Hawaii cruise over Christmas?

[sprout76]

Has anyone done a cruise to Hawaii over the holidays? What was your experience like? I like the idea of 'free vacation' days from work and the idea of going somewhere absolutely beautiful to spend the holiday, but wasn't sure if places were open. Any input would be appreciated. We were going to go in February for our anniversary, but with my husband starting a new job and having a limited amount of time off this may be better.

[karatemom2]

We have done the roundtrip LA to Hawaii cruise the last two Christmas holidays and are headed back again this Christmas. We love being able to relax and enjoy our family without all of the stress and rushing around. We have found that even on Christmas Day and New Years Day there are some tours and activities still available. It is great way to spend the holidays!

[sprout76]

karatemom2....that is the cruise I'm looking at doing...the RT from LA (although we're looking at next Christmas). It must be a good one if you've done it three years!!!

 

How are the seas that time of year? Do you get bored with being at sea all that time? My husband thinks it would be very relaxing to have that much time to just do whatever we want and not feel like we have to rush around. At first I was opposed to it and was going to do the Pride of America, but the more I think about it...I'm warming up to the idea. It would be great to actually feel like I've gotten a vacation instead of feeling like I need to rush all over:)

 

Thanks for your post....it is a huge help in making my decision!!

[Umbarger]

Be aware that if you go over Christmas that the cruise will probably have a lot of kids.

[karatemom2]

Be aware that if you go over Christmas that the cruise will probably have a lot of kids.

 

Yes including my two. :) It is a wonderful thing to enjoy seeing families share time together at the holidays. As far as I'm concerned children are part of the magic of Christmas and seeing their joyous faces makes the holidays all that much brighter. I noted that the OP has done two Disney cruises, so I imagine she is OK with sharing her vacation with some children.

 

To the OP, in answer to your question, the sea days are part of the reason we love this cruise. They are relaxing and a wonderful time to reconnect as a family. But they are definitely not boring! Princess does a wonderful job of filling the sea days with lots of activities, including Hawaiian cultural pursuits such as lei making, hula and ukulele instruction. There is also a wide arry of Christmas activities on the holiday cruises.

 

Since you are interested in the round trip from LA, you might want to check out this thread. Lots of great info!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=845446

[klauer]

We cruised a couple of times over Christmas with our teen and older children, and had had a great time. There was one cruise that had a huge group traveling with many children who didn't appear to be supervised at all. There were packs of kids blocking the stairwells, riding up at down the elevators, and running around the pools and in the dining room. On Christmas, one of the kids rode a collapsible bike (that I guess he received as a Christmas gift) through the halls! So I guess that the kids and their families were enjoying the holidays together, but it wasn't very fun for us.

 

I would be sure to carefully consider the ship's reputation and itinerary before cruising at Christmas. Also, you will normally pay more to cruise over the holidays.

[SeasideMermaid]

We cruised a couple of times over Christmas with our teen and older children, and had had a great time. There was one cruise that had a huge group traveling with many children who didn't appear to be supervised at all. There were packs of kids blocking the stairwells, riding up at down the elevators, and running around the pools and in the dining room. On Christmas, one of the kids rode a collapsible bike (that I guess he received as a Christmas gift) through the halls! So I guess that the kids and their families were enjoying the holidays together, but it wasn't very fun for us.

 

Oh boy that does not sound fun.

 

I found that few tours operate Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve everything is still operating.

[sprout76]

karatemom2 - thanks for the link. I'm definitely going to start looking through that...it looks pretty substantial! Have you experienced anything like what klauer is talking about? No...obviously I don't mind having kids around (although we have none of our own), however having an abundance of kids like described would definitely be a bit overwhelming! Although...I agree that the holidays are a bit brighter with kids.

 

klauer....can you tell me which cruise you've done where the kids were out of control?

 

We're looking at the 14 day RT on Princess. I know that you can never tell what type of people you'll have on your cruise, but curious as to which line you were on.

[griffy]

We did the Hawaii cruise from Honolulu to Ensenada on RCCL in April. Each island was more beautiful than the last, but you should also be aware that the days at sea will probably not be spent at the pool. It was cold, even in April. We arrived in Ensenada and the agents had on heavy wool coats. The Solarium pool was available, even for the kids to use because of the temperatures, but the seas were rough and the water was literally splashing completely out of the pool. It may have inspired the "wave runners" on the RCCL ships. We did lots of ordering hot chocolate from room service; we shopped; we ATE lots of everything. The wind was cold going up to the windjammer and through the solarium area.

[klauer]

After I posted, I realized that the Christmas cruise with the uncontrolled kids was a Celebrity ship in the Caribbean, not Hawaii. I think that the cruise staff was completely overwhelmed with the situation, and there wasn't much they could do to fix it. I just wouldn't book a holiday cruise with unrealistic expectations that all the children will be with their parents or in kids' club.

[karatemom2]

I think the concern about children during holiday periods is somewhat overblown. Although I'm not questioning that there could be the occasional outlier with a particular cruise with overly rowdy or unsupervised kids, I firmly believe this is the exception.

 

We have been on 14 cruises, with most being on Princess, but also including NCL, RCI, Carnival and Disney, and have never experienced any serious issues with the children or families on our cruises. Since we cruise as a family, we are always on cruises during peak vacation times such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving break as well as summers. The smallest number of children on any of our cruises was probably in the 300 range, the largest was a little over 800. In all of this, the biggest infraction we have ever observed was the occasional pushing of the elevator buttons, some loud voices and a spirited game of Marco Polo in the pool.

 

None of it even comes close to some of the bad behavior we have seen from drunken or rude adults, some of whom have required the intervention of ship security.

 

No need to worry about the Christmas cruises. I have actually found that the presence of so many families on board celebrating the holiday season together actually seems to improve the behavior of all on board.

[Umbarger]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=901106&highlight=umbarger

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=17514561&highlight=umbarger#post17514561

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=924941&highlight=umbarger

 

 

Definately not overblown.

[karatemom2]

Should I post links to all the threads about adult bad behavior? Not enough room here I'm afraid.:rolleyes:

 

It is too bad this thread has turned into yet another forum to bash cruising families. As such I will no longer attempt to respond to the actual topic which was cruising to Hawaii at the holidays. To the OP, I am sorry your thread was taken off track. If you have specific questions relating to the Hawaii cruises I would be happy to answer if you would like to post them in the round trip thread that I linked in my earlier post. It is really a wonderful cruise!

[klauer]

I certainly wasn't bashing cruising families -- we were one of them! But we did have a bad experience on a Christmas cruise, and I'm not sure why you don't think I should share that story.

[Umbarger]

Should I post links to all the threads about adult bad behavior? Not enough room here I'm afraid.:rolleyes:

 

It is too bad this thread has turned into yet another forum to bash cruising families. As such I will no longer attempt to respond to the actual topic which was cruising to Hawaii at the holidays. To the OP, I am sorry your thread was taken off track. If you have specific questions relating to the Hawaii cruises I would be happy to answer if you would like to post them in the round trip thread that I linked in my earlier post. It is really a wonderful cruise!

 

In no way am I bashing cruising families. I think cruising is a great way for families to travel. Unfortunately, some parents decide to take a vacation from parenting when they vacation. Do not take this so personally as I am not speaking of your children or your parenting. :eek:

 

This thread was not taken off track. The OP wanted to know our experiences with cruising at Christmas in Hawaii. Having to cruise with misbehaving/unsupervised kids is one of mine. As well as others.

 

OP, I can not recommend Hawaii enough. It is absolutely gorgeous and a trip of a lifetime. I have both cruised to Hawaii during Christmas and also done a land vacation during Christmas. Please be aware if you decide to go over Christmas the cruise cost is much much higher than during other times of the year. Cruiselines mark up the cruise cost during Christmas. However, Christmas in Hawaii is an experience in itself. It is so weird to be able to go to the beach and swimming on Christmas day when you should be shoveling snow. :D

 

Mele Kalikimaka!

[SeasideMermaid]

karatemom2 - I think because you're always traveling with your kids, you have a blind eye to other kids and perhaps tolerant of all of their annoyances.

 

Don't get me wrong I love kids and understand families want to vacation together, but when you're not traveling with kids, you notice their numbers and behavior. I always go to bed by 10pm on the cruise ship so I don't see the drunk behavior you are referring to. Although I'd also wonder how you see if you have kids so I would assume you don't leave them in the room at night to go party?

[sprout76]

Wow...I guess I have given everyone something to talk about :D Thank you everyone for your posts and advice...it is all taken into account.

 

Yes, it typically is a bit more expensive to travel over the holidays, but when my DH only gets 10 days of PTO a year and we're looking at a longer vacation it seems like the best way to go. We can take advantage of the 'free vacation' time from work over the holidays and dip into both 2010 and 2011 PTO time.

 

I was on a RCCL cruise over Easter in 2003 and there were some kids that were misbehaving...so yes it does happen, but on our last Carnival cruise we had a lot of adults acting just as rudely...so it happens with 'kids of all ages'. I guess if we get super annoyed we'll just have to hang out on our balcony :)

 

I do want to thank everyone for posting though...and I think we'll take our chances and see how we do. It is Christmas, a 14 day cruise and I'll be going to Hawaii...it really could be much worse I think.

[Umbarger]

Wow...I guess I have given everyone something to talk about :D Thank you everyone for your posts and advice...it is all taken into account.

 

Yes, it typically is a bit more expensive to travel over the holidays, but when my DH only gets 10 days of PTO a year and we're looking at a longer vacation it seems like the best way to go. We can take advantage of the 'free vacation' time from work over the holidays and dip into both 2010 and 2011 PTO time.

 

I was on a RCCL cruise over Easter in 2003 and there were some kids that were misbehaving...so yes it does happen, but on our last Carnival cruise we had a lot of adults acting just as rudely...so it happens with 'kids of all ages'. I guess if we get super annoyed we'll just have to hang out on our balcony :)

 

I do want to thank everyone for posting though...and I think we'll take our chances and see how we do. It is Christmas, a 14 day cruise and I'll be going to Hawaii...it really could be much worse I think.

 

You have a great attitude and I think you will be fine.

 

Yes, what could be worse that a 14 day Christmas cruise.......There is no such thing as a bad cruise. :D:D:D