Hawaii 2017

[miraclfl]

Next year it will be my husband and I ten year anniversary. He has always wanted to do a Hawaii cruise. Which cruise line is best for Hawaii cruises?

Edited September 5, 2016 by miraclfl

[Shmoo here]

Next year it will be my husband and I ten year anniversary. He has always wanted to do a Hawaii cruise. Which cruise line is best for Hawaii cruises?

 

Whichever one goes at the time you want, and doesn't send you into shock at the cost.

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Hello,

 

First you need to decide what kind of Hawaii cruise you want to do. There are basically 3 ways to cruise Hawaii (not including world cruises etc)

 

There is only one ship...NCL Pride of America...that sails exclusively in the Hawaiian Islands...doing 7 night cruises year round from Honolulu.

 

Then there are round-trip Hawaiian cruises that usually depart from a US West Coast city, cruise to Hawaii, visit several islands, then cruise back to the same West Coast city. These cruises are usually 15 to 17or18 days in length, and include a lot of sea days (10 days), cruising to/from the islands.

 

Lastly, there are one-way cruises...that leave from Hawaii and cruise to Vancouver, BC...or cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii...these cruises are usually about 10-12 nights long, and are much less frequent in occurrence...they usually occur when the ship is re-positioning to another part of the world.

 

Once you decide what type of Hawaiian cruise interests you, folks can chime in with their positive/negative feedback on the different cruise lines/ships/time of year etc.

 

Hope this helps

 

BBL

Edited September 5, 2016 by BourbonNBluesLuvr

[miraclfl]

Thank you BBL. I will look into the one that sails around the islands.

[Kamloops50]

Thank you BBL. I will look into the one that sails around the islands.

 

Compare the cost of leaving the West Coast to flying to Hawaii and then cruising .

Look at the date you want and compare the cost.

7 day plus the airfare to Hawaii

versus

15 day plus flight to LA or SF

 

Then see which will cost the least.

 

Just my thoughts.

[bekbek4248]

My husband and I are doing the exact same thing for our 10 year wedding anniversary! So excited! I did a lot of research on Hawaiian cruises and found the same thing as another person mentioned- quite a few options depending on the time of year, cost, ports, reviews.

 

We ended up booking the 10 day Celebrity Solstice leaving from Vancouver and ending up in Honolulu in September of 2017. We chose Celebrity based on the itinerary and reviews! We want to make sure we have a great experience so we read a ton of reviews at Celebrity had the best reviews by a long shot. We have gone on Carnival and NCL cruises before and we are so excited to give Celebrity a try. I would recommend reading reviews and narrowing it down on that and the itinerary. :)

 

Hope that helps! Can't wait for next year!

Edited September 6, 2016 by bekbek4248

[minfit]

• 
  

we went about 4 years ago, on pride of America. We had been on other cruise and used different cruise lines. We enjoyed our cruise very much but was not at all happy with Norwegian.. we flew from NC, to los Angeles and then to Honolulu and spent 2 days in Wikki ki and did a tour of the of the city. We really enjoyed it. Problem with our room , we never had ice, we ask for, call the kitchen, main desk no ice. We even gave our steward extra tips and still couldn't get ice. So finally he should me where the ice machine was and we got our own. Another that was a biggie for me they don't clean your room unless you move a little board that's on the outside of your room ,to clean, this happened a couple of times they are just setup different please, (don't shoot me for this) but it is an all American crew. The service was not nearly as good as our other cruises. But once we got to the island they made up for all the aggravation.

[navybankerteacher]

We are on HAL's Westerdam - R/T from SanDiego in February - overnight in Honolulu plus four other ports. Good if you enjoy sea days - plus we have SEAL grandson based in San Diego, just back from Iraq deployment - giving an extra reason. Flying to the islands and cruising from there might be simpler - but we have zero interest in any more time on NCL.

 

Aside from enjoying HAL, it is also a better alternative to spending much of February in New England.

[Beachdude]

We have cruised Hawaii and spent many vacations there as well. To really experience Hawaii is to slow down to the locals pace and relaxingly enjoy its beauty. Cruises make a relaxing visit challenging because of the limited time at each port. Each island shows off it's best with a drive around the island.

 

It's not just the natural beauty and wondrous sites that make Hawaii special, but the local lifestyle richens the experience as well. We missed that part of the experience with the cruise.

 

I'm not knocking cruises, we cruise at least once and usually twice a year. But for the first Hawaiian visit, a land vacation really gives a better brouder experience that might likely change your life.

 

Burt

[spookwife]

Best way to do the islands is by flying and making a home base and doing day trips to the others. Island hoppers are very cheap. Pride of American consistently is the lowest rated ship in the entire industry. The all American crew is a major reason behind that

 

I would suggest NOT using O'ahu. The Big Island or Maui instead for your stay.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MCC retired]

I say take the POA cruise . 7 nights , 4 islands without the hassle of checking in/out of hotels , packing/unpacking and inter island flights/transfers.

Discover and island that you wish to see more of ? come back someday and stay.

They say that you loose 1/2 vacation time whenever you change islands .

POA not the best but by far ,not the worse of the 75+ cruises that we have sailed. Go for it.

Edited September 6, 2016 by MCC retired

[Beachdude]

Best way to do the islands is by flying and making a home base and doing day trips to the others. Island hoppers are very cheap. Pride of American consistently is the lowest rated ship in the entire industry. The all American crew is a major reason behind that

 

I would suggest NOT using O'ahu. The Big Island or Maui instead for your stay.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I agree with everything, except the O'ahu exception. All the islands are wonderful. But Honolulu gives Oahu the bad reputation many folks speak about. Honolulu is has the big city feel with intense stop and go driving that discourages more visitors from spending much time on Oahu. I admit we also felt the same about Oahu at first, but we started touring the whole island on our days there and found that it is as much a treasure as the other islands. In fact, Oahu arguably has some of Hawaii's most beautiful sceneries and beaches. And that is saying a lot. Even the beaches along Diamond Head (next to Honolulu) can be breath taking.

 

We have rented houses on four of the islands and find renting on the Oahu's North Shore as one of our favorites. It's quiet, beautiful, and probably the friendliest of the areas we stay in.

 

Honestly, each island has their own beauty and personalities, so I can't really suggest one island over another. But we are spending 10 days on the Oahu North Shore next Spring along with a couple days on Molokai. Probably rent motorcycle for a day on Maui again as well.

 

As spookwife pointed out, picking a home base and enjoying the islands is probably a better way for first timers to enjoy the islands.

 

Burt

Edited September 6, 2016 by Beachdude

[zookiebird]

We took the POA cruise 2 years ago. NCL is not our favorite line but we were pleasantly surprised by the nice package they put together. It included R/T air, two days pre-cruise at the Marriott Waikiki, an ocean view stateroom, and several specialty dinners. There are better ships than the POA but she more than serves the purpose of giving her passengers the opportunity of seeing as much of the islands as possible in one week. For a first time visit to Hawaii I thought it worked out fine.

[bekbek4248]

Just wanted to add, this is our first time to Hawaii as well. The cruise we are taking on Celebrity starts in Vancouver and we will have five relaxing sea days and then 5 days in Hawaii on four different islands. I love the idea of being able to see four different islands in one trip! It will be nice to go to four different islands without having to plan the details of the planes to get there, etc. :) Also, we are going to stay in Hawaii for an extra two days. Based on what I've read this is a great way to see Hawaii! Can't wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Just wanted to add, this is our first time to Hawaii as well. The cruise we are taking on Celebrity starts in Vancouver and we will have five relaxing sea days and then 5 days in Hawaii on four different islands. I love the idea of being able to see four different islands in one trip! It will be nice to go to four different islands without having to plan the details of the planes to get there, etc. :) Also, we are going to stay in Hawaii for an extra two days. Based on what I've read this is a great way to see Hawaii! Can't wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hello,

 

This is what we did a few years ago too ! Although we did it on Celebrity from Ensenada. And even though I had been to Hawaii a couple of times previously, my wife and friends who cruised with us had never been. It was a great way to introduce Hawaii to all of them. We then flew to Kauai and spent a week there post cruise. Great trip !

 

BBL

[reedl]

I have been to Hawaii a few times, but always on a land based vacation. There is so much to see and do that as pointed out before, the limited time in port does not allow you to see everything.

 

Staying on the island, and renting a car and driving around is a much better way to see the beauty of Hawaii. We saw three islands the last time we went: Ohau, Lihuii, and the Big Island (Hawaii). Driving around the big island, and seeing Black Sands beach, Volcano's park, and other things was much better than picking one to see.

 

...And this coming from someone who likes to cruise.

[Beachdude]

Just wanted to add, this is our first time to Hawaii as well. The cruise we are taking on Celebrity starts in Vancouver and we will have five relaxing sea days and then 5 days in Hawaii on four different islands. I love the idea of being able to see four different islands in one trip! It will be nice to go to four different islands without having to plan the details of the planes to get there, etc. :) Also, we are going to stay in Hawaii for an extra two days. Based on what I've read this is a great way to see Hawaii! Can't wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Then let me give a hint for the Maui; the rental car pickup are a few miles down the road and the few buses can make the wait time up to an hour. To save you that hour of your precious touring time, find another couple to share a taxi to the rental pickup. So much to see, that the $10 or so is worth the time savings.

 

Burt

[leen50]

This past January we took Carnival Miracle 15 day round trip from Long Beach. It stopped at 5 Hawaiian Ports + Ensenada. We booked all of our Tours with Roberts Hawaii. It was one of our BEST cruises ever!