Help Me Understand 9 Days @ Sea and Only 4 Days in Hawaii (and no overnight)?

[donaldsc]

I hate sea days so I would never take such a cruise. On the other hand, there are people who love sea days so this cruise is just great for them. I don't understand them but as they say, different strokes for different folks.

 

DON

[FLCruise7]

Hi

 

I find your uncertainty curious.

 

I actually did a similar cruise with 5 Hawaii stops, as well as Ensenada on return trip from Long Beach and enjoyed it very much.

 

What I find curious is that this site is devoted to cruising. Sure you could go to any destination and spend time there to enjoy the country, city, or whatever, but that's not a cruise. Your observations that, "one day in each port does no justice to these beautiful islands", would be equally true of most ports of call (even the ones that aren't islands). So are you questioning the concept of cruising as a way to travel, or is it just that you feel some places you shouldn't cruise to? Isn't the opportunity of being able to go somewhere on a cruise the chance to determine if a future trip might be of interest to traveler?

 

 

(y)(y)(y)

[Holomoku]

This may sound strange to some, but we live on the Big Island and are taking our 2nd cruise from S.F. to Hawaii and back to S.F. This is just to get in a cruise and since we like sea days and have been to all the ports we can just sit back and people watch for 15 days. In the ports all we will do is leave laundry with our house sitters and visit with friends on the other islands, maybe? One 8 hour day in each port is plenty with a very late night departure in Honolulu, 2300-2400 hrs. so you can see more and do a night time luau. One very interesting tour in Honolulu is to the Doris Duke home through the Museum of Art, not a Princess tour. We did that last time and it was very interesting history and design and very inexpensive. You can take a nice walk through town to the museum to catch your van ride out there. Overnight in any of the towns except Honolulu and the sidewalks roll up, so what are you going to do, just go back to the ship anyway. If you are a 20 something you could find a bar in Lahaina. On New Years Eve in Kailua-Kona you could shoot a cannon loaded with grape shot and not hit anyone at the stroke of midnight.

[spookwife]

I understand that some people don't like to fly but what about others that take these cruises with the hopes of seeing a lot of Hawaii. One day in each port does no justice to these beautiful islands.

 

I'd rather skip one of the islands and get an overnight to really take in the beauty and sights or elongate the itinerary to 21 days with multiple days at each island.

 

 

Hawai'i that way is a land vacation, period. heck even island hopping requires air travel. no cruise vacation to any destination is going provide you with anything more than a small taste of the area and local flavor.

[gubby]

As many have said, this is a cruise for those ( like us) who enjoy sea days and do not like long flights or unpacking numerous times. Add in a wonderful meals and company, entertainment every night and what more could you wish for. We have done the 15 day Hawaii cruise twice and are now looking forward to a 28 day Tahiti cruise in March. The biggest appeal was not having to take long flights for either. I can just handle a 7 hour flight to Europe and then enjoy the bustle of running around to see the sights of Rome, Paris, London, Prague,etc. Compare this to the relaxation of a number of sea days. Both are enjoyable, but at different times. As for getting to know a place, we have spent at least 25 days in Paris, and still find new places to visit each time we go. The only way IMO to know a place is to actually live there. Retirement is wonderful for travel, but does require extra time to save for these journeys.