Hawaii cruise still worth doing?

[gordylad]

With Mauii dropped is this still worth doing.....?

 

Tx

 

Day 1	Sun	Sep 21	Vancouver: EMBARK
				Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Mon	Sep 22	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 3	Tue	Sep 23	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 4	Wed	Sep 24	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Thu	Sep 25	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 6	Fri	Sep 26	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 7	Sat	Sep 27	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 8	Sun	Sep 28	Hilo: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 9	Mon	Sep 29	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
			Arrive 8:00 AM
Day 10	Tue	Sep 30	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
				Depart 5:00 PM
Day 11	Wed	Oct 1	Na Pali Coast: CRUISING
			Arrive 10:00 AM	Depart 3:00 PM
Day 12	Thu	Oct 2	Honolulu: DEBARK
			Arrive 7:00 AM

[jalves]

"Worth" is a difficult concept to grasp in this question.  What are you hoping to get and how much is it going to cost you?  

 

For me, Yes, I'd still do the cruise.  The Hawaiian islands are beautiful.  Add on some time at the end of the cruise to spend at least 5 days on Oahu.

[mahdnc]

Maui is great, but if it's been dropped it's not a reason to abandon the cruise.  To me the only argument against doing a Hawaii cruise is that a land vacation there is better (in my opinion).  It's definitely a great idea to tack on some post-cruise time there.  You could even go to Maui. 

[Crazy planning mom]

Definitely, add in a couple days in Oahu at the end.

[mtempelaar]

In 2021 I had booked NCL Pride of America, which would have been a 7 day hitting a lot of places.  In 2022 I switched and booked Celebrity with Vancouver --> Oahu  in a Prime Aquaclass aft cabin for an amazing deal. 

 

When Maui dropped I didn't cancel initially.  But then I got upset that Edge was sailing there a week later and hadn't dropped Maui, so I considered switching. 

 

When Edge dropped and I had to think critically.  They didn't add Kauai to our itinerary instead, they didn't replace with extra days in Oahu or Kailua.  They doubled down on ports only on the big island.  It wasn't worth it based on what we wanted. 

 

We switched to a British Isles cruise on Eclipse instead, but I lost a LOT of value - my all included, my Black Friday deal, some of the OBC.   I'm still annoyed but spending so many thousands on that itinerary that only hits Hilo and Kona isn't the Hawaii vacation we want.

[Travelexpert35]

I’ve done this cruise a couple of times when Maui was included. Celebrity could still add Maui if they went to Kahului which other lines are doing. Also I wish Celebrity would add Kauai to their schedule. It’s so beautiful there. 
 

I’ve done land vacations all over Hawaii so that is my first choice but I would still take the cruise you mentioned and certainly add on some extra nights.

[Crazy planning mom]

13 minutes ago, mtempelaar said:

In 2021 I had booked NCL Pride of America, which would have been a 7 day hitting a lot of places.  In 2022 I switched and booked Celebrity with Vancouver --> Oahu  in a Prime Aquaclass aft cabin for an amazing deal. 

 

When Maui dropped I didn't cancel initially.  But then I got upset that Edge was sailing there a week later and hadn't dropped Maui, so I considered switching. 

 

When Edge dropped and I had to think critically.  They didn't add Kauai to our itinerary instead, they didn't replace with extra days in Oahu or Kailua.  They doubled down on ports only on the big island.  It wasn't worth it based on what we wanted. 

 

We switched to a British Isles cruise on Eclipse instead, but I lost a LOT of value - my all included, my Black Friday deal, some of the OBC.   I'm still annoyed but spending so many thousands on that itinerary that only hits Hilo and Kona isn't the Hawaii vacation we want.

We did the Pride of America and am glad we did.  The sHip was ok but we booked it for Hawaii and Hawaii didnt disappoint.

[George C]

I would pick a cruise that includes Maui .

[Cruise Junky]

If it’s a nice way to get there and if you’ll spend some extra time there at the end then sure.  Don’t think I’d sign up for that cruise though.  Big island isn’t my favourite. I’d do a land trip.  

[markeb]

If you're taking the cruise to cruise, it's fine. If you're taking 12 (or so) days to see Hawaii, I'd get on a plane to Oahu for a few days and plan to fly to Maui and maybe one other island (big island or Kauai probably). You'll see much more of Hawaii. If you've visited Oahu, look at flying directly to Maui. 

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, Travelexpert35 said:

Also I wish Celebrity would add Kauai to their schedule. It’s so beautiful there. 

 

+ 1 , another vote for Kauai. For me, it was the highlight of our NCL Pride of America cruise. The ship, OTOH, was meh....

[mahasamatman]

44 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

+ 1 , another vote for Kauai.

Kauai is definitely the best.

 

3 hours ago, jalves said:

Add on some time at the end of the cruise to spend at least 5 days on Oahu.

2-3 days in Oahu is more than enough. And be sure to get away from Waikiki - it gets old really fast.

[Cruise Junky]

2 hours ago, Travelexpert35 said:

I’ve done this cruise a couple of times when Maui was included. Celebrity could still add Maui if they went to Kahului which other lines are doing. Also I wish Celebrity would add Kauai to their schedule. It’s so beautiful there. 
 

I’ve done land vacations all over Hawaii so that is my first choice but I would still take the cruise you mentioned and certainly add on some extra nights.

I don’t believe they have a ship that can safely make the turn into the harbour on Kauai.  

Edited January 23 by Cruise Junky

[Cruise Junky]

1 minute ago, mahasamatman said:

 

2-3 days in Oahu is more than enough. And be sure to get away from Waikiki - it gets old really fast.

We usually go for three weeks to a month every year. Trust me, it doesn’t get old. It probably has the most to do of any of the islands combined. You just need to get out of Waikiki which most people don’t do. 

[cruisestitch]

Never book a cruise based on a single port. There are far too many things that can go wrong, from weather, to strikes, to mechanical difficulties. No port is guaranteed.

[Travelexpert35]

57 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

We usually go for three weeks to a month every year. Trust me, it doesn’t get old. It probably has the most to do of any of the islands combined. You just need to get out of Waikiki which most people don’t do. 

First of all I love Hawaii and it’s my favourite place to go. We try to go every year. When I was working I would go to Kauai, Hawaii and Maui to relax and unwind. Now that I’m retired and live in a small town I enjoy travelling to Oahu, especially Waikiki. You don’t require a car and there is more things to see and do everyday. Lots of action going on. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Meh, 6 days, no Maui and no Kauai is a no for me.  It's not that difficult to visit all the islands by land.  Get a hotel in Oahu your entire stay, one day keep your bags in the Oahu hotel room, take the first flight out to Maui (for example), rent a car at the airport, drive around, and take the last flight back to Oahu.  Repeat for the other islands you want to visit

[Jim_Iain]

We will be on Solstice Sydney to Honolulu and Honolulu to Vancouver in April.   While many on our roll call were a bit disappointed all seem to have moved on and are making plans for our stops on the Big Island.

 

The only negative to those on a B2B is we will now have 3 days in Honolulu but plenty to do.   The positive side is on the Honolulu to Vancouver we now have an overnight in Hana and an overnight in Hilo.    Gives plenty of time to explore the Big Island.    I've booked a car for 2 days in both ports.

 

[Cruise Junky]

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

We will be on Solstice Sydney to Honolulu and Honolulu to Vancouver in April.   While many on our roll call were a bit disappointed all seem to have moved on and are making plans for our stops on the Big Island.

 

The only negative to those on a B2B is we will now have 3 days in Honolulu but plenty to do.   The positive side is on the Honolulu to Vancouver we now have an overnight in Hana and an overnight in Hilo.    Gives plenty of time to explore the Big Island.    I've booked a car for 2 days in both ports.

 

I think you mean Hilo. Hana is on Maui. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Assuming the is an overnight in Kona, you can book a nighttime snorkeling tour with the manta rays

 

[hcat]

we cruised RT from San Pedro Ca on Summit  when she was young.  ( 5 days ea way) Flew from Ny.. 2 nite in port pre cruise..

 

. Great ports, top notch excursions,      nightime volcano views..  lots to do on board..craft and hula lessons..easy transition of time zones

 

what OP posted had more sea days, fewer ports and flight back..not sure I,d book it..

[realnice46]

I would just do a land trip and island hop, you will get a lot more out of it unless you want all the sea days.

[kwokpot]

We have a similar dilemma on sister cruise line Royal. When Maui was eliminated I had high hope of Kauai being substituted but now it's just an overnight in Kona with a sailing only by the Napali Coast at Kauai. So for our 9 day cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver it's literally only one overnight Port stop in Kona. In our situation, though we booked a casino comped cruise and cancelling it would mean losing a large amount of casino free play, and considering we have a fully comped cabin in a junior suite we decided to keep the cruise. We have three nights precruise in Honolulu, and having been to Hawaii both on land tours and cruises too many times to count we don't feel like we are missing out on anything. Besides, the Big Island is wonderful to rent a car and drive to Volcanos National Park where doing the Chain of Craters Drive to the very Southern end of the Island is a must see/do. And also you must drive to one of the Black Sand beaches where the giant sea turtles are!

Edit:

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach for the sea turtles

 https://bigislandguide.com/visit-punaluu-black-sand-beach

Chain of Craters road in Volcanos National Park

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/ccr_tour.htm

 

Edited January 23 by kwokpot

[Peteymil]

7 hours ago, gordylad said:

With Mauii dropped is this still worth doing.....?

 

Tx

 

Day 1	Sun	Sep 21	Vancouver: EMBARK
				Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Mon	Sep 22	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 3	Tue	Sep 23	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 4	Wed	Sep 24	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Thu	Sep 25	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 6	Fri	Sep 26	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 7	Sat	Sep 27	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 8	Sun	Sep 28	Hilo: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 9	Mon	Sep 29	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
			Arrive 8:00 AM
Day 10	Tue	Sep 30	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
				Depart 5:00 PM
Day 11	Wed	Oct 1	Na Pali Coast: CRUISING
			Arrive 10:00 AM	Depart 3:00 PM
Day 12	Thu	Oct 2	Honolulu: DEBARK
			Arrive 7:00 AM

If you are just interested in cruising, and the destination doesn't matter, this would be fine. But you aren't seeing enough of Hawaii for me. I would do a land trip instead, or from Honolulu. I would want to see Maui (even though Lahaina isn't available) and Kauai.

[lovecruzin]

We do land vacations in Hawaii most years and also love the sea days on a Hawaii itinerary. A cruise, especially this itinerary doesn't really IMO really give you the Hawaii experience. If you can spend time after and go to Maui or Kauai, then yes.
The whole Na Pali coast full day is a bit odd. I doubt the ship will be close enough for you to see anything and geographically doesn't make sense unless they are just trying fill in the day.