Princess 15-day Hawaii cruise out of L.A.

[bestdogever]

If you have taken the 15-day Princess cruise to Hawaii we would love to hear your thoughts about the itinerary, ship, activities, etc. Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

Have you asked this question on the Princess board as well?

[bestdogever]

I have not, but I will now.  Thanks.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I have not done this cruise.  I have friends who have and they loved it.  However, for me it is too many sea days (and I love  sea days) in proportion to the time you have in Hawaii.  My preference is to do a one-way cruise where I can still enjoy the days at sea, have a nice variety of ports and also have time pre or post cruise to spend on land in Hawaii.  Hawaii is a destination to be savored and not rushed to always have to be back onto the ship, IMHO.   We are currently booked on the Serenade 11 night cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu in September, 2020.  We will have 5 full days at sea and will be able to visit all 4 islands (5 ports) with an overnight in Mauai.  We then plan to spend another 5 days post cruise on one of the islands, which one is yet to be determined.  We are willing to do the two flights to gain the time in Hawaii itself.  My friends who have done the Princess cruise have done it primarily for the sea days and not having the flights.  It is just a matter of what your particular priorities are.  

[pink845]

We did the 16 day I believe it was out of San Francisco return.  There were a lot of sea days there to Honolulu before we arrived.  We did an overnight in Honolulu which was nice so we got to go out at night and then spent the entire day in Honolulu.  We actually made our way to Diamond Head by bus ($2.75 per person if I recall - took maybe 35 minutes) and we arrived there before all the cruise ship passengers.  Was great.  Ship also went to Maui for one day, Kauai for one day and Hilo, plus the required 4.5 hour stop in Ensenada on its return to San Francisco.  We did this at the end of April (29) if I recall and it was chilly for the first couple of days out of SF and of course chilly on the return last couple of days as well.   Princess had a lot of activities which were Hawaiian oriented, ukelele lessons, hula dancing, lei making, etc.  Kept us busy.   We had been to all the islands except Maui previous on land vacations.  This was just a get away cruise and a good experience.  We are going to Hawaii in May, 2019, however, that one commences in Honolulu and ends in Vancouver.  We are disappointed that Royal Caribbean took away the overnight in Kauai that had originally been planned due to cruise traffic apparently they tell us, but we are still going because our friends have yet to visit Hawaii at all.  And, this cruise will be a quick sampler for them, albeit it 12 days long.  

[cruise47]

I understand that cruise ships must stop at Ensenada, Mexico before returning to a US port. What  can passengers look forward doing for. 4.5 hours. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by cruise47

[JoJo1973]

On 3/12/2019 at 9:36 AM, cruise47 said:

I understand that cruise ships must stop at Ensenada, Mexico before returning to a US port. What  can passengers look forward doing for. 4.5 hours. 

 

I took this cruise but we had much more time than 4.5 hours in Ensenada.  We did a cheap tour from Princess that took us to an old casino, drive around town, and a winery (in town) for tasting.  Then they gave you a choice to drop off in town or go back to the ship.  I got off in town and visited some shops and the fish market.  I had fish tacos and a beer at the fish market, then did a boat ride on the harbor... I got on a boat full of Mexican people and it cost me $2 for an hour ride, we rode around, drove next to the cruiseship (honking and waving) and drove by the seals on platforms in the bay.

 

As for the original question, pink845 summarized pretty good.  I wish I had done the Ukelele... there weren't enough at the start of the cruise but a bunch of the passengers bought one in Hawaii.  I played lots of trivia, but there were some teams that one everytime.  I think they recycle the questions so frequent cruisers win a lot.  Sometimes I'd have several hours that there was nothing interesting to do and then two events would overlap which was disappointing.  The naturalist speaker was very good, the other "enrichment" speakers were boring.

[bonsai3s]

On 1/13/2019 at 12:07 PM, bestdogever said:

If you have taken the 15-day Princess cruise to Hawaii we would love to hear your thoughts about the itinerary, ship, activities, etc. Thanks.

 

We just wanted to echo what pink845 and jojo1973 said.  We've done this cruise 4 times...twice out of L.A. (San Pedro) and San Francisco.  We loved these Hawaiian sailings for a number of reasons.

1.  We love the many sea days.  Disclosure: The first few days sailing out of and returning back to L.A. and S.F. are chilly.  But it warms up nicely as you get closer to Hawaii.

2.  We get to visit almost all the islands.  The stops are short but it will give you a taste of each island in case you'd like to return for a land vacation.

3.  We love the husband and wife team of Elua...Dave and Leialoha.  They provide the Hawaiian Enrichment Program on board that includes ukelele lessons (ukelele provided on board), hula and lei making lessons, sell Hawaiian products, and of course their wonderful voices...singing Hawaiian songs.  Note: At the end of the cruise, passengers who attended the ukelele and hula lessons got to perform on stage, in front of the other passengers...fond memories.

 

Note: Regarding Ensenada,...yes, this is a required stop.  There's a small (no bargaining) shopping area at the cruise terminal.  There are shuttles that will take you to downtown or various shore excursions.  If you don't mind walking...we've actually walked to downtown.  Walk out of the cruise terminal, walk left on Cardenas Street...approximately 15 minutes of leisurely walking and you'll be right in the middle of "downtown" area full of restaurants and shops.  Disclosure: There really isn't much in Ensenada and the last two times, we stayed on board.  Happy Sailing and Aloha!

[Astro Flyer]

We’ve enjoyed the roundtrip LA cruise to Hawaii several times.  We like sea days & island hopping for the day.  Their Aloha Spirit program provided enough activities to provide a Hawaiian-style cruise experience.

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/hawaii-cruises/things-to-do/

 

If onboard the ship during the evening before the 11:00 PM sailaway would recommend seeing the keikis (children) Hula performance with adult musicians & singers in the Princess Theater.

 

• The Halau Hula Olana Folkloric Show — a Princess guest favorite

Edited March 17, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[bestdogever]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions - very helpful. We have booked the cruise for this fall and are very excited. Although we have not had this many sea days on a cruise in the past, we are looking forward to them and especially to seeing all of the islands. Have been to Maui and Oahu previously, but that was a looooonnnng time ago.  Anxious to visit there again and to see the other islands. It’s great to share thoughts with other cruisers; definitely part of the pre-cruise fun.