Cruise to Hawaii

[bandit0000]

Hello there,

I am looking to book my next cruise and would really love to go to Hawaii.

I am hoping all of you that have done a cruise to Hawaii can help me out.

As I am from the UK it is a really long flight to LA and I don't really fancy another long flight to Hawaii, so I was thinking of taking a cruise that sails from LA.

Does anyone have experience of this, if so is it true that the seas are rough? What time of year is best to go?

Also what is the situation with the Casino on a ship sailing from LA.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Best regards,

Lisa

[wwinfl91]

We did this last fall on the Island Princess which left and returned to Hawaii. It was a 15 day cruise and we had a great time. If you want to check out the Yahoo group web site I set up for the cruise you can see some pictures, check out the links on the islands and get some ideas on this type cruise.

 

If you haven't cruised before the 10 days at sea may seem way too many but you will find or at least we did they went by before we knew it and unfortunately we were back at LA and had to leave the ship.

 

Here is the link to the site.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islandprincess100604/

 

Also check out the Hawaii port of call port which had lot of ideas on this cruise.

 

Generally the Pacific is not as rough as the Atlantic and at least when we did our cruise in October the weather was great. We were able to use our balcony every day.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[bandit0000]

Thankyou for your kind advice.

Lisa

[wwinfl91]

You are very welcome. We visited in your country, stayed in London for a week, after our transatlantic on the Jewel and had a great time. I understand your reluctance to do another long flight after flying from England to LA.

 

There are a number of cruise lines that do the Hawaii to California cruises but usually they only do them in the Spring, when they have ships on their way to Alaska and then again in Fall when the ships are heading back from Alaska. I know that Celebrity, HAL and Princess do this type cruise. RCCL and Carnival does it to Hawaii and then you have to fly back or from Hawaii and then you have to fly to Hawaii to catch the ship.

 

My sister and her husband recently did the NCL Wind's Hawaiian cruise and had a good time but kept mentioning to me that the ship was an older one. I had warned them about that before they took the cruise but they wanted to go in July which was their anniversary and they had to go in July.

 

Some of the other really high end cruise lines may also do it but I don't follow those lines. Check out *****.com and see what is available when you want to sail.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[wrp96]

RCI next year is having circle cruises from California to Hawaii on Radiance of the Seas. One is in May out of San Diego and the other is in September out of LA. I think they are both 14 night cruises.

[wwinfl91]

Sorry about that. I looked at this year's fall RCCL cruises and put them with Carnival.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Hi Lisa,

 

I know it makes your flights miserably long, but I'd definitely recommend a cruise that starts or ends in Hawaii so you get more land time. Hawaii is so awesome (been there three times) and the very best cruise destination. But with the west coast round-trips you get less than a week in Hawaii. I'd strongly recommend at least 7 days on the cruise, plus 2 or 3 land days prior to sailing. This will help you see one island fully and recover from jet lag before you sail.

 

We did the Carnival Spirit 12 days from Honolulu to Vancouver last year. It was amazing. We rented a car in every port-of-call. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Please feel free to email me: GottaLuvCruising@earthlink.net

 

Hi wwinfl91 - I'm also in Kissimmee!

 

Janet

[lhall85917]

I know you are mostly interested in something from LA, BUT if you are thinking at all about a trip that starts and ends in Honolulu as mentioned above - be sure to check out our CC group cruise. We are on the Pride of America June 10-17, affectionately known as the Pineapple Heads!! :p We would like to invite you to come in, look around and join us!!!! Click the banner in my signature for all of our group info and rates.

[mrg0433]

We flew to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles and spent a few days before flying to Hawaii and taking RCCL Legend of the Seas. We spent four days on Honolulu and then sailed on a ten day cruise with 4 plus days at sea at the end. We also have friends who sailed Princess on the 15 day Hawaiian roundtrip cruise from Los Angeles. Now we both agree that flying both ways is better. Next time we will:

 

Fly to Las Vegas or LA 3 days

Fly to Honolulu 2 days ( Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel)

Cruise NCL 7 days (Pride of America)

Fly to Las Vegas or LA 3 days

 

Total = 15 Days (the same as the Princess cruise where you spend 8 days at sea).

 

The problem sailing roundtrip from LA is that you spend too much time at sea and not enough time on the islands. Besides, I love freestyle dining on Norwegian's newer ships because the last one we sailed had ten different restaurants (French, Italian, Chinese/Fast food, Mexican, Japanese, English Pub, Steak House, Venetian DR, and 2 American Restaurants). Our RCI ship from Hawaii only had one dining room and one buffet. That gets boring eating at the same table, same waiter, same guests, same room for ten nights.

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

[wwinfl91]

It really depends whether you like or dislike time at sea. We had a great time on our Island Princess cruise with 10 days at sea and 5 days at the islands. Princess also has PC dining which allows you to choice when and where you want to eat each evening and also has the option of regular fixed seat dining if that if what you prefer.

 

We have done both regular fixed seat dining for longer, 12 or more days, and PC dining and have enjoyed both. The option of the alternative restaurants that most newer ships offer allow you to take one or two nights away from the regular dining room and break up the cruise if you want.

 

Personally I can't see spending multiple days in LA (traffic, smog, etc.). If you are going to do a Hawaiian based cruise spend a day in LA to recover from your long flight from England and then spend a couple of days in whatever island in Hawaii your cruise there leaves from.

 

IMHO of course.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Jimbo]

Land Day's in Hawaii/Vegas/LA will cost a bundle compared to the Sea Days on the Ship...in the end I guess it depends how much you want to see and just How much $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ you want to spend.

 

Jimbo:)

[GottaLuvCruising]

Given the logistics of this vacation, there is no question that it is going to cost. But if their goal is to see Hawaii, a round-trip from the west coast is not the best choice. I love sea days and it might work for me because I've done several Hawaiian vacations. For the OP's circumstances, I'd fly all the way to Hawaii, spend more than a week in the islands and sail back to the west coast.

[Ali70]

Hi Lisa,

don't let the long flight put you off flying to Honolulu, it's really not that bad. I'm from Ireland and I've been to Honolulu twice [land holidays]. I'll be back in Honolulu next year for my first cruise [on The Pride of America]. I just bring a good book to read on the plane, then I have a snooze, before I know it I'm there.

 

Ali

[bandit0000]

Thankyou all so much for your informative advice it is a great help.

lisa

[mrg0433]

I compared all the prices last year when we were planning our flights and cruise in Hawaii. We purchased separate airfares for each leg of our trip:

 

Boston-Vegas $99 each way per person (Southwest)

Vegas or LA -Honolulu $117 each way per person (Aug-Feb) Hawaiian Air

Flying London to Boston or NY is cheap from Nov-Feb

Excalibur Hotel $25 pp per night (Sun-Thur) in Las Vegas.

 

You won't want to fly all that way from London to spend only five days in Hawaii and all those sea days on the cold and windy Pacific Ocean--definetley not the Caribbean waters!

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

Land Day's in Hawaii/Vegas/LA will cost a bundle compared to the Sea Days on the Ship...in the end I guess it depends how much you want to see and just How much $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ you want to spend.

 

Jimbo:)

[azeddie]

My wife and I sailed Hawaii in August 2003 on the Norwegian Star. We flew round trip from Phoenix to Honolulu and cruised the islands for 7 days. We enjoyed the trip and NCL's service was very good. Didn't care much for the whole "freestyle" thing, but it didn't take away from the trip at all. We stayed another 5 nights on Maui after the cruise at the Royal Lahaina Resort for $120/night. The room was a little dated (1960's), but who cares. When you've been married for 100 years like I have you don't spend much time in the room anyway!!!

 

This year in September we're sailing to Hawaii from Vancouver this time and flying back from Honolulu. We're going on RCCL Radiance of the Seas. We cruise over to Hawaii from Vancouver (5 days at sea) and then around the islands for 7 days. We're going with another couple that have never been there and they are very excited. Anyway, I wouldn't do the round trip Los Angeles. Cruising over one way is good because the days at sea are very relaxing and the anticipation of getting to Hawaii builds up every day that passes, but once your time is up on the islands it's just nice to get home. Also, if you want to stay a few days after the cruise you can instead of going right back. That's my opinion for whatever it's worth to you.

 

Have fun!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

We're going to go on the Island for the holiday cruise in December and we can't wait. We love sea days -- just hanging out, swimming in the pool or reading by the pool (depending on if it's hubby or me), working out in the gym. Also, I'm a white-knuckle flyer and we can drive to San Pedro.

 

We're looking at Southern Caribbean cruises for 2006 and the holiday one we were checking out has eight ports in a row so we're going to see if five in a row in Hawaii would be too overwhelming for us.

[DesrtDrmr]

We loved the Island Princess cruise from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back. It was so relaxing...........no airport hassles, no packing and unpacking, etc. There were many people on our cruise from the UK. I think many of them had flown to Los Angeles, spent a few days there, sightseeing, and changing their body clocks, before the cruise.

We were never bored...........the weather was chilly for the first day and a half, and the last day, but maybe not chilly if you were coming from the UK. The air temp was in the 60s just off the coast, and in the 80s around, and in, Hawaii. We went in April. We had one day, each direction, of choppy seas.

There were many things to do on the sea days, but we spent time every day reading, and napping, along with doing some of the activities offered. It was terrific!

Have a wonderful cruise, whatever you decide to do.

[mrg0433]

Wow, I thought it was 8 sea days. Now that I know it is 10, I will definetely fly roundtrip. Thanks for the info.

It really depends whether you like or dislike time at sea. We had a great time on our Island Princess cruise with 10 days at sea and 5 days at the islands. Princess also has PC dining which allows you to choice when and where you want to eat each evening and also has the option of regular fixed seat dining if that if what you prefer.

 

We have done both regular fixed seat dining for longer, 12 or more days, and PC dining and have enjoyed both. The option of the alternative restaurants that most newer ships offer allow you to take one or two nights away from the regular dining room and break up the cruise if you want.

 

Personally I can't see spending multiple days in LA (traffic, smog, etc.). If you are going to do a Hawaiian based cruise spend a day in LA to recover from your long flight from England and then spend a couple of days in whatever island in Hawaii your cruise there leaves from.

 

IMHO of course.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[coleridge]

Wow, I thought it was 8 sea days. Now that I know it is 10, I will definetely fly roundtrip. Thanks for the info.

 

 

I am wondering about the same thing- whether to book a 15 night cruise over Xmas and NY from LA to Hawaii. I am wondering about the kids and the weather and the seasick possibilities. Anyone done this. It is on the Summit.

[imsulin]

Hi, there! There's a CruiseCritic group that's sailing on the Holland America Zaandam r/t from San Diego on Oct. 7, 2006. It's a 15-day cruise (10 days at sea...I LOVE sea days!) The information is on the CC Group Board if you'd like to check it out. I've been to Hawaii a few times before (land vacations). I've also been on the HAL Zaandam before, and it's size is perfect for me. Good luck in your planning!

[bandit0000]

Thankyou again for all of your informative replies. I like the sound of staying a few days on Hawaii after the cruise so I guess I'll have to make the extra flight from LA to Hawaii but I am sure it will be worth it if it cuts the possibility of the choppy seas somewhat.

Thanks again,

Lisa

[alioness]

We did RCL from Vancouver to Hawaii and absolutely loved it. We enjoyed the sea and were kept as busy as we wanted to be. The best part of sailing to Hawaii was that every day you notice a distinct difference in the airtemperature and smell. Every day, one day closer to paradise.

then there's the early morning when you see lights uot in the distance of your first island. Oh the anticiipation. You share this with a ship load of passengers. When everyone gets back after their first day ashore they carry bags of tropical clothing bought at Hilo Hattie or Walmart and then dress up for the Hawaiian Theme Night. Need I go on? We loved it and would do it again!!

 

Barb

[coleridge]

I am wondering about the same thing- whether to book a 15 night cruise over Xmas and NY from LA to Hawaii. I am wondering about the kids and the weather and the seasick possibilities. Anyone done this. It is on the Summit.

 

 

This is Coleridge again. Has anyone done the 15 night cruise above in the winter time? I am still wondering the same things. Please help!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

We'll be able to tell you in January about going in the winter (holiday time) with kid.