Here are some of our thought about the cruise, based on some of our discussions after returning home.
- Although we thoroughly enjoy sea days, the total number of sea days on the return to Los Angeles from Tahiti seemed a bit long. We had not ever spent eight days in a row at sea before on any other cruise. We surmise that this was partly due to the overall length of the cruise, coupled with the fact that all of these sea days were at the end of the cruise. We think that everyone, including the staff, were just tired from being on the go.
- Loosing our well liked Assistant Cruise Director Dan in Tahiti was also a factor in making the last part of the cruise seem long. Dan was being transferred to another ship, and disembarked in Tahiti, along with some of the crew that was being replaces, transferred, or just had finished their contracts. His replacement was just not as good, and you could almost feel the letdown in the level of entertainment provided.
- Another factor that influenced the end of the trip was the weather. About three days out from Los Angeles, the weather turned cloudy and cold, and included some periods of drizzle. The cold, rainy, foggy weather eliminated our being able to enjoy sitting outside around the pool, and also meant that all of the passengers had to utilize inside entertainment during these days to pass the time. The only good point about the less than desirable weather was that it made packing easier, it provided us with something to do, and we were not missing out on other more enjoyable activities.
In retrospect, it was our belief that if we had done the cruise in the reverse order, heading to Tahiti first, everyone would have enjoyed the eight sea days more at the beginning of the cruise, when everyone is excited about being on their cruise adventure. This would have shortened the total number of sea days at the end of the cruise to five, since that was the number of sea days between Hawaii and Los Angeles, which occurred at the beginning of this cruise. It was out thought that the three less days would have made a significant difference, although the other factors listed above would have remained the same.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, there were certainly many more pluses than minuses., and one can always find areas that could have been better. This was certainly a cruise itinerary we would probably only do once, partly due to the overall cost, and partly due to the total duration of time off and being away from home of about 30 days, including travel to and from Los Angeles. There are many other cruise adventures out there that we are looking forward to going on for a similar cost and total duration.