Port or Starboard? Ovation sailing along Na Pali Coast, Kauai

[cot427]

Booking a balcony and was wondering whether to get a port side or starboard side balcony, since we will have an afternoon sailing around the Na Pali Coast, Kauai?

 

Thanks in advance!

[CruiserBruce]

I am guessing, but would say starboard, If I am wrong, or you guess wrong, you just go to any of the many outside viewing areas.

[tallyho8]

What cruise is this? I didn't think any of the Ovation cruises went to Kauai? On the Pride of America the port side is the best side because it sails past the coast closer and slower on the port side then turns around and sails faster past it on the starboard side.

Edited November 10, 2018 by tallyho8

[cot427]

On 11/9/2018 at 9:45 PM, tallyho8 said:

What cruise is this? I didn't think any of the Ovation cruises went to Kauai? On the Pride of America the port side is the best side because it sails past the coast closer and slower on the port side then turns around and sails faster past it on the starboard side.

 

We don't have the opportunity to get off the ship, but we are doing an afternoon sail from 12-4 the day before our first Hawaiian port. I'm doing the Vancouver to Hawaii but there is one in May that is going Hawaii to Vancouver. 

[CruiserBruce]

That changes things...specifics in a question are important. I would expect the ship to arrive from the northwest, and sail counterclockwise around Kauai, so port would likely be the land viewing side. But if we guess wrong, just go topside or to some other view location.

[P.A.]

I have a question. Possibly about this same cruise the OP mentioned.

 

Looking at booking the Ovation of the Seas sailing out of Vancouver on a 10 day to Hawaii then returning from Honolulu. This may or may not be the same cruise the OP was talking about. But my question is this..we've never been to Hawaii..always wanted too. This cruise is pricing out at about $3000 for a balcony. This seems very reasonable and it's probably because there isn't much port time. However, it may be our only chance to go to Hawaii. Has anyone sailed this itinerary and was it worth it?

 

Itinerary below. Only port days are in Seattle and then Maui for two days, then Kailua, the rest are cruising. Thought about staying over a day or two in Honolulu.

 

Your thoughts? Thank you in advance.😎

Edited November 13, 2018 by P.A.

[PCWalton1]

On 11/13/2018 at 12:29 PM, P.A. said:

I have a question. Possibly about this same cruise the OP mentioned.

 

Looking at booking the Ovation of the Seas sailing out of Vancouver on a 10 day to Hawaii then returning from Honolulu. This may or may not be the same cruise the OP was talking about. But my question is this..we've never been to Hawaii..always wanted too. This cruise is pricing out at about $3000 for a balcony. This seems very reasonable and it's probably because there isn't much port time. However, it may be our only chance to go to Hawaii. Has anyone sailed this itinerary and was it worth it?

 

Itinerary below. Only port days are in Seattle and then Maui for two days, then Kailua, the rest are cruising. Thought about staying over a day or two in Honolulu.

 

Your thoughts? Thank you in advance.😎

We are on the Sept 20th cruise and this is a brand new itinerary. I guess it depends on what you want to see in the islands. We have done multiple Hawaii cruises that hit all the stops so we are ok with missing several ports this time. Also we add on after the cruise, after this one we are spending 3 nights on Molokai and 3 nights in Waikiki 

 

If you have never been to Hawaii, want a taste of all the locations and want to stay with Royal Caribbean I suggest taking either the Radiance or Serenade. 

 

[cruislovin]

We are booked on Ovation from Honolulu to Vancouver.  Which would be best for the Mount Kilauea, Evening Sail & Napali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii daytime sail?  Would port or starboard be recommended?

[chengkp75]

On 12/27/2018 at 8:41 PM, cruislovin said:

We are booked on Ovation from Honolulu to Vancouver.  Which would be best for the Mount Kilauea, Evening Sail & Napali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii daytime sail?  Would port or starboard be recommended?

As noted before, this is a new itinerary, so there is no guarantee which way the ship will go.  I would suspect, going from the Napali Coast to Lahaina, that starboard would be best for Napali.  Going from Lahaina to Kona to Honolulu, there is no guarantee that the ship will sail around the south side of the Big Island, past Kilauea.  Besides, there is almost no activity going on at Kilauea, and nothing going into the sea, so a evening sail will not show anything.

[cruislovin]

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

As noted before, this is a new itinerary, so there is no guarantee which way the ship will go.  I would suspect, going from the Napali Coast to Lahaina, that starboard would be best for Napali.  Going from Lahaina to Kona to Honolulu, there is no guarantee that the ship will sail around the south side of the Big Island, past Kilauea.  Besides, there is almost no activity going on at Kilauea, and nothing going into the sea, so a evening sail will not show anything.

 

The itinerary that we have booked leaves from Honolulu.

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, cruislovin said:

 

The itinerary that we have booked leaves from Honolulu.

Sorry, was using the Vancouver to Honolulu itinerary.  What is your port rotation?

[PCWalton1]

On 12/27/2018 at 12:41 PM, cruislovin said:

We are booked on Ovation from Honolulu to Vancouver.  Which would be best for the Mount Kilauea, Evening Sail & Napali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii daytime sail?  Would port or starboard be recommended?

Several years ago when we were on Radiance the ship made a 360 turn when we were viewing Mount Kilauea

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, PCWalton1 said:

Several years ago when we were on Radiance the ship made a 360 turn when we were viewing Mount Kilauea

The NCL ships used to do this each week, when the flow was really active into the sea.  We would get as close as possible, and monitor the sea temperature, and when the diesels started to overheat it was time to get out of Dodge.

[cruislovin]

On 12/30/2018 at 5:36 AM, chengkp75 said:

Sorry, was using the Vancouver to Honolulu itinerary.  What is your port rotation?

 

The itinerary is in the following order:

 

Honolulu

Kailua Kona

Mount Kilauea, Evening Sail

Napali Coast, Kauai

Lahaina (Maui)

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, cruislovin said:

 

The itinerary is in the following order:

 

Honolulu

Kailua Kona

Mount Kilauea, Evening Sail

Napali Coast, Kauai

Lahaina (Maui)

Have to say, that's a pretty poor itinerary for the Islands, IMHO.  But, from Hono, you will take a straight shot down the west side of the islands to Kona.  Your "evening sail" will be port side to shore all the way around the Big Island, but there won't be anything to see from Kilauea.  Then you cruise up the east side of the islands, with them on the port side, and then Napali will either be port side all around Kauai, or turn around half way to go back to Lahaina.  Shame not to get to see Kauai, in my opinion the prettiest of the Islands.  There are some long hauls there, the ship will be doing some speed to make that itinerary.  Are there one or two full sea days between Kona and Lahaina?

[PCWalton1]

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Have to say, that's a pretty poor itinerary for the Islands, IMHO.  But, from Hono, you will take a straight shot down the west side of the islands to Kona.  Your "evening sail" will be port side to shore all the way around the Big Island, but there won't be anything to see from Kilauea.  Then you cruise up the east side of the islands, with them on the port side, and then Napali will either be port side all around Kauai, or turn around half way to go back to Lahaina.  Shame not to get to see Kauai, in my opinion the prettiest of the Islands.  There are some long hauls there, the ship will be doing some speed to make that itinerary.  Are there one or two full sea days between Kona and Lahaina?

For anyone on their first time to Hawaii it is a lousy itinerary. We are on the Vancouver to Honolulu route which is the same limited ports, just different order. We are ok with it as we have been there numerous times and we are going to also go to Molaka'i and Waikiki post cruise. 

[Ramjet1997]

On 11/13/2018 at 3:29 PM, P.A. said:

I have a question. Possibly about this same cruise the OP mentioned.

 

Looking at booking the Ovation of the Seas sailing out of Vancouver on a 10 day to Hawaii then returning from Honolulu. This may or may not be the same cruise the OP was talking about. But my question is this..we've never been to Hawaii..always wanted too. This cruise is pricing out at about $3000 for a balcony. This seems very reasonable and it's probably because there isn't much port time. However, it may be our only chance to go to Hawaii. Has anyone sailed this itinerary and was it worth it?

 

Itinerary below. Only port days are in Seattle and then Maui for two days, then Kailua, the rest are cruising. Thought about staying over a day or two in Honolulu.

 

Your thoughts? Thank you in advance.😎

We have twice cruised from Honolulu to Vancouver on Royal Caribbean - once on Rhapsody and once on Radiance (May, 2018).  We are also booked on Ovation for a similar itinerary in May, 2020.  Although we don't go to the same places in 2020, the real question is can you deal with 6 straight days at sea?  Our previous cruises were 5 days at sea, but one extra day won't affect our decision, since those days can be very relaxing.  I will say that as you get closer to British Columbia it gets cooler (usually), but we love Victoria and Vancouver, and Seattle is a nice day trip.  We usually go into Oahu 4-5 days early so that we can see the sights and things we have not done yet.