Carnival vs. NCL for Hawaii??

[missholly24]

I'm trying to plan a bucket list 14 day-ish cruise to Hawaii. I'm pretty loyal to Carnival with RCI scattered in. Does anyone have any insight on what line does it best? Carnival or NCL (Pride of America) or Princess for that matter.  Sea days definitely appear to be the difference with Carnival having 8?!?! 😲

 

Any insight on differences would be appreciated! 

[princeton123211]

53 minutes ago, missholly24 said:

I'm trying to plan a bucket list 14 day-ish cruise to Hawaii. I'm pretty loyal to Carnival with RCI scattered in. Does anyone have any insight on what line does it best?

I think the first question is if you want to see and spend time in Hawaii or do you want to spend time on a cruise ship? Personally most of the cruises that go round trip from the mainland to Hawaii are literally the worst way to see Hawaii-- you spend most of your time at sea and have minuscule port days in only a couple of islands (which is great if you want to be on the ship with a lot of sea days). 

 

Repositioning cruises that go one way from the mainland and drop you in Hawaii (or vice versa) are better in that you'll have time on your own to explore the islands before or after. NCL Pride of America is its own beast in that it has the exemption to just circle the islands-- you'll see a lot more and is great for folks that want to see a little bit of most of Hawaii and have a limited amount of time. You can of course add time to the front or back of the cruise to spend time in places you want to go to. 

 

Personally, if Hawaii is a bucket lis destination for you, ditch the cruise all together and just fly over and spend time in 2 or maybe 3 islands (if you have 14 days). You'll have a lot more fun and see/experience a lot more. 

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Personally, if Hawaii is a bucket lis destination for you, ditch the cruise all together and just fly over and spend time in 2 or maybe 3 islands (if you have 14 days). You'll have a lot more fun and see/experience a lot more. 

This!! The concept is discussed here frequently, and is the real way to see Hawaii.