15 Night Hawaii

[AVShockey]

I have never sailed on Princess before, but with the current 3 for promo going on, I found a great deal on the 15 night Hawaii cruise.

 

Just curious what the average age would be for this cruise on Princess?

My husband and I are in our mid-40s and will be with our 21 year old son.

 

Are there plenty of activities during the 8 sea day?

 

I would really like to broaden my horizons and try a new company. Just want to make sure my son would not be terribly out of place.

[Pam in CA]

Like any 15-day cruise on any line, the average age will be a lot older. Very few children and there won't be many young people for your son. However, there'll be lots of Hawaiian-themed activities and things to do. Everything from hula dancing to ukulele classes.

[Astro Flyer]

Here's info about their Hawaiian themed activities & clicking on the link gives you more info.

 

ENGAGING CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

 

Aloha-Sail Away Deck party

Learn to strum a ukulele

Hawaii-themed movies

Enjoy Hawaiian melodies performed poolside

Weave a fresh flower lei

Sample Hawaii's famous Kona coffee

Enrichment programs featuring a dedicated naturalist as well as lecturers

Halau Hula Olana (Honolulu only) – This popular dance troupe is made up of 30 children (keiki) between the ages of 6 and 16 from the most revered hula school in Hawaii and is a perennial winner of prestigious hula competitions throughout Hawaii.

Let loose at a hula dance lesson

Classes in the art of tying a sarong

Participate in a tropical rum tasting

Compete in Hawaii-themed trivia games

Take part in a native language class

Dive into a Hawaiian culinary demonstration

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/hawaii-cruises/cruises/aloha_spirit/

[cr8tiv1]

Will you be on the Ruby out of Los Angeles or the Grand out of San Francisco?

 

Ruby: Cultural Ambassador ELUA (Dave and Leialoha)

Grand: Cruise Director Dave Cole (Until January)

 

Both will provide you with excellent entertainment and activities. If you are concerned about your son, be sure to encourage him to take hula lessons. In ancient times, hula was reserved for men only. Ukuleles will be provide by the ship.

 

There is often a scrap building ship activity, pop choir, but not a lot of physical activities.

 

That's a lot of sea days (9) for a 21 year old. Has he cruised before? Once he gets to the islands, there will be plenty of water and hiking activities.

[skynight]

I have never sailed on Princess before, but with the current 3 for promo going on, I found a great deal on the 15 night Hawaii cruise.

 

Just curious what the average age would be for this cruise on Princess?

My husband and I are in our mid-40s and will be with our 21 year old son.

 

Are there plenty of activities during the 8 sea day?

 

I would really like to broaden my horizons and try a new company. Just want to make sure my son would not be terribly out of place.

 

Mostly older, but lively people. Not many in their 20's, 30's. A few more in their 40's. But, it is difficult for those working to take 15 days off at a time. If your son is into the 'club' atmosphere, the closest will be Skywalkers, or on the Grand Club One Five which opens late night. Lots of activities day, and night. Not much sitting around the pool on the crossing and return until you are closer to Hawaii. Many times it is just too cool. We have done it a number of time and love this voyage.

[aimee0715]

My husband and I are doing the 15 day between San Francisco and Hawaii on Grand in November. We are in our early 40's. I fully expect that we will be the youngsters on the ship :D

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you go during the holiday time (last few weeks of December/first week of January), you'll find a wide range of ages on board. Our last three cruises were on this itinerary out of LA for holiday sailings (as our daughter was on winter break then) so I can assure you of that.

 

There's so many activities on sea days, including the popular Hawaiian cultural program, that if somebody is bored, it's because they would be bored on any cruise.

 

It's not a cruise I recommend for first time cruisers because there's often rough seas (you're crossing the California current), but if anyone loves sea days (we do), it's a great cruise...and you'll get time in Hawaii as a bonus. For those who haven't been to Hawaii before, you'll get a good sampling and may decide to return to the Islands for a land stay in one or two of the islands. For me, I hate flying so this is a great vacation (I have done Hawaii on land trips twice before).

[satxdiver]

Princess is not Carnival or the "fun ship" atmosphere. It is a more subdued adult crowd and more elegant. I think you will find the food and service better all around. Princess does not go in for the continual silly pool games or continual trivia/bingo games and constant announcements. There will be a lot to do but more on an adult level. We could tell you more if we knew which ship and date you are looking to sail. The end of the year holiday cruise will be a lot different than the ones during the year.

Edited September 28, 2015 by satxdiver

[COMBOY]

I have never sailed on Princess before, but with the current 3 for promo going on, I found a great deal on the 15 night Hawaii cruise.

 

Just curious what the average age would be for this cruise on Princess?

My husband and I are in our mid-40s and will be with our 21 year old son.

 

Are there plenty of activities during the 8 sea day?

 

I would really like to broaden my horizons and try a new company. Just want to make sure my son would not be terribly out of place.

 

My brother and his wife went on this cruise and I asked him what type of passengers were on boards and he said it was pretty much a "geezer" cruiser - older retirement folks (yes--he's one of them!) LOL I think too to all depends when you go - holidays-Xmas and Easter you might get a more mixed crowd with families. A two week Hawaii cruise with lot of sea days is going to attached an older retired crowd because they are the only ones with the time and money to do those longer cruises. Will there be only younger folks under 30? Sure, but he will be in the minority. It's really hard to say what the actual demographics will be on any one cruise; however, for younger folks it's best to stick with a 7-day Princess cruise to Mexico/Caribbean or look at lines like Carnival, NCL or RCI which tends to attract a younger and broader passenger mix. Many years ago I booked a Princess' Panama canal with my older parents. I was 29 yrs old. Mom got sick and my parents had to cancel; but they encourage me to go on ahead without them. I flew to Acapulco to board the ship and found out that most of the passengers were over 60+. I was in shock to say the least. Prior to this cruise we had gone on mostly 7-day Caribbean cruises with RCI. Actually I did meet a few people my age; but they were far and few in between. I did enjoy the cruise; but I just had to accept the fact I was in the minority. Anyway, I don't know your son, but if he's looking at meet a lot of young girls his age and/or be in a packed disco until 3AM I think he'll be disappointed. It's just not that type of cruise. Just my 2 cents.

[AVShockey]

Thank you for all your input.

Some of you even mentioned some things I didn't even think of, like the rough crossing and being cooler on the sea days.

 

We have all been on several cruises, 8 nights being the longest.

It would be the Star out of LA the first week of January 2017.

We love sea days which this sailing has an abundance of. The bonus is having to only fly to LA.

 

My son is not the type to go to the bar so that would not be an issue.

He is actually more likely to sit on deck and read a book, but would be nice to at least have the option to hang out if he got the courage to talk to someone;).

We don't really sit by the pool to suntan or anything so the coolness wouldn't be much of an issue.

 

Sounds like the cultural activities would be a fun learning experience.

 

Now I have some more things to consider!

[Roatanfans]

We are in our mid 40's and have taken this cruise (but out of San Francisco) a couple of times and are booked for the spring again. While the age groups are going to be a little older you will still find a range of ages. We love the enrichment lectures and find that we are kept quite busy on all those sea days- and yes we still swim (we travel with our kids- 8 year old son and 4 year old twin girls). Nothing like our first cruise in our early 20's on HAL where we were the youngest couple on board and ended up hanging out with the dancers the whole time!

[yseone]

Hi!

 

We have done this trip 6 times and have never found ourselves with "nothing to do".

There are so many Hawaiian themed activities and other cruise ship games and trivia that we were always at a loss for which one to choose.

 

We are in our 40's and found the passengers to be a mix of mature folks and also couples in their 30-40's but not that many children.

 

I would expect you all will find something to keep you occupied as the 8 sea days have never seemed like enough for us to fit in all we wanted to do. We even wished for more since it would have been nice to take a day and just sit in one spot but we never wanted to miss anything ;)

 

You will have a blast!!!

 

Yseone

[XBGuy]

Thank you for all your input.

Some of you even mentioned some things I didn't even think of, like the rough crossing and being cooler on the sea days.

 

We have all been on several cruises, 8 nights being the longest.

It would be the Star out of LA the first week of January 2017.

We love sea days which this sailing has an abundance of. The bonus is having to only fly to LA.

 

My son is not the type to go to the bar so that would not be an issue.

He is actually more likely to sit on deck and read a book, but would be nice to at least have the option to hang out if he got the courage to talk to someone;).

We don't really sit by the pool to suntan or anything so the coolness wouldn't be much of an issue.

 

Sounds like the cultural activities would be a fun learning experience.

 

Now I have some more things to consider!

 

I have taken the L.A.-HI round-tripper twice, and I love it. I really love the "Sea Days." The last time--2013--I was 64, and, I have to say, I felt that I was right around the median age for passengers. For every passenger who appeared to be less than 50 years old, I'm pretty sure I saw one that was over 80.

 

I'll bet that your son is a lot like me. I do a lot of reading on cruises. I have found that some of the best places to read in the afternoon are in the bars. Skywalkers is usually pretty good. They are not really serving in the afternoon and, so, most of the people sitting around are reading. Even some of the bars that are serving are pretty quiet in the afternoons. If a server does approach me and ask if I need anything, they certainly do not seem to be disappointed when I decline.

 

I also enjoy the lectures. The ones about Hawaiian culture, history and language are very interesting to me. However, usually, there is one given by ship's officers that is terrific. More often than not, there will be presentations from two officers--one from the bridge and one from engineering. I really enjoy them. I also will try to go to any culinary presentations that are given by the ship's Maitre d' and Executive Chef.

 

My wife and I take cruises because we love the shipboard experience. The ports are pretty inconsequential to us. More often that not, I'll get off at a port and just walk around. My wife may not even get off the ship. On our last HI cruise, when we were in Maui (The ship does not dock there, it just anchors off-shore.), she just sat on our balcony and watched humpback whales all day. She also watched the "Whale Watching" boats traverse from the harbor out to the area where the ship was anchored so that they could watch the very same whales. January, I should mention, is primo whale watching season in HI.

 

You might see whales when you leave Kauai, also. The thing that I find hilarious about Kauai is the feral chicken population.

 

All that being said on our first HI cruise we did take an excursion in Hilo up to the observatories an Mauna Kea. I thought that was very cool. Most people are aware of the Keck twin observatories on Mauna Kea, but it turns out that there are dozens of small observatories and various scientific apparatus on that mountain. The next time we cruise there, I may sign up to visit the volcanoes., but I know that if I want to see an eruption, I'll have to pay extra. :rolleyes:

 

I hope you are OK with Californians. ;) I found that about 80% of all the people I've met on my two HI cruises lived within a couple hours drive from my house. We went to a wine tasting event one day where all the four couples seated at our table live within a 45-minute drive of each other.

 

I truly hope that you guys have a great cruise AVS.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I agree with the above comments. It's a fabulous cruise! Beginning of January, the seas may be rougher than usual. Take some Bonine with you and you'll be fine. I've done this cruise 4 times and hope to go again next year.

[PrincessLuver]

My brother and his wife went on this cruise and I asked him what type of passengers were on boards and he said it was pretty much a "geezer" cruiser - older retirement folks (yes--he's one of them!) LOL I think too to all depends when you go - holidays-Xmas and Easter you might get a more mixed crowd with families. A two week Hawaii cruise with lot of sea days is going to attached an older retired crowd because they are the only ones with the time and money to do those longer cruises. Will there be only younger folks under 30? Sure, but he will be in the minority. It's really hard to say what the actual demographics will be on any one cruise; however, for younger folks it's best to stick with a 7-day Princess cruise to Mexico/Caribbean or look at lines like Carnival, NCL or RCI which tends to attract a younger and broader passenger mix. Many years ago I booked a Princess' Panama canal with my older parents. I was 29 yrs old. Mom got sick and my parents had to cancel; but they encourage me to go on ahead without them. I flew to Acapulco to board the ship and found out that most of the passengers were over 60+. I was in shock to say the least. Prior to this cruise we had gone on mostly 7-day Caribbean cruises with RCI. Actually I did meet a few people my age; but they were far and few in between. I did enjoy the cruise; but I just had to accept the fact I was in the minority. Anyway, I don't know your son, but if he's looking at meet a lot of young girls his age and/or be in a packed disco until 3AM I think he'll be disappointed. It's just not that type of cruise. Just my 2 cents.

 

We are in our late 60's and usually the demographics are much older then us on the Princess cruises we've been on. I know everyone likes to think of themselves as still hip, slick and cool but this is not going to happen on a Princes cruise.

 

We took our youngest daughter and her husband who both just turned 30 and they tried not to act bored but they were because the ship was so subdued even though most Princess cruisers thought it was a "happening"......she said the cruise was like being in "God's Waiting Room!" I had never heard that before but it certainly was descriptive!!!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We are in our late 60's and usually the demographics are much older then us on the Princess cruises we've been on. I know everyone likes to think of themselves as still hip, slick and cool but this is not going to happen on a Princes cruise.

 

We took our youngest daughter and her husband who both just turned 30 and they tried not to act bored but they were because the ship was so subdued even though most Princess cruisers thought it was a "happening"......she said the cruise was like being in "God's Waiting Room!" I had never heard that before but it certainly was descriptive!!!

 

In my four cruises to Hawaii, this has never happened to us. Yes, there are more people in their 60's and up.

 

There is plenty to do. No, there aren't ice rinks, rock climbing walls but if you want a Hawaiian experience, this is the way to go.

[nukesubsailor]

Thank you for all your input.

Some of you even mentioned some things I didn't even think of, like the rough crossing and being cooler on the sea days.

 

We have all been on several cruises, 8 nights being the longest.

It would be the Star out of LA the first week of January 2017.

We love sea days which this sailing has an abundance of. The bonus is having to only fly to LA.

 

My son is not the type to go to the bar so that would not be an issue.

He is actually more likely to sit on deck and read a book, but would be nice to at least have the option to hang out if he got the courage to talk to someone;).

We don't really sit by the pool to suntan or anything so the coolness wouldn't be much of an issue.

 

Sounds like the cultural activities would be a fun learning experience.

 

Now I have some more things to consider!

 

I am sure a lot of the young ladies in the ship's crew would be glad to talk with your son. They are very polite and love to tell passengers about their homes as well as hear about life in the USA.

[Cruisin' Chick]

In my four cruises to Hawaii, this has never happened to us. Yes, there are more people in their 60's and up.

 

There is plenty to do. No, there aren't ice rinks, rock climbing walls but if you want a Hawaiian experience, this is the way to go.

 

During the NY Eve parties, there will be a wide range of ages out on the dance floor dancing to a live band while waiting for the countdown. There were deck parties and dancing in the Piazza, too, on some of the other nights. But on our Alaskan cruise eleven years ago, there was at least one lively party going on the night before our last sea day (it would be quiet the night before the ports, though).

[Jasperdo]

Are there plenty of activities during the 8 sea day?

Below in my signature you'll find the Princess Patters I scanned from our 15 day Hawaii cruise on the Star Princess last year. They will give you a pretty good idea what to expect on sea days. As others have mentioned, there's plenty to do. And if Elua are onboard, you will get a fantastic Hawaiian Cultural program as well.

[Roatanfans]

Below in my signature you'll find the Princess Patters I scanned from our 15 day Hawaii cruise on the Star Princess last year. They will give you a pretty good idea what to expect on sea days. As others have mentioned, there's plenty to do. And if Elua are onboard, you will get a fantastic Hawaiian Cultural program as well.

 

I know everyone seems to rave about Elua, and I'm sure it's with good reason, but I can say the other couple (Roz and Kimo of Fairwinds or Makini E depending on which name they are using) are wonderful also- and they have never failed to make us all feel welcome as they share their love for the islands with us!

[Jasperdo]

I know everyone seems to rave about Elua, and I'm sure it's with good reason, but I can say the other couple (Roz and Kimo of Fairwinds or Makini E depending on which name they are using) are wonderful also- and they have never failed to make us all feel welcome as they share their love for the islands with us!

I have heard good things about Makini E and would love to sail with them sometime.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I know everyone seems to rave about Elua, and I'm sure it's with good reason, but I can say the other couple (Roz and Kimo of Fairwinds or Makini E depending on which name they are using) are wonderful also- and they have never failed to make us all feel welcome as they share their love for the islands with us!

 

Just goes to show how Princess is trying to make this itinerary a memorable one and tie in the sea days to part of the experience. It's not just about using the ship as transport to some ports, it's about the whole cruise.:)

[AVShockey]

Sounds like a great cruise. I have a tough decision to make. We love sea days and it sounds like there is plenty to do on those sea days. We aren't the type to go to the clubs and party on the Carnival ships, so we won't miss that on Princess either. Thank you for posting the Patters. That is very helpful to see what goes on during the day.

 

All your posts have made me very excited for the cruise. If I do book it, it will be hard to wait an entire year! I guess lots of time to plan.