Hawaii choice of cruise line

[Mintycake]

Hi, our family is looking to go to Hawaii in May 2023.  We will be 51, 49 and have our 13 year old daughter.  We are debating on three options:

 

1). Pride of America NCL - we have never sailed NCL

2). Princess out of west coast departure (roundtrip) - we are platinum on Princess

3). Celebrity or RC out of Vancouver (or to Vancouver) - we have sailed both RC and Celebrity once before

 

Time is not a factor but we do love sea days.  I'm leaning towards option 3 so we can spend a few days on land.  If you've done a cruise to Hawaii, which option did you take and did you like it?  Our considerations are activities for the kid (she loves kids clubs), good food, and good service.

 

I have been on a land based vacation to Hawaii as a child but husband and kid have never been.

 

[CruiserBruce]

The cruise lines you sailed will have the same quality of product as your previous experience with them. They don't really change their product for different areas of the world. For example,  the kids clubs will be the same. The food quality will be the same,,etc.

 

Pride of America doesn't have sea days. The roundtrips from the West Coast will obviously have more sea days.

[princeton123211]

8 hours ago, Mintycake said:

Time is not a factor but we do love sea days.  I'm leaning towards option 3 so we can spend a few days on land.  If you've done a cruise to Hawaii, which option did you take and did you like it?  Our considerations are activities for the kid (she loves kids clubs), good food, and good service.

If you love sea days the West Coast/Vancouver departures have them in spades. Frankly I think Princess/RC and certainly Celebrity are of a higher quality overall than POA.

 

The POA product is slightly different from even the standard issues NCL product and frankly I'm really not a huge fan of the ship-- its decor is pretty garish in places. It's also reportedly been having staffing shortages that are even greater than most other cruise ships because its flagging requires it to carry an American crew. It's resulted in areas and features of the ship being closed. 

 

Having said all that, if you haven't been to Hawaii since you were a child and your child and husband haven't been at all, consider a land based vacation there. You'll spend a ton more time on the islands and be able to do a lot more than if you cruise. Like I said, if the purpose is to get a bunch of sea days then go for it, but it will come at the expense of a lot of additional time you could be spending in Hawaii itself. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

We've done Princess from Los Angeles three times and have a fourth scheduled. We've also done HAL from San Diego. All have been great.

 

But if we wanted to do a Hawaii cruise with our grandkids, one of whom is 13, we'd bite the bullet and fly to Vancouver (or to Honolulu) to get on the Ovation of the Seas or the Quantum of the Seas, even though all of us can drive to the LA port in about 40 minutes.

 

Do note the Princess and HAL were 15 day round trips, and the RCL are 9-10 days, which I think is good. It allows you time in Hawaii before or after the cruise.

[SilkySal]

I believe Celebrity has an 11-night in May, 2023; if so, that would be my choice. Have fun! Cheers!