General ??'s re: circle hawaii

[kjweller]

We just booked our first circle Hawaii cruise, Island Princess, 9/21/04. We have only cruised twice -- the first was on Princess 20 years ago and the second was last year on an educational small ship to Alaska! No frills. Packing was a breeze, no formal nights and layers of tee shirts, sweat shirts and jeans.

So please forgive my ignorance...

This is a long cruise, 15 days, and I'm finding that deciding what to pack is beginning to become overwhelming. It shouldn't be this difficult. I realize that I'll have rounds of eliminations.

Can someone tell me what the weather is like when we're crossing the Pacific? It seems like it should be obvious...warm/hot in California, warm/hot in Hawaii so the crossing should be...comfortable/warm, maybe 70-75 degrees? Is it warm enough for shorts and swimming, or does the wind really make it too cold?

And speaking of wind, are the outdoor areas sheltered?

Does anyone know how many formal nights there will be? I'm guessing 3. From what I've read, it seems that fine dining attire is acceptable. We are not "formal" or "black tie" people, but enjoy the fine dining experience. Is the dress code formal in the alternative restaurants on those nights also? Is it really acceptable to change into something more casual after dinner or do people stay in their suits all evening?

Does Princess have Coke or Pepsi products or both? Is juice included or not.

Is there Internet access in the cabin? Has anyone used this to download from their place of employment? My husband will have separation anxiety if he can't communicate with work. (Yes, I know it's supposed to be a vacation. Side note--husband travels so much for work that his idea of vacation is staying at home. This cruise is for me!) I guess we could find an Internet cafe once we're in port.

We've been to Honolulu and Maui previously, but not to the Big Island or Kauai. All opinions on shore excursions are welcome.

We're arriving in Los Angeles the day before the ship sails. Can someone confirm that the Island sails from San Pedro? Also, any suggestions for a hotel in San Pedro.

Thanks in advance to everyone for their help and patience.

 

[Capt Data]

I'm jealous. I want to do this cruise. Oh well, 2006 is coming.

Formal night is all over the ship. Yes, there will be three. You can change after but many do not. During the day it is a relax type dress.

When you pack make sure you have mix and match. You can do laundry (self-serve) on board which will help with the packing. If you are elite status or in certain suites I believe the dry cleaning and laundry are free.

They now have alternative restauants (Sabartine's and Chops (sp)). These cost extra.

As for shore Ex, as above I have not been yet. Others will need to answer more of your questions.

 

[maw]

You can do your own escursions in Hawaii and Kaua yourself very easy rent a car there are shuttles at the shipo to take you to rental. They were very helpful in telling us where to go and suggesting good places to eat also.
We found it was rather cool some days on deck during crossing of Pacfic however did see some swimming on those days even. Most days shorts and T-shirts will fill bill easy for dress.

 

[LandLockedInAZ]

We went to Hawaii this past Christmas/New Years on a similar itinerary onboard the Statendam. Can't really speak to the weather during September except to say that the weather got progressively warmer as we headed out to sea as you're also going south to get to the islands. First 2-3 days were quite cool for us, Hawaii rainy but then that is the rainy season.
On Oahu, we rented a car (actually we did this on all islands) and took our own tour, stopping at Diamond Head, blow-hole, some quiet and mostly secluded beach near the north shore and just enjoyed the views. Spectacular!! We also did the Dole Pineapple Plantation which was just slightly hokey but with a 13-yr. old we enjoyed the maze and seeing what pineapple plants look like, etc. Also did the Paradise Cove Luau (very hokey) which I would skip if we were going again. Wish we had more time for Chinatown as this looked very interesting.
Definitely get out of Honolulu and Waikiki which are crowded and not all that appealing, at least to me.
If you have any other questions, please ask!
Joyce

 

[Dancer]

We went on Celebrity Infinity last March, It was an unusual cruise, lots of waves, we found we liked hanging on the walls. We don't get sea-sick and this was an unusually bumpy ride. I know that because they lost the liquor on the top deck and several cups during one fun wave.
It was nice enough to swim in the pools, so it was warm. We had wind, I'm not sure in September if you will have that issue.
I'm envious, I would love to go on this one, because Princess is the best. However as far as packing, they have laundrymats on each floor (usually) so if you take the advice of an old traveler "Pack 1/2 the clothes and twice the money".