Only 5 Sailing Options for Hawaii?

[Pen1993]

I have to admit that I am a bit biased with less than a handful of sailings in our back pockets and friends' shared experiences of other cruise lines to compare to, but we really like RCCL. We are considering a Hawaii cruise (if not Alaska but that will be another thread) in the spring of next year and would like to know what your thoughts are on the itineraries and the Radiance. Would she be a smooth ride to the islands? One thing that surprised me is the rather limited number of sailings to Hawaii. Is this usual for RCCL or have they just not posted a complete listing just yet for the next year? I suppose we could check out other cruise lines but the reviews seem hit and miss as with our own friends' feedbacks, and the Norwegian that has a year-round sailing in Hawaii seems to be on an overall reviews seem more along the lines of "Meh." Still, though this may not be the right forum for an alternate cruise line option, which ship would you take, as I realize that it may be more practical for us to sail out of California than Vancouver which means opening up other possibilities.

 

TIA!

Edited April 8, 2015 by Pen1993

[Clarea]

I have to admit that I am a bit biased with less than a handful of sailings in our back pockets and friends' shared experiences of other cruise lines to compare to, but we really like RCCL. We are considering a Hawaii cruise (if not Alaska but that will be another thread) in the spring of next year and would like to know what your thoughts are on the itineraries, and the Radiance. Would she be a smooth ride to the islands? And. One thing that surprised me is the rather limited number of sailings to Hawaii. Is this usual for RCCL or have they just not posted a complete listing just yet for the next year? I suppose we could check out other cruise lines but the reviews seem hit and miss as with our own friends' feedbacks, and the Norwegian that has a year-round sailing in Hawaii seems to be on an overall reviews seem more along the lines of "Meh." Still, though this may not be the right forum for an alternate cruise line option, which ship would you take, as I realize that it may be more practical for us to sail out of California than Vancouver which means opening up other possibilities.

 

TIA!

Royal only does Hawaii sailings as part of twice yearly re-positioning of ships between Alaska and Australia.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

The 15 day round trip sailings from San Diego are sorely missed on RC.

 

They only had them once in the spring and and once in the fall as they repo'd the ships to/from Alaska.

 

Please bring them back!!!

 

***

[PCWalton1]

I have to admit that I am a bit biased with less than a handful of sailings in our back pockets and friends' shared experiences of other cruise lines to compare to, but we really like RCCL. We are considering a Hawaii cruise (if not Alaska but that will be another thread) in the spring of next year and would like to know what your thoughts are on the itineraries, and the Radiance. Would she be a smooth ride to the islands? And. One thing that surprised me is the rather limited number of sailings to Hawaii. Is this usual for RCCL or have they just not posted a complete listing just yet for the next year? I suppose we could check out other cruise lines but the reviews seem hit and miss as with our own friends' feedbacks, and the Norwegian that has a year-round sailing in Hawaii seems to be on an overall reviews seem more along the lines of "Meh." Still, though this may not be the right forum for an alternate cruise line option, which ship would you take, as I realize that it may be more practical for us to sail out of California than Vancouver which means opening up other possibilities.

 

TIA!

 

Next spring we will be on that Radiance cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. My wife and I have twice done the opposite route in September from Vancouver to Hawaii and loved it. You get the opportunity to sample all four of the main islands and a great five day transit to really relax and unwind. There are others on here who have done this cruise many more times than us who I bet will chime in soon.

 

The lack of choices on Royal for cruises to/from Hawaii is because they are just repositioning cruise for them for ships that at moving between Alaska and Australia.

[garycarla]

Here is the problem.

 

Only U.S. Flagged ships can do just Hawaii. Hence the NCL option. NCL America has one ship that can do that. Their other ships can not do that.

 

All other ships/cruise lines need a distant port. Hence the long transit times. And resulting lack of enough people to book those cruises.

[pspercy]

Also see Holland America and Princess' itineraries.

[Pen1993]

Thank you for the insights so far. FYI for those who may also have some feedback to share, that we consider ourselves, price-conscious, active, yet laid-back in our cruising style. :)

[Pen1993]

I think we're leaning towards the spring itinerary. Our lucky friends rent a home in Kauai every April/May and suggested that these are the best times in the island.

[Pen1993]

That is interesting. We plan to set aside about two weeks for this trip to take advantage of a few days in Honolulu before embarking for the island-hop. Are these 4-5 sea days an issue? I think I would enjoy extended sea days myself and assume that like other sea-days we've experienced on our modest two previous cruises on the Caribbean, the crew puts out a lot of activities to entertain everyone. Or is that not the case?

[PCWalton1]

That is interesting. We plan to set aside about two weeks for this trip to take advantage of a few days in Honolulu before embarking for the island-hop. Are these 4-5 sea days an issue? I think I would enjoy extended sea days myself and assume that like other sea-days we've experienced on our modest two previous cruises on the Caribbean, the crew puts out a lot of activities to entertain everyone. Or is that not the case?

 

We are going to fly in a couple days before and enjoy the island of Oahu before boarding. I love the 5 day transit between the islands and the mainland, there are plenty of activities to keep my wife from getting bored and I get lots if time to spend with my Kindle. :D

 

Both times we have travel the weather was good too. Here is a link to a video I took from our aft balcony.

 

 

 

This was taken up by the pool.

 

 

 

If you do decide to take the spring cruise drop by the roll call, there are many there you can chat with about the cruise and the islands. Here is the link.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2034126&page=41

[Badgertr]

I did some investigation on this as I hate to fly very long. My Wisconsin to CA flight was beyond my limit. I have told myself if I ever had to go to Hawaii that I would have to take a ship. And if I did make the long flights I wanted to see all the islands, also. Well, it happened I have to go for a business trip. Instead of hoo hoo I was ugh! Like you I found the options limited, I wanted to find at least a one way. The NCL was so expensive and all the one ways were not when I had to be there. I found a 15 day from the mainland on Carnival that was cheaper than the 7 day NCL but that wouldn't help me as I needed to stay on Maui. I love RCI and, if given a choice, would stay with them but I did not hate Carnival. We were always able to find places away from wild partying and there probably be less kids on a 15 day during school. Hope this helps.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Badgertr

[pspercy]

I like the September sailings, far prefer going from cool to warm weather than vice versa:)

[Badgertr]

I forgot the other thing I liked on the Carnival as it sailed past a volcano in the dark and you could see it glowing. The other ones didn't mention anything about that.