Random questions as I'm New

[Starbuckqueen]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is my first visit to this forum. Previously cruised DCL in 2008. My daughter is now 19 and we would like to do something different than Disney as we have done sea and land many times. She would like to go to Hawaii. I've looked and it appears that Carnival goes there. Most likely will be 2018 to give me some time to save some money but also her school schedule as she will be in nursing school. So, tell me about Carnival? Which class of ships should I consider. Also, it seems like just searching for a cruise is a little overwhelming so what is the best way to search and get the best price? Are there thing that I should consider when choosing other than destination etc? Is there a better level or deck? Sorry for so many questions and as I'm new here I will now start reading a lot of the blogs but just a few things to get me started. Thanks in advance for answering.

 

Starbuckqueen

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Please consider discussing with you want with a travel agent who specializes in cruising.

There are many options for Hawaii cruises and you may not want to limit yourself to Carnival. :)

[Sixtytwo]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, Starbuckqueen! Most of your questions will generate 10 different answers from 10 different responders! I think you have answered the best way to get the information you want by saying you were going to start reading! CC has lots of very experienced cruisers and threads for every cruise line, ship, port, excursion, ad nauseum! If you have specific places you want to go, that might be the place to start - see which cruise lines go there! Some don't go all places all year round. You mentioned Hawaii, you probably will not be able to pick one of 20 ships that you might want to book on a particular itinerary. That helps with your question about what ship and ship class.

 

Keep on reading and I am sure you will start pretty quickly to narrow down your ideas! Good luck!

[Flatbush Flyer]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

 

This is my first visit to this forum. Previously cruised DCL in 2008. My daughter is now 19 and we would like to do something different than Disney as we have done sea and land many times. She would like to go to Hawaii. I've looked and it appears that Carnival goes there. Most likely will be 2018 to give me some time to save some money but also her school schedule as she will be in nursing school. So, tell me about Carnival? Which class of ships should I consider. Also, it seems like just searching for a cruise is a little overwhelming so what is the best way to search and get the best price? Are there thing that I should consider when choosing other than destination etc? Is there a better level or deck? Sorry for so many questions and as I'm new here I will now start reading a lot of the blogs but just a few things to get me started. Thanks in advance for answering.

 

 

 

Starbuckqueen

 

 

Hawaii is best done as a land trip- one island at a time. Start with Kauai.

[diane.in.ny]

Welcome aboard!

 

I know Princess goes to Hawaii. And NCL circles Hawaii.

 

If you read through the various threads you'll find the good and bad about sailing to Hawaii.

 

To help you narrow things down you can start by using the Advanced Search feature. For instance, put Hawaii in the Search box and then click on NCL under Cruise Lines to get info on starting and ending in Hawaii. You can then do the same thing but click Princess and get info on those sailings.

 

Then you can put Hawaii in the search box and click on Hawaii under Ports of Call.

 

That should do a good job of overwhelming you with information. :D

[paul929207]

Carnival has a limited number of cruises to Hawaii. So your choice of ships will be limited. You will be better to see which ships do that itinerary when you want to go. Then worry about the pluses and minuses of each available ship

[Roz]

I took a great cruise to Hawaii on Carnival, but they only sail in the spring and fall which wouldn't work with a student's schedule.

 

Roz

[phillygirl63]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You will get a lot of information here.

 

I have done the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii, and loved it. It's a great way to get to spend some time on the major islands. Since POA sails under the American flag, it does not have to visit a foreign port as all of the other cruiselines do, thus saving you from having to spend many sea days getting to/from. If you have the time, my suggestion would be to tack on a couple of extra days there before and/or after the cruise and maybe stay in Waikiki before the cruise and fly over to Kona to get a little more time there after the cruise.

[firegal2539]

My TA says either NCL because you fly to Hawaii and spend two days in each port. She also suggested a two week Princess because you spend three days going and coming.

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

We introduced our daughter to Hawaii via a Princess cruise from Los Angeles. since then, we've been on two more RTs to Hawaii on Princess as it was an enjoyable cruise each time, especially as they were holiday cruises. Plenty of Hawaiian activities and live music. These cruises go between late September and early May from LA and SF and there's repo cruises from/to Vancouver that are one-way, but limited to the beginning or end of the Alaskan season.

 

My first two times in Hawaii were on land trips, so it might be something to consider as opposed to a cruise if time of year or length of cruise is a problem. select a couple of islands and spend a few days at each. Or consider the RT as a good way to sample several islands. The price per night on the RTs (Carnival, Princess, Holland, Celebrity, etc. have cruises from the west coast) generally are lower than the NCL cruises...and you would have to fly to and from Hawaii and spend at least a pre-cruise night there to make sure you don't miss the cruise. and you're just using the NCL ship as a hotel/ferry service...so why not consider Princess and starting from the west coast?

[Cruisin' Chick]

You should consider sitting down with a travel agent sometime in 2017 and find out which cruise lines and ships will be sailing to Hawaii when your daughter has time off from her schooling. find out the usual rates for that time of year and get a comparison for a land trip at the same time (hotels, flights, meals -- food isn't cheap there). If you can swing the two-week cruise, you may find it a great value.

[phillygirl63]

My TA says either NCL because you fly to Hawaii and spend two days in each port. She also suggested a two week Princess because you spend three days going and coming.

 

I guess the OP will have to decide whether all of those sea days going and coming would be to her and her 20 year old daughter's liking. To me, I would rather get there and spend as much time as possible at the destination.

[griffy116]

We did a Hawaii land vacation and then a cruise of the islands with Royal Caribbean. Like Carnival, RCCL only cruises during specific times of the year and you will spend several days getting from the last island to a port like Ensenada because of the Jones Act. We are in the early stages of planning another trip to Hawaii and we actually prefer the cruise to the land vacation because you get to see each of the islands. Because of the school schedule, we will probably look at cruising NCL because they can start and end in Hawaii and you don't spend all those days after leaving Hawaii and at sea. We would have loved to spend that time in Hawaii. We plan to start from Oahu, spending a couple of days there before the cruise and at the end. We're also going to look at Princess. Each island is different, and we loved that. Use a travel agent that specializes in cruises and they will be able to answer all your questions, specifically taking into consideration your schedule and budget.

[cb at sea]

I agree with a land trip to Hawaii instead of a cruise. Cruising is great, but if you are REALLY interested in the destination...go on a land vacation! There is too much to see and do in Hawaii that you won't be able to do via a cruise and it's limited time in ports.

[jhsocal]

All of the previous posts are helpful. Believe a major decision is whether you want to make the round trip Ca. to Hawaii or fly there and cruise around the islands. As others have said, an experienced travel agent will be most helpful.

[Talisker92]

Hawaii is best done as a land trip- one island at a time. Start with Kauai.

Absolutely! See our stories

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kauai2011.pdf

 

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kauai2012.pdf

[Essiesmom]

Go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com. From the second port list (Ports of Call) choose Honolulu, or maui, etc. Then choose the time available to travel. It will show you who goes there, and their itineraries. Your problem might be that the cruises from the west coast usually do not occur during summer break. NCL does sail there year round. EM

[diane.in.ny]

Hawaii is best done as a land trip- one island at a time. Start with Kauai.

 

Thank you for your post because we've wanted to do HI for some time but just didn't have a clue how to start it.

 

And then where to go from there.

 

We are retired and could do a 6 to 8 week trip.

 

If you have any suggestions for us, I would love to hear from you.

 

But to not clutter up this thread, you could send the information to my email which is my CC name at gmail.com

 

Thank you!

[MOcruiserman]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is my first visit to this forum. Previously cruised DCL in 2008. My daughter is now 19 and we would like to do something different than Disney as we have done sea and land many times. She would like to go to Hawaii. I've looked and it appears that Carnival goes there. Most likely will be 2018 to give me some time to save some money but also her school schedule as she will be in nursing school. So, tell me about Carnival? Which class of ships should I consider. Also, it seems like just searching for a cruise is a little overwhelming so what is the best way to search and get the best price? Are there thing that I should consider when choosing other than destination etc? Is there a better level or deck? Sorry for so many questions and as I'm new here I will now start reading a lot of the blogs but just a few things to get me started. Thanks in advance for answering.

 

Starbuckqueen

 

I can't imagine any 19 year old would want to spend several sea days getting back and forth to Hawaii from the mainland. I think she would be bored out of her mind. Fly to Hawaii and explore, either via a land-based vacation or an inter-island cruise on Norwegian's Pride of America.

[srlafleur]

I would vote for NCL POA, because unlike the other lines, ALL your time is in Hawaii, including overnights in Maui and Kauai. So, if you want to venture out on your own, it's easy enough to rent a car and just drive around on those days, without having to worry about getting back to the ship before it sails the same day. Also gives you those evenings for luau, if you're so inclined.

Last time, hubby and I rented a motorcycle (he's licensed) on each island. It was nice to have the second day to then take "real" tours - a whale watch in Maui and an off-the-beaten-track jeep type tour on Kauai.

The time you would spend sailing to and/or from, assuming you even have the extra time, could be spent on the islands pre and post cruise.

[spookwife]

forget cruising the Islands.

 

 

Hawai'i is a land trip, period. you can base yourself on one island then hop to all the others for day trips. even the most basic of sightseeing opportunities cannot be done while on a cruise, not even the NCL Pride which only sails around the islands. ( and has its own problems due to its all American Crew)

 

even totally skipping O'ahu altogether( the most touristy of the bunch) and containing yourself to the Big Island or Maui or Kawai'i each island is a full day or more to experience.

 

on cruises 2/3 of the trip is spent getting to and from the islands. for the amount of money it costs the get there from anywhere in the Lower 48, do it right.

[sanger727]

We have wanted to do Hawaii for awhile. My bf and I were at a stalemate. He wanted to do a round trip cruise from California because he doesn't like planes and didn't want to commit to that long a flight. I wasn't willing to take a 2 week trip to Hawaii with only 4 days on the islands.

 

We compromised with a 1 way Hawaii cruise on celebrity. We will fly to kauai for 3-4 days, grab and island hopper to Oahu, then on cruise, 2 days Oahu, 2 days Maui, 1 day kona, and 1 da hilo plus the cruise back. He only has to get through the flight one way and gets us 10 days in Hawaii over 4 islands. Positive thing is outside of Kauai and lunches, all hotels and food will be part of the cruise.

 

Think it will be a well balanced vacation. Planning the full 10 days of all day sightseeing by 5 days of R&R on the cruise home.

 

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Edited December 30, 2016 by sanger727

[Cruisin' Chick]

We did a Hawaii land vacation and then a cruise of the islands with Royal Caribbean. Like Carnival, RCCL only cruises during specific times of the year and you will spend several days getting from the last island to a port like Ensenada because of the Jones Act. We are in the early stages of planning another trip to Hawaii and we actually prefer the cruise to the land vacation because you get to see each of the islands. Because of the school schedule, we will probably look at cruising NCL because they can start and end in Hawaii and you don't spend all those days after leaving Hawaii and at sea. We would have loved to spend that time in Hawaii. We plan to start from Oahu, spending a couple of days there before the cruise and at the end. We're also going to look at Princess. Each island is different, and we loved that. Use a travel agent that specializes in cruises and they will be able to answer all your questions, specifically taking into consideration your schedule and budget.

 

a correction here: it's the PVSA and not the Jones act (even though many confuse the two).

[Shmoo here]

We have wanted to do Hawaii for awhile. My bf and I were at a stalemate. He wanted to do a round trip cruise from California because he doesn't like planes and didn't want to commit to that long a flight. I wasn't willing to take a 2 week trip to Hawaii with only 4 days on the islands.

 

We compromised with a 1 way Hawaii cruise on celebrity. We will fly to kauai for 3-4 days, grab and island hopper to Oahu, then on cruise, 2 days Oahu, 2 days Maui, 1 day kona, and 1 da hilo plus the cruise back. He only has to get through the flight one way and gets us 10 days in Hawaii over 4 islands. Positive thing is outside of Kauai and lunches, all hotels and food will be part of the cruise.

 

Think it will be a well balanced vacation. Planning the full 10 days of all day sightseeing by 5 days of R&R on the cruise home.

 

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Where does the cruise end?

[Essiesmom]

Where does the cruise end?

 

Only Celebrity cruise from Honolulu I could find is on Solstice, May 7 2017 or April 29 2018, and they end in Vancouver. EM