Which cruise line is best for Hawaii?

[SugarTwist]

Good Afternoon All!

 

We plan to go on our first cruise next year for Thanksgiving. We are really wanting to see Hawaii. Which cruise line is best for that. I've called Royal Carribean and Norwegian and both port out of Hawaii. Is that a good thing? We are really trying to avoid paying a big amount on air fair. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[6rugrats]

Only NCL leaves and returns to Hawaii. I am not sure where you are finding this RCI cruise.

[SugarTwist]

Thanks! You are right RCL ports from somewhere else.

[paul929207]

NCL has one ship (Pride of Aloha?) which is based in Hawaii. It does seven day cruises around the islands. No other line has a ship based there. They are prevented by US law.

 

Other lines do cruises that are either round trip from the west coast, or visit hawaii on the way to or from other places (Tahiti comes to mind).

[cb at sea]

If this is your 1st trip to Hawaii, you'll see and experience MUCH more if you were to do a land-based vacation. Yes, cruising is great, but you don't spend much time in any one place...and there's A LOT to see in Hawaii....land-based wins hands-down every time!

[spunkie4]

Hawaii is very expensive, so a cruise is a great way to experience several islands. We cruised on Princess, RT Los Angeles, 14 days. Loved the sea days. We now know which island we want to experience on a land-based trip.

 

Shirley

[Cruisin' Chick]

One of my favorite cruises was our RT out of Los Angeles on the Golden Princess last December (five years before, we did the same cruise on the Island Princess). No flying for us so that was a plus.

 

But here's what makes the Golden Princess Hawaiian cruise different from other cruiselines' Hawaiian cruises....on many cruiseships, you can't really tell what itinerary you're on until you go out in port, other than going to the port talks. But on the Golden, you won't miss that you're on the Hawaiian cruise. There's many Hawaiian activities such as uke lessons, hula lessons, lei-making lessons, Hawaiian seminars, items on the menus that are Hawaiian-inspired. A major reason is that there's a musical duo named Elua (she's a native of the big island, he's from the midwest) who you can hear just about every day perform Hawaiian melodies either on deck or in the Piazza. They also teach some of the classes. Just read any of the threads on the Princess board, and you'll hear nothing but positives about them.

 

Another thing to note is that there are many CC members who have done the RT several times.

[Keith1010]

As mentioned you have two major options.

 

One is to fly to and from Honolulu and take a seven day Hawaii Cruise with NCL.

 

The other option is to look at cruises that sail to and from California (mainly Los Angeles and San Diego) that have 8 days at sea (4 each way) and normally stop at 5 ports). A few cruise lines do this itinerary during portions of the year.

 

If you have the time I prefer the longer cruise as you get the enjoyment of leisurely sea days.

 

I do think this is a nice way to see several islands in Hawaii.

 

Like any vacation you can see much more of one or a few places on a land vacation but with a cruise you get to see many of the Hawaiian Islands and if you like one in particular you can always return on a land vacation.

 

Keith

[Cruisingmanforlife1]

Good Afternoon All!

 

We plan to go on our first cruise next year for Thanksgiving. We are really wanting to see Hawaii. Which cruise line is best for that. I've called Royal Carribean and Norwegian and both port out of Hawaii. Is that a good thing? We are really trying to avoid paying a big amount on air fair. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Personally my dear friend if it was me traveling (my anniversary is THANKSGIVING) I would choose:

 

1. Holland America Statendam from San Diego (23rd) Note this cruise when I book it goes down in price so watch for a bargain!

 

2. Princess Cruise Lines Sapphire (24th) Golden (21st)

 

You could do NCL but youll have a better time and make up for the air with Holland America or Princess. I highly recommend Holland America Line.

The San Diego port and departure is par excellence! I can tell you more abouut our experience if you'd like.

[Leeroy-Jenkins]

we are really wanting to see hawaii. Which cruise line is best for that.

 

ncl.

[Love.II.Cruise]

One of my favorite cruises was our RT out of Los Angeles on the Golden Princess last December (five years before' date=' we did the same cruise on the Island Princess). No flying for us so that was a plus.

 

But here's what makes the Golden Princess Hawaiian cruise different from other cruiselines' Hawaiian cruises....on many cruiseships, you can't really tell what itinerary you're on until you go out in port, other than going to the port talks. But on the Golden, you won't miss that you're on the Hawaiian cruise. There's many Hawaiian activities such as uke lessons, hula lessons, lei-making lessons, Hawaiian seminars, items on the menus that are Hawaiian-inspired. A major reason is that there's a musical duo named Elua (she's a native of the big island, he's from the midwest) who you can hear just about every day perform Hawaiian melodies either on deck or in the Piazza. They also teach some of the classes. Just read any of the threads on the Princess board, and you'll hear nothing but positives about them.

 

Another thing to note is that there are many CC members who have done the RT several times.[/quote']

 

Not to overthrow the OP, but do you have a link to your Island Princess cruise back in 2005? We sailed her back then and would love to see pictures from someone else.

[Teacher_91]

The Mr. & I would love to make Hawaii our 2nd cruise (after Alaska in July 2012 via the Princess.) I've already started researching and I'm finding most cruises to Hawaii are more than 7 or 8 days. I'm a teacher, so for me, being gone that long is not a problem. It is somewhat problematic for the Mr. He gets 4 weeks of vacation but prefers to save some for other times. :rolleyes:

What would Y'all recommend? Give up on Hawaii until he retires or try the NCL round trip version?

[griffy116]

We cruised Hawaii with my family on RCI. We left from Honolulu and disembarked in San Diego. We had done a land based trip to Hawaii a few years before the cruise. We preferred going on a cruise. We got a wonderful taste of each of the islands and they truly are unique. Our ship stayed overnight in Maui and we had one day on each side of the big island. The sea days gave us a chance to unwind and rest after all the busy excursion days at each island. I wish they cruised during the summer months. I'd do this cruise again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, right now, we can only cruise during summer months. Enjoy.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Not to overthrow the OP, but do you have a link to your Island Princess cruise back in 2005? We sailed her back then and would love to see pictures from someone else.

 

I just checked my webshots page and I have only a few photos up for the IP...and none really showing the ship. I'll have to look through my back up CD and see if I have some more (hopefully) that my hubby had taken that aren't on our computer currently. My review that I had posted back in 2006 in the Princess area doesn't have any photos.

[wwcruisers]

We cruised Hawaii with my family on RCI. We left from Honolulu and disembarked in San Diego. We had done a land based trip to Hawaii a few years before the cruise. We preferred going on a cruise. We got a wonderful taste of each of the islands and they truly are unique. Our ship stayed overnight in Maui and we had one day on each side of the big island. The sea days gave us a chance to unwind and rest after all the busy excursion days at each island. I wish they cruised during the summer months. I'd do this cruise again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, right now, we can only cruise during summer months. Enjoy.

 

Sadly, RC discontinued that route, shortly before they pulled all of their ships off the west coast. :( The only RCCL round-trip Hawaii cruises left are a few Celebrity Century cruises, in April and October.