Thoughts on Hawaii cruise

[navybankerteacher]

We did it on HAL from SanDiego - which was worth spending a few days before sailing — a great trip, but we are happy with sea days - we had an overnight in Honolulu - and spent a couple of hours dead in the water less than a mile off the south shore of  Hawaii (Big Island) looking at, hearing and smelling the molten lava pouring into the sea - a one of a kind experience.

[rugerdog]

I'm firmly in the "absolutely loved it!" camp.

 

I've done a one way from Vancouver ending in Honolulu on Celebrity, and the longer RT from San Pedro on Princess.  Both were fantastic, but of the two, I preferred the RT.  Lots of sea days are great for relaxing and enjoying the ship.  Port days are wonderful but tiring, so the sea days returning back to California feel like a luxurious second vacation.  I've never felt bored.  But then again, I'm pretty easily entertained 😉.

 

Have a great holiday!

[cruznjan]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:49 PM, zahav1 said:

I'm looking at a cruise to Hawaii round trip from San Francisco or Los Angeles.  Not sure about it.   If you've been on an Hawaii cruise what are your thoughts?  The multiple sea days both direction seem a bit much, was this cruise worth your time and money?   Thanks

We enjoyed the sea days. Worth it? Absolutely!

[cr8tiv1]

4 hours ago, zahav1 said:

Thank you for all the replies, so much positive information. We would do out of San Francisco, would come a day before since we've been to SF many time,  we live in northern VA.   I think we'll plan this for next winter of 2021, maybe February or March

 

The "first" humpback arrives late November (this year..."he" was early).  By April, the pods have thinned out.  February and March are good times to be on the islands (a little raining in Hilo).

[cr8tiv1]

12 hours ago, cb at sea said:

If your aim is a cruise, you will do lots of that!  If your aim is to see Hawaii, then you won't have time for much.  Hawaii is deserving of a land vacation....too much to do even in several weeks!  But, a flight to Hawaii, then a cruise around the islands would give you more time actually IN Hawaii!

 

I do agree with poster that "Hawaii is deserving of a land vacation".  I can say that I have visited every populated island in the chain (except Ni'ihau).  But it has taken me 50 years plus.  Hilo and Kauai are daylight ports (short ports) but time to get in a few places.  Each island has something different to offer.  Now that another air carrier has entered the market place, you can find some decent airfares to the neighbor islands, but you would still need to pay for food and lodging on a land tour.  

 

The problems with an NCL:  

Cost of flight plus hotel the night before is expensive.

It is a floating hotel with very little Hawaiiana on board.

You can rent a car for the overnight stays, but no where to park it.

Cruise fare is very expensive since it has to have a certain percent of American employees at American wages.  I didn't think service was that great.

 

I've done it/and won't do it again.

[Joebucks]

I'm not the biggest fan of that many sea days. Don't get me wrong, I always have fun. I feel after a few in a row, people start to get stir crazy, and look for variety. The bigger boats make the biggest difference to me though.

 

I did a land vacation to Hawaii a few months ago, and it was gorgeous. One thing to keep in mind that if you do go there, it's quite a bit of travel to see things. To get to Hawaii from Ohio and back is a day wasted in travel each time. To get from island to island, is a few hours in wasted travel. By the time you drop off your rental, get to the airport, fly, that is time you wish you had back. I feel these are advantages of a cruise because being on a boat is way more fun that air travel.

 

I was really tempted on a cruise that I believe was 11 days. Kauai, Maiu, Hilo, Kona, and stop on Honolulu (where I would stay for a few days). I think that one will happen sooner than later.

[BarbinMich]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I do agree with poster that "Hawaii is deserving of a land vacation".  I can say that I have visited every populated island in the chain (except Ni'ihau).  But it has taken me 50 years plus.  Hilo and Kauai are daylight ports (short ports) but time to get in a few places.  Each island has something different to offer.  Now that another air carrier has entered the market place, you can find some decent airfares to the neighbor islands, but you would still need to pay for food and lodging on a land tour.  

 

The problems with an NCL:  

Cost of flight plus hotel the night before is expensive.

It is a floating hotel with very little Hawaiiana on board.

You can rent a car for the overnight stays, but no where to park it.

Cruise fare is very expensive since it has to have a certain percent of American employees at American wages.  I didn't think service was that great.

 

I've done it/and won't do it again.

Surprised to hear that the NCL ship has little Hawaiiana onboard!  This ship is there year-round so I would have thought it emulated the American Hawaii ship it replaced doing this itinerary!  Lots of Hawaiiana on that ship.

[cr8tiv1]

7 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Surprised to hear that the NCL ship has little Hawaiiana onboard!  This ship is there year-round so I would have thought it emulated the American Hawaii ship it replaced doing this itinerary!  Lots of Hawaiiana on that ship.

 

It is a port intensive cruise.  Most everyone is off the ship during the day when "sea day activities" would happen.  Princess, by far, has the best Hawaiian Ambassador Program of any cruise line.  It was developed specifically for the Hawaii cruise by ELUA and Dave Cole.  Princess has "shared" the program with other ambassadors and ships doing the cruise.  In the day...there would also be a lecture series on the Hawaiian Monarch, but that has since been abbreviated.  

 

NCL even moved Pride of Hawaii to another port and kept Pride of American in Honolulu.  Go figure?????

[George C]

Rccl has shorter cruises where you cruise to Hawaii and fly back or fly to Hawaii then cruise back to Vancouver which we did a long time ago , great cruise. 

[BarbinMich]

19 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

It is a port intensive cruise.  Most everyone is off the ship during the day when "sea day activities" would happen.  . . .

As was our 7-day American Hawaii cruise, but they managed to include some Hawaiian programs, entertainment, etc. in the evenings.

[LH25]

We did the cruise that leaves out of Vancouver BC in April a few years ago.  It is a lot of sea days, which I love, it was a nice way to unwind before hitting the islands, and before getting back home as well.  I agree with the comments that it's more about the cruise and less about Hawaii.  We've been there on land vacations before, so that was fine with us.  I would do it again.

[evandbob]

  We visited Hawaii and TahitI each twice on land vacations.  There is so much to see and do on all these islands that in our opinion, couldn't be covered with just a port visit, even if it was overnight.  Both were long flights from NYC, so we booked 2 weeks land to get to all our activities and not leave until we checked off all the items on our list. We much preferred settling into our hotel room knowing we had 3 to 5 days on an island and not have to eliminate some activities or tours we couldn't do if we were on a short port visit.

 

Whether staying in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora and Moorea, or driving the full road to Hana on Maui, it was just our preference to enjoy these islands on land rather than from a ship.  There really is no right or wrong way between land or cruising to experience Hawaii or Tahiti, just personal preferences. We went back to each a second time and still had new experiences!

[navybankerteacher]

On 11/24/2019 at 9:07 PM, zahav1 said:

Thank you for all the replies, so much positive information. We would do out of San Francisco, would come a day before since we've been to SF many time,  we live in northern VA.   I think we'll plan this for next winter of 2021, maybe February or March

It is a great experience, for someone from the East Coast especially.  Since you’ve experienced SF, you might think about HAL from San Diego.  Give yourself a few days pre- or post-cruise (or both) to get a feel for southern California - too many people miss the opportunity to double down, and they just focus on the cruise.

[crystalspin]

I cruised Hawaii from San Diego in 1999. I was 40 or 41. BORED TO TEARS. My cabinmates were both seasick and napping most of the day; one, my MIL, was a teatotaller that expected the same of all. The coffee bar was my only respite. My computer became corrupt on the first day. One book of crosswords was NOT enough!

 

I did learn how to tie a sarong and to arrange tropical flowers. That was it as far as cultural enrichment. I watched a movie, which I never do; it wasn't very good. The 5-6 days back to CA were worse.

 

It was 10 years before I would sail again!

 

Twenty years gone by -- we have done 3 transatlantics and LOVE sea days. Have a Hawaii-on-to-Tahiti booked for next spring and a Hawaii from LA just booked for 2021! So I have to say, it depends on your state of mind AND your travelling companions!

[sanger727]

We did a one way Hawaii cruise and thought that that was a great way to do it. Our cruise had an overnight in Honolulu, an overnight in Maui, and then one day stops in Hilo, and Kona. We flew in 4 days early to spend time on Kauai so ended up with 10 days in Hawaii in total. We found stuff to do for the sea days enrt to Vancouver but between the cruise being in April and traveling up north to Canada, outside of the first 2 days, it was too chilly to be outside. I don't think I could have handled doing the sea days both ways. Our cruise was on Celebrity and they definately customized the activities to the Hawaii itinerary and the number of sea days. There were Hula and ukelele lessons where they were every day and by the end they each had learned a song. There was also a painting class where they met every day and had a painting done by the end of the sea days.