So, I'm setting here today thinking about how I will begin this blog entry. There are so many directions my mind could take me, but I will stick to the subject matter at hand-our recent 2 week cruise to Hawaii. Many have asked me about the cruise, Hawaii, Princess cruiseline, etc... I intend for this post to give everyone a general overview/opinion concerning our own personal experience.
First, you should know that we LOVE to cruise. It is, hands down, our favorite way to vacation as a couple/even as a family. I did want to preface this blog with this bias (our LOVE for cruising) out of the way immediately.
Many are probably wondering "what's so special about cruising?" Well, our response would be, what's NOT special about cruising? The only reason I can imagine ANY person not enjoying cruising would be if they get motion sick-now that would be pretty miserable and I wouldn't want to be in a stupor the entire trip from motion sickness meds. Fortunately for us, we do not get sick in this fashion and quite enjoy the gentle swaying/rocking back and forth of the ship-there is NO better way to go to sleep every night than to be gently rocked...ask a baby, they will attest to that!lol Here are some of our own thoughts about WHY cruising is so wonderful. Following is a list of reason we LOVE to cruise: 1) You can TOTALLY disconnect from the outside world and relax. You "can" use internet/cell phones, etc...if you have a burning desire to do so or perhaps "need" to do so...but it is the one way you can truly vacation without any of these things and feel totally "safe" doing so. I know many people don't like to "leave their phone" at home during a normal vacation because there is a nagging feeling that you may need the phone for some safety situation (car breaks down, etc..) On a cruise ship, this does not apply. We did (for the first time EVER) buy an internet package onboard this time because we were away for 2 entire weeks w/one of our daughters not "feeling well" the morning we left. It gave us peace of mind. But, we only used the internet once every 2 days-to check on her and for my hubby to "delete" his work email so he wouldn't have 10,000 to evaluate when he returned. Cruise lines "discourage" the use of technology on board by charging astronomically for these services that are used via satellite. 150 minutes of internet usage cost us $100...outrageous! But, again, this is the first time we've ever purchased this and it was for peace of mind on our part-not because we can't relax or "disconnect". I prefer to totally disconnect and just enjoy the people/activities on board...that is all of the "connection" I need. 2) Have the opportunity to be PAMPERED for X amount of days on board the ship. Truly, the cruise industry are masters of taking care of their customers. You truly want for nothing-pretty much the "way" you are pampered is up to you. You can choose "free style" dining-which means you can go to a dining room at whatever time you want, every night, dressed smart casual, etc...or you can choose to dress in smart casual and head to the main dining room every night(at an assigned dining time) where you will be seated w/other cruisers that you will get to know during the duration of the cruise as they will set w/you night after night-here you also get the SAME wait staff which allows them to learn your habits, make recommendations, and serve you more efficiently. There is also the choice of a casual "buffet" line on the upper deck-you can dress VERY casually here-as long as you are covered and have shoes on...pretty much anything goes here. There is also the option of room service on board the ship. Room service is 24 hrs/day and is "included" in the price of your cruise. You never have to leave your cabin OR the ship if you prefer not to! Several cruise ships also have "specialty" restaurants onboard...these are reservation only and are usually about $25/person cover charge, but the restaurants are absolutely outstanding-each of them have their own chef/staff just for the restaurant. Normally it will take 2 hours for a 4 course dinner here-you can eat/order as much/little as you'd like while here. Besides the various "pampering" options of dining, you also have a special steward that takes care of your cabin (room on the ship). 3) Room pampering-this is another reason we love to cruise. Your room/beds/linens/etc... will be refreshed a minimum of 2X/day UNLESS you put out the "do not disturb" sign. Every night you will have a clean, turned back bed w/chocolate on your pillow-YUMMY! Every morning when you return from b'fast, your bed will be made-you literally don't have to do ANYTHING but take care of packing before you come on the cruise, then you can "unpack" once and enjoy this all-inclusive experience onboard a ship. I don't know about you, but if my bathroom gets cleaned, towels washed/replaced, bed made, etc...at home, it's done by ME and most certainly (w/exception of the bed) isn't done every day! 4) Value-a cruise can be an AMAZING vacation value! For many years it was thought to be a vacation just for the "elite" or "retired/elderly". My only regret is that we bought into that stereotype and didn't do more research ourselves instead of assuming it was "out of our reach/range". We would have a LOT more cruises in our travel adventures if we'd only known. That's why I enjoy sharing everything I can w/others about cruising so they will have a "realistic" picture of what it is/what to expect. After reevaluating previous vacations our family/we have taken through the years...yeah, cruising can be a pretty sweet deal-monetarily/comparatively. Don't misunderstand, there are some "expensive" cruises, but knowing WHERE to go to look for deals, etc...when to purchase, etc...is part of the adventure of cruising. Cruising is "all inclusive"...again, you CAN spend more money once onboard if you choose to, but you don't HAVE to, it is your choice. Once you arrive at the port of call to board the ship (your responsible for your expense to arrive there), the only "outside" expense you will incur is a $12/day per person charge for tips for your wait staff/room steward (even these can be paid in advance) or the expense of any "planned" excursions (trips off the ship at various ports) that you choose to take. Where else can you get a hotel, transportation, GOURMET food around the clock, room service, and broadway style entertainment/shows for less than $100/person per day? Like I mentioned before-it's WONDERFUL to get on the ship and know I pack once/unpack once and I'm DONE! This brings me to another reason we love to cruise 5) Seeing the world...what other form of travel allows you to see/visit so many DIFFERENT sites, places, etc... in just a few days time? You simply get on the ship and start enjoying your "city on a boat"-eat, relax, go to shows, activities on board, etc... until you arrive at your first "port of call"-then you get to "sleep" through the night while your driver (the captain of the ship) takes you to your next destination. What a fantastic way to see the world! 6) Food/Entertainment/Excursions on board-wow, I can't speak highly enough about these things. The cruise industry are absolute marvels at taking care of, entertaining, and making your vacation special w/myriads of activities, food, etc...that appeal to everyone. Truly, there is something for everyone. At times it can be almost overwhelming the "choices" on board a cruise ship. No matter what you enjoy- trivia, learning to line dance classes, exercise in a gym, learning ball room dancing, bingo, watching movies, learning about cultures of places you will visit while onboard, music-piano, symphony, classical, quartets, ratpack, relaxing in a hot tub, pool, lounging in the sun, karaoke,etc... there is almost always something for everyone's taste. The good thing is-you choose what and IF you do any/all of the activities, it truly is your choice! 7) Finally, I would say we enjoy cruising because we enjoy getting to know different people from all over the world. It expands our minds to consider the reality that we truly live in a very big world and it is interesting to share experiences/time on board w/other people from all over the globe.
So, now that I've shared why we love to cruise. Let me speak specifically to cruise lines. To date, I have taken 7 cruises w/6 different cruise lines. Though there are some "standards" that are true among cruise lines across the board-there are some things that make each line a little "different"-hence their own little niche in the market. We have purposefully tried various cruise lines while trying to decide WHICH line we would be "loyal" to so that we can begin building "reward" points/specials for cruising again/again. This cruise, we decided that Princess Cruises will be our "official" line of choice. Let me say that there are some "things" about other lines that we liked better...onesies/twosies...but when we evaluated the "entire" experience, we decided Princess would suit our needs very well in the future. I'm sure you are wondering WHAT were the things we liked better about other lines. Our favorite cruise line food, overall, is Celebrity cruises. WOW-their sushi bars, etc...really were "stellar" and "included". HOWEVER, the thing you need to know about Celebrity is that it is a MUCH more expensive line to cruise and does not have the overall "availability" of cruise ports around the world that Princess does. Princess is the ONLY line that offers "significant" discounts to military/retired military families (up to $250/person per cruise)...this is a big consideration for us considered this benefit will "pay us" again/again as we cruise. The only line that had "stellar" bedding was Holland-America-I refuse to be loyal to a line that's theme is "those dam ships" (out of Holland-hence, all of it's ships end in "dam"-Amsterdam, Zollendam, etc...). Some may say that is petty-but to me it's a matter of principle. We did like the "set up" of the interior staterooms on Princess...it's the only ship we've been on that has the closet area/bathroom area "behind" a wall and doesn't come directly into the room. Hands down, the "entertainment" on Princess was the best we've ever experienced. Every night you have a "choice" of 2 different main "after dinner" shows. On all other lines, there has only been once choice of show. There are also 3 different "seating times" for these shows-on all other lines-only 2 seating times. The activities on board-offerings, etc...were excellent on Princess...choices many/varied w/fantastic "schedule" that changed every day(free Zumba classes w/licensed instructor-fab!). A couple of other "extras" on Princess we had not experienced on other lines-"Movies under the stars" is a program where they have a GIGANTIC outdoor theater screen above the main pool area and show movies while a "popcorn" steward brings you freshly popped popcorn while you enjoy a "new" motion picture film. The choices were many/varied in this as well...something for EVERYONE by the end of the cruise. Also, the staterooms/cabins had an EXCELLENT choice of tv viewing opportunities...changed EVERY day...NEVER the same/no repeats. Had modern TV, retro TV, family programs, discovery, new movies, etc...so if you didn't want to leave your cabin-you could have a LOT of choice of things to watch in the cabin! Princess and Celebrity are the ONLY lines that offer their OWN tenders to shore. Tenders are "small" boats that hold about 250 people that take people to shore when the ship has to "anchor" offshore because of depth of water, etc... in particular ports. IF a ship has it's own tenders/system, they operate so much more effectively than "waiting" for a hired company, offshore, to take passengers back/forth. We were VERY pleased w/that as well. The clientele aboard Princess was suitable for us. It was the FIRST cruiseline that we felt, overall, everyone was "classy"...not SNOBS by any means, just classy and respectable. 75% of the cruisers aboard were over the age of 60-just about the exact opposite of Carnival (our least favorite). Given that we are getting older every year and hope to cruise twice/year once John retires-we want to be on a line that "caters" to those that are older. Though these folks were older in age, many were not old in stamina. Wow-they would stay up and dance w/their spouse for hours on end...true ballroom dancing which is TOUGH stuff to do hour after hour. However, the "excursions" were primarily for an older audience which appeals to us. Though we enjoy the beauty of tropical islands-we are not INTO the beach/bikini scene per se. We prefer to see the islands, get out among the people, have experiences, etc...a beach is a beach as far as we are concerned. Another thing w/the older crowd is that there was a very high level of "respectability" in the way people dressed/behaved throughout the cruise-this was nice. A final thing that helped us decide Princess was the line for us was the "diminished" push for alcohol sales and casino on board. The cruiselines make their "money" off of casinos and the sale of alcohol on board. They don't make money off of people that choose NOT to gamble or drink only the complimentary beverages (ice tea, lemonade, coffee, hot tea, water). Most other lines are VERY pushy about the sales of these items. We did NOT find this to be the case at all on Princess. Though some people did have an occassional glass of wine w/dinner or after dinner cocktail-the use of alcohol was GREATLY below what I've seen on other lines and we did not see even ONE person that had too much to drink and was obnoxious because of it during the entire 14 days. That was certainly a first for us. Again, some lines are worse than others in reputation concerning this.
Now that you know WHY we, personally, have chosen Princess-let me tell you a bit about this particular cruise. Let me explain that until this cruise, the longest we have been on is 7 days. This was 14 days at sea. We had no idea if we'd "like" the longer cruise, if we'd get "bored", etc...for us it was absolutely amazing! We LOVED having a relaxing 5 days at sea-going to Hawaii-4 days in 4 different Hawaiian islands-then 5 days returning to "recuperate" from the hectic/busy days in the islands. Before, we experienced 2 days at sea, 3 days in ports, and 2 days back at sea. In retrospect-not "enough" time on the ship. That's just our personal preference. We "like" to relax, spend time in activities on board, get to "know" people on board, etc...it's part of what we love about cruising-the CRUISE itself-not just the destinations! Hawaii...well it was beautiful. We would LOVE to go back to Maui in the future. It was our favorite island. We would like to fly in, rent a car, "camp"around the island at the various "free" public beaches and eat very simple whole foods while enjoying the full island experience. We enjoy "village hopping" wherever we visit and Maui is exactly the type of island to enjoy different little towns/shops/etc... Our favorite excursion was the visit to Haleakala Crater on Maui-most amazing site I have ever seen. Truly, looked just like the surface of the moon. Just outstanding display of God's creation. Yes, Hawaii was beautiful-but we were surprised by a few things. First, we were surprised that Oahu was SO commercialized/it was just like an average big American city w/high rises and all-really took away from the simplicity of the island. John had opportunity to be stationed there about 4 years ago-I'm glad it wasn't God's plan for us to go there. I would NOT have liked living on such a beautiful island w/so much modern architecture. We were also surprised by the lack of wildlife/birds, etc... in the Hawaiian islands. Never thought about it before we were there...but the islands have all of these GORGEOUS tropical plants, foliage, etc...but VERY few animals (except CHICKENS and a few javalina-which they EAT!) and wild birds. It seemed very strange to be in a rain forest like environment and not hear birds, monkeys, etc... just weird to us.
This was our favorite cruise ever, thanks foremost to God, then Princess cruises and it being a TRULY relaxing vacation for 14 days. We felt that it was well deserved after being separated for an entire year-this was our first "get away" (except our trip to Cali in Nov which was unexpected) since John returned from the desert. We could not have chosen a better vacation to focus on "us" again. This was the best vacation we've ever had-because it was just the 2 of us, alone, being pampered, and focusing/enjoying just being together. I felt like a PRINCESS the entire cruise-like I had found my Prince and was being treated like royalty w/no concerns for housekeeping, meals, children, schedules, etc...for just a few days. Dressed up every night and went to a LOVELY fancy/gourmet dinner w/the love of my life then enjoyed after dinner music, shows, etc...truly, it was amazing. It was amazing because God granted us this wonderful gift...this gift of a special cruise vacation to celebrate 25 years of commitment/love to one another in holy matrimony. Throughout scripture, God talks about the beauty of marriage and I appreciate His blessing to us in this cruise vacation to celebrate our love!
I will close with this final thought that may seem "totally" unrelated to this blog, but think about it and perhaps you will see the connection. I mentioned I felt like a Princess during this cruise-while experiencing God's wonderful gift of Creation and having time to just "reflect" on my life, I realize how much I look forward to Heaven. In Heaven I will have none of these concerns either-what I will eat, wear, responsibilities, housekeeping, etc...Because I am ALREADY God's Princess, I will simply "relax" and "be" in the presence of my Heavenly Father. Singing praises to His great name in such fantastic "classy" company as the apostle Paul, Moses, Joshua, Joseph, etc... and mostly Jesus, Himself! So, until I reach Heaven, I will be God's Princess here and let Princess cruises remind me of the glories to come each/every time I have opportunity to cruise with them!
