Hawaii - 18 day route on HAL questions

[DaveOKC]

I am looking at an 18 day Hawaii cruise (Dec 2, 2017 - Oosterdam) and am a bit confused.

 

The route map on the website shows that we first go to Hilo and then pass the Kilauea Volcano on our way to the second port, Lahanaina.

 

The port schedule however has our last Hawaii port as Nawiliwili before we sail back to San Diego, but we do scenic cruising of the Kilauea Volcano after we leave Nawiliwili. This does not make sense to me.

 

Has anyone done this route (it seems that other 18 day routes are different)? I would like to know so as to decide which side to book - port or starboard.

 

Any thoughts on port vs starboard for this cruise?

Edited September 25, 2016 by DaveOKC

[navybankerteacher]

I looked at a travel web site (which cannot be named on CC) for your itinerary - the route for the Dec 2 2017 sailing shown on the map does not make sense - backtracking between the islands, nor does the list of ports - messed up differently; so you should just disregard it and check with HAL.

 

We are on the Feb. 14 sailing on Westerdam, and our last two stops in the islands are at Kona, then Hilo on Hawaii before heading back to San Diego - we have a port balcony which will face the island as we pass the lava flow area.

[Alberta Quilter]

Do not rely on the maps as shown in the brochure or website. On our Hawaii cruise last May, the Captain said the maps are created by graphic designers and NOT by the people actually navigating the ship. Go by the itinerary and choose starboard/port by your preferences according to the itinerary.

[DaveOKC]

Do not rely on the maps as shown in the brochure or website. On our Hawaii cruise last May, the Captain said the maps are created by graphic designers and NOT by the people actually navigating the ship. Go by the itinerary and choose starboard/port by your preferences according to the itinerary.

 

Thanks for the information. The problem is, the itinerary really does not make sense to me, as it is different from other sailings, plus it seems to double back on itself needlessly.

 

Guess I should call HAL to confirm, but I wonder if they really know anything more that what the website says. Thats why I was hoping that someone actually was on this run in the recent past.

[SilvertoGold]

Looks to me as if you will do Hilo first, then passing the volcano on the way to Lahaina, Honolulu, Kona and Nawiliwili. I think they have it backwards on the HAL website.

 

It works this way perfectly, as you will be going along the south coast Hawaii and pass the volcano.

 

HAL used to do the volcano passing all the time. Lately, not so much. I like the Napali Coast scenic cruising much better than the volcano: way more to see, but that is another one HAL doesn't do much now.

Edited September 26, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[navybankerteacher]

Looks to me as if you will do Hilo first, then passing the volcano on the way to Lahaina, Honolulu, Kona and Nawiliwili. I think they have it backwards on the HAL website.

 

It works this way perfectly, as you will be going along the south coast Hawaii and pass the volcano.

 

HAL used to do the volcano passing all the time. Lately, not so much. I like the Napali Coast scenic cruising much better than the volcano: way more to see, but that is another one HAL doesn't do much now.

 

Are you kidding - first Hilo on Hawaii (the easternmost island), then Maui, then Oahu, then back to Kona on Hawaii, then to Kauai, the westernmost, then back to the mainland? That itinerary does not make sense.

 

Of course, the same site listing that itinerary has a map showing first stop at Oahu, then back east to Hilo, then Maui, followed by Kauai, then back to Kona.

 

Neither seems the least probable - and they certainly contradict each other.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Are you kidding - first Hilo on Hawaii (the easternmost island), then Maui, then Oahu, then back to Kona on Hawaii, then to Kauai, the westernmost, then back to the mainland? That itinerary does not make sense.

 

Of course, the same site listing that itinerary has a map showing first stop at Oahu, then back east to Hilo, then Maui, followed by Kauai, then back to Kona.

 

Neither seems the least probable - and they certainly contradict each other.

 

Each island has very limited docking/anchorage space. Outside of Honolulu I'm unsure if any of the ports can accommodate more than one ship at a time. With the Pride of America and two Princess ships also sailing these waters the oddball itinerary may have more to do with port availability than anything else. The distance between the two furthest ports, Hilo and Nawiliwili is roughly 350 miles, so the random hops between the islands may not be so far fetched after all.

[navybankerteacher]

Each island has very limited docking/anchorage space. Outside of Honolulu I'm unsure if any of the ports can accommodate more than one ship at a time. With the Pride of America and two Princess ships also sailing these waters the oddball itinerary may have more to do with port availability than anything else. The distance between the two furthest ports, Hilo and Nawiliwili is roughly 350 miles, so the random hops between the islands may not be so far fetched after all.

 

That MAY be so, but the map which shows the route the ship follows does not track with the order of the ports shown in the list of stops. One of them has to be wrong.

[DaveOKC]

That MAY be so, but the map which shows the route the ship follows does not track with the order of the ports shown in the list of stops. One of them has to be wrong.

 

According to the HAL website, they route and map agree with each other, except for the final day/night in Hawaii - Dec 13, when they greatly differ (the itinerary indicates passing the volcano, but the map shows the ship going on to San Diego. And of course, the itineary does not make sense IMO (why double back).

[chengkp75]

From my cursory search, it doesn't appear that there are any Princess ships in Hawaii in December.

 

They couldn't have pushed back the Oosterdam in Nawiliwili (Dec 13th), because the POA is there from the 14th to the 15th. And POA is in Kona on the 13th (Oosterdam the 12th), so it definitely appears to be a scheduling problem with POA. They probably could have swapped Kona and Lahaina.

 

When the Pride of Aloha was running the islands, we used to make the Nawiliwili to Kona run each week, and this included the Na Pali coast passage, so we started from the north shore of Kauai. It's a fuel guzzler, but entirely doable if the schedule demands it.

[RMLincoln]

HAL switched the order of the ports a few weeks ago for our Tales of the South Pacific cruise, now going to Hilo first then Kona. Planning is good but not guaranteed. Be prepared to have to go outside to see any volcanic activity which would be a rare treat indeed. m--

[DaveOKC]

From my cursory search, it doesn't appear that there are any Princess ships in Hawaii in December.

 

They couldn't have pushed back the Oosterdam in Nawiliwili (Dec 13th), because the POA is there from the 14th to the 15th. And POA is in Kona on the 13th (Oosterdam the 12th), so it definitely appears to be a scheduling problem with POA. They probably could have swapped Kona and Lahaina.

 

When the Pride of Aloha was running the islands, we used to make the Nawiliwili to Kona run each week, and this included the Na Pali coast passage, so we started from the north shore of Kauai. It's a fuel guzzler, but entirely doable if the schedule demands it.

 

That makes sense now, but now I am wondering if they will just skip the volcano viewing on the 13th to save fuel??

[chengkp75]

That makes sense now, but now I am wondering if they will just skip the volcano viewing on the 13th to save fuel??

 

Could be, there isn't much to see during the daylight hours of the volcano. They have 5 days scheduled each way, with that last day of "scenic cruising" thrown in, so they may be slow steaming to the south of the Big Island during the day, and catching a glimpse of the lava flow at night before heading back to the West Coast. It really doesn't make much difference in the time or fuel for the transit back where in the islands they start from, and it looks like they need to kill that day.

[HALFans]

I am looking at an 18 day Hawaii cruise (Dec 2, 2017 - Oosterdam) and am a bit confused.

 

The route map on the website shows that we first go to Hilo and then pass the Kilauea Volcano on our way to the second port, Lahanaina.

 

The port schedule however has our last Hawaii port as Nawiliwili before we sail back to San Diego, but we do scenic cruising of the Kilauea Volcano after we leave Nawiliwili. This does not make sense to me.

 

Has anyone done this route (it seems that other 18 day routes are different)? I would like to know so as to decide which side to book - port or starboard.

 

Any thoughts on port vs starboard for this cruise?

 

We've done the HAL Hawaii cruise 3 times, and as far as lava goes we only saw a red glow on the horizon one time... never really got a view of the lava at all. I'm not sure how common this is, but the lava doesn't always flow into the ocean anyway... sometimes it's busy trying to cover little villages and stuff inland. ;) I certainly wouldn't book either side of the ship with that in mind. What the lava is doing now may not have any bearing on what it will be doing when you get there.

 

It also seems that the port order may be adjusted for various reasons during the cruise; that happened 2 out of the 3 times. Weather, other ships making port changes, etc.

 

The important thing is to keep flexible and have a great cruise regardless of what may happen to the itinerary - you'll be on a great ship in a wonderful part of the world!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[chengkp75]

We've done the HAL Hawaii cruise 3 times, and as far as lava goes we only saw a red glow on the horizon one time... never really got a view of the lava at all. I'm not sure how common this is, but the lava doesn't always flow into the ocean anyway... sometimes it's busy trying to cover little villages and stuff inland. ;) I certainly wouldn't book either side of the ship with that in mind. What the lava is doing now may not have any bearing on what it will be doing when you get there.

 

It also seems that the port order may be adjusted for various reasons during the cruise; that happened 2 out of the 3 times. Weather, other ships making port changes, etc.

 

The important thing is to keep flexible and have a great cruise regardless of what may happen to the itinerary - you'll be on a great ship in a wonderful part of the world!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

From about 2008 until earlier this year, the lava was all flowing to inland directions. Earlier this year, it started flowing to the ocean again, and reports are that the view is back. The ships can't get real close anyway, as the sea temperature rises dramatically and you lose cooling for the engines and A/C. The NCL ships used to stop there and spin 360* to give everyone a good view, but we had to monitor engine temps and call the bridge when it was time to get out of Dodge.

[casper106]

My Hawaii experience was on the NCL Pride of Hawaii. They also mentioned passing by the volcano on the advertising. But in reality (which was the case for us),if there isn't any activity at the volcano then they sail from Hilo towards the north and around to Kona for the next day.

 

BTW, we didn't like the cruise.For what it costs,we could have rented something where we wanted and explored on our own.