Circle Hawaii Koningsdam 1/28/25

[Oldie55]

We are considering this cruise. We have never done a cruise this long or been to Hawaii.

is it worth it to have a veranda? So many sea days - is there enough to do and how is the weather? How is club orange?

Would really appreciate some feedback. We did a 9 day on the Rotterdam in February & really liked the ship.

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

"Worth it" is a totally subjective, personal idea only you can come to, as we don't know you. We never sail on HAL expecting HAL to entertain us 24/7. For us, its about relaxing and enjoying the sea. So we would likely note have an issue with that number of sea days.

 

Weather can vary depending on the time of year, which you don't tell us. But generally, the first two days out of San Diego and the last two days coming back can be cooler, maybe cold. Note most of those Hawaii cruises sail in the West Coast's winter. The rest of the time can be nice to warm.

 

Club Orange depends a lot on the ship...there are lots of threads here. So, without knowing the ship, hard to answer your question.

[CruiserBruce]

OK, re-read the title of your thread...Koningsdam in January of next year. Koningsdam has the separate CO dining room...many speak very highly of it here.

 

January is the depth of winter sailing out of San Diego. Absolutely nothing like Minnesota, but cool for the first two days, and the last two days. Most rainy time of they year in Hawaii,  but that is usually not that dramatically bad. 

[dfish]

We did that cruise at the same time of year this last winter.  We did enjoy our balcony and we thought it was worth it.  There were several times when we went and got lunch at the New York Deli or Dive In and brought it back to eat on the balcony.  

 

We were very lucky in that the weather was great.  We enjoyed snorkeling in Kona and our trips to the volcanoes.  On sea days they offered ukulele lessons and hula lessons.  On the way back they continued the ukulele lessons for those interested.  They had Aloha Sunset entertainment in the Crow's Nest with the hula dancers and singers.  The people teaching the ukulele lessons were the Hawaiian cultural ambassadors and they imparted a lot of information about Hawaii.

 

We found plenty to do on the sea days.  A lot of that will depend on your individual interests.  

 

We would do this cruise again.

[Sharon in AZ]

We were on the same cruise as @dfish and really enjoyed the cruise. Yes, it’s a lot of sea days but there is so much to do. I went to several cooking shows and Hawaiian lectures. You can fill your days or not. Weather is up to Mother Nature. We were sailing during the “Pineapple Express” and had some wind and rough seas on our way to Hawaii. Lots of people and staff were seasick. No problem on the way back. Club Orange was wonderful but unless you are in a Neptune Suite it might be sold out by now.

[highscar]

This will be my 6th time for this cruise.   Nuff said?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is a fun cruise so relaxing ...

[Oldie55]

Thanks everyone - 6 cruises to Hawaii I’m impressed!
we need to see Hawaii - seems like a great idea to see multiple islands now that we have the time

[highscar]

@Oldie55  please do and enjoy.  

[Hogladyrider]

We also were on this cruise this past January.  Our first visit to Hawaii and we absolutely LOVED all the sea days.

 

We had a balcony.  We spent a good bit of time on the balcony for us it is worth it.

 

Now the sea days going to Hawaii were rough.  The Captain said it was the roughest seas in his 22 years!  We did not get sick at all.  The seas returning to San Diego were very peaceful.

 

There was always plenty to do on sea days.  I enjoyed the Coffee Talks, people watching, soaking in a hot tub, sitting on our balcony, exploring the ship.  The evening shows were also fun and we also enjoyed many movies in our room as well.  We had coffee via room service every morning!

 

I personally really enjoyed seeing the islands via cruise ship and would do it again in a heartbeat over taking a vacation on one of the islands.

 

We did one ship excursion, snorkeling and whale watching (part of our HIA pkg) and then all other excursions we planned on our own.  We visited a brewery in Kona and did a UTV adventure in Honolulu.  We used public transportation and Uber or Lyft when needed.  

 

It was an amazing cruise and we could have stayed on for another 18 days!

 

Life is short go for it!

Edited Saturday at 12:11 AM by Hogladyrider

[ottahand7]

We are booked in this cruise and Club Orange has been sold out since February when we tried to book.  We love sea days and are used to rough seas so several days of rough seas won't bother us.  It seems those sea days go by faster than port days with the activities and just plain relaxing.  

[CNSJ]

We have crossed from Seattle to Hawaii (first part of a transpacific in October) and found the sea days to be great.  We made great use of the balcony.  For this trip, as its roundtrip from west coast, port or starboard side makes little difference as you'll have the Sun on your side one way or the other.

[mac_tlc]

Our first HAL cruise will be this one !  Looking forward to our aft Vista Suite for all those sea days. It is convenient getting to Hawaii by only flying to San Diego. We will fly in three days early and enjoy the area a bit. 

 

mac_tlc

[Sea42]

On 6/28/2024 at 7:56 PM, ottahand7 said:

We are booked in this cruise and Club Orange has been sold out since February when we tried to book.

You might want to try again around final payment time, there could be people who cancel their cruise making CO space available.

[Coquitlam Cruiser]

We booked this cruise this past spring.  There was a limited number of mid ship cabins available.  I believe only forward and some aft cabins still open for booking.  This will be our third Hawaii cruise and it never gets old.   We love the sea days.  

[highscar]

@Coquitlam Cruiser     Ditto X 6.