Hawaiian Cruise

[rcsailing]

Thinking of a Hawaiian cruise....anyone ever been, thoughts?

[cb at sea]

I've been to Hawaii...not on a cruise, tho. Too much to see and do...better on a land vacation, if you've never been! You get limited time in ports on a cruise. Hawaii needs about 10 days or more to actually EXPERIENCE it!

[Gator0178]

I've been to Hawaii...not on a cruise, tho. Too much to see and do...better on a land vacation, if you've never been! You get limited time in ports on a cruise. Hawaii needs about 10 days or more to actually EXPERIENCE it!

 

I agree completely. We went to Hawaii last year and spent 2 weeks island hopping. It takes a lot of planning, but is totally worth it! You can go where you want and do sooo much more than on a cruise. We love cruising and looked and several different cruise options. However none met our time and excursion requirements. Plus a cruise wan't much difference in price! In our case the air fare was 1/3 the price of the trip!

[Hoppy2cruise]

We loved our Hawaiian cruise! We have enjoyed several land vacations before and after our cruise. Each was wonderful, but the cruise holds a special place in my heart.

[Silver Sweethearts]

Thinking of a Hawaiian cruise....anyone ever been, thoughts?

 

It all depends how much you enjoy sea days. If you do a round-trip cruise from the mainland, you will have five sea days on the way to Hawaii, visit four islands very briefly in four days and then have five sea days back to the mainland. Some people look at the sea days as a time to relax and unwind while others feel the ten days sailing could have been better spent on land in Hawaii.

[harlekuin]

I lived in Hilo for 2 years and have been to all the islands, but new husband had not. We did a RT and had 5 ports. He was able to get a small taste of 4 islands and he found out how different they all are.

 

Now he knows the islands on which he wants to spend more time and areas we can skip (Honolulu- always been my least favorite... save your money and go to San Diego!)

[xpcdoojk]

It has been awhile, but we did two cruises to Hawaii. Both were great. One from Vancouver and one from Tahiti.

 

Hawaii is an easy vacation from the mainland, and you can see everything that you would see from the ships. I.E. I saw nothing from the ships I couldn't see from the land.

 

I loved our trips on a cruise, but I can't recommend them over an island direct trip.

 

JC

[Ashland]

I lived in Hilo for 2 years and have been to all the islands, but new husband had not. We did a RT and had 5 ports. He was able to get a small taste of 4 islands and he found out how different they all are.

 

Now he knows the islands on which he wants to spend more time and areas we can skip (Honolulu- always been my least favorite... save your money and go to San Diego!)

 

I also lived on the big island for a time in Kona...Glad a cruise worked for you...but I have to disagree.

[critterchick]

We've done land trips and cruises to Hawaii and they are both special in their own right. We have enjoyed flying to Honolulu and spending a few days pre-cruise driving around Oahu, then boarding a ship to sail the islands for a week before heading to Vancouver. That gives us about 10 days in Hawaii and we see plenty in every port.

 

We've also rented a condo for a week on one island and explored it in depth. Also a great way to spend our time there.

 

I don't imagine we'll book the R/T from the West Coast - 4 or 5 days in Hawaii is just a tease. I do enjoy sea days, but prefer more ports and fewer days at sea to the other way around.

[Freehike]

If you are wanting to do a Hawaiian cruise, the only real choice is with NCL, on the Pride of America. It's based in Hawaii, hops from island to island and there are no wasted sea days.

 

It's not my favorite ship, but if you want to cruise then it's the way to go.

 

 

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[CanadaRob]

If you are wanting to do a Hawaiian cruise, the only real choice is with NCL, on the Pride of America. It's based in Hawaii, hops from island to island and there are no wasted sea days.

 

It's not my favorite ship, but if you want to cruise then it's the way to go.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Celebrity has a cruise around and to Vancouver as well. The NCL ship there is really not a nice ship if this was my first Hawaii trip or my first cruise and my only option was the pride of America I would take the land trip. Having seen America through a first time cruisers eyes(not mine) she never wanted to cruise again and couldn't understand why people liked cruising.

[dani negreanu]

Since Hawaii is so far away from us (almost 22-23 hours net in the air), and I don't like to leave the comfort of my apartment more than two weeks at a time, I opted for a 7 days cruise on Pride of America.

 

I knew beforehand not to set any expectations in this ship :) and they were not exceeded :D It was just a 2* floating hotel.

 

I'm at an age where I've done lots of "in depth" land trips and now I just want to "taste" and have an idea "what's all about". My Alaska cruise was like this, in the Med cruise a day in Santorini, Corfu & Dubrovnik was more than enough.

 

For example, I'm not going to take a Baltic cruise, where the highlight is St. Petersburg, since only 2 days there r not enough for DH, which is an art buff. Therefore, we took a 5 days trip there, and spent 2 entire days at the Hermitage museum.

 

If you can afford to take a few days before a POA cruise (and even better - some after) - I think this ship's itinerary is the way to go....

[shipgeeks]

The best part of our Hawaii trip was the sea days getting there and back. The many Hawaiian cultural activities onboard gave me a much greater appreciation for what we experienced on land. And the performing group that was brought onto the ship gave two wonderful shows that were, from what I heard, superior to the excursions to luaus on land.

[Cruisen Elf]

We enjoyed our Hawaii cruise very much! We sailed with Royal Caribbean from Vancouver, B.C., visiting 4 of the islands and 5 ports, including an overnight in Maui. We stayed a few extra days on our own in Honolulu. This way we had the best of both worlds! If you don't mind sea days (we had 5), it's a great way to see Hawaii IMHO. We are hoping to repeat the experience for our anniversary next year.

[CruisnDeb]

I also would put a vote in for NCL Pride of America. We went this past October and it was awesome. I chose this ship over others because of the itinerary--2 days on each island. We also spent 3 days pre-cruise and 4 days post-cruise on Oahu. Yes, the Pride of America is basically a floating hotel, but it really did allow us much more time to explore the islands than any of the other cruiselines.

[balanceok]

Its a great way to sample Hawaii. We've cruised it once with RCI out of Vancouver and we are booked to do it again next year. We love this cruise because we can spend a couple of days in Vancouver and then we stay in Honolulu for a week after the cruise. That way we get to sample the islands, including two days at Maui and two on the Big Island, but also enjoy ourselves in Honolulu.

 

I would strongly recommend it.

Edited June 25, 2016 by balanceok

[Lazz]

We have been to Hawaii many times. Just wondering if you do both a cruise and stay on the islands either before or after the cruise? IMO, a cruise would give you a great sample of the islands, but to really experience Hawaii you have to spend some time on them. If you do cruise, I think the only ship tour I would consider would be to Pearl Harbor. For everything else, I wold rent a car and use a good guide book. If you can spend some days on the islands, go to Maui and/or Kauai.

[ccotting]

The best part of our Hawaii trip was the sea days getting there and back. The many Hawaiian cultural activities onboard gave me a much greater appreciation for what we experienced on land. And the performing group that was brought onto the ship gave two wonderful shows that were, from what I heard, superior to the excursions to luaus on land.

 

We love our sea days but not everyone does. We have done this trip twice, once with Radiance and once with Rhapsody. While Radiance is our favourite size ship, the referenced cultural show on Rhapsody really made that experience. The troupe brought 5 lovely female dancers and a male musical trio that performed hawaiian hula, tahitian dance, samoan dance and music from all the South Pacific. There was a show daily of one sort or another. Amazing. Now that there isn't a Vision class serving this route, I wonder if one of the other ships picked that group up. Rhapsody used to get them every year.

 

I think if you struggle with sea days then the point one poster made about flying there and taking NCL is well made. No cruise gives you an in depth experience so if that is what you are looking for, then take a land trip. But the RCI cruises were wonderful and gave a lovely taste. The ship had good excursions to the National parks and all the main sites. Currently Radiance and Explorer are now on this route for repositioning during the Spring and Fall. Point to note is that the Explorer does not have a solarium pool. Even if the weather outside is fine, the pool deck can be cool and not real swimming weather for those 5 sea days so if that is important to you, choose Radiance as it has a lovely solarium pool. We have travelled on both ships and they are both good crew and happy ships. The activities are ramped up for sea days and there is lots to do.

 

I would not do the tours from ship for luaus. The best is the 'Old Lahaina Luau' in Maui which features true traditional hula in a fabulous show. Book on line and book early as the best seats are assigned on a first come basis .

 

The April/September timeframe of RCI is reasonably good. Princess and Holland America do return trips to Hawaii and San Fran/San Diego in October and November. Apart from the 10 days of sea time (5 coming and 5 going) the weather is not very good or reliable then.

 

This is a cruise I could do easily every year and so could DH who lived on Hawaii for a few years. It's fun on board and off. Go and enjoy!

[astro1861]

We did a cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. We arrived several days early to enjoy Oahu, then boarded ship to hit all the islands, including an overnight in Maui. Finally, we sailed to Vancouver and spent a few nights there. Overall, we felt it was fantastic vacation that included both land based and ship based experiences. We would be happy to repeat it anytime.