frediver

I've been out of cursing for a few years due to family issues now resolved.

I have started looking again at the S.Pacific, Hawaii to Tahiti or reverse? I haven't had much luck finding a cruise provider for that itinerary, Princess followed that course years ago, has it been dropped by everyone?

When I did it last in 07 we made 3 or 4 Hawaii ports then south to Kiribati for a stop, then south to Bora-Bora, Moorea, and Papaette.

Other than P.G. who else spends actual time in the S.Pacific rather than passing thru to somewhere else?

Starting over again there is a lot of new material to digest, any shortcuts are appreciated.

Thanks :D

Like others have said never take anything off the ship that you can't afford to lose.

Dry bags are nice when they stay dry, the weak spot are the zippers.

What I do is to use a std. inexpensive waist pack and a waterproof hard otter box

to hold our valuables. A bit anal but I put our valuables in a zip-loc and put that in the box.

Even if the box gets a small leak the zip-loc keeps everything dry.

A grain of sand or even a hair laying across a seal can cause a leak in a dry bag zipper or even

an otter box seal but the otter box seal is easier to keep clean.

A small <$20.00 otter box will easily hold several Cards, lots of local cash, and a small cell

phone. Otter boxes come in several sizes.

Just thought about it, there is a difference in dry bags, some use zippers or zip seals and others just

fold over and snap like a kayak style bag. I am referring to zipper bags, kayak bags are not pressure

proof and will leak if really soaked.

Maybe not the best place to ask this question but

I sure would like to ask the BoD:

Why was the decision made to sail a US Flagged ship only

in the Hawaiian Islands and not to include a Mainland Port?

As I understand the economics of Cruise Travel more money

is made when passengers are on-board, including a Mainland port

would also allow access to less expensive fuel and provisions.

Would the expense of extra 4 sea days out weight the potential

money saved, who knows.

Would it be less expensive to take on passengers in Long Beach

or Oahu, for the passengers you bet, would it out-weight the extra

4 sea days???

To the original topic of operating expense.

Are the US crew members paid min. wage AND tips

or were they combining pay and tip% to arrive at the

$8.00hr. figure? Also how does room/board/medical

factor into the overall pay?

When it is all said and done you won a $1000.00 be happy.

Unless it is restricting you to only an inside cabin and Only

when they have space available IMO you are Still $1000.00

ahead. If you have the option of using that $1K like a cruise credit

you can still have your free cruise or use it to upgrade the

cruise you otherwise select.

You Won, enjoy it!

5yrs. ago it was a real Free Cruise, the only qualification was space available and even that was waved after we tried to book a couple different cruises and could not get space.

Time was growing short and a Free Cruise wasn't if they did not give us a cabin.

What I am saying is you likely do have wiggle room.

Thanks, I am giving PG serious consideration. Whats the story about credit, never heard of the program?

We are looking again as well.

I would like to find a small ship based in FP or at least a small

ship making a round trip in FP. We are done with the open ended

one way flights.

We have in the past done the Hawaii to Tahiti cruise and really

enjoyed the sea days it provided but truth we would have like more time in FP.

I would say take the jump and originate your trip in FP, bypass Hawaii, you can

fly there from here. Hawaii deserves more time than a one or two day Cruise

stop will provide if you also intend to tag on FP. In short Hawaii needs its own Cruise

or land vacation the same as FP unless you have the time, money, and enjoy the extra sea

days.

I think Checked vs Walk-on in port is the real issue here.

Like many I like to have a pocket knife but I do not mind putting it in my checked luggage for boarding.

Now when I get to a port it is a different matter, Alaska next month, what do I do there when I actually might need a pocket knife on a shore excursion or while hiking?

If it is allowed on board shouldn't there actually be a way to walk on board with it in my pocket thru the TSA checkpoint ?

Got to ask, why no link to information about M/C cruises?

Not a specific cruise but general information on the topic,

what & where, departure port & ports etc.

Where is the closest to the west coast, this sounds like it could be fun.

Ok did some searching and this does not look like it would work for me.

How do we find access on the Sea Princess? Sailing under the Golden Gate will be a nice photo op.

Thanks