Hawaii cruise still worth doing?

[Mark_K]

Perhaps it isn’t possible to add Kauai.  Looking at the port schedule, all the ships visiting there are less than 1,000 feet long.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

I think you mean Hilo. Hana is on Maui. 

You are correct... brain dead (come on it starts with an H - LOL) -- -but would love to do Hana.... better than taking that long drive.

[TMLAalum]

We have next year's Edge departing in May booked, but will be cancelling- partly because no Maui and partly because we rethought the many sea days across the Pacific to Vancouver. We will only lose $200 NRD since the cruise was booked onboard. Love Kauai and will likely book a trip just to that island in the future.

 

[gordylad]

This is the Edge option....not sure its any better and more expensive than Solstice

 

Fri	Sep 19	Vancouver: EMBARK
			Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Sat	Sep 20	Victoria/Canada: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 5:00 PM
Day 3	Sun	Sep 21	Astoria: DOCKED
			Arrive 9:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 4	Mon	Sep 22	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Tue	Sep 23	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 6	Wed	Sep 24	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 7	Thu	Sep 25	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 8	Fri	Sep 26	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 9	Sat	Sep 27	Hilo: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 10	Sun	Sep 28	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 11	Mon	Sep 29	Na Pali Coast: CRUISING
			Arrive 11:00 AM	Depart 3:00 PM
Day 12	Tue	Sep 30	Honolulu: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM
Day 13	Wed	Oct 1	Honolulu: DEBARK

[Travelling2Some]

8 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

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.

Agree.  We did this as our first trip to Hawaii and it was a great introduction, no complaints.  We also spent a week on the north shore of Oahu on that trip.  But when we return we will be doing a land trip just to Maui. 

[maggie.1008]

We are stopping in Kauai in April on Explora Journeys ship.

[NMTraveller]

Can you change dates to next year?

 

IMHO Maui is the best of the islands.  My favorite.

 

 

[mayleeman]

We have a Marine in Oahu who will retire there with his family-to-be, and our other son in Maui with our DIL and 2 grandkids. Wonderful to visit, but breaks the bank now that Hawaii is a regular visit instead of once-in-a-decade or -lifetime!

[hcat]

12 hours ago, gordylad said:

This is the Edge option....not sure its any better and more expensive than Solstice

 

Fri	Sep 19	Vancouver: EMBARK
			Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Sat	Sep 20	Victoria/Canada: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 5:00 PM
Day 3	Sun	Sep 21	Astoria: DOCKED
			Arrive 9:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 4	Mon	Sep 22	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Tue	Sep 23	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 6	Wed	Sep 24	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 7	Thu	Sep 25	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 8	Fri	Sep 26	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 9	Sat	Sep 27	Hilo: DOCKED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 10	Sun	Sep 28	Kailua/Hawaii: TENDERED
			Arrive 8:00 AM	Depart 6:00 PM
Day 11	Mon	Sep 29	Na Pali Coast: CRUISING
			Arrive 11:00 AM	Depart 3:00 PM
Day 12	Tue	Sep 30	Honolulu: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM
Day 13	Wed	Oct 1	Honolulu: DEBARK

Not a great itin from our point of  view.. Leaves from Vancouver... rather than Ca..For us in NY.  more difficult travel.

 

..Astoria was not a port we care to visit again.  We were there when it just opened  and It was a tender port..(long tender ride) plus a train ride fiasco! 

 

Other ports are  standard.  We didn't love Maui.. did whake watching. but saw .no whales,  and the town was  Touristy..now if course  mostly destroyed??? 

 

Can't recall but I think our  cruise stopped  at Ensenada as a foreign port..???

[Mark_K]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

Not a great itin from our point of  view.. Leaves from Vancouver... rather than Ca..For us in NY.  more difficult travel.

 

..Astoria was not a port we care to visit again.  We were there when it just opened  and It was a tender port..(long tender ride) plus a train ride fiasco! 

 

Other ports are  standard.  We didn't love Maui.. did whake watching. but saw .no whales,  and the town was  Touristy..now if course  mostly destroyed??? 

 

Can't recall but I think our  cruise stopped  at Ensenada as a foreign port..???

Except for the odd round trip cruise, which adds a lot of sea days, there are no Hawaii cruises that start in CA.

[hcat]

24 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Except for the odd round trip cruise, which adds a lot of sea days, there are no Hawaii cruises that start in CA.

..i understand that is the case.

.We enjoyed our rt cruise  but it def added extra sea days. Luckily,  we had nice sailing weather and lots to do on the SUMMIT!    It was a memorable cruise...Pearl Harbor alone was worth the trip... but  we have no plans to go back by ship  or plane.   Friends are doing the cruise fr Vancouver but not on EDGE!

[swigso]

@TMLAalum HI we too have cancelled or rather moved our May 25 cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. The big island was the only port. Decided we will do a full vacation there. So switched to the Apex TA in March 25 and gave up over $800 OBC due to the new rules, but hey ho.

we looked to book the previous 7 day sailing making it a B2B but decided to try the Sun Princess. A new ship with a dedicated suite area and over £2000 cheaper. Princess include Wi-Fi for 4 devices tips 2 speciality dining and a drink package. Would never have considered any other line but for all the recent changes.

[constantcruiser]

We lived in Hawaii for many years before moving to Texas (ouch!) and are staying with our booking on Solstice in September.  Obviously it's no longer possible to dock in Lahaina, and ships going to other parts of Maui will have lengthy and sometimes rough tendering. 

 

The shallow waters around Kauai make it impossible for even mid-sized ships to dock there, and any larger ships cruising along the coastline will remain at a considerable distance from the shore. 

 

Although the Big Island is not my favorite, the volcanic landscape is literally like no other place in the world.  Astronauts train there because the terrain is similar to the moon.  Kailua-Kona is beautiful, and I understand that some businesses which were destroyed in Lahaina have relocated there.  We're just going to enjoy the days at sea and then spend a few days on our "home island" of Oahu.  I agree that, if this is your first trip to Hawaii, you would be better off visiting by air...but we're just looking forward to a relaxing voyage.

[cruise47]

On 1/23/2024 at 6:39 PM, Travelling2Some said:

Agree.  We did this as our first trip to Hawaii and it was a great introduction, no complaints.  We also spent a week on the north shore of Oahu on that trip.  But when we return we will be doing a land trip just to Maui. 

Is The Pride of America staterooms and restaurants in that unsatisfactory conditions?

[TeaBag]

We are on Edge in May, Honolulu to Vancouver.  Yes we are disappointed with the change in the itinerary but it's not Celebrity's fault.  We initially had 2 days in Honolulu and Lahaina, of course.  Now, we have basically nothing in Honolulu since we have dropped one day and sail at midnight on the second day.  We have an overnight in Hilo.

Sailing at midnight will give us time to fly in from Kauai where we will stay 12 days in our timeshare at the Marriott Nawilliwilli bay.  We used to fly home from the Marriott getting on the plane at 10PM to fly to SFO and then on to Vancouver.  I hated that.  It is so much nicer to sail home, even if we miss some of our favorite ports.

BTW, we have a picture of Summit docked in Nawilliwilli bay.  Celebrity used to come there until NCL took over the port with several ships docking there.  They have never come back, even though NCL only has the one ship there doing the 7 day island cruises.

[Travelling2Some]

3 hours ago, cruise47 said:

Is The Pride of America staterooms and restaurants in that unsatisfactory conditions?

Not sure why you would think that?  I said we were happy with the cruise.  We liked Maui the best and would like to spend more time there than cruising allows next time though.

[SusieAV8R]

On 1/23/2024 at 8:30 AM, jalves said:

"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.

 

On 1/23/2024 at 3:13 PM, lovecruzin said:

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.

We always book some time on the Big Island and in Oahu  before boarding the cruise ship.  InterIsland travel is relatively inexpensive.  Let's us experience a Hawaiian Luau, among other Hawaii-specific events.

[Dolebludger]

The problem here is that US law bans non U.S.noassenger  vessles 

[xxpinksaltxx]

We cancelled off the Hawaii to Vancouver cruise for May this year on the Edge. Itinerary changed, and now its only stopping Hilo and Kona. Wasn't worth it for a 10 day cruise, especially when travelling from Australia. 

[Lastdance]

7 hours ago, xxpinksaltxx said:

We cancelled off the Hawaii to Vancouver cruise for May this year on the Edge. Itinerary changed, and now its only stopping Hilo and Kona. Wasn't worth it for a 10 day cruise, especially when travelling from Australia. 

I hope you only lost what should have been your initial down payment!  It was different for us.

[critterchick]

On 1/23/2024 at 6:51 AM, Cruise Junky said:

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

Millennium class can do it. They’re roughly the same size as Royal Caribbean’s Radiance class and we’ve sailed into Nawiliwli a couple of times on Radiance herself.

As to the original question, if you want to see Hawaii, do it independently or add a week post-cruise to see Oahu and another island.  We are lucky to get over here several times a year so are sticking with the Edge TP that also dropped Lahaina and substituted a drive by Kauai, which is a big fat nothing burger as the ship can’t get very close. But we are spending time in Australia pre-cruise so we have that to look forward to.

[gordylad]

We go back and forth on whether to do this trip and we watch you tube videos but then we think about the beaches in the caribbean and wonder.....whats the difference?

 

any thoughts.

[mac66]

We've done the NCL Pride of America Hawaii cruise twice, ten years apart. Our thinking was if you are going to take the time to go to Hawaii, it's better to spend in on Hawaii and not on a ship getting to Hawaii. First trip we flew over, spent a week, then got the POA and then flew home. Second time we flew over with friends, spend a week, got on the POA then spent another 5 days before flying home. I would do it again in a heart beat. The POA was kind of run down the second time but we didn't spend much time aboard her.

[critterchick]

4 hours ago, gordylad said:

We go back and forth on whether to do this trip and we watch you tube videos but then we think about the beaches in the caribbean and wonder.....whats the difference?

 

any thoughts.

The climate is quite different, for starters. Hawaii has lovely tropical breezes and in the spring, winter and fall isn’t too humid. I find it more laid back than the Caribbean - no merchants imploring me to stop into their shops.

The water is cool - loads of lovely fish but our friends from Florida do complain that it’s chilly. I think it’s fine. 

The scenery ranges from white or black sand beaches to rugged mountains and volcanoes. Plants and flowers are similar. I just prefer the vibe of Hawaii, plus it’s relatively close for us living in LA.

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, critterchick said:

The climate is quite different, for starters. Hawaii has lovely tropical breezes and in the spring, winter and fall isn’t too humid. I find it more laid back than the Caribbean - no merchants imploring me to stop into their shops.

The water is cool - loads of lovely fish but our friends from Florida do complain that it’s chilly. I think it’s fine. 

The scenery ranges from white or black sand beaches to rugged mountains and volcanoes. Plants and flowers are similar. I just prefer the vibe of Hawaii, plus it’s relatively close for us living in LA.

I agree. I like the Hawaiian topography and culture better. Standard of living is higher, too.