Just Booked 12 Carnival Spirit / Hawaii Cruise / April 29, 05

[voyagerfl]

I'm sooooo excited.....just booked the Spirit for a 12 night cruise.

 

7 nights Hawaii Islands with 2 overnight port stays....then 5 days at sea to Vancouver to recover........:D:D

 

They have a great Past Guest special going on.

Booked an 8A and got an 8I for $1389 ea. and I found air for $675 ea. Carnival wanted $850 ea.

 

Plus I have a $1000 Capital One credit to cash in.

 

It's still a lot of money......but it's a once in a lifetime cruise.

x

[Randy & Carmen]

That sounds like a blast!...I need to do that sometime!:D

[jerseygirl3]

So basically you are paying $889 pp for a balcony cabin, plus air? That's phenomenal for a 12 day Hawaii cruise. Those $1,000 vouchers sure do come in handy, don't they? We are using ours for our Liberty European cruise next September. Have a great cruise!

[MrPete]

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

We loved our Hawaiian cruise, although we did it on an older ship (Jubilee), with a different leg (Ensenada to Honolulu). We really enjoyde the days at sea, and we loved each and every port.

 

Recommend you rent a car in every port, before you cruise. Tours are quite expensive. We just went everywhere we wamted to go, at our convenience. Hell, we were still in America!

[S.S. Cruisers]

Voyager: Thats great. We booked our first ever Hawaii cruise next year also. We are doing the 14 r/t out of San Diego. We can't wait, its still over a year off! :eek:

 

Pete: Thats funny, "We're still in America". The other day I asked DH if he thought the taxis would be as cheap as they are in Mexico! We know better, but it was a thought.

[erRN2be]

ss cruiser...what ship are you sailing on for the r/t from san diego?

 

We would love to do the hawaii cruise, but we can't seem to find an itenerary that is close enough to a school vacation time for our sons. Any suggestions for either carnival cruise or another line??

 

Chelle

[S.S. Cruisers]

ER: Its on Celebrity, the Infinity. Couldn't pass up the price. Its gone up at least $400 pp since we booked. Its 11/20/2005. They only had 4 dates, 2 in Oct & 2 in Nov, probably wouldn't work for school vacations. Although ours is the Thanksgiving holiday.

[voyagerfl]

Still looking for advice from other Hawaii Cruisers........

[JohnL1935]

Voyager: I am also booked (6/24) on same cruise. I'm in a cat 11 . I tried to get a cabin at aft but they were all taken. Mine is next to corner aft. I paid $1800 pp. Didn't do my air yet which might be a mistake the way fuel is going up. Are you comng back from Vancouver or Seattle??

There is a Princess ship which is rt from LA but it is 15 days and more pricey. I might end up with Princess which I like better than Carnival. I did the Spirit through the canal last year and we had a terrible dining experience. We did 2 Hawaiian cruises in the past on the Infinity and RCI Vision. I think Hawaii is the best cruise except for the long flight. If this is your lst, you will love it. The Spirit is a beautiful ship.

 

John L.

[TinaB]

My DH and sis's hubby picked up sis & I up from our GALS cruise Monday night. On the way home mine informed me that someday he would like to do a 14/15 day cruise from CA to the islands & back. Works for me & they like the idea to.

 

Congrats on the booking!

[SSSkipper]

Voyager, I posted on the thread you made especially for me!:p I hope it helps and I'm jelous....wish I was going again on that cruise!:)

[AllenF]

VoyergerFl,

 

Glad you were able to find the deal you were looking for Hawaii. We will be on the April 17th cruise before you. Already got my excursions planned(independent of ships tours) and car rentals reserved. Only excursion were are planning on doing thru the ship is in Kona since it is a tender port. My wifes sister lives in Maui and the over night stay there will be a great for me to finally get to meet her :) without being rushed. Have fun planning your trip. I did for sure:D

[MrPete]

Still looking for advice from other Hawaii Cruisers........

Let me see what I can remember.....

 

Kaua'i - We rented our car. This was our first Hawaiian port, so we got lei'd here. Real fresh flowers and a kiss. What a sight this was anyway, after being 5 1/2 days at sea. GREEN. Mountainous. Absolutely the lushest of our stops. We were met by a courtesy car, and taken to the rental agency (very close).

 

From there we drove to Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the islands). What a sight. And a beautiful drive. Then we cam back around and headed up to the Napoli Coast. If I had taken any tour, it would have been the one to here by helicopter, but it was $129 pp, and I lost a friend in a helicopter tour. It is very remote that you can only drive and then walk or boat to get there. Up here is where they supposedly filmed South Pacific. On the way, we stopped in Haalei Valley. The views were breaktaking. Every once in a while, we would pull over when we saw sight seeing signs for waterfalls. Make sure you see as many as you want. We also stopped at a couple of beaches along the way. Absolutely beautiful. If I were to return to Hawaii, this would be my first choice, with Maui as my second.

 

Maui - (with the overnight stay). I don't know if this has changed, but there was limited parking, and they had a lottery for the first 50 people. We lost, so we just made arrangement with the rental agency to park our rental in their lot, and they drove us to and from the ship.

 

We did the road to Hana. It was a nice ride, but not worth the trip for finding out what Hana really was. If I had know, I would have driven halfway up and then back. It does get monotonous after a while. Sort of like the PCH in the treacherous spots. I think the round trip was 5 hours to go something like 100 miles round trip. HOWEVER, the are natural pools that are just past Hana that we didn't go to. I don't know if they make the trip worth it all the way.

 

At night, we took a trip over to Lahaina. Nice little artsy town. We ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise. There's even a Thomas Kinkade store there!

 

The next day we did Haleakala, the big dormant volcano. Cool trip up and down. Some people do the sunrise bike tour down this mountain. I think it's 10,000 feet high. Wife could not join us as she was 5 months pregnant. Some magnifiscent views up there, but lots of clouds. I really did feel I was on a lunar surface. We then drove down to where all the resorts were, just to look around.

 

BTW, where we docked, and coming in and out of port, we saw most of the whales.

 

Next was Hilo. Very humid and rainy. We went to Volcanoes National Park. Again very eerie. Sulphur everywhere, and borders Kilauea Volcano, which is active and making the island bigger every day. You will have some magnifiscent views if you pass the southern point of the Island at night, watching the lava hit the water.

 

In Kona, we walked around the town, which was quiant, and then drove north to the first oasis we saw. This side of the Island was dry, and overridden with black lava. Most amazing was the grafitti, made out of white rock that contrasted with the black lava, with all kinds of "sayings".

 

Last stop was Honolulu, which was the most metropolitan of all the stops. Went to Pearl Harbor, the north shore, and then up the east coast, past Diamond Head.

[MrPete]

....also, for the Pacific crossing, it was a bit cooler than I expected. Sailing from Ensenada to Hawaii, I found I should have brought a sweater or a jacket. Once we got to hawaii, it was nice. I imagine it's a bit cooler sailing to Vancouver.

[adaleyldaley]

I'm sooooo excited.....just booked the Spirit for a 12 night cruise.

 

7 nights Hawaii Islands with 2 overnight port stays....then 5 days at sea to Vancouver to recover........:D:D

 

They have a great Past Guest special going on.

Booked an 8A and got an 8I for $1389 ea. and I found air for $675 ea. Carnival wanted $850 ea.

 

Plus I have a $1000 Capital One credit to cash in.

 

It's still a lot of money......but it's a once in a lifetime cruise.

x

We are booked for the same cruise. Maybe we will see you there.

 

Larry Daley from OK

[voyagerfl]

Uh Oh.....just got a notification !

 

They altered the itinerary !

The main reason I booked this cruise is because it had 2 overnight port stays, where you were in port like 36 hours.

But they have changed it so there is only the one in Honolulu. That is a bit of a disappointment. I would rather have the overnight than an extra port.

Wah Wah Wah !

 

Oh Well.........keep smiling :D

[voyagerfl]

We are booked for the same cruise. Maybe we will see you there.

 

Larry Daley from OK

Hey There..........Sounds good to know someone else who is going...

We can share Hawaii Info !

[zonemasconi]

Voyagerfl,

 

I did the Spirit to Hawaii in april 2002 the cruise where the air broke and thay gave us a refund. by all means feel free to survey my webshots it has some stuff that you might like.

also I am looking for all my links I will post them when I find them for you.

it was a great cruise and I wanna do it again someday, what are they giving you an extra port?where is that?

[MrPete]

Martin....

 

 

Great pix. Took me back, if only for a moment....

[voyagerfl]

Voyagerfl,

 

I did the Spirit to Hawaii in april 2002 the cruise where the air broke and thay gave us a refund. by all means feel free to survey my webshots it has some stuff that you might like.

 

also I am looking for all my links I will post them when I find them for you.

 

it was a great cruise and I wanna do it again someday, what are they giving you an extra port?where is that?

Thanks for the info.......glad to here you enjoyed the cruise.

Here is the new "Current" Itinerary.....the New port is on Maui which is were the overnight was supposed to be.....it's just on the other side of the Island.

I don't care for this change....to many ports can be exhusting.

Example: We loved the Southern Carib. cruise....but a different port every day just wore us out.

 

x

[voyagerfl]

Fri Honolulu, HI 1:00pm

 

Sat Honolulu, HI 6:00pm

 

Sun Kauai (Nawiliwili), HI 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Mon Maui (Lahaina), HI 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Tue Maui (Kahului), HI 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Wed Kona, HI 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Thu Hilo, HI 8:00am 6:00pm

 

Fri Fun Day At Sea

 

Sat Fun Day At Sea

 

Sun Fun Day At Sea

 

Mon Fun Day At Sea

 

Tue Fun Day At Sea

 

Wed Vancouver, BC, Canada 8:00am

 

 

[MrPete]

Here is the new "Current" Itinerary.....the New port is on Maui which is were the overnight was supposed to be.....it's just on the other side of the Island.

x

WOW. All that sailing just to get to the other side, which was like a 30 minute drive. Lahaina was nice though.

[zonemasconi]

when I went we were in lahuina two days (well we were suppose to be wound up going to honolulu to fix airconditioning thus skipping second day in maui and the day in kuaui) the second day in maui didnt bothe me cause you have to tender in lahuina..I hate tendering!! but the town is quaint plus it had a hard rock cafe sothat was okay.

 

more info to come.

[voyagerfl]

WOW. All that sailing just to get to the other side, which was like a 30 minute drive. Lahaina was nice though.

I wonder what would happen, if we just stayed on land and caught up with the ship on the other side ? Would it get complicated ??

[MrPete]

I don't know. But this two stop thing elliminates one of the most famous tours, which is the bike ride at sunrise from the top of the volcano. Missing your ship gets you there! i think it starts at 3AM.