Hawaii - NCL Cruise or Land Vacation?

[MandyGirl]

We are researching our summer vacation for 2007 (I'm a teacher - so limited to Christmas, Spring Break, or summer). We would like to visit Hawaii. Hubby has visited Hawaii before as a land vacation with friends, and we both love cruising. We will have a 9-10 month old with us (NCL gives a GREAT discount for infants under two) and possibly have others traveling with us (our parents and other relatives). Hubby is the only one who would have visited Hawaii before. Hubby and I are both early 30s and enjoy relaxation, beaches, and great scenery.

 

We are looking at renting a house/condos for a land vacation or using NCL for a cruise. What would you suggest for our situation?

 

Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! (And yes, I've been reading the family cruising boards to learn the little details of cruising with an infant, so I am aware of those benefits and challenges.)

[ute_fan]

I've been to Hawaii twice on land vacations, never on a cruise. Even with the troubles that NCLA is having, I still think I'd vote for a cruise the next time we go. We've done the "island hopping" thing via air, and it just seems like cruising would be a so much more relaxing way to visit more than one island. Personally, I don't think I'd want to spend an entire week on any one island. We're not the kind who want to go spend the entire week at the beach -- we prefer sightseeing and like having the variety of experiences at the different islands.

[Zeno]

For me it would depend on the time available. I was in Hawaii for 15 days (land vacation) and I found inter-island flights and changing hotels on each island ate up a lot of time - so if I had less than 15 days and wanted to see as many islands as possible, I would probably take the NCL cruise.

If I had 15 days or more, I would consider another land vacation.

[Toyz711]

if you want to enjoy a cruise to a beautiful locale, then cruise. but to really experience hawaii, you have to do the land. agreed, flying from island to island can wear you out. but it's the little things of being around for some time, that makes the trip. like sitting on the balcony of a 6th floor room, listening to the music below, the chatter from the streets and the sound of the waves of waikiki. on maui you have the whales, the local artist and their art shows. not to mention the restaurants. you just can't see everything a town/area has to offer in a short port visit.

 

you can have a great trip/cruise..see lots of things...have the time of our life....but you are missing some of the deep flavor of the islands.

every trip has been a new experience...the smiles, the music...it's a magic that is different from any place else.

(yes, i know they have problems with employment, too many tourists, etc) but it will always be a special place to me.

[CruisinMK]

I think the best is a combination.

Do the cruise, and add on a land stay for a few days before or after it.

 

The NCL cruises start and end in Hawaii, so take advantage of that by adding on a land stay if you can, even if only a short one.

 

I've lived in hawaii most of my life, still getting to know the place. :)

 

I did both Pride of America and Pride of Hawaii, they were great

[pengu1n]

As it's a first trip for most of you, I think a cruise is a great way to see a little bit of a lot of places. Also, for traveling with a baby, it's nice not to have to pack up & haul your luggage around to several different places. Once you've done a cruise & seen some of Hawaii, you may find, like we did, that you would like to have more time to spend in some of them.

[tomluvsaida]

We are researching our summer vacation for 2007 (I'm a teacher - so limited to Christmas, Spring Break, or summer). We would like to visit Hawaii. Hubby has visited Hawaii before as a land vacation with friends, and we both love cruising. We will have a 9-10 month old with us (NCL gives a GREAT discount for infants under two) and possibly have others traveling with us (our parents and other relatives). Hubby is the only one who would have visited Hawaii before. Hubby and I are both early 30s and enjoy relaxation, beaches, and great scenery.

 

We are looking at renting a house/condos for a land vacation or using NCL for a cruise. What would you suggest for our situation?

 

Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! (And yes, I've been reading the family cruising boards to learn the little details of cruising with an infant, so I am aware of those benefits and challenges.)

 

We are going on NCLA POH in October for our honeymoon.

With POH or any other NCL Pride ships you can really have both. We plan on spending more time on land than on the ship. This is a very port intensive cruse! From what I understand there is only one day where the ship leaves early and that is second to the last day so you can see the lava flow at night. However the ship was already there on Kauai over night. It also stays over night on Maui. Most of the other times it leaves about 6:00pm-7:00pm in the evening so you really have all day most everyday to spend on land seeing the islands. We plan on spending very little time on the ship althogh the ship itself is quite a sight to behold from what I understand even from those that complained about the service. Anyway I think the food on the ship will be at least as good as what you will find in most hotels.

[newmexicoNita]

Even with the problems I can't think of a better way to see Hawaii in a short period of time. Like Zeno said, unless you have 2 or more weeks you will spend 1/2 your time at airports just doing inter island hopping. Then you get to one destination and you have to unpack, just to pack again a few days later. of course you will not get the entire experience of any island on a ship, this is the same with cruising the Caribbean, but it gives you a good overall view. We had 10 days several years ago, only did 3 islands and I wish we had done a cruise. I would add a day or two at one end or the other. NMNita

[One_Up]

Take the cruise.

 

You can still book shore excursion to different areas, or do like we did on one day in Maui (7/7/06), rent a car a cruise around. Maui isn't difficult to get around on and the rental car was very reasonable (Of the 3 cars I wanted, the convertible compact PT cruiser, Jeep Wrangler or convertible Chrysler Sebring they were all just $59.99...a great deal for the allotted 24-hours of rentalship through Thrifty). This way we weren't stuck doing just what a bus driver wanted us to do and on no real time limits at certain areas.

[shoreguy]

My $.02

 

I will never forget my first of 5 trips to Hawaii. 10 days on Maui. My boss was there the same time on a package he booked 3 islands 7 days. They never unpacked the suitcases and spent more time going to and from airports/hotels then seeing the islands. He returned exhusted. We returned relaxed.

 

If you want to park yourselves on one island and plan to return to Hawaii to see the others book the condo. If you want to see several islands and decide if there is one you want to return to for a week or 10 days book the cruise.

 

Thus my vote of a toss up ;)

[logcabin]

My Daughter and SIL went there for their Honeymoon. Although they had a great time, they did say that is was a tremndous hassel packing and moving every other day. They said that they felt like they were moving more then sightseeing or relaxing. My wife and I have always said, when we go in the future it will most certianly be on a cruise. Probably with a few extra days booked prior or after the cruise as well.

[MandyGirl]

Wow - thanks so much for the input! Hubby is wanting to go and stay on one island like he did before - immerse ourselves in the culture, see the sights, relax. Stay in one lodging (either rent a house or several condo units for all of us.) I'm leaning toward the "get a small taste of it all, see where we want to return in the future" - the cruise. I agree - living the culture is an awesome way to go - that's how we prefer it when we visit St John (our favorite place).

 

He would have 15 days off, so by the time we figure outbound/return flights, recovering from travel, etc that brings our time in Hawaii on down. He is usually our constraint, and I would be "off" for the summer from school.

 

I like the suggestion of cruising and also spending a few nights on one island pre- or post-cruise. We did that before with a cruise out of San Juan - then hopped over to St Croix for a few nights afterwards. Something definitely to consider for Hawaii as well!

 

Thanks so much again for the feedback! In thinking about our families, they never travel big places without us being there (I'm usually the coordinator) so I want them to get the most out of it as well. :)

[sunshine 229]

I think I would agree with shoreguy on this.

You could choose one or at the most 2 islands and do land vacations or, if you want to see more islands I think the cruise would be the way to go.

 

Flying from one island to another does take up a lot of time what with getting to the airport, going through security, the actual flight and then getting from the airport to your accomodation at the new island. It isn't something I would enjoy doing more than once in a 14 day vacation especially with a young child and all the extra equipment to schelp back and forth. If you are determined to see more than 2 islands I think the cruise would be easier.

 

On the other hand, if you could be satisfied with seeing one or two islands in more depth, a land vacation may be the best option. I've been to Hawaii twice and spent a total of about 20 days split between Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. There are still plenty of things I would have liked to have seen on all of those islands which we couldn't fit in, so I don't think that you would be bored spending 10 or more days on any one island.

 

In addition, with a young child, it might be nice to have a house or condo instead of just a cabin on a ship. That way, if the baby needs to sleep or have a quiet time etc. you will have a more pleasant place to stay while other family members can come and go to suit their own activity level.

 

Whichever option you choose I hope you have a good time. Hawaii is beautiful and whatever way you see it this time you will probably come back wanting to go again.

[AZjohn]

This is a great thread, and as usual confirms that we all have different taste in vacations:) .

I am a cruise enthusiast first and foremost. JMHO after doing both the NCL cruise around the islands and spending weeks on land vacation on Maui, this is the only time I have decided the land vacation serves us a greater vacation experience. It’s just something about experiencing the Hawaii life style and turning off the world while kicking back on the beach (or playing golf, watching whales, Bar B Q'ing, going to a Luau, snorkeling, etc.) that makes Hawaii something magical. But this is just my opinion and may not work for others.

Enjoy Hawaii anyway you can;) ,

John

[MandyGirl]

I think I would agree with shoreguy on this.

You could choose one or at the most 2 islands and do land vacations or, if you want to see more islands I think the cruise would be the way to go.

 

I agree about flying - that's why I posted we would just stay on one island. :) Otherwise, the cruise would allow us to see a little bit of several islands. But definitely - if land vacation - we would just be doing one island most likely. It's turning into do we want to immerse ourselves into one island, or see a little of each via a cruise.