Summit To Hawaii

[cruzin princess]

Ok cruise critics; my DH and I have never traveled on the M class ships before. We love the Century, Mercury and the Galaxy. However, we are planning a cruise on the Summit for Hawaii and wondered from those of you familiar with the ship which deck to get a mini suite on; the Penthouse, Panaroma or Sky Deck. Also, for Hawaii is it best for viewing to be on the starboard or port side. Any info will be greatly appreciated;)

[gracecarmo]

We just got back from our Summit RT Hawaii. I would say either penthouse, vista, or panaroma decks would be good. Sky deck (deck 9) can be a little noisy due to the pool/dining areas above.

We had a FV on deck 8 and on the starboard side (corner). Passing by the volcano at night one could see the lava flow from the starboard side.

You will love this voyage....

[cruzin princess]

Thank you so much Grace; I will call my TA now and book a starboard suite. We are so looking forward to this trip. Are there any must sees that you could share? Would love to hear back from you.

[gracecarmo]

Must see in Hawaii: well, the first stop was Hilo. We went to Volcano National Park doing the ship's tour. The main attraction on Hilo is the volcano. We were satisfied with the tour. Also, on our first stop here, they will most likely have the little vendor section where you can purchase a beautiful orchid lei, and have it to wear for the next few days.

On the way to Kona, you will hopefully see the lava flow (from Starboard side) starting around 9:00 pm.

On Kona, many went to the beach, but we just walked around the town and enjoyed the seaside community. Several wanted to go deep sea fishing, but that tour was cancelled due to rough waters. Sorry, I can't help there re tours.

On Kauaii, we took the tour to Waimea (sp?) Canyon. There are many tours you could do that involve snorkling, cave tubing, and water based events. We wanted to see as much local scenery as possible, and the Canyon tour takes you all over the island. We used the ship's tour and found our driver-guide entertaining. There are most likely private van tours as well, that you could pick up at the pier.

In Honolulu: since we had been there many times prior we did our own tour plan, and walked around Chinatown using a walking map I got from a web site, then took the free shuttle to Hilo Hatties, and from there we took their free open air trolley down to Waikiki. The really must-see site on Oahu is the WW2 War Memorial and the Arizona. Many that took the ship's tour were satisfied, and had the afternoon to explore other venues. Also, in Honolulu, you will have the opportunity to go to a Luau. The ship has a lulau package, and our table mates were not satisfied with this tour. There are other luaus that are available, but are very costly, IMO. (go over to the Hawaii CC BB and see all their info, Spleen is the man!)

In Maui: the ship is there for such a short time, but there are tours available. We enjoyed going into some of the historical places in Lahania, then back to the ship to watch the whales perform right beside us. There are some whale watching tours that are interesting.

Hope I have helped....?

[theduffys]

Princess,

When is your cruise? We are doing this trip on Dec. 23rd.

[shofer]

I have sent in a review which I don't think has been posted yet on our RT Hawaii. I was too late to get the ships tours. Book online after you make your final payment! But I remembered reading on these boards about Captain Steve's Whale Watching tours in Maui. You can book it online also. I just called from Honolulu the day before. It was $40/pp. Less if you book early. It leaves from the Mala wharf. You really get to see a lot of whales.

[Lsimon]

Not sure what you mean by mini-suites, as this is a Princess term. I really like the Princess mini-suites, but unfortunately Celebrity has no equivalent - with rooms a little less than more than a Princess mini-suite. Celebrity has the Concierge Class (less) and the Sky Suite (more).

 

If you search through the back threads you'll find discussions on a few odd "special" rooms. Including aft CC rooms (facing directly aft), and nice Sky suites like room 6145 and 6145, and other CC rooms with larger than average balconys. There are just a few of these and they tend to book fast.

 

If you can't get one of these, then my preference for either a CC room or a Sky Suite would be for something on the 8th floor near the mid-ship elevators. After that I'd look at the 6th, then 7th floor and lastly the 9th floor. The 9th floor gets a little noise from the deck above. Not much, but noticeable. We've been in CC rooms there twice and it didn't ruin our trip at all but was occasionally noticeable. The 9th deck also is under an overhang from the 10th deck, which some dislike but we thought was nice as we like some shade. Aside from that we like being close to the 10th deck as we tend to run back & forth from there (pool areas and cafe) to the room often.