We booked the 4/21/06 sailing RT Hawaii on the Island Princess a year in advance and had high expectations. I can say, very honestly, these expectations were exceeded in every way. We are experienced cruisers, so keep that in mind.

We flew to LAX a day early on Delta without any difficulty and spent the pre cruise night at the Long Beach Hilton. This was an acceptable hotel in a location which made walking to the area eateries easy and allowed us to use the Passport Shuttle to get to the Queen Mary etc. We used Karmel Shuttles to travel from LAX to Long Beach and back to LAX on return. It was about $124.00 for the round trip, traveling in a Town Car. This was our preference and I know we could have used a multi-passenger shuttle for a lesser rate, but ...this was our vacation! They were prompt and courteous.

We ate dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Long Beach and it was pretty normal, but we enjoyed the company of 2 of our new cruise critic friends. Read more