Star or Grand Princess Hawaiian 11 day at Christmas/New Years Time

[Nightowl11]

I am thinking about going on the Star Princess 11 day Hawaiian Round Trip Cruise leaving out of San Francisco or on the Grand leaving out of Los Angeles on December 19th, 2014. It would be me and my two kids, ages 13 and 17.

 

How many teens are actually on this cruise? Is there enough activities for teens to do on sea days? I heard this cruise is usually a much older crowd, but will it be during the holidays when school is out and the kids have winter break? Is there a way that I can find out the statistics of past cruises of how many teens were on the ship? Will Princess tell me how many teens are booked or will they just make up something?

[paul32]

I am thinking about going on the Star Princess 11 day Hawaiian Round Trip Cruise leaving out of San Francisco or on the Grand leaving out of Los Angeles on December 19th, 2014. It would be me and my two kids, ages 13 and 17.

 

How many teens are actually on this cruise? Is there enough activities for teens to do on sea days? I heard this cruise is usually a much older crowd, but will it be during the holidays when school is out and the kids have winter break? Is there a way that I can find out the statistics of past cruises of how many teens were on the ship? Will Princess tell me how many teens are booked or will they just make up something?

 

I believe these are actually 15 day cruises (not 11). We are signed up for the Star on 12/19 as a repeat trip of the one we just took this past December (Grand: Dec 20 - Jan 4, 2014). I just posted the following in another thread and thought it might help you:

 

We took our first Christmas Cruise this past December (Dec 20, 2013 - Jan 4, 2014 on the Grand Princess - Round Trip: San Fran to Hawaii).

 

So I have no idea if this is the "norm" or not, but there were many young passengers. This was a family cruise. Many teens, tweens, and twenty somethings. Every night the nightclub was packed with 20 and 30 year olds, as well as 40+, 50+, and all ages. Every day the pools were filled with kids of all ages splashing around. The elevator buttons (both on the inside and outside on each floor) were pushed by pranking youngsters. This was something of an issue on the Grand since there are no central stairs and because the Grand's elevators are not necessarily reliable. My hunch is that this won't be an issue on the Star.

 

This was one of the best cruises we have ever taken. The energy was festive & young. The crew was fantastic. And there was a diverse group of passengers and we met a lot of new friends. But yes, this was a much "younger" crowd than any other Princess cruise we had taken previously.

In addition to the above, there were several groups of kids on board that met up and became friends. Some of the 15-18 year olds would hang out all night near the Int'l Cafe and drink coffee until 6 AM. There were plenty of activities for all ages, including the Pop Princess Idol singing contest and the choir, LBGT get togethers, dances, and so on and so forth.

 

Hope this helps.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Paul is right, this is a 15 day cruise. No, it isn't the norm to have a lot of kids/teenagers on this cruise, with the exception of holidays. Don't forget this cruise has over 8 days at sea so this may be a factor in deciding if this cruise is for you.

 

Also, this is not a really warm weather cruise. The first 2 and last 2 days can be cool to chilly...

 

It's a great cruise, I have done it 4 times!

Edited February 23, 2014 by Working 2 Cruise

[Nightowl11]

I was mistaken. Yes, it is a 15 day, not 11day. We are going on the 11 day to Alaska in June. Sorry.

 

I am concerned about the days at sea if there is rough weather. Being that we will be doing the Alaska RT from SF in June, I will get a feel of multiple days at sea. I do know it is a different route and different time of year, but if my son can't handle the Alaska cruise, then he probably won't be able to do the Hawaii cruise. We did 2 DCL cruises, one in 2012 and one in 2011 and my son did feel seasick on some of it, but once we got those wrist bands, he was much better. I am planning on bringing many different alternatives to help with the seasickness. Any suggestions?

 

paul32:How were the sea days to and from Hawaii on your cruise? Thank you for your response. It was very helpful.

 

Working 2 Cruise: Cold weather doesn't bother us as we are "snowbunnies" and have a cabin that we frequent in Tahoe every winter. I actually prefer colder weather since you can layer. But if it is hot, there is only so much you can take off. Right?

[paul32]

paul32:How were the sea days to and from Hawaii on your cruise? Thank you for your response. It was very helpful.

We were fortunate in that the weather was nothing out of the ordinary. The ship was able to make all four Hawaiian ports, even Maui. We were concerned that the weather was going to be too rough for the Tenders at the Lahaina harbor, but it turned out to be just fine. Yes it rained in Hilo (doesn't it always? ;) ) but Honolulu was in the mid 80s and both Maui and Kauai (Nawiliwili) had sunshine and good weather as well.

 

At sea, the mornings were cool but the days were clear skies (some clouds) and decent. It did get a little rough at times, but mainly at night. We could feel it on the both ends of the ship, not so much in the middle. Nobody in our group gets seasick so for the most part and we were partying a lot so it was a total non-issue. I suppose for others it could have been unpleasant.

[Family Travel Story]

I was wondering the same thing about this cruise and kids. I actually have a 10 year old girl who I want to take on this cruise with my wife and I. she has been on over 10 cruises to the Caribbean, including last February and nine night cruise out of New York City to the Southern Caribbean which had three days at sea. however I'm concerned whether they'll be other children even though it is Christmas break

 

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[helenb]

We're booked on the Star cruise on Dec. 19th! If you are interested, please join our roll call! We already have a lot of great people, many of whom will be bringing children and teens aboard with them. Holiday cruises traditionally have more young people, especially cruises such as this, which fit perfectly over the school holiday break.

 

We did this cruise once before, from LA in 2009. You will definitely experience some 'rough water' going across the open Pacific. It is probably the 'roughest' seas we have sailed. That being said, it's not a rough motion. It is a very smooth, rolling motion, but definitely noticeable. This occurs for 2-3 days each way. I have never encountered a person getting sick during such a passage, although I have seen plenty of people with the patches and the wristbands.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I beg to differ with the rough seas. On 2 of my cruises to Hawaii, I've seen a lot of sick people... Some in the dining room. We've had 20 to 20 feet waves, decks closed, but on my 2 other cruises, seas were very calm.

 

There is really no way to predict what the seas are especially on a trams/pacific.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We have done the holiday sailing (once on the Island, and twice on the Golden) and there were differences each time when it came to weather and rough seas.

 

In 2005/06: slightly rough seas to the point that the pools were closed around day 2 and 3, but very smooth (relatively for this itinerary) on the way back. We had record high surf on the coast just before this cruise, so that probably didn't help. Cool weather on the way until a couple of days before the islands, high 70s and partly cloudy skies in Hawaii, we had to skip Kona (which was still one of the ports) due to high waves. Warm all the way back to LA. On our way home to the Valley, it was in the 80s, but there was snow on the mountains from that week's rainstorm.

 

In 2010/11: it had been raining in LA for several days before our cruise and there was some rain on embarkation day (the crew members had blowers going to try to dry out the decks). Some rain on the way too. Very windy our first time with MUTS. A little rain in Honolulu. A day or so of rain on the return. My daughter was 13 and she and her new friends were outside despite the rain, going swimming and watching movies.

 

In 2012/13: some rain from time to time. Some rough seas from time to time. It was pouring in Hilo. Nice weather in the other ports.

 

Lots of whales each time. A little after we got back on board in Lahaina that last time, my hubby came back to the cabin and said the whales were right next to the ship. So we went out on the aft deck, and yep, the whales were hanging out.

 

As for my daughter, she felt Remix (the teen center) was lame, but then she was at that age. The first night she met some girls her age (so make sure you go there to sign the kids up the first night as that's when they meet each other). There was a Facebook page that continued on for at least a couple of years (maybe longer). One of her friends from that cruise was repeating the cruise when we did, so the girls made plans to meet up the first day or two. They were joined by another girl and three boys their age. Occasionally I would run into them (when we were at the International Cafe, I heard a familiar voice and it was our girl discussing the art work in the gallery with her friends; they found me when I was watching "Elf" at MUTS; we would see them eating lunch in the Horizon). She also said they put together a ping pong tournament. She spent time with us at some meals, in port, and at a couple of the shows.

 

I saw a lot of kids who took part in the Hawaiian activities: lei making, hula dancing, uke classes.