Thinking About Hawaii Cruise

[gunnywife]

My husband and I are thinking about the LA to LA cruise to Hawaii for our 50th anniversary next year. But I need your help before I make the final decision. It's a 15 day cruise with 10 days at sea. How do you folks feel about so many days at sea? I love to read and would bring lots of books, but will there be enough planned activities to keep us relatively busy?

I'm also kind of concerned about being in the open waters of the Pacific. We've been on lots of cruises and the only times I was seasick was when we came thru the Panama Canal into the Pacific on our way to Acapulco and once during a cruise in the Pacific to the Mexican Riviera. I wasn't really sick for long either time. But stormy weather could be another story.

My husband, being retired military, has spent a lot of time aboard ship and thinks these days at sea would be a piece of cake. But of course a cruise ship would be better than a troop ship any day.

How many formal nights are there on a 15 day cruise? And for any of you that have been on this cruise, are we in port long enough at each island to really enjoy them.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[suziehmkr]

gunnywife,

You might want to check out the thread "Live from the Island Princess" - doesn't sound ike they were bored for one minute. I was concerned at first about the sea days, but how often can I just relax? I can't wait for the next 8 months to go by!

[coiran]

We were going to do a cruise/land vacation last October for three weeks, one week of which was a cruise. We had booked the NCL Pride of America , but after reading all the negative reviews cancelled. WE did the three weeks - did four Islands, stayed at B & B,s, rented a car, ate out and sometimes cooked in and had a great time - the total cost excluding air was less than $6000.

 

If you are interested I can recommend some great B & B's and other info.

 

Ron

[Lampwick]

I'm just back from this cruise 2 weeks ago and had an amazing time. Great CC group as well.

[Beryl]

I know it is pure heresy to say this on a cruise board but if I had 15 days and wanted to do Hawaii I would do a land trip! I think the Islands are sooooo beautiful that I couldn't imagine leaving after such short stops. If it is the cruise experience you are going for go ahead with the cruise but if the main attraction is the islands do a land vacation and get to "know" one or two of the islands in depth! JMHO

[DesrtDrmr]

We are just back from this cruise this past week. We LOVED it!

We were celebrating our 40th Anniversary, and there were many couples celebrating 50th, and one celebrating their 62nd!!

We booked this cruise because we like sea days, and this one did not disappoint. There were so many activities, that we couldn't do them all.

I get very sea sick, and was really worried about that, too. I use the patch, and have been sick before on cruises from L.A. to Mexico. The first night was rough, into about noon the next day. I was not sick, but I did feel the rolling. The rest of the cruise was quite smooth............from glassy, to at most, moderate. It was cool the first couple of days and the last couple of days. It was a bit rough one night on the return. Our cabin was on Caribe Deck, toward the back, so we were not in the center.

There were three formal nights on this cruise.

I took about five books, and only read two............I think DH also got through two. I also took two pottery classes, we went to Bingo once, went to trivia games, played games, napped, went to a fitness class three times, had my hair done, did a little laundry twice, went to the library, used the internet cafe daily, went to the casino, got involved in the horse races on board, listened to different music, went to look at the stars one night, saw whales while anchored at Lahaina, and just had an overall great time. This was our favorite cruise, other than our first, of course. We had a couple of get togethers with our Cruise Critic roll call group, and that was a kick!

We did not have a lot of time in port. There was enough to do a shore excursion, though. We rented cars in three ports, and did ship sponsored shore excursions in two ports.

[vacationhappy]

My parents recently returned from this cruise and loved it! They travel extensively and go on anywhere from 3-5 cruises per year as well as take land based vacations. They thought it was their best cruise ever. They really enjoyed getting on the boat and relaxing before they hit their destination. Once they arrived in Hawaii, they were well rested and already had some fun on the ship. They were ready for 7 days of intesive touring and activity. When they departed to return to LA, they were exhausted from all the activity and used the time to recover and enjoy more of the ship's activities. They never felt rushed and returned with lots of laughs.

[LisaH]

The more sea days the better...never bored. We love sitting around the pool (even tho it can be chilly). It was a bit chilly for us on the way back. We did Honolulu-Ensenada and were surprised how chilly it was the last two days at sea. But the casino is open 24x7!!!

 

We were by the pool wrapped in towels and wearing sweats.

[mlymd]

We're booked on the same Hawaii cruise for Feb. 2006. We just love all the sea days! This will be our second cruise to Hawaii and you will have plenty of time to see the islands. We took shore excursions from the ship and saw much more than we expected. On the 15 days cruise there are 3 formal nights.

[jbern66]

Gunnywife...My wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary last year by spending a week in Oahu (Outigger on the Beach hotel) and then took a 7 day cruise R/T fron Honolulu to Maui,Kuaii,The Big Isle Hawaii, and Molokai. This worked out fine for us without a lot of sea days. Of course, I used FF miles so it was less expensive. If you're interested you can email me and I can go into more detail, including prices. email is jbern66@yahoo.com By the way, thank your husband for me (a fellow vet) for his service to his country.

[Princess Chatterer]

Cruised the Dawn from San Diego (Ensenada) to Hawaii. Rough water first day then good sea the rest of the way. Saw hot lava at night falling into the ocean while cruising around the southern tip of the Big Island at night. Stayed an extra day in Honolulu - toured entire Island via car rental. #1 Favorite spot was Poipu Beach in Kauai (accessed via car rental) with lunch at Brennecke's Beach Broiler Restaurant on the beach. I can still taste those wonderful hot macadamia nuts at the plantation on the Big Island south of Hilo. This was a great cruise. Go for it.

[Nrknits]

We just returned from this trip about 3 weeks ago.

Days at sea. I love them. My husband - so so. They days went fast. I didn't do much but, before I knew it I was getting dressed for dinner. Lots of activites are planned and lots of time to relax.

Sea. The 1st day and a half out is rough. Not stormy rough, but rolling rough. The person at the pursers desk explained that this is because you are going over the continental shelf, where the shallow waters are meeting the deep waters. There is no avoiding it, it hapens on every cruise. I'm not prone to sea sickness and it didn't bother me, but alot of the public areas were kind of empty the 1st two days.

Weather. We are from the east coast and have cruised the carribean a few times. This is not a carribean cruise. It is chilly the first 2 days out and the last 2 days back. The water is deep and the breezes are cool. You are wearing long sleeves or a light jacket those days. Closer to Hawaii it warmed up, never hot, but warm. We had sunny days and nice weather, but it is not the same as cruising the carribean. The water in hawaii is also cooler, comfortable, but cool. On snorkeling trip, the captian said he wears a wet suit year round.

It was a wonderful trip and a great ship, These are not negatives, just want you to have realistic expectations. My husband was a little dissapointed in the weather and I think, the weather wasn't bad, but his expectations were wrong. He was thinking, Hawaii, tropics, it will be like our carribean cruises. It's not. We had wonderful sun, a few cloudy days, but no rain to speak of, just not toasty warm.

We did miss a port because of high winds, Kaui, which is a shame when you only have 5 stops to begin with. But all in all a great trip.

[gunnywife]

Wow. You guys are great. You answered all my questions and more. I think we probably will book, if it isn't booked already. Seems like cruises are booking way in advance now.

 

We're scheduled to leave on our first Holland America cruise next week. Can't wait to compare it with Princess, Carnival and RC and the old Renaissance. Cruising is fun, no matter what, but it's always kind of interesting to compare.

 

Thanks again for your help. I LOVE to read these boards. I learn a lot and enjoy the opinions and give and take that goes on.

[Desert Nurse]

Here's a link to my long post of my Hawaii cruise. The sea days seemed to go by very fast with lots of activities and time to relax.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161568

[Druke I]

Love those sea days. I for one have never been bored on a sea day.

 

There are many activities from which to choose; or, find a nice quiet spot, with a good book, read and people watch!

 

The ocean sea-state is always a crap-shoot, but even a little bouncing can add to the entertainment value.

 

Gross generalization, but the Pacific is usually smoother than the North Atlantic, which can get very rough.

 

West of the Hawaiins, out towards the China Sea, can also get pretty rough (typhoon area).

 

Enjoy.