Thoughts on cruising
I guess this is as good a place as any to start. My wife and I just got back from a 7 day cruise around the Hawaiian islands. It was not our first trip to Hawaii, but it was our first cruise. We will certainly be going back to Hawaii again, but we will almost certainly not be cruising while there.
The good
Overall, the cruise was not a bad experience. For a first trip to somewhere you’ve never been, especially to a foreign country, it would be great. It was nice not to have to think too much about where to eat and not to have to look for interesting things to do. There was plenty of food on the ship (most of it not that great, but more about that later), and many shows, events, and bars to frequent. Our room was small, but sufficient. It had a double bed, plenty of closet space, a small bathroom with shower, a small couch, a refrigerator, and a nice sized balcony. The crew was very attentive and friendly, always asking how our day went and what we planned on doing.
The ship was huge. Nearly a quarter mile long and carried about 2000 passengers and almost 1000 crew. Most of the time we could barely tell we were on a ship and not in a hotel. Even at full speed, the ship barely rocked, although the waters around Hawaii were not exactly rough. There were shops, and bars, an art gallery, several pools and hot tubs, hundreds of deck chairs, a gym, a spa, over ten restaurants, and two nice venues for performances. The ship comedian was Chris Alpine; he was hilarious and we tried to catch him every time he performed. John Shryock was the ship magician… also very entertaining. There were also four improv comics from Second City on board for a couple shows. (as an interesting side note, this guy and his family were also on the cruise. He was on our team for a movie trivia contest. We ended up tying with the other team 0 to 0 because both teams bet all the points on the last question and both teams got it wrong).
Our one shore excursion was to Molokini and it was incredible. Molokini is an old volcanic crater that’s just poking up out of the surface of the ocean and it’s made a wonderful protected reef area. The water is amazingly clear (visibility was around 80 feet when we were there) and the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen. We spent an hour snorkeling there and I could have spent the rest of the day there.
Molokini
The not so good
There was actually so much to do that it often felt rushed and regimented, and not nearly as relaxing as we had both hoped for. Since we had already been to most of the islands (Shauna had been to them all), we had a good idea of what we could do and where we wanted to go. This meant that the artificial time schedules of the ship were often more of hindrance than they might have been.
I always thought of cruises as being very “all-inclusive”; once you paid for your tickets, you really only had to spend money on any souvenirs or alcoholic beverages that you wanted. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case.
Cruise ships are so big that they can only dock in the industrial docks on the islands, which means the area around the ship while in port is typically warehouses, forklifts, trucks, and rusty equipment.
View from our balcony in Kauai
In order to get to anywhere nice, you need transportation. On our first stop (Maui), we figured we’d just hop one of the free shuttles to the shopping areas (every port had a free shuttle to Wal-Mart, except Kauai), do a little shopping in the morning and then head out to a beach for the afternoon. Unfortunately, they don’t allow our kind on the shuttle; by our kind, I mean people who happen to be carrying towels. I guess the theory is that if you’re carrying a towel, then you’re not going to spend any money in the stores that pay for the shuttle, so you can’t ride. As it turned out, they were prophetic… we didn’t spend any money in any of their stores. Instead, we ended up renting a car and driving it to a beach where we successfully lounged and swam for an hour or so, and then went shopping in *other* stores. This practice of renting a car happened two more times, which added up to a couple hundred dollars that we didn’t anticipate spending, but what are you going to do? We didn’t take a Hawaiian cruise so we could sit on the boat ship all day long.
Another thing I’ve always heard about cruises is that the food is incredible. Unfortunately I was underwhelmed with the food on this particular cruise. The buffet (which was “free”… as in you already paid for it when you bought your tickets) was almost as good as Hometown Buffet, but with a slightly smaller variety of dishes and a lot more pushy, loud, rude people and their pushy, loud, rude children. The only redeeming feature of the buffet was the fresh fruit selection, which was actually very good. The other “free” options were not much better. The food quality was slightly higher, but the wait times were very long.
Of course, if you wanted good food and timely service, you could always make a reservation at one of the 5 or 6 “specialty” restaurants onboard. They ranged in price from $10 – $25 per person additional (not counting drinks), but they took reservations and supposedly offered a fine dining experience. Of the three we tried, one was truly outstanding: Teppenyaki, a Benihana-like dinner/show. It was entertaining and the food was awesome. To top it off, we got to sit with Rockwood and his family, who were fun and entertaining in their own right.
All in all, I wasn’t completely turned off to cruising. It would be a great way to explore new places you had never been before, especially in foreign countries where you didn’t speak the language. There’s a certain amount of safety in having the ship to return to each night and the shore excursions would give you an opportunity to experience some of the highlights of the areas you were visiting. Next time we cruise, we’ll know what to expect (and we’ll bring more money!).