Hawaiian Cruise points of interest

Hawaiian Cruise Wrap up Points of Interest and Observations

1. Princess is the best cruise lines in its category for food and service.
2. 14 days is not too long a cruise.
3. Hawaii is a valid cruise destination even if you do not spend your money on a lot of excursions
4. Each Hawaiian island is very different from the others
5. The Hawaiian people we met were friendly and accomadating
6. People in Hawaii wear Hawaiian shirts and clothing all the time
7. There is more that we need to see, but it was so different than my expectations.
8. Fall may not be the best time to go since we missed the whale migration from Alaska
9. Fall is a great time to go as it seemed we had Hawaii to ourselves and our ship mates
10. The free Walmart express was an quick way to get the lay of the land. It was not reliable for meeting  an excursion schedule
11. Expect to pay more for what you get on the mainland. Especially in consumer goods.  But its what everyone is paying.
12. People are people everywhere. Most people on the ship were very tolerant of the powerchair. Some were not.
13. The movies under the stars is a great concept in warm climates.
14. Hilo Hatties had the largest collections of Hawaiian goods for sale. Walmart had the best prices. Some of the island produced perfumes and soaps could only be purchased at the ABC store.
15. Always bring a tropical rated umbrella on your journeys away from the ship.
16. Its pretty hot in Hawaii.
17. A tropical rainstorm is nothing to sneeze at.
18. Public transportation is great in Honolulu but realize that everyone there also knows about it.
19. Enjoy the diversity of Hawaii. Its different at every turn.
20. Hawaii is not just for the fit and tan. There are lots of ways to enjoy Hawaii that don't require good swimming skills.
21. Its a great place to buy kuku beads and shell beads
22. Don't expect chocolate buffets or midnight seafood extravaganzas on Princess. It does not happen.
23. There is progress in keeping down the smoke in the casinos. There were several no smoking nights and periods where smoking was not allowed in the casino.
24. LA has made huge strides in customer movement to get in and out of the port.
25. Expect to pay a fare in addition to the two fares it took to get on the ship to get off the ship. This comes from the tips, excursions and the photos and drinks you acquire on the ship.
26. The ports themselves are an interesting place to take photographs. You can shoot an unobstructed shot from 9 stories up.
26. The night entertainment is pretty stock on Princess cruises. All the ships in the fleet have the same stage shows. Still its something we do not do at home.. its great.
27. Liquor is not cheap. A stock American beer is about $8.40 including the 15 percent tip. A bottle of wine starts at $30. This however, these would be the prices in a Hyatt or a Hilton bar.
28. The coffee card is a good deal. It works out to be 2 dollars a cappucino.
29. The soda card is a great deal too. At $67 dollars, the unlimited diet coke was available in the cup that was provided with the sale and at any bar when showing your coke sticker on your cruise card.
30. People were willing to talk to others when they sat down to eat or relax along the trip.
31. Don't expect your TV lineup when you are using the stateroom tv. There were only a couple of news feeds (fox and CNBC) ESPN2 and BBC. In the past we had better TV. The close to first run movies on ship and through the stateroom were really pretty good. Most of them were at the pay per view level.
32. Don't expect to have your DSL level speed with the internet on the ship.
33. Buy the internet supplement minute package early.. like the first day or two. You will have more time to use it and getting the price package will be much cheaper than later on the ship. We were happy to hear that we had 250 minutes since we are platinum passengers. Elite members like mom and dad do not have to watch their minutes. The irony is that they don't usually use the service.
36. Look for unique ways to have fun. After all you are on a vacation. You are doing and going places that you would not do at home. So don't expect to have all the same things that you have at home.
37. Get a good table of people to eat with every night. If the first group doesn't fit with you, talk with the Matre dei arrangement can be made.
38. If you don't know what is offered on the menu, ask the waiter.. he or she will often give you an idea. If you don't like it when it comes... order something else. Or order more than one to start with. Our table had people that ordered three entrees regularly and shared it among its ordering couple.
39. Expect European portions at the table. Except on Lobster night.
40. The utilization of the International Cafe and the Piazza as an entertainment venue was new to me and very pleasent.
41. The scholarship at sea is a great program for Princess. The naturalist, the lei making and the ukelele lessons were super parts of the trip even if they were crowded and under supplied.
42. The ceramics program that Sue has loved on previous trips was totally in adequate and inaccessible. This one needs to be redesigned.
43. Getting on and off of this ship was easy even with a powerchair.
44. A person with limited mobility should consider renting a power chair for mobility and independence on this ship.. both for the barriers and the size of the ship.
45. Elevator use was much better on this ship than on others
46. Time changes on this cruise was unbelievable. We had to lose 3 hours going in time zones. We ended up with 2 hours on the way home because of the end of daylight savings. We had three because Mexico is one time zone different than we are by edict. The minute we crossed back into the US it was just 2 hours that had to be adjusted since Hawaii.
47. This was an "older" cruise similar to the Alaskan cruises we have taken. Very few school aged passengers. Very few newlyweds too.
Overall it was a wonderful trip and we would do it again!