Need opinions on the 10 night Hawaii cruise

[cakana]

I'm thinking of taking the 10 day Hawaii cruise but having a hard time imagining 5 consecutive days at sea. Thoughts?

[Yoshikitty]

We can't have enough seadays, that's why we'll be on the Tahitian Treasures Cruise in October ( 11 seadays...)

[lovecruzin]

I was going to say that I like the 15 day RT better but thats not what you were asking.

 

The days go quickly, lots of Hawaiian themed activities, trivia several times a day. Time to relax and read and nap!

[cakana]

We did love our sea days on the recent Alaska cruise and wouldn't have minded more. I just wasn't sure what 5 in a row would feel like. Might have to give this some serious thought. I'd love to do the 15 day RT but my dog sitter/husband might protest ;)

[Duanerice1]

I understand and for some people it's tough but not us. Love the sea days, nothing we have to do, no where to be, room service on the balcony...... I have many friends that would go crazy - lol

 

I'd say there is a lot to do but a lot of it doesn't interest us. We are fine, don't need to be entertained.

[Cruise Raider]

It really depends on what you like and dislike about cruising to give advice on what it will be like for you.

If you love sea days, it is awesome. You will see nothing but ocean for days.

We love to hang out by the pool, go for specialty lunches, gamble in the casino (it will be closed while you are in Hawaii, btw), go to a lecture or two, watch a movie in the theater, relax at Cafe Al Baccio, listen to live music, maybe meet up and play a card or board game, read a book up in the Observation lounge, play a lawn game, etc.

These things we love so we would even opt for the 15 night sailing instead of the 10 night.

Just be aware, though, that the seas can be very rough the first or last couple of days ... depending on your direction ... as you close in or sail from the mainland. It can also be kind of chilly. And then, warmer and smoother sailing as you approach or sail from Hawaii.

[fleckle]

I'm thinking of taking the 10 day Hawaii cruise but having a hard time imagining 5 consecutive days at sea. Thoughts?

That is really hard to answer for someone else as it is just a matter of personal preference. Some people enjoy sea days, and others don't.

 

I myself love sea days, but have family members who would much rather fly to Hawaii or fly to Europe, and get to enjoy those additional days at their destination rather than spend them cruising across an ocean to get there or back.

One in particular I am thinking about, who spent 4 years in the Navy, now refuses to spend any more of his time on a ship cruising across an ocean.

But he does enjoy cruises that go from island to island, or from country to country, as long as they spend no more than a day (or two at the most) traveling at sea between the port stops.

[cakana]

Thanks everyone. As I think about it, I do think 5 consecutive days onboard would be a bit much for my friend and me. We did enjoy our sea days but also enjoyed exploring at each port. I tend to get restless fairly quickly and would probably be cranky by day 3. I really wanted to sail on the Solstice again but might try to find another Hawaiian cruise for just the islands.

[Lastdance]

So, I understand that your DH will be home with the dog. If you are by yourself, it may or may not seem like a lots of days. When we do longer cruises, usually we have friends onboard, so we all have a great time. I am not sure of your circumstances, but can understand your concern. Do you enjoy boardgames, reading, relaxing, sitting either in or out of the sun onboard, along with meeting new people? This would be important...

 

Personally, I love all the sea days and did my first TA last year, from Miami to Rome. It was so much fun, but I was with other cruise buddies. Next year I am on the Edge TA, but again with cruise buddies. Sometimes one just has to take that leap of faith, as the opinions on CC will hopefully guide you one way or the other.

[cakana]

So, I understand that your DH will be home with the dog. If you are by yourself, it may or may not seem like a lots of days. When we do longer cruises, usually we have friends onboard, so we all have a great time. I am not sure of your circumstances, but can understand your concern. Do you enjoy boardgames, reading, relaxing, sitting either in or out of the sun onboard, along with meeting new people? This would be important...

 

Personally, I love all the sea days and did my first TA last year, from Miami to Rome. It was so much fun, but I was with other cruise buddies. Next year I am on the Edge TA, but again with cruise buddies. Sometimes one just has to take that leap of faith, as the opinions on CC will hopefully guide you one way or the other.

 

I would go with my best friend. We just did the Alaska cruise together and had a wonderful time. My husband doesn't enjoy traveling and is happier to keep watch on the dogs. He would probably love the sea days more than me. He's happy to just chill out most of the day while I'm always looking for something to do. My friend is somewhere in between. My husband and I were married in Maui and have been to all the islands, except Kauai, several times. My friend has never been, so I thought this would be a great way for her to see a few islands and attractions.

[George C]

I'm thinking of taking the 10 day Hawaii cruise but having a hard time imagining 5 consecutive days at sea. Thoughts?

 

We did this on rccl about a decade ago and loved it would do it again, but we do like sea days

[gerelmx]

We are on the B2B for Sept/Oct 2019 on the Eclipse from Vancouver instead of the RT from Los Angeles, same 10 sea days but 6 more days at Hawaii ports.

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks everyone. As I think about it, I do think 5 consecutive days onboard would be a bit much for my friend and me. We did enjoy our sea days but also enjoyed exploring at each port. I tend to get restless fairly quickly and would probably be cranky by day 3. I really wanted to sail on the Solstice again but might try to find another Hawaiian cruise for just the islands.

 

To find a cruise that just goes to the Hawaiian islands, I believe that NCL Pride ships will be your only options due to the PVSA. If a cruise begins and ends in in a US port without calling at a distant foreign port, they would have to operate under the US flag / registry. Very few cruiselines have found this to be a profitable way of conducting business.

Maybe someone can chime in if they know of another option but if you want to just do Hawaii to Hawaii without crossing the Pacific, I think your options will be extremely limited. You might be better off flying and plopping than cruising.

[2NHcruisers]

We can't have enough seadays, that's why we'll be on the Tahitian Treasures Cruise in October ( 11 seadays...)

We agree about the sea days!! never too many!!

[sanger727]

So, just took the Hawaii one way cruise this April. Ours was a 12 day. Think the only differences was an overnight in Honolulu and a port in Victoria.

 

We had a really good time, but we wouldn’t do it again. I like sea days, but I don’t love sea days. And the big difference is that my favorite thing in the world is to be outside, and with cruising from Hawaii to Vancouver in May; it got COLD outside. If it had been Hawaiian temps the whole time it would have been much more enjoyable; but really the last 3 days were uncomfortable to be outside.

 

Now there were a lot of activities. And what I didn’t realize was that many were daily activities that built on each other over the course of the 5 days. So, if you didn’t get in them starting the first day, you couldn’t really join in later. For example there was a hula class daily that learned a dance over the course of the week. Tried to join in on day 3 and was completely lost.

 

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[kokopelli-az]

We will be on the Eclipse next April for a 10 day Hawaii to Vancouver cruise. Can't wait for the sea days

[constantcruiser]

I love calm relaxing sea days, too. But one thing to remember about cruising between Hawaii and the Mainland is the Pacific Ocean is typically rougher than the Atlantic, and certainly more so than the Caribbean or Mediterranean. For me rough seas 5 days in a row is not a good way to start or end a vacation.

[cakana]

I love calm relaxing sea days, too. But one thing to remember about cruising between Hawaii and the Mainland is the Pacific Ocean is typically rougher than the Atlantic, and certainly more so than the Caribbean or Mediterranean. For me rough seas 5 days in a row is not a good way to start or end a vacation.

 

I didn't know that, so thank you for telling me. I don't think it would be a problem for me but it might be a big problem for my friend.

[montythecat]

We have been on NCL’s Pride of America which does a seven day cruise around the islands. No sea days which suited us. It is a lovely ship (recently refurbished) with its American crew giving it a different, and very enjoyable, atmosphere to other ships. We hired a car on each island and saw everything. We wouldn’t cruise on the larger

NCL ships but this one was delightful. We spent three days in Waikiki before the cruise. If you don’t want to sail to or from California I would thoroughly recommend this option. I hope these comments help you decide.

[fleckle]

Cakana, since you are talking about a one-way cruise, another factor to consider is how much additional time you will get to spend in Hawaii after your cruise ends.

We enjoy those one-way cruises to Hawaii mainly because we then get to spend at least another week or two in Hawaii afterwards.

So doing it this way enables us to enjoy the best of both the cruise and the Hawaii land vacation, and then additionally provides us the possibly of stopping off to visit friends or family somewhere else on the way back.

(Having all that free time to spend when and where we wish is probably the best perk of taking early retirement. ).

 

 

But for those who have limited vacation time and need to make an "either-or" choice, one way to find the right answer is to ask yourself which you would enjoy more: having those additional 5 days to spend in Hawaii, or spending them on a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean.

The flight between the US or Canadian west coast and Hawaii only takes about 6 hours. So most people we know prefer to hop on a plane, get there as quickly as possible, and maximize their vacation time on their favorite island/s in Hawaii, rather than spending that time in transit getting there (or back).

However, since this is a cruise board, most of us (possibly even all of us) who spend time here do so because we enjoy cruising.

It's a tough choice!

Hope everyone faced with this decision has a wonderful vacation (aka holiday), whichever way you decide to do it.

[gordylad]

Good post.We have been thinking about Vancouver to Hawaii for a while now. Have been on a few transatlantic's and love the sea days so this would not bother us. Looked at the 15 night and if there had been at least 1 overnight I think we would have been interested but don't want to sail for that length of time just to have a few hours on 4 islands.

 

I think our preference would be the Eclipse sailing with 2 overnights and in particular sailing towards warmer climate like we normally do when transatlantic's Europe to USA. Unfortunately we would have to fly from the UK to Vancouver and then the flight back to California from Hawaii maybe spend a few days in San Fran before flying home. Wait a minute did I say unfortunately....this sound like a great idea....LOL..........the thought of flying...YUK

Edited June 11, 2018 by gordylad
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[Cruise Junky]

We've done it twice. I`m not a huge fan of more than one sea day in a row so wasn`t particularly looking forward to 5 but it was actually ok. The first time, 5 was absolutely enough...one more sea day might have put us over the edge. The second time, it was fine.

[maggieq]

I am actually looking at the 10 or 11 night for next September. There are not many reviews on these cruises (understand 2 sailings a year, until 2019). Hoping September is a better weather month than doing the reverse itinerary in april.

[Cruise Junky]

I am actually looking at the 10 or 11 night for next September. There are not many reviews on these cruises (understand 2 sailings a year, until 2019). Hoping September is a better weather month than doing the reverse itinerary in april.

 

Our weather was very similar in April and September. The sea conditions were also very similar but it's a crap shot on both to be honest.

[awhfy]

We did the Hawaii to Vancouver on Solstice in April 2016. The last 3 days of the 5 sea days were quite cold but we wrapped up in the fluffy stadium blankets & sat on our balcony. We did have a few more Aspen Coffees that cruise [emoji849].

 

We are booked for the September 2019 Eclipse Vancouver to Hawaii & are hoping for a warmer crossing.

 

There was so much to do that I really needed a couple of more sea days. My DH is hoping to have the same luck in the casino as last time. We will be staying in Hawaii for an extended land trip afterwards

 

 

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