Month-Long Cruise

[Seafan22]

Next year (in September) I'll be doing a month-long trip from San Francisco to Sydney as a retirement trip for my wife and I.  I'm wondering if some of you that may have done a trip of this length in the past can share how this kind of trip may differ from the typical one or two week trips.  I would imagine that there are few if any children, in that it's during the school year.  Are the shows in the theater repeated?  And what else can you tell me.  

 

Thanks

[Jadn13]

If it’s also booked in segments most things will repeat. Games, food and shows. Thinks may start to mix up based on ports as you change countries/continents.

[TheDawg79]

Yes the theatre shows are going to be repeated. There is no way for them to put on new productions even every month. Those often run for years due to production costs and logistics. There will be 2 or 3 shows in total that will run 2-3 nights a week each. Your MDR menu might be on a slightly longer rotation, but that would probably be the biggest change you will see.

Edited November 29, 2023 by TheDawg79

[Seafan22]

This particular trip is only two segment options; at 23-day from San Francisco to New Zealand, or the 32-day going all the way to Sydney. 

[mtnesterz]

For a month long trip, you will need to make plans for bills and expenses as you would incur if you were at home. Look back through your checkbook for the previous year and see if any expenses come up that month you'll be gone.

Perhaps you auto-pay or have someone to pay, for example, the gardener. It could be whatever unique to your situation, but enough said to say that someone needs to watch your place and things at home continue on as they would if you were there.

In the World Cruise section of CC there is a thread about this.

[partybarbie]

I would also recommend autopay, or pre-paying your bills before leaving. The ship’s internet isn’t secure. I wouldn’t risk accessing any bank accounts while on board. 
 

Your menus might not repeat. I was told that there are 30 days of different menus that can be offered. 
 

Guest entertainers will board the ship throughout your cruise. They change over at the larger ports like Honolulu and Auckland. 
 

There will be a lot of sea days. I spent most of them walking the decks, reading, watching movies, and relaxing. 
 

Enjoy your cruise and congrats on your retirement.

[beg3yrs]

You will get to know the crew, especially the cruise staff, pretty well and they'll start calling you by first name if you'd like.

 

You will stop saying you're going back to the cabin and will say you're going home.

 

You will start wondering how you can live permanently on a ship.

 

Specialty restaurants are a good option when the menu gets boring. Personally on a repeat menu I will select something that I would normally pass on. I am often surprised that I enjoyed it.

[skynight]

Crown Princess September 24th S.F. to Sydney? This cruise is a b2b of 2 cruises, S.F to Auckland and then Auckland to Sydney. If possible I would book as two separate booking numbers. If you have the plus or premier fares you would then get the fare benefits twice, certainly if you have sharholder's and military additional OBC, and you will be more flexible in case of fare changes or other unexpected events. Check out the pricing. It should be very close.

I have sailed these long Pacific cruises a few times. There will be many sea days, 18 of them. Come prepared to participate in lots of cruise staff activities, some silly some not so silly. Don't just sit around. It will be hot with direct sun. Bring lots of sun screen. I have experienced both choppy, rolling waters as well as calm seas. If you get sea sick bring your meds. The crossing the equator event is something to see. Don't miss it. If you want to be one of the small number of passengers that represent all volunteer to the CD the first few days.

Shows. Production shows will be shown once SF to Auckland and then again Auckland to Sydney. Guest entertainers may appear more once with different acts. These entertainers come and go at ports of call. DR menus will probably be different each evening, but menu items probably will repeat. No or very few youth on board. The sailing is at the start of the U.S. school year. I also believe that NZ and Australia schools are in session.

It is a great experience. I love these long cruises. 

[HotRoot]

Game shows will repeat.  Go the first time and memorize the answers.  Then win the second time.

[partybarbie]

One other thing, bring enough prescription meds to last for the entire cruise. I recently left my glaucoma drops behind and didn’t realize it until the ship was getting ready to sail. I went to five pharmacies in Cabo before I found what I needed.
 

Also, contact lens solution was impossible to find. 

 

I also bring a first aid kit, including antibiotics, masks, and a thermometer. Fill it up with cold medicines, Advil, Tylenol, etc. Believe me, I haven’t been on a cruise yet that I haven’t needed it.

[MissP22]

15 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

Game shows will repeat.  Go the first time and memorize the answers.  Then win the second time.

Yourself and 50 other people. 😁LOL

[Cruise Raider]

I’m jealous!  I can hardly get my DH to go more than 2 weeks but I am working on it.  I actually got him to go for 19 days and have a 22 night booking for 2025.  He balked at it at first but it starts and ends in our home port of SF, so no air travel involved.  He agreed .. maybe a little reluctantly at first, but now I think he’s getting better with the idea.  
I don’t even mind when they repeat the production shows.  It makes missing one event in lieu of another scheduled at the same time easier.  Same with the menus, I can order a different entree the second time around.  

[Tedferg]

We did Honolulu to Sydney in October and enjoyed it. The cruise started in Vancouver, but we preferred flying to Honolulu to shave 6 or mor sea days. We too were hesitant because of so many sea days and decided to simply take a new attitude and enjoy more 'down time'. Great cruise but disappointed there was only two Production shows.

 

We took Hobbiton excursion from Tauranga and loved it, we are fans of Lord of The Rings.

 

I also see Maui as a stop this will probably be changed.

 

Lastly, if you plan a tour of the Opera House in Sydney, be sure to book online ahead of time.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Tedferg

[Seafan22]

Thanks for all of the comments, suggestions, and insights.  I am thankful that Princess has a laundromat, it will sure make packing easier.  

[memoak]

34 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

We did Honolulu to Sydney in October and enjoyed it. The cruise started in Vancouver, but we preferred flying to Honolulu to shave 6 or mor sea days. We too were hesitant because of so many sea days and decided to simply take a new attitude and enjoy more 'down time'. Great cruise but disappointed there was only two Production shows.

 

We took Hobbiton excursion from Tauranga and loved it, we are fans of Lord of The Rings.

 

I also see Maui as a stop this will probably be changed.

 

Lastly, if you plan a tour of the Opera House in Sydney, be sure to book online ahead of time.

Maui is being booked now. We have a Hawaii cruise in April and we will be calling at Kahului 

[jennybenny]

1 hour ago, partybarbie said:

One other thing, bring enough prescription meds to last for the entire cruise. I recently left my glaucoma drops behind and didn’t realize it until the ship was getting ready to sail. I went to five pharmacies in Cabo before I found what I needed.
 

Also, contact lens solution was impossible to find. 

 

I also bring a first aid kit, including antibiotics, masks, and a thermometer. Fill it up with cold medicines, Advil, Tylenol, etc. Believe me, I haven’t been on a cruise yet that I haven’t needed it.

That's a great reminder to people!! We always fill up with ginger tea or candy, antibacterial, liquid soap (for bathroom), cold meds, Advil, Tylenol, bandaids, and while we mostly don't need any of it, there are times we are SO happy we had it on hand. Usually do a dollar store run and it's affordable and compact. 

[PacnGoNow]

6 hours ago, Seafan22 said:

Next year (in September) I'll be doing a month-long trip from San Francisco to Sydney as a retirement trip for my wife and I.  I'm wondering if some of you that may have done a trip of this length in the past can share how this kind of trip may differ from the typical one or two week trips.  I would imagine that there are few if any children, in that it's during the school year.  Are the shows in the theater repeated?  And what else can you tell me.  

 

Thanks

We’ve just been doing 47 days on the Sapphire, Hawaii and South Pacific.  We rarely do short 7/10 day cruises any more.

 
Yes, they rotate the menu about every 10 days.  Little boring for us, so we mix SD, casual dining, buffet and UBD to have more variety.

 

Love sea days.  You can be as busy or relax as much as you want.  Plenty of activities.  Those are repeated also, for the most

art.  
Destination specialists are good.  Entertainment is also repeated.

 

You really get to know the crew, which is fun.

 

We do have some children, but not a lot on these longer cruises.

Not anything like a short cruise or Christmas/New Year’s cruises.

 

 

 

[Tedferg]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

Maui is being booked now. We have a Hawaii cruise in April and we will be calling at Kahului 

Good to hear, they ned tourist $$$$

[startedwithamouse]

 

6 hours ago, TheDawg79 said:

Yes the theatre shows are going to be repeated. There is no way for them to put on new productions even every month. Those often run for years due to production costs and logistics. There will be 2 or 3 shows in total that will run 2-3 nights a week each. Your MDR menu might be on a slightly longer rotation, but that would probably be the biggest change you will see.

No, absolutely incorrect. No repeats of shows. 

 

We just did a LA to Sydney cruise last month. 

 

 

[TheDawg79]

17 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

No, absolutely incorrect. No repeats of shows. 

 

We just did a LA to Sydney cruise last month. 

 

 

No, absolutely correct! I just got off a 21 day sailing 2 weeks ago and this was my EXACT experience. We didn’t have a brand new theater show every day with no second shows. Theatre shows were absolutely performed more than once and thus were repeated. Sorry to disappoint, but correct. Your experience doesn’t mirror everyone’s. 

[MacMadame]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

Maui is being booked now. We have a Hawaii cruise in April and we will be calling at Kahului 

 

47 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Good to hear, they ned tourist $$$$

Their tourist board has been advertising asking people to come to Maui, just not to Lahaina. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Our favorite cruises now that we're in our early 70s are in the 3-5 week range and Princess does offer their share of pretty cool ones! A couple of suggestions. Always check out the Patter the evening before, so you have a plan for when you wake up the next day, even if it is just to meander around all day. Definitely plan to go the lectures, if you like that sort of thing, as they are always quite informative! Schedule some time to walk around the promenade every day to burn off some calories, as they do seem to "consolidate" in certain areas if you ignore them. 

 

If you like going to the evening shows, get there about 30 minutes early so you can find good seats to sit in. Remember you're probably on a cruise with a bunch of old people, so plan accordingly. If you're wondering what to do during the idle time waiting for the show to start, bring a deck of cards and play rummy like we do. 

 

You can also post to a Live From thread like I do (see my Signature area). Trust me when I say it will definitely keep you entertained during those slow times. Hopefully, you are booked in at least a balcony cabin as sitting out on the balcony can be quite relaxing on sea days along with offering some great views, especially if some birds or dolphins stop by to visit. There is also a high probably you're going to see some awesome sunrises and sunsets along the way!

 

Anyway, that's a few ideas from over here in the peanut gallery. Have a great cruise!!

[skynight]

12 minutes ago, TheDawg79 said:

No, absolutely correct! I just got off a 21 day sailing 2 weeks ago and this was my EXACT experience. We didn’t have a brand new theater show every day with no second shows. Theatre shows were absolutely performed more than once and thus were repeated. Sorry to disappoint, but correct. Your experience doesn’t mirror everyone’s. 

Was your 21 day cruise actually 3 one week cruises? Then yes shows will repeat. My experience on long voyages that are single cruises is that the production shows do not repeat. As for guest entertainers they may perform more than once, but different acts. These entertainers get on/off at the ports of call so they change.

[daydreamer16]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

Maui is being booked now. We have a Hawaii cruise in April and we will be calling at Kahului 

We are on the Grand in April, Auckland to San Francisco & Maui was just changed to a 2nd day in Honolulu.

[memoak]

7 minutes ago, daydreamer16 said:

We are on the Grand in April, Auckland to San Francisco & Maui was just changed to a 2nd day in Honolulu.

It may be that that day is when the NCL ship is using the dock. Our Lahaina day was changed to Kahului several weeks ago. That is the Ruby from Vancouver