OrganizedTraveler

In the meantime, you might want to read as many cruise reviews as you can from all the cruise lines that cruise to Hawaii. They will give you an excellent idea of what the average cruise is like. In addition to asking questions here, of course.

Yeah... I'm wondering if cruise reviews will tell me the specifics I need to know without spending hours and hours reading over material that doesn't help.

So I'm hoping people here will share their knowledge with me by answering my specific questions and correcting my misapprehensions.

I will appreciate it greatly!

Oh, and apparently every ship publishes a daily newsletter/newspaper..

Is this something that requires a full-time employee? (I'm looking for character ideas.) Any need for a reporter on board or is everything "stock" material?

I've posted here intermittently in the past..I do intend to take a cruise to Hawaii but won't be leaving until next year...

And I have certain specific questions now because I'm writing a fiction book which takes place on a cruise ship to Hawaii and want to get started on it.

So I hope it's okay to ask questions, the answers of which will very likely be placed, somehow someway, in my book.

At the moment, my sole knowledge of a purser's duties is from vague memories of The Love Boat and Fred Grandy...too long ago to do me any good.

Which member of the crew has the most interaction with passengers - the purser or cruise director? Is there more than one purser - how can one person fill the needs of 2,000 or more passengers?

How does the sequence of events go on the first day?

Passengers come on board, and stay on deck for lifeboat drill while their luggage is taken to their rooms? Or they come on board, unpack, come back up as ship sails and *then* do lifeboat drill?

When do they meet the purser and cruise director? As each person steps on board, or is there a big ol' meeting to which everyone is invited to get briefed?

Thanks for any help!

Oh, and I see someone else was already curious about this.. the 100 year old Jones act.

How silly!

Never mind!

I've just been reading Hawaii By Cruise Ship and the author points out, on more than one occasion, that the reason why ships stop at Enseneda is because US Shipping Regulations mandate that they do so.

Anyone know why that would be?

From the Princess site under Cruise Answer Place, Preparing for you cruise

 

Although US and Canadian passport holders are not currently required to sail with a passport on most domestic itineraries (including Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico and Panama Canal), Princess highly recommends they are carried.

 

Even if your cruise does not involve air travel outside the US, should you be required to unexpectedly depart a vessel prior to the end of the sailing, a passport would be required to re-enter the US by air. As such, Princess Cruises continues to strongly recommend that all passengers are in possession of a valid passport.

Hi, thanks for your response.

Yes, I had seen the material you quoted... but what I want to know is... will I be penalized by Princess if I just bring the passport card rather than a passport?

I have no intention of going into Mexico, I'll stay on the boat.

And I have no intention of departing a vessel unexpectedly prior to the end of sailing - I assume they mean if there is a fire on board while we're sitting outside Ensenda? I'd rent a car and drive back to the good ol USA with the Passport card should that happen!

So all I'm concerned about is, will the passport card be good enough to get me on the ship, or will I be turned away because they "strongly recommend" the passport, and "strongly recommend" actually means - bring it or else?

Since we don't know if you're into water activities or touring historical sites' date=' it's hard to recommend for you....[/quote']

 

Thank you so much for your detailed response!

 

I am very interested in touring historical sites - basically anything that was around in 1925 or earlier is what I want to see.

 

Are there any remnants of the old trolley system from that time? (I've been reading a mystery book taking place in Hawaii in 1925, which is how I know about it. :))

 

Also...my passport is expiring in March 2015, and I really don't want to get a new one as I don't intend to travel outside the US anymore. Apparently since the ship is docking at Enseneda Mexico I will need a passport - or is a passport card good enough? (It's $70 cheaper....!!!!)

For those who have recently been on the roundtrip cruises to Hawaii that dock outside Enseneda. Mexico for a day...

My passport is expiring in March 2015... my roundtrip cruise to Hawaii doesn't start until April 29...

I don't really want to pay $110 for a passport that I'll never use again (I don't intend to travel outside the US anymore...)

So, can I spend $30 to get a passport card, so that I can sit on the boat while everyone else visits Enseneda on the one day we'll be there (I have no intention of going in to the town) or should I really get a passport to be on the safe side?

I booked a Hawaiian cruise in April 2015 right through Princess...

Can I take advantage of price drops (if any occur for my particular cruise), or can they only be gotten through travel agents?

In all the old movies I see from the 1930s, trap shooting seemed to be very popular on cruise ships.

Is it an activity that is still offered? I would really like to try it!

Well, I bit the bullet and reserved a cabin all to myself on a Princess cruise to Hawaii and back in April 2015.

Was shocked to discover I'd need to bring my passport with me to travel between San Francisco and Hawaii!

Now I'm wondering about shore excursions.

How necessary is it to buy shore excursions for Honolulu - that's the island I'm particularly interested in and the one we'll be at the longest - 7 am to late at night...

Is it possible to walk from the pier to downtown Honolulu and back, do I need to rent a car...?

There's apparently a submarine tour - I'd really like that but is it like that old Nautilus tour from Disneyland where you actually don't go underwater?

Thanks all for your comments.

I'll be booking my cruise - as a single ! - sometime next week!

I look at the SS (single supplement) as the pleasure of having the entire cabin to myself! That means being able to come and go as I please, not having to worry about waking a roomie by coming back to the cabin in the middle of the night and turning all the lights on, and most important, not having to share the bathroom with anyone!:D

 

If you want to cruise by yourself, you're gonna have to pay the price.

Yeah, the above are all the reasons why I prefer to be single on the cruise.

Thanks all for your comments.

Hi, all

I'm planning on taking the April 29 cruise from San Francisco, round trip to Hawaii and back.

I am going to have to go alone... and I'd really rather not have to pay the single penalty.

I know there are ways to share a cabin with a stranger in the same boat (don't mean that as a pun!) but I don't really want to do this as I'm a light sleeper and with my luck I'd get a snorer.

So my question is... if I wait a few months before booking...do prices actually drop or will the ship be sold out???

Thanks for any help.

Hi, all

I am planning on taking my very first cruise in April, 2015 - specifically the Princess Cruise roundtrip to Hawaii.

When is the earliest that I should actually book the cruise - should I do it now?

I will be travelling on my own. I've heard that there are programs where two people traveling single can share a cabin ... I don't really want to do this because with my luck I'd get a snorer!

What other ways - if any - are there for a single person to get a decent deal on a room?