Not exactly a new cruiser, but new to the idea of West Coast/Hawaiian cruises

I have done two cruises. Both east coast. First to Bermuda, second to Nassau, which turned into not going there due to a hurricane. So my question is this. Is there a cruise ship/line that only goes around Hawaii? In other words, if I fly to Honolulu, is there a ship that goes from port to port only in the islands? I see where if you want to do Waikiki but then Volcanoes national park, you have to fly to that island, rent a car and then drive to it. What I would look for is a cruise ship where you have your cabin to go back to with all of your belongings, then do shore excursions to the various destinations. Thanks.

Check out Norwegian.

Roz

I have done two cruises. Both east coast. First to Bermuda, second to Nassau, which turned into not going there due to a hurricane. So my question is this. Is there a cruise ship/line that only goes around Hawaii? In other words, if I fly to Honolulu, is there a ship that goes from port to port only in the islands? I see where if you want to do Waikiki but then Volcanoes national park, you have to fly to that island, rent a car and then drive to it. What I would look for is a cruise ship where you have your cabin to go back to with all of your belongings, then do shore excursions to the various destinations. Thanks.

NCL's pride of Hawaii does 7 day cruise only in Hawaii . Usually a little more expensive than a 7 day cruise elsewhere.

Princess , Holland and Carnival do 15 and 16 day round trip cruises from California to Hawaii return. These cruises have 4 to 5 sea days each way plus a day stop in Ensenada.

Only you can decide which is better .Have you looked at cruises to Alaska from San Francisco or Seattle. Vancouver BC also has many cruises to Alaska but mostly only 7 day to or from Alaska . The 7 Day can be combined into one 14 day cruise from Vancouver.

The name of the NCL ship is Pride of America.

There is a Hawaii board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

with truckloads of info on cruising Hawaii.

Celbercrz, The 7-day Hawaii cruise on the NCL Pride of America sounds exactly what you're looking for.. We took it a few years ago.and found it ideal for us. . We treated the POA pretty much as a hotel that followed along with us as we explored the islands. Not the greatest ship we've been on but still very nice, especially the specialty restaurants and nightly entertainment. Aloha!

If you are doing this...take extra time for a land vacation there, as well. Hawaii has SO much to offer, you will get only a "taste" on a cruise. You really need a couple weeks to see and do everything! By the way, there is no casino on Pride of America...just and FYI!

I have done two cruises. Both east coast. First to Bermuda, second to Nassau, which turned into not going there due to a hurricane. So my question is this. Is there a cruise ship/line that only goes around Hawaii? In other words, if I fly to Honolulu, is there a ship that goes from port to port only in the islands? I see where if you want to do Waikiki but then Volcanoes national park, you have to fly to that island, rent a car and then drive to it. What I would look for is a cruise ship where you have your cabin to go back to with all of your belongings, then do shore excursions to the various destinations. Thanks.

Hawaii is not sone third world Caribbean country where a day ashore does it all. Each island (and Kauai if no others) deserves a week on its own. Food, culture, geography et al. Is unmatched anywhere in the world.

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You might consider flying to one island, staying a few days, then to another, (by ferry if nearby), then perhaps a third before flying home. While NCL would get you to see several, it would be just for a few hours on each (interrupted by regularly reported poor NCL service), while staying on two or perhaps three islands would give you a real taste.

You might consider flying to one island, staying a few days, then to another, (by ferry if nearby), then perhaps a third before flying home. While NCL would get you to see several, it would be just for a few hours on each (interrupted by regularly reported poor NCL service), while staying on two or perhaps three islands would give you a real taste.

Not entirely true. There's nothing wrong with NCL service. And the itinerary does an overnight in Maui and Kauai so both of those allow for 2 full days and an overnight of touring.

OP, how you choose to visit Hawaii is up to you. We are cruising it for 2 reasons. 1. My BF has issues with flying and will not enjoy the trip knowing he has a long flight home. 2. On our trip we are planning on seeing 4 islands... when I first began planning a trip to Hawaii it only seemed realistic to include 2 islands of the big island is one of them.

We are flying to Kauai, staying 4 days, then taking an Hawaiian flight to Honolulu where we meet up with the cruise. Cruise then includes 2 days in Honolulu, 2 days in Maui, and a day each at kona and Hilo. Followed by cruising to Vancouver. I 100% agree that the round trip cruises out of California are a waste. A 2 week trip for 4 days in Hawaii. But if you prefer to fly to Honolulu and take the NCL cruise or a one way cruise; you'll see more of the island than on a land trip.

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I have done two cruises. Both east coast. First to Bermuda, second to Nassau, which turned into not going there due to a hurricane. So my question is this. Is there a cruise ship/line that only goes around Hawaii? In other words, if I fly to Honolulu, is there a ship that goes from port to port only in the islands? I see where if you want to do Waikiki but then Volcanoes national park, you have to fly to that island, rent a car and then drive to it. What I would look for is a cruise ship where you have your cabin to go back to with all of your belongings, then do shore excursions to the various destinations. Thanks.

NCL has one ship that just does the Hawaiian islands -- because of legal issues, only a US flagged ship can do a voyage like that, and NCL's Pride of America is the one ship that qualifies. It's more expensive than most other cruises because they have higher costs, but if that's what you're looking for, it's the only place to get it. There are other ships and other voyages that do multiple islands as part of a larger trip that must, by law, include a foreign port (usually they choose a Mexican port, but it might be a transpacific from Asia to the US, for instance).

Thanks everyone. It probably won't be this year, but next year so we have time to plan.

Not entirely true. There's nothing wrong with NCL service. And the itinerary does an overnight in Maui and Kauai so both of those allow for 2 full days and an overnight of touring.

 

OP, how you choose to visit Hawaii is up to you. We are cruising it for 2 reasons. 1. My BF has issues with flying and will not enjoy the trip knowing he has a long flight home. 2. On our trip we are planning on seeing 4 islands... when I first began planning a trip to Hawaii it only seemed realistic to include 2 islands of the big island is one of them.

 

We are flying to Kauai, staying 4 days, then taking an Hawaiian flight to Honolulu where we meet up with the cruise. Cruise then includes 2 days in Honolulu, 2 days in Maui, and a day each at kona and Hilo. Followed by cruising to Vancouver. I 100% agree that the round trip cruises out of California are a waste. A 2 week trip for 4 days in Hawaii. But if you prefer to fly to Honolulu and take the NCL cruise or a one way cruise; you'll see more of the island than on a land trip.

 

 

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Some people enjoy having relaxing sea says as well as port days. My Carnival cruise is giving me enough exposure to Hawaii and the culture.

I enjoy the sea days over port days.

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There's also Uncruise, which does this. https://www.uncruise.com/destinations/hawaiian-islands-cruises

While a week on each island would be lovely, we thoroughly enjoyed our Hawaiian cruise. We did it on Royal and had 5 sea days on the return. We hope to do another Hawaiian cruise and we will use NCL's Pride of America because we would like to start and end in Honolulu, and tack on a few extra days in Oahu. Each island is different and we loved each of them for different reasons. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, but those days at sea crossing the Pacific were very different than the Caribbean sea days. For one thing, NCL is the only line that does Hawaii year round. We cruised in April because that's when RCCL does Hawaii. The seas were so rough and the temps got so cold that the outdoor pools were closed and it finally got so rough that no one could even use the Solarium pool. We were asking for extra blankets and ordering hot chocolate from room service after being in these beautiful temperatures in Hawaii. Definetely look at NCL.

Our last three cruises were the Hawaiian rts on Princess LA-Hawaii-LA, so obviously we enjoy this itinerary. The sea days are relaxing and Princess offers a Hawaiian cultural program for those who want it (I enjoy the hula and lei making lessons) as well as wonderful live Hawaiian music. My hubby and I both have visited twice on land trips (the second time was our honeymoon; the first time for both of us were before we met) so to us the time in Hawaii is a bonus.

Plus I hate flying and it's just an hour's drive to the port for us But if we're not cruising from here and want another trip to Hawaii, I would rather just pick a few islands, spend a couple of days in each, or else just pick one place to stay.