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15 Day Hawaii Cruise from LA - Two 26 Year Olds


RTrick16
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Girlfriend and I have been on 3 Carnival cruises in the Carribbean and are looking at the 15 day Hawaii cruise in 1 week.

 

Biggest fears are:

 


Adverse weather on sea days limiting entertainment.

Potential lack of individuals our age... potentially to the extreame that we feel out of place.

Only "Obstructed View" ocean view rooms available... go interior?

 

Please help!

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Thanks for the tip!

would you say the onboard activities are similar to carnival?... if youve been on carnival...

 

No, not at all similar... Princess is laid back versus the fun ship, especially on a longer cruise like this one.

 

You'll have an older demographic. Loads of trivia, ukulele and hula classes are offered. If you're looking for a high energy cruise, this isn't for you. If you enjoy spending time with each other, watching movies, watching the ocean, reading, etc., you'll be fine.

 

It's a fantastic cruise. I've taken it four times. If you think you're still interested, you'd better get that ocean view cabin as soon as possible!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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No, not at all similar... Princess is laid back versus the fun ship, especially on a longer cruise like this one.

 

You'll have an older demographic. Loads of trivia, ukulele and hula classes are offered. If you're looking for a high energy cruise, this isn't for you. If you enjoy spending time with each other, watching movies, watching the ocean, reading, etc., you'll be fine.

 

It's a fantastic cruise. I've taken it four times. If you think you're still interested, you'd better get that ocean view cabin as soon as possible!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank you for the detailed response, couple questions if i may.

 

1. Comedy has always been a big hit for us.... we would go almost every night on Carnival. Is comedy every night on this cruise?

 

2. Have you taken an interior room cruise? Opinions vs obstructed ocean view?

 

Much appreciated!

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Princess does have production shoes, comedians, magicians, etc. The entertainment is varied, so you may have a comedian one night, a hypnotist another, along with other shows.

 

There's also a night club where you can probably have fun with the DJ and the crew, and possibly other younger people. I have seen quite a few younger people on those cruises.

 

If you're prone to seasickness, I'd suggest an ocean view cabin. If price is a factor, an inside cabin is just fine!

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I've done Hawaii cruises 4 times and I've loved them all. You'll be younger than most people. You need to enjoy sea days and be able to entertain yourself sometimes. It will be chilly the first 2-3 days and the last 2-3 days. There will be a lot of activities like bingo, trivia, Zumba, dance classes, craft classes, movies, and varied entertainment. You can't predict the demographics of each individual cruise. I've seen several younger people, but there are no guarantees.

 

As a comparison to Carnival, there will be some pool games and activities, but not as many. It will all be more low key.

 

As for a cabin, some people really like having some daylight in their cabin. To me, an inside cabin is much the same as an OV. I sleep the best in an inside cabin because they're generally dark and quiet.

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We have sailed in both interior and ocean view cabins. My wife did not like the interior cabin, it did not bother me, so lately we always go for the ocean view.

 

The big advantage of an ocean view is, when you get up in the morning you can look out and see what the weather is like. So you know how to dress for going outside.

 

 

Bob

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Potential lack of individuals our age... potentially to the extreame that we feel out of place.

 

Well founded fear.

 

I think you will find most passengers 30+ years older than yourself.

The longer the cruise, the older the crowd.

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Did the same cruise out of Vancouver last year. The crowd will be much older than you. We are in our 40s and felt very young. Still, attitude is everything, we had a fantastic time and are thinking about going again in April. Go with the idea that this is a relaxing trip to a beautiful place, and you will be fine, but do not expect to find many people in their 20s or 30s

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Thanks for the tip!

would you say the onboard activities are similar to carnival?... if you've been on carnival...

No one has mentioned the great lectures about the ports and Hawaiian history. If Dave Cole is the CD, they are full of information. Not sure, but I think all the Hawaiian itineraries have the lectures (different lecturer, different information?).

 

Also, the main difference between OV and inside is a window. If you can live without a window (& don't forget you can see out of the ship on the TV), the inside is almost always cheaper (seen it the other way around when they are trying to fill a category of cabins that aren't selling well).

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We have done the 15 day Hawaii cruise from San Pedro, 9 times over the past 20 years. We just turned 60 and we are almost always in the "young" crowd onboard.

 

We always meet similar aged (or minded) couples in Vines or the Disco and have had a great time. You have to like sea days as there are many of them and the weather can be unpredictable.

 

We now always book an inside cabin. This way we can do more cruising every year. We bring along a timer with a night-lite attached. We set the timer before going to bed for whatever time we want "daylight" in our cabin. To check the outside weather, we turn on the Bridge Cam channel on the TV.

 

Hope this helps you decide...

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Thanks for the tip!

would you say the onboard activities are similar to carnival?... if youve been on carnival...

 

If you are expecting silly pool games and lots of PA announcements to interrupt your conversations, you won't like Princess. OTOH, even people over 30 can be interesting, and very few of us have old cooties.

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Girlfriend and I have been on 3 Carnival cruises in the Carribbean and are looking at the 15 day Hawaii cruise in 1 week.

 

Biggest fears are:

 


Adverse weather on sea days limiting entertainment.

Potential lack of individuals our age... potentially to the extreame that we feel out of place.

Only "Obstructed View" ocean view rooms available... go interior?

 

Please help!

 

Thank you for the detailed response, couple questions if i may.

 

1. Comedy has always been a big hit for us.... we would go almost every night on Carnival. Is comedy every night on this cruise?

 

2. Have you taken an interior room cruise? Opinions vs obstructed ocean view?

 

Much appreciated!

 

We've been on the two week itinerary RT LA to Hawaii three times on Princess (one 15-day and the other two 14-day) and absolutely loved the cruises. There's plenty of activities on the sea days, many of which are part of the Hawaiian cultural program that was very well designed. On a couple of these cruises, we had a lot of rain. No worries And once you get closer to Hawaii, if it's raining, it won't be cold.

 

Each time we took the holiday cruise so there was a lot going on because of the Christmas and New Year Eve's activities.

 

Of course on those cruises, there were a lot of families. That was the only time of year we could take this cruise when our kid was on winter break.

 

We usually book inside cabins but the second to the last cruise, we did book an OV as that was the only category (other than window suites which were too expensive for us as well as by the cigar lounge so no way) still available. Ours was listed as an obstructive OV but much of the time it wasn't completely obstructive. (we've had a couple of OVs on Carnival) For the inside cabins, we leave the cabin TV tuned to the bridge cam station to give us an idea of time of day.

 

As for comedy acts, there isn't a comedy club on board, but usually there's at least one comedy act from what I remember. At dinner one day, our then-13 year old pointed out two men sitting at another table and told us she saw their comedy show the other night and it was pretty funny.

 

As someone has said, don't expect to see the crazy (I think of them as stupid) pool games that you'll see on Carnival. Which is fine with me.

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If it is the Ruby, make sure you go to Magic To Do. It may be the best show on the 7 seas. We were on the Jan 9 sailing. Say hi to Rowena in the IC and Mia in Michelangelo. You will be among the youngest passengers aboard, but aside from Billy Hygate, the cruise director, the entertainment staff is your age, so look them up and they will find something for you to do.

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Having just come off the SF to Hawaii trip this week, on the Grand, these comments are dead on. You really don't end up hanging out with these older folks, you just listen to their life experiences. I loved that part. Your other half, you'll never have so much time to spend with each other. Sea days can be a challenge if you don't want to b part of trivia, bingo, lectures, auctions, exercise class, casino, knitting, etc. Find somethng to keep you busy or just vegetate. First two days and the last 5 days are cool and rough so you won't be outside much. Shows are mostly oldies and classics. Comedy and magic are a hit and clean jokes can be funny. Get the OV, mini suite if you can. Gotta have some light. If you are Asian, they all hang together, no matter the age group. Disco. That was the joke of our trip. "We'll see all six of you up there tonight."

BTW I'm 61, wife is 65, About the median age.

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We are roughly twice your age and are always among the youngest on board when take a Hawaii cruise. Many older people start to line up for the 5:15 dinner at 4:30 ( don't know why). We like to watch the sunset and eat at 7:30, this way it is easy to get a nice table for 2. This is one advantage to sailing with older people, many of them like to do things much earlier than we do, so we can avoid crowds.

 

We never take part in organized daytime activities and rarely go to evening shows. However, Magic to Do is a good show. The Explorer's lounge can be fun for the Liar's Club show. Movies Under the Stars is fun and the Stargazing at Sea is fantastic. We enjoy walking on the promenade during the day and maybe having a coffee at the international cafe. You might enjoy these activities or could go the the gym or pools.

 

I doubt Princess is very much like Carnival, but if you want an introduction to Hawaii without flying and you can make your own fun without organized activities, you can certainly enjoy this cruise. Especially, if you just want to relax on sea days. If you are looking for organized activities that will attract others your age or you are uncomfortable around older people, maybe just fly to Hawaii.

 

Pizza is great on the pool deck.

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Girlfriend and I have been on 3 Carnival cruises in the Carribbean and are looking at the 15 day Hawaii cruise in 1 week.

 

Biggest fears are:

Adverse weather on sea days limiting entertainment.

Potential lack of individuals our age... potentially to the extreame that we feel out of place.

Only "Obstructed View" ocean view rooms available... go interior?

 

Please help!

 

Just back from a Hawaii cruise on the Ruby last month. Plenty of entertainment/things to do on sea days. Check the Patter and make notes of what is going on. Weather has little effect on most happenings on board.

 

Yeah, you will have a lack of people your age. Never fear, there are plenty of "old folks" who you can have a lot of fun with. Try things like the Ukulele and Hula lessons given by Elua if you are on the Ruby. Also any other Hawaiian activity that they do. One of the younger guys in our Uke class participated in the Lei making class and made a knock out Lei and said it was a great deal of fun doing the class. BTW, if on the Ruby, look for any show or activity with "Tiki" Dave or Leialoha, who are Hawaiian duo Elua, be sure to try to make them. There is lots of fun and entertaining stuff to do all over the ship. Not a Carnival cruise for sure, but, don't think that there is not a lot to do.

 

My only warning is that there is a good chance of the ship going a little dead after 10 or 11 pm. We are in our mid 60s and actually thought it was very odd to see everything so slow (passenger wise) at those times. No matter to us. Still there was entertainment here and there (shows, MUTS, etc.) and always movies on the TV in the cabin. Actually, in a younger time those early nights might have been an advantage...........at least to me.........:cool:

 

If you can snag a good price and enjoy cruising I think you will enjoy it and won't feel "out of place". Most of us older folks really have fun with anyone your age and hopefully you can enjoy us as well. :)

Edited by ar1950
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We are in our 30s and did this cruise to celebrate turning 30 a few years ago. It was one of my most fav cruises and one of DH's least fav. I LOVE sea days, so this itin is ideal for me, but DH prefers port intensive cruises, so this wasn't his style. The weather for our March cruise was fine; we did have huge waves the first 2 days, but it kind of added to the adventure. We too love comedy and have always enjoyed Princess comedians. In fact, the one we had on that cruise is still our most fav one ever! You will be wayyyy younger than most, but you can still have plenty of fun. There are still crazy pool games one day, and there is a club, albiet a pretty dead one. We have sailed in Insides all the way up to a suite, and for this sea day intensive cruise, I personally realllllllly valued having a balcony to relax on each day. That said, if you can snag an amazing last minute deal, an Inside or OBOV would both be fine. Before booking an OBOV, just know that it could be highly obstructed or have almost no obstruction at all. Please come back to tell us if you decide to go and then your experience! I hope you go and have a fabulous cruise!

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Princess and Carnival are VERY different. Completely different demographic with Carnival being much younger and louder (more of a party atmosphere than a relaxing one). I actually wrote a short blog post of comparing three Cruise lines that I have been on: Carnival, Norwegian, and Princess. You can read it here: http://www.joyfuljourneyist.com/blog/goldilocks-and-the-3-cruise-lines

Keep in mind this is my personal opinion and it may vary for other people. Hubby and I are 54 and 51. Princess is really all about escaping completely while Carnival is more geared towards fun and busy.

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We also did this cruise to Hawaii and back on the Ruby over the Christmas and New Years. We've also cruised a number of times on Carnival, and one on HAL. The demographics are very different. As others have said, on Carnival there are lots of the younger crowd, but the Panama Canal cruise we went on with HAL had an average age of around 70 (and that was the average). Princess, in my humble opinion, is a very good compromise. There were lots of young folks, quite a few older folk (like us) and a fair number of kids. The entertainment was very good, with comedians (although not every night), magic, lectures, and the Magic To Do show was excellent. Not as many pool games as on Carnival. You didn't mention it, but the food was excellent, but we liked Carnival's a little better and much better than HAL. We had a balcony, which is a must for us. The weather out of LA was a bit choppy for the first day and night, but great the rest of the trip. We loved all the sea days, but much of it was spent relaxing. The 3 o'clock happy hour in the wheelhouse was a can't miss. I think you'll enjoy your cruise.

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Girlfriend and I have been on 3 Carnival cruises in the Carribbean and are looking at the 15 day Hawaii cruise in 1 week.

 

Biggest fears are:

 


Adverse weather on sea days limiting entertainment.

Potential lack of individuals our age... potentially to the extreame that we feel out of place.

Only "Obstructed View" ocean view rooms available... go interior?

 

Please help!

 

I think you're too young to go on this cruise. The ship is usually dead by 9 or 10 pm and I think the lounges will be empty, will you be okay with that? Just look at your options

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  • 3 months later...

I am 23 + my husband is 26; we will be going on the 15 day in Oct as well, but with Carnival. I read tons of reviews and learned that Carnival will probably be your best bet in terms of a "younger crowd."

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I am 23 + my husband is 26; we will be going on the 15 day in Oct as well, but with Carnival. I read tons of reviews and learned that Carnival will probably be your best bet in terms of a "younger crowd."

 

It was nice of you to reply but the OP was looking to sail last February, three months ago.

 

Cruise Critic really should make the original posting date more visible ...

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