Hawaii

[blder2]

When do you think is the best time to do a 14 day cruise to Hawaii from California (San Diego or San Francisco). Thinking of booking but not sure of rough seas, etc....Any help would be greatly appreciated..Thx.

[Pam in CA]

When do you think is the best time to do a 14 day cruise to Hawaii from California (San Diedgo or San francisco). Thinking of booking but not sure of rough seas, etc....Any help would be appreciated..Thx.

Princess doesn't have 14-day cruises out of San Diego or San Francisco; they leave from San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles.) No matter what, the first day or two will be rough and chilly as you sail through the north/south currents; same returning to San Pedro. Otherwise, I think any time you can find a good price is the time to go. :) Cheapest prices are probably early December or January.

[Aruba]

Cheapest prices are probably early December or January.

That tends to be the rainy season too though.

[holidayhelen]

how is it in Nov?

[TM]

We did this cruise in October several years ago, and as Pam said weather was chilly the first couple of days going and returning with some wind and light rain the last day at sea. Other than that our weather was great, had some cool weather and rain in Hilo, but the rain did not start till we were reboarding the ship after a full day in port. This was a great cruise and I hope to do it again some day soon.

[flamomo]

We've done it in mid-January, mid-February and in mid-March, all with Princess, and had good weather each time. I can only think of a couple of occasions when we had rain in Hawai'i. Be aware that Hilo is the rainy side of the island, so rain there is not a surprise. But it's usually more of a passing shower, as opposed to an all day rain. (That's what the locals say)

I agree that the first couple of days out of LA are often cool (but so has LA been, 3 of the 4 times I have sailed from there between November and March).

I'm not disagreeing with Pam, but all 3 times that we have done the r/t LA-Hawai'i cruise, the worst seas we have encountered were "kind of bumpy" now and then. Nothing major! I know others have had worse, and expect one of these times we may have some genuinely rough seas, but so far, so good.

I agree that if it's something you really want to do, and you find an acceptable fare, just book it. It's a great cruise.

[SingerEsq]

A little off topic, but not by much ... according to the Future Cruise Hostess on the Golden last week, NCLA is pulling out of HI next year and Princess is planning on adding a second ship, so one will leave LA every Sunday for 2 weeks. So there may be more choices on timing. We'll see if it pans out.

[Bucky3]

We have cruised from the West Coast to Hawaii and back in September, October, December, and April. We prefer the Sept/Oct timeframe both for sea conditions and the warmest (of those months) land and water temperatures in the islands.

[blder2]

Thx for all the replies !!! I was thinking of Sept/Oct. but wasn't sure if it would have been better Jan.-March. Either/or i think there is going to be a downside whenever we decide to go...thanks again

[Duck Duck Cruise]

Thx for all the replies !!! I was thinking of Sept/Oct. but wasn't sure if it would have been better Jan.-March. Either/or i think there is going to be a downside whenever we decide to go...thanks again

 

If you're interested in whales, November through March are the best times to view them from the ship or on an excursion. On our two cruises to Hawaii the last two years, one in early February and one in early March you couldn't swing your arms in Maui without hitting a whale. Incredible for whale watching then.

[Cruisin' Chick]

A little off topic, but not by much ... according to the Future Cruise Hostess on the Golden last week, NCLA is pulling out of HI next year and Princess is planning on adding a second ship, so one will leave LA every Sunday for 2 weeks. So there may be more choices on timing. We'll see if it pans out.

 

Just watch, NCLa will once again try to blame the other cruiselines who do the RTs to Hawaii on their problems.

 

It's a good sign that there will be more sailings to Hawaii. I wonder if Celebrity is regretting dropping the itinerary.