18 day round trip to Hawaii from San Diego

[calteacher]

We have reservations for a cruise from San Diego round trip to Hawaii. Now, my DH is a little concerned about the five sea days each way--wondering what he will do with all of the time. We do not use the casino. He does like to read, and on earlier cruises has enjoyed some of the computer classes.

 

Just wondering what some of the rest of you have done with five sea days in a row. He is not someone to enjoy cooking classes, or hulu lessons, etc.

 

Hoping that we don't need to cancel the cruise.

 

Thanks.

[angelbearmom]

I did this trip with friends several years ago. As I'm always exhausted when I go for cruise I love the at sea days. Does he like shows or movies? They have a lot of interesting class type activities & demonstrations. I'm sure others will have better ideas. I just like having unplanned time.

[RMLincoln]

We've had 2-3 lecture presentations each day; some were on the islands, some were general interest such as history, astronomy. These we always attend, and some were nearly full. Plus I like team trivia. Mix it in with a computer class, some time to walk the decks and watch for flying fish, stop in the library with a book or for a book... and a swim or a hot tub soak, or a sauna visit... all those 45 min - 1 hr events start to cut into finding time to eat! :0

DH would often watch a movie but I rarely found enough time for those. Plus he would take time to catch up on news, either from the newspaper digest or on line in the library or watch some news on TV, something I am glad to get away from. DH has brought DVDs from the Great Courses which he doesn't have enough time for at home. We just like the openness of sea days.

What does your DH like to do at home? Or better yet, are there things he feels he doesn't have time for at home? m--

[Scrapnana]

Here are some of the activities when I sailed from San Diego to Hawaii.

Exercise classes

Book Club

Get Creative with Photo Gallery

Card games

Bridge lesson

What's new in Windows 10

Golf Putt Challenge

Geology and Geography of Hawaii lecture

Dance Class

Digital camera Q&A

Pub Trivia

Service Club members meeting

Ping Pong Tournament

Scavenger Hunt

Ship Building Contest

Golf Chipping

Big Kahuna games challenge

Migration of the Hawaiians lecture

From Kingdom to State lecture

Meet Your Fellow Veterans

Baggo Bean Bag Toss

Blue Hawaii Music Hour

Poolside Name That Tune

Explosion of Life in the Ancient Seas lecture

Living With an Active Volcano lecture

Hawaiian language class

Pearl Harbor - What happened and why lecture

Amazing Diversification of Life in the Ancient Seas lecture

Tennis play

 

I left out the sales pitches (spa. jewelry, art), hula lessons, and cooking demonstrations.

[bluesplayer]

"He" should be delighted spending time with you.. also.. walk the promenade.. bring a few new games and puzzles.. join trivia.. go to happy hour.. attend a wine tasting.. chat with other cruisers.... invite them for a cocktail.. watch the stars.. read a book.. catch up on CNN.. dance at BB Kings.. enjoy breakfast in bed.. go to a show.. research a tour.. plan your next cruise.. catch classical music with Adagio., or pop tunes at Billboard.. take a ship tour.. decorate your cabin door... join your meet and greet... watch a movie in room.. watch a movie in the theatre.. experience a sunset or sunrise.. order room service.. enjoy a specialty restaurant... try caviar.. bring along a flameless candle and remember your first date.. send photos to loved ones.. take a dip in the pool.. enjoy the hot tub., chat with your cabin stewards.. waiters.. bartenders.. learn about their culture and who they are.. write a blog of your cruise experience.. take pictures.. enjoy long evening meals meeting other cruisers.. take the art tour on the ship.. do some shopping in the gift shop., go to ship lectures.. watch the aft camera.. have a special coffee in the crows nest.. check the New York Times archives available.. have some ice cream.. pen a diary of your cruise.. get a massage.. if you are worrying about what "he" will do.. maybe better to have him plan another agenda for the same length of time and he can worry about what you will do... hope you have a happy trip..,

[ski ww]

Love those sea day. Time to do as much or little as you like. We are doing the 28 day Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas and are looking forward to all out sea days. Enjoy your cruise.

Allan

[dvcmember]

I am doing this cruise in December 2017 too! I am so excited. I love sea days because you can do at much or as little as we want. As I say, we have plans for no plans. I do hope that there are some cultural lectures about the Hawaiian islands and activities with such theme.

 

We have the SPB, so we will always be striking up a conversation with fellow cruisers at the bar.

 

Looking forward to the new features on the Oosterdam such as Lincoln Center Stage and the Gallery Bar. The new and renovated spaces look really as HAL transitions into a more modern interpretation of traditional cruising.

 

Have our car rental scheduled at each Hawaiian port so we can drive and see the island in its natural beauty. Have a few spotlights such as going to a coffee plantation, macadamia nut plant, local farmer's markets and some beaches where the locals hang out.

 

Overnight in Honolulu will be a treat. HAL is the only cruiseline that offers it and only on some voyages. We are lucky enough to be on one of those voyages.

 

Hawaii here we come!

[calteacher]

Thanks for the replies. He really enjoys the Great Courses, but has never purchased a DVD, instead pays for the streaming on his computer (which would not work for the cruise).

 

dvcmember: How did you arrange for car rental at the ports, especially Lahaina which is across the island from the airport. We, too, were considering renting a car, but the logistics in some locations didn't seem to work.

[RMLincoln]

Thanks for the replies. He really enjoys the Great Courses, but has never purchased a DVD, instead pays for the streaming on his computer (which would not work for the cruise). Can he bring them on a laptop? DH does some of this now even though it can take days for us to download a course by streaming on our very slow internet line.

 

 

dvcmember: How did you arrange for car rental at the ports, especially Lahaina which is across the island from the airport. We, too, were considering renting a car, but the logistics in some locations didn't seem to work. We have rented from hawaiicarrentals.com for every port but Lahina, the airport is not convenient there, but they can rent you a car are from the hotel there, more expensive.

 

Last trip we rented kayaks instead of cars - had turtles all around us at Lahina bay, spinner dolphins all around us at Kona bay! A half day kayak rental at or very near the tender dock is about $70 for a tandem boat (for two). m--

[Cruising-along]

We did the 15-day Hawaii cruise in 2010. Your 18-day looks great! Wish we'd had more time in Hawaii. Anyway, you've gotten some very good advice here. I too was worried about "all those sea days" but we had a very active roll call and something was going on every day. Also made some life-long friends that cruise.

 

So if you haven't already, join your roll call and get some activities together planned. There's no reason to be bored on a cruise. :):)

[calteacher]

Guess others had the same idea. Hawaiicarrentals.com had no cars available for any of our days in port. Thanks anyway.

[Tina G]

We have done this cruise three times. It is one of our favorites. Very relaxing. I am a reader, and I enjoy the time without distractions. DH is a doer, and he runs around the ship finding many different things to do and people to talk with.

[navybankerteacher]

Here are some of the activities when I sailed from San Diego to Hawaii.

Exercise classes

Book Club

Get Creative with Photo Gallery

Card games

Bridge lesson

What's new in Windows 10

Golf Putt Challenge

Geology and Geography of Hawaii lecture

Dance Class

Digital camera Q&A

Pub Trivia

Service Club members meeting

Ping Pong Tournament

Scavenger Hunt

Ship Building Contest

Golf Chipping

Big Kahuna games challenge

Migration of the Hawaiians lecture

From Kingdom to State lecture

Meet Your Fellow Veterans

Baggo Bean Bag Toss

Blue Hawaii Music Hour

Poolside Name That Tune

Explosion of Life in the Ancient Seas lecture

Living With an Active Volcano lecture

Hawaiian language class

Pearl Harbor - What happened and why lecture

Amazing Diversification of Life in the Ancient Seas lecture

Tennis play

 

I left out the sales pitches (spa. jewelry, art), hula lessons, and cooking demonstrations.

 

Good partial list - on our 18 day Westerdam cruise from San Diego in February 2017 we were sorry there were not more sea days.

[Retired1064]

"He" should be delighted spending time with you.. also.. walk the promenade.. bring a few new games and puzzles.. join trivia.. go to happy hour.. attend a wine tasting.. chat with other cruisers.... invite them for a cocktail.. watch the stars.. read a book.. catch up on CNN.. dance at BB Kings.. enjoy breakfast in bed.. go to a show.. research a tour.. plan your next cruise.. catch classical music with Adagio., or pop tunes at Billboard.. take a ship tour.. decorate your cabin door... join your meet and greet... watch a movie in room.. watch a movie in the theatre.. experience a sunset or sunrise.. order room service.. enjoy a specialty restaurant... try caviar.. bring along a flameless candle and remember your first date.. send photos to loved ones.. take a dip in the pool.. enjoy the hot tub., chat with your cabin stewards.. waiters.. bartenders.. learn about their culture and who they are.. write a blog of your cruise experience.. take pictures.. enjoy long evening meals meeting other cruisers.. take the art tour on the ship.. do some shopping in the gift shop., go to ship lectures.. watch the aft camera.. have a special coffee in the crows nest.. check the New York Times archives available.. have some ice cream.. pen a diary of your cruise.. get a massage.. if you are worrying about what "he" will do.. maybe better to have him plan another agenda for the same length of time and he can worry about what you will do... hope you have a happy trip..,

 

 

 

Nailed it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[us6]

All but watch or read the news. Why not check out for 18 days reality will be waiting for you when you get back.

 

Sent from my LG-H910 using Forums mobile app

[crystalspin]

Does he have a Kindle? if not, this is a great time to get a Paperwhite (readable in sunlight as well as room light and I think current models even have a sidelight built in, NOT a backlit screen). Join BookBub for free-to-$2.99 books in wide range of topics, plus usually 'suggested' links to more on the Amazon page for the books you choose.

 

My DH loved a similar itinerary -- 5 days to relax from high-pressured work life, 5 ports (rather intensely packed), 5 days to recover from the Islands! Hope to do it again soon!

[calteacher]

My DH read the suggestions and said he can do it. Even thought he might take a cooking class with me!(y)

 

Now I'm in the process of getting rental cars!

[Johaz]

"He" should be delighted spending time with you.. also.. walk the promenade.. bring a few new games and puzzles.. join trivia.. go to happy hour.. attend a wine tasting.. chat with other cruisers.... invite them for a cocktail.. watch the stars.. read a book.. catch up on CNN.. dance at BB Kings.. enjoy breakfast in bed.. go to a show.. research a tour.. plan your next cruise.. catch classical music with Adagio., or pop tunes at Billboard.. take a ship tour.. decorate your cabin door... join your meet and greet... watch a movie in room.. watch a movie in the theatre.. experience a sunset or sunrise.. order room service.. enjoy a specialty restaurant... try caviar.. bring along a flameless candle and remember your first date.. send photos to loved ones.. take a dip in the pool.. enjoy the hot tub., chat with your cabin stewards.. waiters.. bartenders.. learn about their culture and who they are.. write a blog of your cruise experience.. take pictures.. enjoy long evening meals meeting other cruisers.. take the art tour on the ship.. do some shopping in the gift shop., go to ship lectures.. watch the aft camera.. have a special coffee in the crows nest.. check the New York Times archives available.. have some ice cream.. pen a diary of your cruise.. get a massage.. if you are worrying about what "he" will do.. maybe better to have him plan another agenda for the same length of time and he can worry about what you will do... hope you have a happy trip..,

 

 

 

Decorating the door is no longer allowed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kazu]

Decorating the door is no longer allowed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Really? When did this happen? I saw lots of cabin doors with pictures, etc. On them (to help identify their cabin I assume). I didnt' see anyone ordered to remove them.

 

Most recently May, 2017 but on cruises previously as well.

[RuthC]

Decorating the door is no longer allowed.

Where did you get that from? I've never heard of any such rule.

[Lizzie68]

Decorating the door is no longer allowed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Since when?:( There were a lot of decorated doors on my cruise.

[Johaz]

Where did you get that from? I've never heard of any such rule.

 

 

 

From my What You Need to Know Before You Go booklet for my upcoming cruise:

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[RuthC]

From my What You Need to Know Before You Go booklet for my upcoming cruise:

 

Well, whadda ya know! Thanks for the link, as I have never read that.

[kazu]

From my What You Need to Know Before You Go booklet for my upcoming cruise:

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks for posting this..

 

Well, whadda ya know! Thanks for the link, as I have never read that.

 

 

This must be new as it was not in the Know Before you Go nor the booklet on board on our last cruise..

[Johaz]

Thanks for posting this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This must be new as it was not in the Know Before you Go nor the booklet on board on our last cruise..

 

 

 

People on my cruise aren't happy either because we have Halloween and Thanksgiving while on board.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums