information on cruising to Hawaii???????

[sunlover47]

I am looking for information on Hawaii cruising. I am planning a trip next year and my husband is not a fan of the long flight from Boston to Hawaii! I did find that you can sail from CA to hawaii on a few lines. Here is the question. I would love to sail to hawaii...then have a week or so on the islands before i sail back. I know traditional cruising you cruise for a week or two and then back. I want to cruise and still be able to spend a week or so visiting islands and seeing Hawaii.

Has anyone ever done anything like this??? I am open to suggestions!

 

thanks!

[Essiesmom]

You cannot sail 'to' Hawaii. Occasionally, there might be a repositioning cruise from the Alaska season that sails from Vancouver to Hawaii, and back to LA. But any cruise that leaves the US has to return to the same port. It is the Passenger Vessel Services act. Foreign flagged ships must sail closed loop cruises with a call at a foreign port. If they leave from one US port and end at another, they must visit a DISTANT foreign port, which would mean South America. If you sailed from the west coast to HAwaii, and got off in Hawaii, there would be a $300+ per person fine to the cruise line, which they would pass on to you. And to get back, you would have to catch a cruise mid-voyage, and pay the full voyage fare, plus the fine again. If they would let you do it.

In Sept. 2011, Royal Caribbean has two ships sailing from Vancouver to Hawaii. EM

[Dayenu]

Yes, you CAN sail TO Hawaii (and vice versa). Royal Caribbean has cruises from Vancouver (Canada) to Honolulu.

[cb at sea]

Why not do a flight to Ca...stay a day or two, then, continue onto Hawaii. That can really break up a loooong flight! To really see Hawaii and 'get to know' it, you really need a land-based vacation. Then, to get your "cruise fix" book a cruise to somewhere where the ports don't matter so much!

[sunlover47]

I think that is what we will have to do.. Thanks!

[Don P]

We flew from Florida to San Francisco and spent several nights there. Then we flew to Hawaii and boarded a Norwegian cruise line vessel for a one week cruise that visited Maui, Kauai and Honolulu. Please excuse any misspelling of an island's name. We then flew to Los Angeles and spent several days before flying home to Florida.

 

We didn't really care for the ship. Having cruised extensively on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean we found the Norwegian ship "tired" and the crew not to our liking. Keep this in mind. There may be a repositioning cruise that departs from California and goes to Hawaii and then stays there. I recall seeing that option. We nixed that because the trans-Pacific crossing would entail at least four if not five day days at sea.

 

I am looking for information on Hawaii cruising. I am planning a trip next year and my husband is not a fan of the long flight from Boston to Hawaii! I did find that you can sail from CA to hawaii on a few lines. Here is the question. I would love to sail to hawaii...then have a week or so on the islands before i sail back. I know traditional cruising you cruise for a week or two and then back. I want to cruise and still be able to spend a week or so visiting islands and seeing Hawaii.

Has anyone ever done anything like this??? I am open to suggestions!

 

thanks!

[cruise kitty]

You cannot sail 'to' Hawaii. Occasionally, there might be a repositioning cruise from the Alaska season that sails from Vancouver to Hawaii, and back to LA. But any cruise that leaves the US has to return to the same port. It is the Passenger Vessel Services act. Foreign flagged ships must sail closed loop cruises with a call at a foreign port. If they leave from one US port and end at another, they must visit a DISTANT foreign port, which would mean South America. If you sailed from the west coast to HAwaii, and got off in Hawaii, there would be a $300+ per person fine to the cruise line, which they would pass on to you. And to get back, you would have to catch a cruise mid-voyage, and pay the full voyage fare, plus the fine again. If they would let you do it.

In Sept. 2011, Royal Caribbean has two ships sailing from Vancouver to Hawaii. EM

 

 

Actually, Celebrity has quite a few to choose from. there's a 15 night round trip from San Diego to Hawaii & back. They hit Ensenada for one day on the way back. We've done 2 one way Hawaii trips with Celebrity. One out of San Diego, One where they bussed us to Ensenada from San Diego. Haven't been fined yet.

[Essiesmom]

Yes, you CAN sail TO Hawaii (and vice versa). Royal Caribbean has cruises from Vancouver (Canada) to Honolulu.

 

Yes, I mentioned that...But there is no return cruise, as those ships are continuing on downunder for their summer season. EM

[cruiselover57]

I am looking for information on Hawaii cruising. I am planning a trip next year and my husband is not a fan of the long flight from Boston to Hawaii! I did find that you can sail from CA to hawaii on a few lines. Here is the question. I would love to sail to hawaii...then have a week or so on the islands before i sail back. I know traditional cruising you cruise for a week or two and then back. I want to cruise and still be able to spend a week or so visiting islands and seeing Hawaii.

Has anyone ever done anything like this??? I am open to suggestions!

 

thanks!

 

We were on the Golden Princess for 2 weeks over Xmas/New Year's 2010 and we sailed from the port of San Pedro round trip hitting Ensenada on the way back. I'm not sure what type of arrangements you could make with the cruise line that would let you disembark at the first or second island. I think you might have to pay a fine if you left the ship on your own accord but you never know if rules might change.

[MilVet]

Actually, Celebrity has quite a few to choose from. there's a 15 night round trip from San Diego to Hawaii & back. They hit Ensenada for one day on the way back. We've done 2 one way Hawaii trips with Celebrity. One out of San Diego, One where they bussed us to Ensenada from San Diego. Haven't been fined yet.

 

Carnival Spirit is doing a 15 day in Apr 2012 out of San Diego with a 3 hour stop in Ensenada on the return to San Diego.

[beachchick]

We were on the Golden Princess for 2 weeks over Xmas/New Year's 2010 and we sailed from the port of San Pedro round trip hitting Ensenada on the way back. I'm not sure what type of arrangements you could make with the cruise line that would let you disembark at the first or second island. I think you might have to pay a fine if you left the ship on your own accord but you never know if rules might change.

 

Anyone who disembarked (completely that is) at any Hawaiian island on your cruise would have been in violation of the PVSA. The cruise line would not have allowed it because it would have been illegal. They would be charged the fine regardless. Non-US flagged ships cannot transport passengers from one US port to another unless they call at a distant foreign port and Ensenada does not qualify.

 

Sure, someone could sneak all their stuff off the ship and not tell anyone. Everyone onboard would be inconvenienced while the ship crew tried to find them; the passengers who disembarked illegally would be charged for the PSVA fine, as well as their final bill, on their credit card; it's possible the cruise line would not allow those passengers to cruise with them again.

 

In the case of US mainland-Hawaii one-way cruises, the ship must either depart from a non-US port or stop at a distant foreign port. In the reverse, one-way cruises that start in Hawaii must either end in a non-US port or visit a distant foreign port. On those cruises, it would not be illegal for passengers to disembark at one of the Hawaiian islands. OTOH, the cruises already either start or end in Hawaii anyway.

 

The only way that someone could cruise from the US west coast, disembark in Hawaii, stay a week (or however long) on the islands, and then cruise back to the US mainland would be to book two one-way cruises. For example, they could take a fall repo from Vancouver to Hawaii, have a land stay, and then pick up another one-way repo to Ensenada. The only way to do that would be to look at various one-way cruises with a bunch of cruise lines (either repo or one of the few that some cruise lines do at other times of the year) and choose two with cruise dates that would allow for a land stay between them.

 

Of course, the one-way repos include 5 to 7 days cruising around the islands, so it would be like this: Cruise 1 of 4-5 sea days to Hawaii followed by 5-7 days cruising around the islands, then disembark for land visit, then cruise 2 with 5-7 days cruising around the islands followed by 4-5 sea days back to the mainland. Total cruise time would at least 3 weeks with 10-14 days cruising around islands (8-12 hours in port per day usually) and 8-10 sea days. IMO, that's quite a lot of sea days and short port days to avoid one longish flight to and from Hawaii. However, it may be what suits you. It's certainly not impossible.

 

Actually, Celebrity has quite a few to choose from. there's a 15 night round trip from San Diego to Hawaii & back. They hit Ensenada for one day on the way back. We've done 2 one way Hawaii trips with Celebrity. One out of San Diego, One where they bussed us to Ensenada from San Diego. Haven't been fined yet.

 

I have a question for you. You are saying you did a Hawaii one-way cruise that started in San Diego and ended in Hawaii, but did not have a distant foreign port stop? That is not possible under the PVSA. The only exception would be if you were on, for example, an initial positioning cruise for a US-flagged ship such as taking NCLA's Pride of America or Pride of Hawaii from the mainland to Hawaii originally.

 

The one where they bussed you from San Diego to Ensenada would not violate the PVSA because your actual cruise started in Ensenada, a foreign port. The round-trips you mention wouldn't violate the PVSA because they start and end at the same US port with a stop at a near foreign port. The distant foreign port is only required for cruises that begin and end at different US ports.

 

It can be pretty complicated, no doubt about that.

 

beachchick

[zoncom]

Do a search for Hawaii on large online cruise agencies. More availability then ever. I think its RCL that does a VCR-HNL then back to states. BEWARE of the NCL one that stays in Hawaii. Due to regulations they have an all American staff which does not perform aswell as the International staff on other lines. I read food not good. Look up reviews here on CC.

[beachchick]

Do a search for Hawaii on large online cruise agencies. More availability then ever. I think its RCL that does a VCR-HNL then back to states. BEWARE of the NCL one that stays in Hawaii. Due to regulations they have an all American staff which does not perform aswell as the International staff on other lines. I read food not good. Look up reviews here on CC.

 

There are good reviews, bad reviews, and everything in-between for NCLA's Hawaii-only itinerary. The food in the main dining and buffet was acceptable; the food in the specialty restaurants was quite good overall (as with most mainstream lines). We wouldn't rate it the best, but it was not horrible. The crew was good with some excellent standouts and a few duds. We had service that was nearly as good as that of international crews. I say nearly because so many of the crew were new to their jobs and still learning. For us, the fact that the US crews tend to be more egalitarian is a good thing. We do not particularly like being hovered over or to have crew members behave as if they are subservient to us. We just want good service with a good attitude.

 

I think everyone should read a whole range of reviews and decide for themselves whether NCLA could be the right choice, especially because those reviews will be from members/people who have actually been on the cruise/ship.

 

(Just a gentle reminder: When the ship leaves Hawaii to return to the mainland, it is not going "back to the states." It is traveling from one state to another. Hawaii residents can get a bit touchy when visitors talk about "the states" as if they are not part of the US.)

 

beachchick

[spongerob]

Anyone who disembarked (completely that is) at any Hawaiian island on your cruise would have been in violation of the PVSA. The cruise line would not have allowed it because it would have been illegal. They would be charged the fine regardless. Non-US flagged ships cannot transport passengers from one US port to another unless they call at a distant foreign port and Ensenada does not qualify.

 

Just to go a bit further...theoretically, you could book two round trip cruises from LA (for example), disembark in Hawai'i during the first one and embark when the ship returns two weeks later. Unfortunately, it would still violate the PVSA since it would be considered a permanent disembarkation. Even if you could get around that, the cost is so prohibitive that first-class air travel starts to look like a bargain in comparison.