Crown Princess to Hawaii from L.A.

Cruising to Hawaii roundtrip from Los Angeles isn't for everyone.  You have twice as many sea days as on the islands.

If you have limited time off work, then flying to one of the islands for a week might be a better vacation for you personally.  Another possibility would be a cruise roundtrip from Honolulu that takes you to a port every day, with NCL Pride of America providing that option.

Arriving at a different island each day we were in Hawaii, as we did on Crown Princess, means you have to be prepared in advance, whereas staying at a beach hotel allows you greater flexibility and the opportunity to go when you feel like it.

The other side of that coin is that a longer island stay can lull you into believing you have plenty of time to do it all later, and the next thing you know your whole vacation has passed without branching out from beach fun.

Then again, just hanging loose in Hawaii is also terrific.  You aren't in a race, particularly if you know you can return again.

For many people, Hawaii is a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list item, so if that is the case for you, just be sure to do it right the first time.

I've had many once-in-lifetime trips that turned habit-forming, including Hawaiian vacations, both as prolonged island stays and cruises.

Here's what we did this time in ports, which falls mostly in the category of hanging loose, although starting at a cruise ship instead of a beach front hotel included rides from Lyft and Uber rather than simply walking to the beach.

Richardson's Ocean Park in Hilo, Big Island of Hawaii

Hiking to the Diamond Head Summit, Oahu

Chillin' with the Turtles and Monk Seals on Poipu Beach, Kauai

Taking the Crown to Kahului, Maui

Ensenada, De Nada?

California Christmas Part 1: I Love L.A.

California Christmas Part 2: San Diego

Rather than re-write previous descriptions of our onboard experience in my CruisePlanners1.com blog, here is a long quote, followed by photos taken onboard the lovely Crown Princess:

If you have never cruised over the holiday season, you need to try it once, if just to see the fabulous decorations.  Coral Princess had lovely Christmas trees in many public spaces.  In the atrium, green faux-pine garland was strung around the banisters and rails.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee and pastries from the adjoining International Café created a lovely aroma as we sipped wine from Vines and listened to a Russian string duo play relaxing pre-dinner music prior to walking to Boticelli's Dining Room to savor our nightly gourmet, multi-course meal.

After dinner, we usually swung by Crooner's Lounge to hear David Moore, a gifted Scottish pianist and singer who, to paraphrase another Piano Man, is "quick with a joke" or even more likely to rattle off a half dozen one-liners between songs.  Some nights, we just stuck around Crooner's for another set rather than going to the main theater shows, but those performances were awesome too.

Productions shows feature a sparkling young cast of great dancers and talented singers.  There also were great guest entertainers brought aboard, like rock impressionist Greg London who does spot-on takes of Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Ozzie Osborne, Kermit the Frog and others.  Jason Ostrowski brought his new tribute to Elton John, "Bennie and the Rest," to the main stage on another night.

In daytime, we attended interesting presentations by naturalist Sharon Faff, who lives on a volcano.  I was too late to get a ukulele for Tiki Dave's class, which was just as well, because this time on sea days, we spent a lot of time watching sports on the big Movies Under the Stars screen.

Blessed with sunny weather, we enjoyed watching several World Cup games, including probably the greatest soccer finale ever.  We also happened to be lounging in the sun when the Indianapolis Colts took a surprising 33-0 lead over the favored Minnesota Vikings only to lose in the second half to the greatest comeback of all time.

The biggest stars of the cruise were the Hawaiian Islands themselves.  We loved every port, including snorkeling with turtles on three islands and hiking to the top of Diamond Head before having a cheeseburger in paradise at Duke's and then lounging beneath an umbrella on Waikiki Beach.

Random Photos Taken Aboard Coral Princess

After these photos, there's a bit more narrative about the feel of our onboard experience.

After stirring my cappuccino one morning, this pattern appeared in the steamed milk.  To me, it looks like my sister's Pomeranian Teddy running along the back of her couch to greet me, something that always makes me smile.

On a cruise, we experience many special small moments, some only within our minds.

We form patterns like going to the International Cafe for that morning fresh cup of the steaming beverage of our choice.  On a longer cruise, these activities begin to feel like they will continue forever, and these habits draw us back instinctively to that cruise line that makes us feel so at home, sometimes back to the exact same ship.

We become accustomed to the art work on different staircases and make mental note that the starboard hallway has green circles on the edge of the pattern whereas the port side has red circles.

In short, in some ways it is like returning to our youth, when so much is new and exciting but we're happy to be able to figure out some puzzle to help us navigate our way through this beautiful new world.

And even when we return to the same line or ship, it will never be the exact same crew, entertainers, decorations or certainly fellow travelers.  As someone told me at a Bridge game one time, each hand is unique for similar reasons.

It's good to awaken your mind anew, and a cruise provides that fountain of youth, if you are open to the experience.