Hawaii or New England

[world~citizen]

Been a while since I have been here. Been a while since we have cruised. Which itinerary would you reintroduce yourself to cruising with - Hawaii or Montreal/New England?

 

This Board has changed a lot. Thats what I get for missing staff meetings.

[Cruising-along]

Welcome back. I've done both and liked them equally.

But I would say it depends on how much you like sea days, since you'll have a lot more sea days on the Hawaii cruise. They're both great cruises but quite different and only you know what you like. [emoji846]

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Have you been to Hawaii and Canada/New England?

It could be a hard decision.

On Hawaiian cruises you only get a taste of the islands. We saw a lot more when we had toured the islands on several different trips there. We did the Hawaiian cruise just for something to do.

Canada/New England is very port intensive. And again there is a lot to see in each which can't be done in just 1 cruise.

If I had to choose, I would do the Canada/New England cruise.

[colonialinnkeeper]

We have done both itineraries and they are very different. We live in New England and so are accustomed to the topography and the "feel" of the towns and areas. We have spent a total of five weeks on the Canada/New England trips and have loved doing them. For the first ones we did the touristy sights--a few ship tours and then on our own. For the last we did a B2B and rented a car for every port. Essentially, we visited each port twice on this trip. Before leaving we rented cars and wrote out an itinerary for each stop. It was a wonderful 50th anniversary trip and so memorable.

 

For our Hawaii trip we did a 15 day itinerary leaving San Diego after flying in three days early to visit San Diego. These included two stops on the big island and four more ports. We found we loved the sea days to get there which were relaxing and gave us time to gear up for 6 very filled long days of sightseeing. The weather was perfect and we did rent a car on some of the port days so we could explore on our own. (We spent almost a whole day walking at Kilauea and the museum and it is sobering to see what is happening there now).

 

I'm not sure if you have any specific questions but would be glad answer if you do.

[Cruise_More_Often]

I just cannot wrap my mind around that many sea days, so it is an easy choice for me. We have done four Canada/New England cruises--one a 10-day round-trip from New York City; one a 10-day one way from New York City to Quebec City; and two from Montreal to Boston. I love the Montreal to Boston itineraries, because I adore spending time in Montreal.

 

Have fun with your planning.

[jkrislc]

If you want a lot of do nothing (see e days) Hawaii would be a good choice. However, for me, there are just too many sea days. An alternative might be a back to back New England/Canada cruise.

 

I really enjoyed New England/Canada on both Holland from Montreal and Carnival from Boston.

[Fouremco]

A few points to ponder:

 

• Port intensive vs lots of sea day;
  
• Length of cruise;
  
• Choice of ships;
  
• Weather;
  
• Travel from home to port and return;
  
• Time previously spent in Hawaii and/or the Maritimes.
  

 

I lived in the Maritimes for years, still visit frequently and did Boston-Montreal on the Maasdam a couple of years ago, but that would still be my personal choice. I've only done land vacations on Hawaii, and would do so again rather than take a Hawaii cruise.

[DaveOKC]

For a first time cruiser I would do the Canada/NE one, as the Hawaii one has many sea days PLUS the seas will likely be alot rougher (at times).

 

Alot of the Canada/NE cruise is in protected waters, so the "motion of the ocean" is generally very mild. Of course, this could vary a bit depending on the itinerary you chose. Hawaii is obviously in the wide open Pacific for about 5 days out of CA, so likely the ocean could get rough at times (depends on weather of course).

 

On the Canada/NE cruise you will have alot of port days, which should keep you busy. Hawaii is 5-6 days at sea with only ship activities to do, followed by 5-7 days in ports, followed by another 5-6 sea days, so you will have to learn to entertain yourself onboard. After you have a few cruises under your belt, you will have a better idea of what to do onboard to keep busy and happy.

[navybankerteacher]

They are different in many ways - almost a coin toss to decide which to do first. But if you are only going to do one, pick Hawaii. New England can be visited as well (better?) by car on a land trip.

[MajMom96]

I vote with the ones suggesting New England for the reasons expressed above. I had always wanted to do the Hawaii cruise so we did it last year. We’re seasoned cruisers and generally love sea days, but it was too much for us. On a 15 day cruise, 2/3 of your days are at sea. The waters were fine, not too rough, but all those consecutive days at sea tended to get monotonous. At least with NE, you have a choice to stay on the ship or visit the port. No choices when you’re out at sea! But I’m sure you’ll love either trip. Welcome back to cruising! [emoji483]

[igraf]

I would say the opposite in that I would save Hawaii for a land trip as it is easy enough to visit more than one island if so desired. I can't imagine limiting oneself to just a few hours to experience Maui from a cruise ship.

 

A good compromise is to take a one-way cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver on other cruise lines. Half the sea days and more days in Hawaii as compared to the HAL round trip. Some of the one-way Hawaii cruises offer overnight port stops on the islands.

 

igraf

 

 

 

They are different in many ways - almost a coin toss to decide which to do first. But if you are only going to do one, pick Hawaii. New England can be visited as well (better?) by car on a land trip.

[catl331]

I would say the opposite in that I would save Hawaii for a land trip as it is easy enough to visit more than one island if so desired. I can't imagine limiting oneself to just a few hours to experience Maui from a cruise ship.

Ditto. I don't like a lot of sea days in a row, and would prefer to fly to HI and spend 3 days each on 4 different islands.

[tommui987]

Don't forget that the "Pride of America" - a NCL ship - does a 7-day cruise just in the Hawaiian Islands. If I had to choose between an HAL (or whatever) from the West Coast to Hawaii or the NCL ship, I would take the NCL ship. It spends seven days on the islands as oppose to the two-three days on a ship from the Mainland.

 

 

If the poster is from the Far-East coast of Canada, remember your flight from there to the West Coast is a bit longer than from the West Coast to Hawaii!

[bobpell]

Avoid Hawaii cruise around end of Nov. Rained 13 of 15 days.

Lumpy seas leaving and returning into Long beach

Later told by crew members that we should have sailed in late sept. or early Oct. as it was CAVOK (clear and unlimited visibility)

Still getting slagged on from my BW

Bob

[DaveOKC]

Avoid Hawaii cruise around end of Nov. Rained 13 of 15 days.

Lumpy seas leaving and returning into Long beach

Later told by crew members that we should have sailed in late sept. or early Oct. as it was CAVOK (clear and unlimited visibility)

Still getting slagged on from my BW

Bob

 

Weather varies of course. We left in early Dec and weather was fine except for 2-3 days out of 18. Seas a bit rough, but not terrible.

[colonialinnkeeper]

We cruised the first week in March and the crossing both ways was pretty smooth--a few sea days began foggy but cleared. On the island we had a couple of passing showers that didn't last long. Much like Caribbean weather.

[ellieanne]

For a first time cruiser I would do the Canada/NE one, as the Hawaii one has many sea days PLUS the seas will likely be alot rougher (at times).

 

Alot of the Canada/NE cruise is in protected waters, so the "motion of the ocean" is generally very mild. Of course, this could vary a bit depending on the itinerary you chose. Hawaii is obviously in the wide open Pacific for about 5 days out of CA, so likely the ocean could get rough at times (depends on weather of course).

 

On the Canada/NE cruise you will have alot of port days, which should keep you busy. Hawaii is 5-6 days at sea with only ship activities to do, followed by 5-7 days in ports, followed by another 5-6 sea days, so you will have to learn to entertain yourself onboard. After you have a few cruises under your belt, you will have a better idea of what to do onboard to keep busy and happy.

 

The worst seas I have ever had were on a Circle Hawaii cruise. But the second, third, fourth, and fifth worst seas I have experiences were on Canada/New England cruises. The seas are not smooth. The North Atlantic is notoriously rough and often, rougher than you think it will be. I have done 8 Canada/New England cruises and I have never had one without at least one day of rough seas. So if you're looking for smooth seas, this is not the itinerary to go for.

 

I love the Canada/New England itinerary, especially if they are the longer ones that do different ports like Sept-Iles, Gaspe, Baie-Comeau or Cornerbrook, Newfoundland. The cruises that go out to Newfoundland are wonderful (but guaranteed to have rough seas on the way to or from).

 

The Circle Hawaii is very different. There is no real way to compare the two itineraries.

 

If you have taken a cruise already, you know whether you like seas days or not. I do not like more than two sea days in a row, so while I loved sailing around the islands in Hawaii, the sailing across the Pacific and back left me getting seriously stir crazy. If you like lazy sea days, do the Circle Hawaii. Canada/New England is much more port intensive and most of the sailing is done overnight, so even if the ship hits rough seas, it's more than likely you'll be in bed at the time.

[world~citizen]

Thank-you for all the input. The only sensible thing to do it cruise both, but you can only sail one at a time. I think Canada-New England - and if possible back to back return. I like sea days, but not this time. The observations here settled it for us. I forgot how helpful CC can be.