, 12, & 14 day cruise so you can tell, we have no problem with any days...:D :D

As for us, we are still listing things we want to do onboard and haven't yet done so the sea days are fine with us. Last trip we didn't bother getting off in a few ports.

By the way, we think this cruise will be great......just check out the signature trip for March of 06.

Good morning,

We're booked on the March 26th LA to Hawaii cruise along with several others who have posted on this thread. We already have a good roll call going, and this promises to be a great cruise. We are looking forward to the sea days and relaxing with the friends we are making on these boards.

Prices have started going up, so hope you join us soon.

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

however, if this is a first trip to Hawaii I wouldn't recommend it. With Honolulu having so much to offer, the 11 night Hawaii to Ensenada gives you the opportunity to fly to Hawaii early plus it has an overnight in Honolulu and Maui. This allows Celebrity to bring "local" entertainment on board which was great. We've booked the March 26, 2006 return but this is not our first trip to Hawaii and we absolutely love the sea days. Nothing like a Pacific sunset and all these sea days ensure more opportunities. Having been in southern California in early April, I am figuring on no sunbathing the first two days at sea.

however, if this is a first trip to Hawaii I wouldn't recommend it. With Honolulu having so much to offer, the 11 night Hawaii to Ensenada gives you the opportunity to fly to Hawaii early plus it has an overnight in Honolulu and Maui. This allows Celebrity to bring "local" entertainment on board which was great. We've booked the March 26, 2006 return but this is not our first trip to Hawaii and we absolutely love the sea days. Nothing like a Pacific sunset and all these sea days ensure more opportunities. Having been in southern California in early April, I am figuring on no sunbathing the first two days at sea.

Garry

I have done this trip. It's Xcellent! Too many sea days? That's like too much love...no such thing.

Well, from what I have read, I will be the only one who doesn't like it. We went in October of last year. Flew to Honolulu and spent 5 days prior to the cruise. Got on the ship and ofcouse, you then have 5 days of hectic site seeing. Thought I would enjoy all the sea days back to San Diego. Wrong!

I am not a "go to the napkin folding demo or the seminars" person. The first two days were good because we were tired and just kind of hung out around the pool, etc. The last two days the weather got colder and there was no pool time plus we were rested up and I was ready to get off that ship!!! I was very bored the next two days. I will never do any other cruise with more than 2 sea days in a row.

We had 9 sea days on our last cruise and the last 2 days I was ready to leave also. It just started to get a little boring after so many days, and the last couple there were just not a lot of activites left to do. I think, personally, 4 or 5 sea days is more than enough. The ports are the main reason we cruise, not the sea days.

I am not a "go to the napkin folding demo or the seminars" person. The first two days were good because we were tired and just kind of hung out around the pool, etc. The last two days the weather got colder and there was no pool time plus we were rested up and I was ready to get off that ship!!! I was very bored the next two days. I will never do any other cruise with more than 2 sea days in a row.

The question is: Do you like sea days? Some do, some don't. It's inane to argue that you should or shouldn't. If you don't know, try a cruise with 2 or 3, not 8 ;)

My wife & I do, so a cruise of this type is great for us. Others may not, and it might be a poor choice for them. Verbum sap.

To me the 5 port days are too many - the more sea days the better. I would love a 7 day cruise to nowhere - even better a 14 day one! To me, the ship is the vacation, the ports are just an added bonus. Most times we do not get off the ship at all especially if we have been to that port before. And if the captain announces that we will be skipping a port because of weather, well, we let up a cheer.

In fact we were looking at the Galaxy trans for next year instead of our usual Millie because they changed the Millie itinerary to only have 7 sea days instead of 9. The only reason why we chose the Millie was that it ended in Ft. Lauderdale (Galaxy ended in Galveston) so that we could see our granddaughter in Ft. Myers post cruise.

That is why there are so many itineraries - to each his own.

RickT,

You've said you enjoy sea days but wonder about having 8 on the same cruise? Seems to me that the question is whether you'd enjoy 4 days all at once.

As has been pointed out, if you do the ports and tours in Hawaii you'll be tired and appreciate the sea days for relaxation on your return sailing. If you work in a stressful job you'll value the days going over, too.

I/we love sea days, and have also skipped ports just to enjoy the ship. Being able to enjoy the ship is one reason we'll never do a 7-day cruise again -- too many ports, not enough sea days. Celebrity is so good at planning activities, which I also enjoy, but sea days also give me a chance to take along a book and read, read, read.

Also, if this is your first trip to Hawaii, I would advocate for doing the flight-cruise option. We did this two years ago, spent several days pre-cruise in Honolulu, cruised the Islands for 6 days, and then had 5 sea days to Vancouver, B.C. Wonderful!

Love those sea days.

Number of sea days is one of the criteria I look for when booking a cruise. Never been bored yet!

Michael

I do like Sea days but sometimes too much of anything is too much (money and love are the definite exceptions). We stopped doing 7 day cruises a couple years ago as we like to have as much time on the ship and at sea as possible. The most sea days I've ever had in a row have been 2 and I've enjoyed those but... I'll probably book it and enjoy it.

Thanks everyone! :D

To me, the sign of a good cruise is more sea days than port days! Celebrity generally has good lecturers, demos, and plenty of stuff to do. I prefer a balcony and a good book and could go on for days and days and days...

Sounds to me from all the posts here that it is a matter of personal preference. We took the 11 day Ensenada to Hawaii cruise on the Infinity with flight back at the end of the cruise. The sea days are great and relaxing. Always something to do and it seems to take us a few days to relax down. Next year we plan the cruise to and from Hawaii without the flight. To us we just want to relax and if you realize you are on a giant traveling resort hotel the fear of being bored is only by choice. Now...if you prefer the ports and the excitment of new places it may be better to fly to Hawaii and cruise from there. It is really a lifestyle question and for us we enjoy the leisure time and on board activities.