Is it possible to have a relaxing Hawaiian cruise?

[ehough]

I am attempting to convince DH that a Hawaiian cruise is the way to go, as opposed to a land vacation.

 

I think his main hesitation is that we won't be able to just relax like we would on a land vacation. This feeling is probably due to past experience- on our first cruise, to Alaska, we did far too many long excursions and didn't leave any time to just RELAX for awhile! However, it works to my advantage that we will be in Oahu for a week before leaving for the cruise, which I think would leave more than enough time for relaxing on the beach.

 

So I guess my question is, is it possible to relax on a Hawaiian cruise? It seems like, with so many different islands to explore, we'd be going-going-going. We'd like to take a few days to just relax on the beach- is it difficult or expensive to get to nice beaches from port?

 

I know that a cruise is what you make of it, and if we don't want to do ANY excursions, we don't have to, but just in general I'm curious as to whether or not it's feasible to just relax on the beach in some of the ports.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[rjscott]

I would say, yes, you can have a relaxing cruise. By overnighting on Maui and on Kauai, you can sightsee one day and beach it the other day. You would want to rent a car for your beach days, so you can come and go as you choose, and head for the beaches that you want to visit. On your Kona visit, you can also beach it, if you choose not to sightsee. I loved Hapuna beach. Again, you'd need to rent a car, but it would give you the freedom of which beach to visit and how long to stay.

[CruisinMK]

I guess it is blasphemy but we skip an occasional port day and rest on the ship.

I loved the pool setup on Pride of Hawaii.

[Alarm Man]

you could also cruise from Ca. or take a cruise that has some sea days to relax. I am cruising from honolulu to mexico 12 day cruise with 5 sea days at the end of the journey

[ehough]

Unfortunately we can't take a cruise from CA since we will already be in Honolulu for a business conference. I mean, I guess we could but it wouldn't make much sense for us :)

 

I've given the itinerary a more detailed look and in fact it looks like we could have a relaxing cruise. If we plan things right, we can alternate beach days with excursion days, which is exactly the right mix for us.

[dyslexic pirate]

I am attempting to convince DH that a Hawaiian cruise is the way to go, as opposed to a land vacation.

 

I think his main hesitation is that we won't be able to just relax like we would on a land vacation. This feeling is probably due to past experience- on our first cruise, to Alaska, we did far too many long excursions and didn't leave any time to just RELAX for awhile! However, it works to my advantage that we will be in Oahu for a week before leaving for the cruise, which I think would leave more than enough time for relaxing on the beach.

 

So I guess my question is, is it possible to relax on a Hawaiian cruise? It seems like, with so many different islands to explore, we'd be going-going-going. We'd like to take a few days to just relax on the beach- is it difficult or expensive to get to nice beaches from port?

 

I know that a cruise is what you make of it, and if we don't want to do ANY excursions, we don't have to, but just in general I'm curious as to whether or not it's feasible to just relax on the beach in some of the ports.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

 

 

 

I hope so!!! We are taking another look at our shore activities and have decided to take the same approach to them as we do packing. We are doing away with half of what we planned to do/pack.

[Deb in Cali]

ehough,

 

Since this is my mother's first trip to Hawaii, we also wanted to make the most of our port times by doing as much as possible. My solution to the problem was simple, go on the NCL Wind for the 10 or 11 day cruise. It is about the same price as a 7 day cruise, but you get 4 sea days to relax while sailing to and from Fanning Island. :p

[RvrCrzr]

Relaxing? Yes...if you take the 15 day trip on PRINCESS which gives you 5 sea days on each end of the island stops! :D

[Callandre]

I have the same concerns, it seems we have a history of running ourselves ragged on 7 night Caribbean cruises. There's a sense of urgency to "see it all and do it all" since, after our upcoming Christmas cruise on POA, we don't expect to return to Hawaii anytime soon. When I pitched this trip to DH, I had to convince him that we could enjoy sightseeing at a leisurely pace and eat/drink/shop/beach it at any or all or NONE of the ports. I am trying VERY hard to find just ONE thing in each port that is a MUST. Any input from experienced Hawaiian visitors would be very welcome! We are 50+ years old couple with an 11 year old son...what SHOULD we do??

[rjscott]

When we did our cruise of the Hawaiian islands, we too thought it would be our only trip to Hawaii. Happily, it wasn't, but then, we only had one day in each port and really had to make those days worthwhile. With your ship overnighting on Maui and Kauai, you should find plenty of time for seeing the lovely beaches on each of those islands, in addition to doing some sightseeing.

 

On Oahu, I would put Pearl Harbor at the top of my list. After that, you could stroll around Chinatown or visit the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu. Or, take a drive around the island to visit either the North Shore beaches or Kailua and Lanikai beaches.

 

On the BI, I would definitely visit VNP on your port day in Hilo. At Kona, take a snorkeling excursion. We loved Sea Quest.

 

On Maui, I'd rent a car to visit some of the great beaches and snorkeling spots on one day and take a scenic drive on the other port day.

 

On Kauai, again, rent a car to "beach it" one day and the second day, either drive to Waimea Canyon or take a Na Pali cruise.

[Callandre]

Thanks, those suggestions echo what I have read, so VNP is a definite, and a snorkel in Kona also seems to be on everyone's list. What can you tell me about Sea Quest?

I know the rental car question has been beat to death, but is there any port that is still enjoyable WITHOUT a car and without a definite plan?

[rjscott]

Sea Quest has zodiac snorkeling trips out of Keauhou Bay. They go to two different snorkeling spots; the first is at Honaunau, where you'll see a great variety of fish and turtles. The second is a Kealakekua Bay, which is such a beautiful spot and has a lot of fish, some eels and you may see dolphins. Our captain gave us some narration of the geology of the coastline as we motored to our snorkeling stops, and also went into a couple of sea caves and stopped when he spotted dolphins. They served beverages and a snack. We've been on many snorkeling excursions in the Hawaiian islands and the Caribbean and this was one of the best. The clarity of the water off the BI cannot be beat.

 

Oahu is the best island to get around without a car, as there is public and other modes of transportation. You can easily walk around Kona from where the ship's tenders drop you, and there are shuttles to Hilo Hattie (which is w/in walking distance) and WalMart. On Maui and Kauai, there are various shopping shuttles also, but the ports are in more remote, industrial areas, so you're not in an area good to walk around in. On Maui, you can take the Hilo Hattie shuttle to Lahaina and then walk around Lahaina, or take the Kaanapali shuttle to the beaches.

[Jfeasel]

I'm just back from the Aug. 5 PofAm and I'm exhausted, but that's my own fault, we did something in every port. For the 50ish couple with the 11 year old boy, I highly recommend the Tubing in the Ditch in Kaui. My mother is 64 and she did it with us and the kids who are 9, 11 and 13. All of us loved it. The guides were exceptional and it was something totally different.

 

Also, if going to Pearly Harbor, be sure to do the Bowfin and the Missouri. The kids like the Bowfin and the Missouri better than Pearl Harbor because you can actually walk around the sub and battleship. The Bowfin is right next to Pearl Harbor and the Missouri is a short shuttle away. If you do the Missour, spend the extra money to get a tour guide. Our guide around the ship was incredible and the kids learned a lot.

 

For beach days, rent a car. We went with the ship and it was expensive, but we had a group of 11 and we would have had to rent 2 cars. You've got to do a beach day to get some relaxation in.

[winewanderer]

Did a 12 night Hawaii cruise in April '05. While the cruise was wonderful, we were exhausted.

 

We went from Ensenada, started with 5 sea days. With 7 port days in a row we were popped by about day 4.

 

The last port day was Honolulu. We hiked Diamond Head in the morning. After that I was too tired to do anything else. We went back to the ship, showered, ate and went to a movie near the ship.

 

We went shopping, I sat down in a shop and fell asleep.

 

This May we did a 12 night Europe, only 3 sea days. We were pooped on this one too. By the time we got to Cannes (around day 10), I just wanted to stay on the ship but we had a tour with other people.

 

I think you need to pace yourself. Would I do port intensive cruise in the future? Sure, but I now know to pace myself better.

 

Next year we're looking at doing a Transatlantic. Now that has plenty of sea days.

[Zeno]

Strictly my opinion (I have not cruised Hawaii but did a 15 day "land" vacation that included several islands):

1. Being in Oahau the week before the cruise will give you some good (and much needed after the flight) relaxation time.

2. Good choices:

Big Island (Hilo): Volcano National Park - (there are other nice things to do ) BUT the Volcano Park and museum were unique.

Big Island (Kona): If you like snorkeling - Kealakakua Bay. If you like snorkeling and history, rent a car and drive to Puo'honau'nau (sp?)(Place Od Refuge museum (mostly open air and interesting and about 1 block from good snorkeling.

Maui: Haleakala (There is NO need to do it at sunrise and it can be combined with some beach relaxing time.) My suggestion: rent a car and drive up Haleakala stopping at EVERY viewpoint - they are all great and then go to a beach and relax the rest of the day.

Kauai: Rent a car and drive to the north shore, stopping at the scenic and interesting and then spend some time at a beach OR rent a car and drive to the Waimea Canyon (stop at the rest stops on the way up - Ne'ne (hawaii's state bird) hang out there) and then on the way back stop at the pleasant and quiet Salt Pond Beach (Big secret - occasionally a very shy and very endangered Monk seal sunbathes here - do not pester him/her in any way but you can get close enough for a picture without disturbing him/her).