Golden Princess to Hawaii
- Thread starter Dwhittem
- Start date
We have taken this cruise twice, when it was a 15 day itinerary, in 2006 and 2008. We are going on it again in March 2010.
Why? Because we love it. And we have never found it too long to be onboard. In fact, it always seems to be over way too soon.
The sea days going to and from Hawaii are wonderfully relaxing, but if you are into participating in activities set up by the Cruise Director's staff, you can keep quite busy.There are lots of planned activities scheduled each day. Plus the casino is open all day during the sea days, if you are into that. Princess has an onboard naturalist/historian on the Hawaii cruises, and they give daily presentations on the sea days. These are very interesting, and the venue where they are held tends to be completely filled.
The days in the ports in Hawaii are great. The number of hours in port varies from 9-11, plus the day in Honolulu is 16 hours. Plenty of time to do a tour of some of the wonderful places tourists like to see, and time left over to leisurely wander about on your own (unless you take a very long tour).
If you enjoy being on a ship, and don't mind several days in a row at sea, this is a great cruise. We can't wait to go again.
And BTW, I have cruised on the Golden, and she is a lovely ship. She recently underwent a drydock, and has been updated with several new amenities.
ps. There are a couple of other cruising websites, and one that is quite large has a Hawaii board with tons of information.
Why? Because we love it. And we have never found it too long to be onboard. In fact, it always seems to be over way too soon.
The sea days going to and from Hawaii are wonderfully relaxing, but if you are into participating in activities set up by the Cruise Director's staff, you can keep quite busy.There are lots of planned activities scheduled each day. Plus the casino is open all day during the sea days, if you are into that. Princess has an onboard naturalist/historian on the Hawaii cruises, and they give daily presentations on the sea days. These are very interesting, and the venue where they are held tends to be completely filled.
The days in the ports in Hawaii are great. The number of hours in port varies from 9-11, plus the day in Honolulu is 16 hours. Plenty of time to do a tour of some of the wonderful places tourists like to see, and time left over to leisurely wander about on your own (unless you take a very long tour).
If you enjoy being on a ship, and don't mind several days in a row at sea, this is a great cruise. We can't wait to go again.
And BTW, I have cruised on the Golden, and she is a lovely ship. She recently underwent a drydock, and has been updated with several new amenities.
ps. There are a couple of other cruising websites, and one that is quite large has a Hawaii board with tons of information.
We too have cruised the Golden and she is a pretty ship. Our biggest complaint about her was the size of the cabins, but then, how much time do we spend in the cabin anyway. The actual sq footage may seem fine, but there is so much wasted space in the closet, dressing area. We would much rather have that space in the actually living part of the cabin.
As for 2 weeks being too long, too short, that really depends on how many times you have cruised and what you are expecting. Some people love the relaxed time, others find it boring. I am sure you will have a great time. There are lots of activities on Princess cruises.
Nita
As for 2 weeks being too long, too short, that really depends on how many times you have cruised and what you are expecting. Some people love the relaxed time, others find it boring. I am sure you will have a great time. There are lots of activities on Princess cruises.
Nita
Beryl
Trivia Specialist
At the risk of being blasted here is my opinion!
Do I think being on a ship for 14 days is too long...no! If you are doing this cruise for the "cruise experience" I say go for it.
If your goal is to truly experience Hawaii I say forget the cruise and book a land vacation. If you have 14 days available to you for vacation you will definitely feel like you "know" the islands if you do a land vacation (and in 14 days I would only recommend doing 3 of the major islands). You will get to explore the islands without rushing and you will begin to understand the differences that each one has to offer. Cruising Hawaii will give you only a brief glimpse of what Hawaii has to offer...and you do risk actually missing some ports.
All this is just my opinion though and whichever you choose I'm sure you'll have a grand time.
Do I think being on a ship for 14 days is too long...no! If you are doing this cruise for the "cruise experience" I say go for it.
If your goal is to truly experience Hawaii I say forget the cruise and book a land vacation. If you have 14 days available to you for vacation you will definitely feel like you "know" the islands if you do a land vacation (and in 14 days I would only recommend doing 3 of the major islands). You will get to explore the islands without rushing and you will begin to understand the differences that each one has to offer. Cruising Hawaii will give you only a brief glimpse of what Hawaii has to offer...and you do risk actually missing some ports.
All this is just my opinion though and whichever you choose I'm sure you'll have a grand time.
Beryl,
I happen to agree with you full heartedly, but the combination of cruising and seeing Hawaii in 14 days is a great vacation and a lot less expensive. You are right, if seeing Hawaii is the goal than a land vacation is better, but by cruising from port to port you get a flair for the islands. Then, later one can return to the ports they enjoyed the most. This really is true with any cruise. All one gets is a little taste.
Nita
