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Why cruise Hawaii?


DT1304
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Hi everyone,

 

This may seem to be a crazy question to be asking on a cruise forum, but why should I cruise around Hawaii?

 

My family and I have been on a few cruises before all (except 1) on Royal Caribbean. The one other was on Carnival.

 

We love cruising and loved Royal Caribbean.

 

I am now planning a trip to Hawaii for the first time next year June. We will stay a week in Waikiki after the flight from Australia, and then am trying to decide if we should spend a week in maui, or do a 7 night cruise on Pride of America.

 

It seems quite expensive compared to a land based week on one island. Why, in your opinion, is it worth the extra money to rather go on a cruise?

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Each of the Hawaiian Islands is different and unique to themselves. If you want to only spend time on one island, then cruising probably isn't the best choice. POA gets you 5 ports on 4 islands, without the hassle of packing, travel to the airport, and the cost of interisland flights.

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For most, just getting to Hawaii is an expensive and time consuming proposition. When we go, we like to make the most of our time there, and we are not satisfied with seeing only one or two islands. Not seeing Kauai or the big island, Hawaii is unthinkable. Unless you have the time and $$$ to make this trip frequently, the NCL Pride of America is the only solution to avoid inter island flights and the lost time involved. We get to overnight in both Maui and Kauai so there's 2 days to explore in each, plus full days in Hilo and Kona. If you have extra time, add days pre and/or post cruise on one of the islands. For instance fly into Hawaii pre cruise and then take a quick inter island flight to HNL the am of cruise departure. Or fly back to one of the islands at the end of the cruise.

 

Having done both a land vacation, vs the POA, we find that we get to see the most, and with the least wear and tear on ourselves, with the cruise. We'd never do it any other way now.

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Less packing & unpacking!! Plus, each island is different. We just did the POA cruise (I just did a review under the Norwegian forum) and stayed 5 nights after on the North Shore of Oahu in a house. Now that we have explored the islands we would like to return to the Big Island or Kauai. We loved the North Shore of Oahu, btw and highly recommend spending time there.

 

 

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Our last three cruises were the RTs LA to Hawaii on Princess. We like the longer (than 7 days) cruises now and on Princess there's a Hawaiian cultural program with great live Hawaiian music, Hawaiian activities, sometimes Hawaiian-inspired food, talks on the islands by natives.

 

We've been to Hawaii on land trips before so it just depends on if we want to fly or not. I'm not a great flyer, so it's an easy cruise for us as we can drive to the port in just an hour.

 

 

To us, it's an experience. Else, if it's just about Hawaii, we would fly there and stay in hotels there.

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Hi everyone,

 

This may seem to be a crazy question to be asking on a cruise forum, but why should I cruise around Hawaii?

 

My family and I have been on a few cruises before all (except 1) on Royal Caribbean. The one other was on Carnival.

 

We love cruising and loved Royal Caribbean.

 

I am now planning a trip to Hawaii for the first time next year June. We will stay a week in Waikiki after the flight from Australia, and then am trying to decide if we should spend a week in maui, or do a 7 night cruise on Pride of America.

 

It seems quite expensive compared to a land based week on one island. Why, in your opinion, is it worth the extra money to rather go on a cruise?

 

We have done numerous week long stays on each of the islands and we have done 4 Hawaii cruises with Royal Caribbean just to qualify my response. The cruise would be my choice only if you want the opportunity to see what each of the four main island are like. As stated by others, a cruise gives you that short opportunity to evaluate/experience each location.

 

If you are looking for the chance to enjoy another week on a Hawaiian island after a week in Waikiki I would opt for the Maui visit.

 

The week on the ship will be the more hectic trip as you have such a limited amount of time in each port you may find you feel rushed by the end of it whereas you can schedule your week on Maui to be as relaxing or active as you like.

 

So I guess it depends on whether you want to briefly see all the islands or take your time with just one.

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Less packing & unpacking!! Plus, each island is different. We just did the POA cruise (I just did a review under the Norwegian forum) and stayed 5 nights after on the North Shore of Oahu in a house. Now that we have explored the islands we would like to return to the Big Island or Kauai. We loved the North Shore of Oahu, btw and highly recommend spending time there.

 

 

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I agree with you saraandnick. I thought the cruise was a great introduction to all the islands. Prior to taking this cruise, I would have thought Maui would be my favorite, but after the POA cruise I am all about Kauai and the Big Island :) Not that I didn't enjoy Maui, but those 2 are the ones I would choose to go back to for a weeks stay if I had to choose.

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I've wondered about that, too. I think Hawaii is a land vacation if you want to see and do stuff! If you've been there before, then a cruise might be a good way to relax, but there is SO MUCH to see and do in the Islands....seems silly to be restricted by ship hours and port times! Hawaii deserves MORE TIME than a ship can give you!

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Our situation is the opposite of some on this thread. We've already spent multiple week-long or more vacations on each of the islands, even owned a condo on the Big Island for over 10 years. There are a few places that we love visiting over and over, so for us a cruise, with one day on each island makes sense. We rent a car in each port and go where we want to go, then get back to our 'home' onboard to watch the sunset without have to fly, pack/unpack, etc.. Our particular favorites - Volcano National Park or the National Tropical Botanical Gardens plus a stop for malasadas on the Big Island, Waimea Canyon & lunch at The Beach House on Kauai, MaiTai's at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and dinner/show at House Without at Key in Honolulu, Maui - not our favorite, but probably a little drive to the Iao Needle and nearby gardens.

 

 

Our next trip is on Princess RT out of Vancouver - just because we also love Vancouver. We decided against the Pride of America - the consensus on the reviews we've read is that it's not the greatest cruise experience unless you can afford the Enclave Suites.

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Our next trip is on Princess RT out of Vancouver - just because we also love Vancouver. We decided against the Pride of America - the consensus on the reviews we've read is that it's not the greatest cruise experience unless you can afford the Enclave Suites.

 

We aren't familiar with the "Enclave Suites", and would appreciate it if you could explain what they are.

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Our next trip is on Princess RT out of Vancouver - just because we also love Vancouver. We decided against the Pride of America - the consensus on the reviews we've read is that it's not the greatest cruise experience unless you can afford the Enclave Suites.

 

I'd recommend you reconsider Princess out of Vancouver, have you read the recent reviews for both Star and Emerald, both rate below that of the POA. Plus 11 days at sea and only 4 days in HI, I'd go with the POA and land excursion post cruise.

 

Also, Enclave Suite? you mean Haven which is not available on the POA.

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We aren't familiar with the "Enclave Suites", and would appreciate it if you could explain what they are.

 

Just double checked and they're actually called "The Haven by Norwegian™, an exclusive enclave with our most luxurious, well-appointed and spacious accommodations". I'm not sure they even have the suites available on POA.

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Our next trip is on Princess RT out of Vancouver - just because we also love Vancouver. We decided against the Pride of America - the consensus on the reviews we've read is that it's not the greatest cruise experience unless you can afford the Enclave Suites.

 

With Princess having 11 days at sea, it seems the ship is the destination and the ports secondary. With the Pride of America being at a port every day, it seems the ports are the destination and the ship is secondary.

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With Princess having 11 days at sea, it seems the ship is the destination and the ports secondary. With the Pride of America being at a port every day, it seems the ports are the destination and the ship is secondary.

 

You have this exactly right, Silver Sweethearts!. When I go to Hawaii, my objectives are to see and do all 4 of the main islands, and for as long as possible, vs lounging on the pool deck staring at the horizion for 11 days. 11 days at sea are 11 days I could have spent on one of the islands. And many of the transpacific cruises skip islands altogether, or only allow you 6 hours in a port (?), or so I have read. Contrast this with the POA, which gives you 7 full days in Hawaii, two of the ports being overnights. So, potentially 22 hours or more total in Maui, for instance, (and I'm not including sleeping hours, but rather touring hours), depending on how much stamina you have.😜. Plus, we usually spend at least 3 or 4 nights pre and post on O'ahu.

 

As far is the POA, it was completely refurbished in 2016. All suites, cabins and public areas completely redone. I think most would agree that NCL suite perks are the best in the business. It does not have a Haven proper, the restricted private lounge area of most of the other ships, but they all have butler and concierge services as well as a long list of perks. For most, the POA is not a typical cruise experience for the reasons I stated above, but there are plenty of amenities for those who can stay awake long enough to take advantage. There is a different theatre show each night as well as lounges with comedians, or music, themed deck parties each night, and many bars will have music as well. 5 specialty restaurants, a 24 hour pub, buffet, and two MDRs. The Freestyle, dine when you want, where you want, lends itself particularly well in Hawaii. No need to worry about cutting the day short in order to make a 5:00 seating in the MDR.

 

So no need to feel like you'll be slumming on the POA. It's a very nice ship, and a great way to see the islands.

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Weve done Hawaii twice now from Western Australia and both times did the POA, with time pre & post cruise in Waikiki.

Would do the same again tomorrow for a third time!.

Be prepared to see as much as possible on each island!

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Since this is your first visit to Hawaii I would recommend staying on Oahu (Waikiki) for a week, like you planned. Lots to see and do on the island of Oahu. Then instead of heading to Maui take a cruise on POA. This will give you a good overview of the other islands. Personally, Maui is not my favorite island. All of the islands have a little something different to offer and taking flights inter island can be expensive and time consuming.

 

When I do a land vacation to Hawaii now I usually just go to Oahu (son and granddaughter live there). But, it is nice to occasionally take the Princess cruise out of LA and quickly visit the other islands.

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We have done several land based vacations to Hawaii, and just completed our first Hawaii cruise that took us round trip from San Francisco.

 

Doing a week on Oahu is definitely a plus for what you have planned. For your second week, if you are planning to cruise the other islands, it will just give you a taste of what they have to offer. There is plenty to see on each island, so essentially you will need to figure out what you want to see on each with the cruise.

 

Maui is our favorite because it is a little more laid back. Kauai is beautiful, and it is the one island you would want to do a helicopter tour. The big island has the ongoing lava flow, so that is the draw there.

 

You just need to research each island and decide which would be best for you.

 

 

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As others have said, it's a great overview of Hawaii as all the islands are different. Now I know where I would go back to for a longer visit if I'm ever lucky enough to go back. I loved Kauai and the Big Island. We hiked down into a volcano on the Big Island, took a helicopter tour in Kauai, saw a sunset on Haleakala in Maui - plus many other things, but these were all fabulous experiences and just an example of the varied things there are to do and see in Hawaii.

 

If you are looking for a luau, consider the Chief's Luau at SeaLife Park near Waikiki. You can arrange for them to pick you up at your hotel or a nearby hotel. We had the best time there - great food and drinks, really fun show, some activities before hand and it was relatively intimate. I don't think there were more than 125 people there. It felt like we were all the personal invited guests of the Chief at his special party. He personally welcomed and later said good-bye to everyone individually.

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