Best Hawaii Cruise for a family?

[karajj]

Hi, it looks like 10 of us are going to book a cruise to Hawaii this coming February. I have never cruised and I have 3 children ages 4,6 and 9. The others in our group will be 2 grandparents and 3 aunts/uncle. We want everyone to enjoy themselves so we need a little of everything I guess!

 

Being the mom to the youngest of our group I am mostly wondering about 4 days at sea there and back and how this will be for my kids. Will it be too much? Will they be bored? Will they be sea sick? Will I be sea sick? Do they have to dress-up for meals each night? Will there be other kids for them to play with on the ship, or does that matter?

 

Also there are several ships that do the LA or San diego to Hawaii and return route and which one is going to be best? I believe it's between Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess and Holland America Oosterdam.

 

I would love some thoughts from experienced cruising families!

[Kerry's Girls]

Hi, it looks like 10 of us are going to book a cruise to Hawaii this coming February. I have never cruised and I have 3 children ages 4,6 and 9. The others in our group will be 2 grandparents and 3 aunts/uncle. We want everyone to enjoy themselves so we need a little of everything I guess!

 

Being the mom to the youngest of our group I am mostly wondering about 4 days at sea there and back and how this will be for my kids. Will it be too much? Will they be bored? Will they be sea sick? Will I be sea sick? Do they have to dress-up for meals each night? Will there be other kids for them to play with on the ship, or does that matter?

 

Also there are several ships that do the LA or San diego to Hawaii and return route and which one is going to be best? I believe it's between Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess and Holland America Oosterdam.

 

I would love some thoughts from experienced cruising families!

 

Very ambitious first cruise! I did that route on the Golden Princess with my twin 4 year olds and it was my favorite cruise ever - and I've been cruising since I was a child myself. There aren't a lot of kids on board, but my girls couldn't get enough of the kid's club. More than any cruise I've been on, there were passenger activities jam packed every day - old fashioned cruising ones like dance classes, crafts, games. I expected to read a bunch of books, and instead we were rushing from one activity to the next and sometimes having to choose between two. We loved it, but it clearly wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. The Golden Princess has some new amenities since we sailed (outdoor movie screen, don't know what else).

 

On Princess, and I would think Holland America, you do have to dress for dinner. It doesn't have to be fancy, but long pants, skirts, no t-shirts, that kind of thing. But Princess staff is wonderful with kids and going to the dining room is one of my girls' favorite things. They feel grown up. You can use the buffet and dress more casually, but dinner as a family in the dining room is one of the great parts of cruising.

 

There is a thread on the ports of call board that deals specifically with Hawaii cruises crossing the Pacific. I found lots of information there. You may want to spend some time reading that to get more an idea of how this kind of cruise is. It is a lot of at sea days, but not having anywhere to be really made it feel like a vacation to us. It was one of those trips where you lose track of what day it is, which I found blissful, but, again, it's not for everyone.

 

Happy to answer any questions you have.

 

Best,

Mia

[karajj]

Thank you so much for your reply! It's hard to find a lot of references to kids on this route. What you describe sounds quite nice. My kids are good friends with each other so I don't think it will matter to much if there are not many others. As long as there are some activities for the sea days, which it sounds like there will. I'm leaning towards Golden princess of the 3 but really I don't know much and having other families with children giving me the okay is very helpful!

 

Does the dining room serve you then? I actually prefer this over buffet with 3 children because I find at a buffet I spend most of my time getting up and down for the kids. Not very relaxing.

[bus man]

Yes, the dining room waiters will serve you at your table. Of course, you have to balance this against the possibility that (1) the kids will get bored at the length of the meal, or (2) they won't like something on their plate, so will need to take more time to get something else. Both of these issues are much more easily addressed in the buffet. But hey, you're a parent; you know all about tradeoffs! :)

 

Not that I want to discourage you from visiting Hawaii (I absolutely love it there), but are you sure you want your first cruise to be such a major trip? As hard as it is for me and other people on Cruise Critic to grasp this notion, the fact remains that there are some people out there who simply don't enjoy cruising. What if you, or someone in your party, turns out to be one of them? This is why I tend to think that the best first cruise is an easy, short one, say 5-nights with a couple of ports and a couple of sea days. That way, you get to sample the cruising life without being held captive to it for too long. If you love it -- and odds are, you will -- you can always try a longer one, such as to Hawaii, later on.

[Kerry's Girls]

Does the dining room serve you then? I actually prefer this over buffet with 3 children because I find at a buffet I spend most of my time getting up and down for the kids. Not very relaxing.

 

Absolutely - the dining room is a mom's best friend. My girls and I eat three meals a day in the dining room because I find the buffet much more chaotic. Princess does a good job of getting tables with kids out more quickly than diners who may wish to linger, and they dote on children. I always enjoy my meal more because the waiters are working so hard to keep my girls happy.

 

I have heard great things about Holland America and kids as well - I just have only experienced Princess. And I agree with the previous poster - it's not a usual cruise for a first-timer. Even some people who love cruises would not choose this one because of the number of sea days. And then there's the problem that if you love it, most other cruises thereafter will all seem way too short :).

 

Best,

Mia

[karajj]

The length is certainly a possible issue. This is a multi generation family trip and the grandparents have cruised and the aunts and uncle have all cruised, just not me and my husband and kids. We travel lots and have traveled well with the extended family to several places, I am trying to weigh it all out. Last year I went to club med for ten days with the same group minus my husband and I found that quite hard as I was basically responsible for the kids the whole time, so this sounds so relaxing to have my husband with us the whole time! Club med was only a buffet and as great as the food was it was draining taking care of 3 kids every meal of the day at a buffet. Options are nice, buffet for breakfast, dining for diner etc. :-)

[chipmaster]

Cruising with multi generation is a great family buildingexperience. You can have meals and do certain activities with each other then everyone can seperate to explore their own interest for the rest of the day. We did that with success on recent one and two week cruises to Alaska and in the Med.

 

Our children weren't as young as yours but the staff are very familar with youngsters. I would suspect that a Feburary cruise you will likely find fewer kids in the age group of your 6 and 9 as there will be fewer folks with such a large block of no-school. So diversity and activity in kids club could be very variable.

 

I guess as first cruise that is pretty bold. I'd suggest a shorter cruise and one with fewer sea days. If nobody in the party has every cruised there could be surprises, cruising with long stretch on a ship could/will drive some crazy. Shorter cruises where you have a different port every day ads variety and spice and is a great intro for cruise newbies.

 

Another thought is for port stops, what is the plan? First time to Hawaii, do you plan ship excursions, rent multiple cars for different folks with different interests. For sure your children will have a different idea of what is fun in port then the adults and grandparents.

 

If a first to Hawaii, I could say would a flight and two island stop with more time on each island be better than a cruise?

 

 

Hi, it looks like 10 of us are going to book a cruise to Hawaii this coming February. I have never cruised and I have 3 children ages 4,6 and 9. The others in our group will be 2 grandparents and 3 aunts/uncle. We want everyone to enjoy themselves so we need a little of everything I guess!

 

Being the mom to the youngest of our group I am mostly wondering about 4 days at sea there and back and how this will be for my kids. Will it be too much? Will they be bored? Will they be sea sick? Will I be sea sick? Do they have to dress-up for meals each night? Will there be other kids for them to play with on the ship, or does that matter?

 

Also there are several ships that do the LA or San diego to Hawaii and return route and which one is going to be best? I believe it's between Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess and Holland America Oosterdam.

 

I would love some thoughts from experienced cruising families!

[bus man]

If a first to Hawaii, I could say would a flight and two island stop with more time on each island be better than a cruise?

 

I agree. To me, Hawaii can be compared to a sumptuous banquet. Going there on a cruise would be akin to being seated at this table, piled high with the most incredible food you've ever seen . . . and then, after you eat a piece of bread, you have to leave. Granted, it's the best bread you've ever had in your life, but still, the sight of all that food there that you could see and smell, but not have time to eat . . .

 

If it were me, I would fly to Hawaii, and plan to spend at least 5 days on each island. If this means you can only do one or two islands, then so be it. Then, as an entirely separate vacation, try a shorter cruise.

 

But of course, you know your family's wants and needs better than I do, so if you decide that the Hawaii cruise is the way to go, then go for it!

[Friend100]

Also there are several ships that do the LA or San diego to Hawaii and return route and which one is going to be best? I believe it's between Golden Princess, Sapphire Princess and Holland America Oosterdam.

 

FYI - the Disney Wonder also has 2 of such itinerary in 2012, one in April and another one in October, both roundtrip from Los Angeles.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

If it were me, I would fly to Hawaii, and plan to spend at least 5 days on each island. If this means you can only do one or two islands, then so be it. Then, as an entirely separate vacation, try a shorter cruise.

 

 

This is what we had planned to do, but it ended up the cost of the two week cruise was much less than flights/hotel/meals in Hawaii. Clearly, it just means we'll have to go back over and over :).

 

Best,

Mia

[karajj]

I appreciate all the thoughts. All certainly worthy comments.

I have been to hawaii before, Oahu twice and Maui once, Our children are very well travelled in general. We did love Maui, so relaxing! We've also been to Club Med in the French Carribean (Very long travel days to and from), Mayan Riveria (HUGE resort, I prefer smaller but still fun) and my in-laws own a home in a small mexican beach town that is mainly locals and "rustic" to put it nicely, we travelled easily there also with the kids last year. We also spend most of our summer weekends camping in our trailer. So we have had a lot of varied types of travel with our children and I consider ourselves flexible and fairly easy to please (I am a glass half full kind of person)

 

The Grandparents are planning to cruise to Hawaii in February with or without us so that is the question. They invited us all to join them if we wish. My Dad hates to fly so this way he only has a very short flight to LA and then onto the boat. This is basically an all or nothing proposition for the rest of the family. Now I just need to weigh it all out for my portion of the group and make a decision :-)

 

Thanks again for helping me mull this over!

[sue gill]

we are taking our four year old grandbaby to hawaii with us in march. we took her on our princess 7 day cruise last year.we liked taking her to the dinning room. she loved to dress up. and we would get her picture taken on the way to the dinning room. we found that even with nap time

she would fall asleep by desert time if she didnt have a long nap.so if nap time was short. we left before desert and got the dessert by room service.just take paper and crayons with you if in between entrees.take extra their were adults that joined in drawing. she learn to chit chat.her manner where pretty good. but she would ask the waiter about the silverware. they were so nice to her.

the kids clubs on princess are very nice and sometimes the children have meals together there

[bus man]

I have been to hawaii before, Oahu twice and Maui once,

 

Ah, well, that makes a difference. So now, the issue can be focused on the cruise itself. You had said that the grandparents et al had cruised before, so obviously they're OK with the long trip out to Hawaii and back. So it comes down to whether or not you and your immediate family would be comfortable with it. It sounds like you're a well-traveled family, so you would probably do fine on the cruise.

 

Armed with this latest information, I would say go ahead and go for it.

 

Incidentally, I love all of the Hawaiian Islands, but my two favorite are two that you've not been to, the Big Island and Kauai. Most likely, any Hawaiian cruise you take will hit both of them, in addition to Oahu and Maui.