These were cruises number two and three for us. We live in Hawaii and, given the state of the world, decided to put off a planned trip to Europe and, while casting about for something interesting to do, found a real deal on a back to back from Honolulu to Tahiti and back. We booked an ocean view cabin, which was fine, although not as nice as the balcony cabin we had on our first cruise, which was to Alaska. Since we live in Hawaii, we spent more time on the ship than we did ashore. This was nice for us, as we got to experience the slower pace of life on board in port. There are also terrific bargains at the spa during shore days, and the on-board activities and entertainment are much less crowded and more personal. So there is something to be said for cruising your home turf.
It was also fun to get to see the islands from this new perspective - normally when visiting interisland, we fly, so it was our first experience in seeing the state the way it used to be done. I was also pleased that Princess brought on board some really good entertainers from the islands - they could do more of this, though. We didn't do any shore excursions, but did get off and walk around in Lahaina, and in Hilo (our home island) on the return trip to off load most of our luggage, which made the disembarking process a lot easier and quicker, although we had to wait for a while in Hilo to clear customs. There are only two guys working the whole east side of Hawaii Island, so they had to do the planes and a private yacht first.
Tahiti was lovely, and we enjoyed Moorea and Bora Bora, taking shore excursions on both. Christmas Island was great for the first tender full of people who were able to hook up with the local entrepreneurs for rides to the end of the island, fishing, etc. etc. and not much for anyone else. There are far more people on the ship than on the island, so the availability of transport of any kind was very limited and the area where the tender lands is pretty spartan. If you can't make it on the first or second tender, stay on board.