Although we have been full-time travelers, without a sticks-n-bricks home now for nearly 7 year’s we still have adventures, countries, and places on our always growing bucket list. Years ago when we would take 7 day cruises often in the Caribbean we would meet and talk to people that were doing back to back 14 day cruises, some that were on 30 day cruises, and even met some doing something called World Cruises. Having checked off the back to back and 30 day cruise adventures we were presented a great opportunity last year with a special promotion for a World Cruise in 2025. We often thought we might do a World Cruise in our later years after RVing. Also, the cost consideration was always a concern. World Cruising is a “Big Investment” of $$$ and Time.
We had a deposit on a special promotional price World Cruise between April 2024 – September 2024. We had to make a decision to cancel or go all in by later September 2024. With the War in the Middle East still going on, many Cruise Companies had opted to eliminate a Suez Canal passage which had a lot of people dropping out of their deposits. Princess cruises, in a small window of time, opted to present a significantly discounted World Cruise at the time to inspire the ship to again be booked within their estimated guidelines. We happened to be on a South Pacific Cruise at the time of the promotion and they offered us a huge discounted fare with the TOP Perks if we booked. Hence we booked it.
The 2025 Island Princess World Cruise would be from Los Angeles – Los Angeles literally circumnavigating the World. We would be visiting over 26 different countries, 5 continents, 51 destinations over 117 days…. Yes it was a travelers dream; but “That is a long time on a cruise ship for sure”. Well in our typical “Revolutionary Journey” style we threw all our doubts and concerns to the wind and said “Let’s do it!” and sent our final payment in late September. We were all in now…
Some details for taking a trip this long include:
- What to pack?
- How to pack?
- Medical/Prescription concerns?
- Trip Insurance including:
- Medical coverage
- Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Emergency Evacuation
- Lost Luggage
- Lost ports/Itinerary
- Electronics and charging device
- Organization in our cabin
- Visas
- Communication with Family
- Activities/Games we could play on board
- Decorations for Holidays to make it feel more homey
- 22 Formal nights:
- Security (While walking in ports…)
- Storage of our RV/Belongings
- Banking/Bills
- Filing our Income Taxes while on-board
- Shore Excursions/Mapping Apps/City-Sightseeing Apps
- Spending money – Tips
- Laundry
- And as you can see the list went on and on…
- And staying in touch with family (FaceTime…)
A quick look at the path of our cruise and stops we would make is here below:
With the 2024 Holidays behind we began planning for our departure on January 20, 2025. We had a lot to accomplish before that date including getting our Volunteer efforts and responsibilities taken care of, helping my aging parents with some Health/Estate planing, Joanne taking a quick flight to Florida to see her Mom, and closing up the RV and Lot. Yes we had a lot to check off before departing in addition to connecting and saying goodbyes to so many of our “DSRV Snowbird” friends who we will miss this year.
Our plan was to pick-up a rental car at Palm Springs International Airport around 6:00pm on the 19th which we planned on using to drive to Long Beach Airport where we would drop the car and then use an UBER to transfer to the Port. We have done that in the past and again all went well. The only hiccup was that we used a car service instead of an UBER which ultimately ended up costing us $100.00 instead of about 1/2 what we have spent in the past. Nonetheless the driver was great, was able to avoid the busy traffic jam by the bridge, and we arrived in style in a huge black-out windowed Suburban. Yes we were borderline looking important. Well up until we unloaded our 9 pieces of luggage. This is the most luggage were have ever packed but what the heck we were going to make this ship our home for 4 months and we had no flights. (In hindsight we probably packed too much but did use most of what we packed…)
With our Platinum/Elite Rewards program status we boarded very quickly and our room was ready by 1:00 PM so we immediately began to unpack for our adventure. Joanne was definitely on the ball in preparations including, wall magnets, picture magnets, storage bins, laundry baskets, electrical charging stations, and shoe trees. We also had bought each other cruise departure gifts “magnets for the door”…
Here’s some pics of Joanne’s organizing efforts! I always benefit from her efforts…
Our first stop on this cruise was going to be Honolulu, Hawai which is a 5 day passage across the Pacific. We have done this passage before and it’s a great way to get use to the boat and relax before our first ports of call. We love “Sea Days”… Usually formal nights are on sea days and our first was a couple of days into the Pacific Passage. They usually have a “Captains Champagne Toast” in the Atrium of the ship that first formal night and of course we joined in and got some pics.
Nice part about that first formal night we hadn’t eaten or drank too much yet and we could still easily fit into our skinny clothes… (As the cruise progressed that will be a different story for sure…)
Those first few days on the ship included getting acquainted with the ship layout, social scene, gym, exercise routine, a place we will call our home space on deck (usually where we spend afternoons enjoying the sunshine and views) , and just “chillaxing…”
We would usually wake by 7:oo and head to the gym, Our cruise package for the World Cruise included the Princess Premier Package. We usually get the Plus package but this was a special promotion for this cruise and I’ve got to tell you in hindsight we loved it! It isn’t cheap but Joanne took 2 fitness classes a day in the gym on sea days, (usually Yoga and Pilates or Pure Barre) and Mike worked out on the bike and equipment. After our workouts most days we ate a late morning breakfast followed by a destination/port talk by Deb Fraoli or History or info talks by guest lecturers. Afternoons we often played games followed by a 4 mile walk on the deck late afternoon before dinner. Lets just say we kept busy…
Here’s some information of what was included with the Princess Premier Package:
Guests purchasing Princess Premier for the new price of $90 per person per day, enjoy more than 70% savings* on the following inclusions:
- NEW! Unlimited Premier Beverage Package
- NEW! Unlimited Specialty Dining
- NEW! Unlimited MedallionNet Max Wi-Fi
- Unlimited prix fixe meals at any casual dining location: Enjoy unlimited access to casual dining options onboard.
- Unlimited Delivery Service: Complimentary access to all OceanNow and Room Service orders.
- Unlimited reserved seating in the Princess Theater: Enjoy premium seating for production shows only.
- Unlimited premium boutique fitness classes per voyage: Stay fit with classes such as Pure Barre, YogaSix, and StretchLab.
- Unlimited premium crafted desserts: A variety of exquisite desserts crafted by Princess pastry chefs.
- Unlimited premium fresh juices: Refresh with an assortment of fresh juices.
- Unlimited photos: Capture memories with an inclusive digital photo package.
- Daily crew gratuities: Relax knowing gratuities are covered.
- Princess Prizes: Participate in onboard giveaways and win exciting prizes.
- Free Medallion device shipping: Enjoy the convenience of free shipping of the Medallion device to home before sailing.
Regarding the Premier Package we also really enjoyed the upgraded wine and spirits list, the Starlkink Internet (worked great for Zoom calls and uploading images), and the photo package. Note for years we hadn’t really participated with the Shipboard Photo group as we have so many pictures and weren’t going to buy any; but the Premier package included all digital images while we were on-board so we really made sure we had them take pictures when we could. Each night the photo’s would show up on our Princess Photo Library and we could download them . It worked great! As for the Specialty deserts we never had (1) of those in the entire 117 days. Too sweet for our taste and we didn’t need the added calories…
While talking about Premier, we have to mention th Pricess Medallion App is a game changer while cruising. Your cabin door auto unlocks, you can find your spouse easily or connect. With friends, the messenger worked great, we used it to order bar and food service, and it just makes everything so convenient and EASY!!!
On sunday 1/26/25 we docked at our first Port of Call on this 117 day adventure in Honolulu, Hawaii. Joanne and I have been to Honolulu a couple of times in the past so we weren’t really looking to take any excursions this time. Most of the excursions included trips to Pearl Harbor, Arizona Memorial., The USS Alabama, Hanama Bay, South Beach, Dole Pineapple, and Diamond Head. We have actually done all of those on other visits and decided we just wanted to walk the Beach Area, Stop at Walmart/Target for a few items we needed, and then catch a beverage at the Famous Moana Surfrider Resort.
2 days later we arrived at our 2nd port on the Island of Kauai. We have been to other Hawaiian Islands but never the Island of Kauai. We had thought we might rent a car and just drive around the island, though after more research decided against it as there is only 1 road back to the port and with construction we didn’t want to take a chance and miss our ship departing. Instead we signed up for a Bell Helicopter Island Tour over the Island. Many people have told us this is one of the best excursions they have ever taken so we were indeed excited about it. Well Mike was excited, Joanne was nervous for sure…
We walked off the boat and hailed an Uber for the 15 minute drive to the Helicopter Terminal by the airport. We arrived in plenty of time where we joined a group in a training room for our helicopter orientation, safety rules, and logistics overview. We bought these special laniards for our phones from the desk as they were required for any phone on the excursion. When we were getting ready to load and get strapped in the Terminal Team wouldn’t allow Mike to bring his phone and his Camera. They insisted only 1 camera per person and demanded he give up a camera. Mike opted to give up his phone, (albeit reluctantly) as Joanne had her phone and Mike wanted to have his Sony camera . Before loading they weighed all 5 people going on the helicopter so they could balance our weight before liftoff. Joanne was thrilled to be in the Middle front seat with the Pilot to her left and Mike on her right. It ws a tight fit with both the pilot and Mike constantly squeezing Joanne for space as their respective shoulders were hanging out the copter since the doors were going to be off the entire time. They said it was windy outside the doors and that was “NO JOKE” . Mike went to point something out while in flight once and almost lost his arm! They had warned him. You’ll definitely only make that mistake once. In the back were 2 others. One of the persons was a woman named Heather from British Columbia, Canada and we became friends with her and her husband as our cruise progressed.
The only problem we had while in Kuai was when we returned from our helicopter trip we discovered that Mike’s phone had been dropped and the entire back screen of his iPhone had been destroyed. A long story but we spent time trying to get it fixed during the afternoon after our flight but were not able to find a solution. No one knows what happened while we were in the air or took responsibility for the issue but we found a fair equitable resolution with the Helicopter company as we all knew it wasn’t like this before departing on the helicopter. We had removed the case to put the laniard on at the desk and everyone at the desk had seen it was in perfect condition. Good thing Mike removed the laniard before departing or he might not have discovered the problem.
Back on the ship we reflected on the day and both agreed aside from the phone issue the helicopter tour might have been the best excursion we have ever taken!
Departing Kaui, Hawaii the evening of 1/27/25 we started our trek for the South Pacific. We were going to have several sea days before our next port of call in Suva, Fiji. On the way we were going to cross the International Dateline on 1/30/25 which is always a festive event…
Tuesday Feb. 4, 2025:
We made port in Fiji today. Since we’ve been here before we opted out of taking a formal excursion as last year we spent the day on a long boat ride, hike to the waterfalls, and Kava Ceremony. Instead we just walked around the city. Not our favorite port though still it is Fiji… One of things we discovered after being here last year was you could buy flowers and flower arrangements in the local market and bring them back on the ship to display your room. They are beautiful and CHEAP and we are so glad we did this …
Back on the boat we have several days sailing South toward our first stop in New Zealand. We have so looked forward to visiting New Zealand and Australia and can’t wait. Just to demonstrate how small a world it really is we had noticed a young lady (probably 16-17) accompanying her grandmother on this leg of the World Cruise. We sensed something familiar about her. One night while waiting in The Crown Grill Bar where we had planned to dine in the speciality dining room with new friends Kate and Jeff from Ontario, Canada we happened to be sitting near the young lady and her grandmother . We struck up a conversation which of course included “where are you from”. The minute she said Cambria Joanne realized this was the young girl who visited our campsite at San Simeon State Park many nights when we camphosted there the summer of Covid (2020). Her Dad was the Ranger and our boss that summer and she lived not far from our campsite. The little girl had grown up and it was so nice reconnecting again. We actually texted her Dad as well. It is such a small World…
This was her in Summer of 2020!
One day while scanning some Facebook posts from the group “2025 World Cruise Island Princess” a fellow passenger had posted some very interesting facts about the cruise. These included country of origin, where you boarded and on what section, and percentage of passengers from what country, and age demographics on the ship. Interesting stuff to ponder when you enjoying some sea days…
Well there you have it; – The introduction, first stops, logistics, and first couple of weeks of this 117 day 2025 World Cruise onboard The beautiful Island Princess. Yes looking back over this post we have already done a lot and we are just getting started. This is already proving to be one of the most incredible adventures on this ongoing “Revolutionary Journey”!!! Next up, the land down under New Zealand & Australia….