Topic: Hawaii cruise in Jan 2010 tour days vs sea days

We went on the Golden Princess to Hawaii Jan last and this cruise starting from LA included 4 sea days then visiting the 5 islands then 3 sea days then Mexico then back to LA.

We thought it would be a rest from sightseeing every day and a time to relax at sea. I am not sure what we expected but we didnt enjoy it.

Firstly the things that Princess put on for our entertainment during the day wained very quickly to a 'holiday camp feel', (Rum tasting, drop an egg from 3 floors in the atrium, paint a plate and other games). There was disproportionate amount of elderly people on this cruise (we are in our 60's), maybe because you didnt have to get on an off so much we thought. The pass-time seemed to be eating, now I know that some people go on cruises for the food, so do we, but I am talking about gluttony.

We did enjoy however the lectures given in the main theatre by an historian. He told us the history of Pearl Harbour and before and the after result. This was useful as we had this in our minds on our visit there and understood the whys and wherefores that this disaster happened. He was so good that he almost filled the theatre every day with his interesting lectures. We liked the quizes and the informality of them.

I dont know what more the cruise lines could do to entertain you on 4 days at sea but I dont think we will be doing a 'more sea days' cruise again. I think the balance is right with the odd sea days mixed in with ports of call, unless they come up with some fantastic ideas to entertain the passengers on a long one. What do you all think?

Happy sailing

We did a similar itinerary on Celebrity Summit in October a few years ago. It was the first time we had experienced four days at sea together and we found it very restful and enjoyable. It is different from the normal Med or Caribbean cruise as you say. We were fortunate to have good weather and could sunbathe/swim as well as attending the odd lecture or performance. We also met some pleasant people and we enjoyed the ships facilities by being a bit lazy and having breakfast served on the balcony etc. We also found that the average age was pretty high and most of the passengers were American. We would be happy to do another cruise with several sea days together but also like the norm where they are spread out among the port visits.

I get very easily boered, but Cunard are masters at providing entertaining seas days. They regularly do this on their transatlantic crossings (6-7 nights).

Buy the way NCL offer a one week Hawain port intensive fly-cruise.

We did The Transatlantic Sunrise cruise on Thomson's Destiny last year,chosing it because we had never been to the Caribbean before and because we didn't fancy the long flight there and back. After doing a daily tour round each Caribbean island it was very relaxing to cross the Atlantic and only lose one hour's sleep each night instead of several hours on reaching home. I love reading so easily filled in the time during the day. Dinner each evening was a delight being spent with excellent company on a table for six. It was good that the cruise did not end there as we then called at Funchal and four more places in the Med. in which we could walk around without doing any more tours.
We then had just a short flight home from Palma.
It felt like three different cruises rolled into one.

We love the sea days, lazy breakfast on the balcony, compete, unsuccessfully, at the trivia, read, eat, sleep, eat, laugh with friends, drink, eat....are you seeing a pattern here;) If they announced a 14 night cruise to nowhere, we would bite their arm off......6th Transatlantic coming up in May, can't wait

Sue