Mexico to Hawaii or Hawaii to Mexico

[cooncat]

Has anyone ever done one of these cruises with six days at sea. This looks very interesting to me for possibly a future cruise. What do you do for all those long days at sea except for sitting by the pools in the sun and drinking or reading? I know there are some of you who crossed the Atlantic. What is it like to be at sea for all those days and do they do anything different on this type of cruise. The largest class of ship RCCL has going is the Brilliance class and that is the one I will only consider taking. Once in Hawaii, they do the cruise around the islands which is what I want. It is about 10 - 11 days.

 

Less than 4 months until my April 3rd sailing on the Grandeur. I can't wait.

 

Thanks.

[RDeagazio]

The one way cruises on the Radiance class spend 4 days at sea crossing the Pacific and then 7 days cruising the islands. If I had a choice, I would sail from Ensenada and fly back from Hawaii after the cruise. Reason being, the drive from San Diego to Ensenada is only about an hour and the traffic at the boarder going into Mexico is not bad. Coming back from Ensenada is a nightmare. First off they make everyone get up at some ridiculously early hour -- like 3am for breakfast and they hurd you onto these broken down busses at 5am.. the drive back into the states isn't bad, but trying to cross the boarder is... traffic is lined up for miles. Custom's usually makes everyone get off the bus and claim their luggage to clear individually-- then you and your bags reboard the bus. To add insult to injury, when you finally do arrive back at the San Diego airport--- you drive right past the ship docked in San Diego embarking the new cruise passengers! Yep-- they cleared the whole ship, sailed to San Diego and were reboarding the next group before you got to the airport an hours drive away.

[Lyncruiser]

We did Hawaii ending up in Ensenada. I agree Ensenada is a pain. However, we hired our own limo, which met us and drove us to San Diego. We left two hours after the cruise line buses and arrived at the same time at San Diego airport.

 

As for which way, we liked touring the islands and then having four days to rest and relax after that. We also spent about 3 days in Honolulu before starting the cruise. I'd probably do it that way again.

 

Also, in my experience, you don't sit in the sun for four days on a Pacific crossing. The Pacific is too cold for that. We did this trip in late September. One day out from Hawaii, it was too cold and windy to be outside on deck (or on our balcony for that matter). Also, once we were done cruising the islands, we were, frankly, so much loose cargo. The cruise line (not RCCL) clearly had a timetable to keep and didn't bother with niceties like stabilizers. We were tossed all over the ship. Fortunately, we don't get seasick, but anyone who does would have had a hard time.

 

I gather the southern Atlantic crossing is warmer and smoother. I haven't done that one.

[cruisinMike]

I've done the Hawaii trip both ways, that is Ensenada to Honolulu and vice versa. On both trips I either went to Hawaii early or extended my stay after the cruise in Hawaii.

 

I agree with the poster that the Pacific crossing will probably be cool at that time of year. We went in April 2003, and April 2004 and at least 2 days on the Mexico side was chilly.

 

Now as far as what I liked better. I did like ending up in Ensenada and flying home from San Diego. The busses weren't bad (at least on my trip) and I did not find going through customs at the border much different (as far as time consumption inline) then standing in line after you disembark your ship in port.

 

As the previous poster said, you go through the islands quickly and if you have never been there before the pace can be hectic. The days at sea after the hectic pace in Hawaii were nice to just relax and that was the most important benefit compared to the west bound (Ensenada to Honolulu) cruise. The flight home was direct to DTW (and of course much shorter) and I liked that.

 

The downside is, yes you do get up earlier to disembark. You do have a 2 hour bus ride or so to the airport.

 

I think the most important thing is to consider what you're planning on doing and then decide for yourself how each schedule would fit your plans. I'm sure some could say you could R&R in Honolulu after the trip but if you're anything like us, we spent the time on the run seeing the sights and enjoying the views when we were in Honolulu. So we were on the run even before the cruise (or after when it was a west bound cruise from Ensenada).

 

Regardless, you'll have a great time.

[abridalmaven]

We went from Hawaii to Ensenada and liked it that way. We did 5 days in honolulu, and then the fast paced islands, and when the sea days arrived, we were very happy to have them to relax and wind down. We had a smooth bus ride back.

[wl2cruise]

rci has a new itineary for hawaii this year a cicle cruise from san diego in may or in september out of los angeles both are 14 nights:) Why bother with mexico!

[cruisinMike]

wl2cruise, I saw that itenerary but it did not interest me. I found staying on the islands (before or after the cruise) very enjoyable and a highlight of the trip because the cruise pace is hectic. If you want to just R&R and get a flavor of the islands it would be ok but looking at the schedule, I would prefer being in Hawaii for the first several days than sailing the seas because I know I have the sea days later. But that is just me.