Spirit to Hawaii

[mac4cruise]

We are thinking of going to Hawaii next year on the Spirit can anyone tell us what is the best time to go weather wise and we don't what to go when their is a lot of kids on the ship. What is the best port to sail from.

 

Thanks for your help:rolleyes:

[gdani72]

I'm doing the Oct 2007 from Hawaii to Ensenada. I figure there won't be many kids on a 12 night cruise during the school year (and all the Hawaii cruises are during the school year; April might have more kids if it happens during a spring break week I suppose). I picked starting in Hawaii for a couple reasons-first, it leaves Honolulu on a Monday, which meant I could fly out on Friday and spend the weekend in Hawaii and second, port days can be exhausting and this way, I get 5 days after the ports to do absolutely nothing but lie on my balcony and relax (and work my way through the frozen cocktail menu :)) on my way home.

 

I haven't been to Hawaii in 20 years (lived there as a kid for a few years), so I can't help much with the weather, but I seem to remember getting in trouble for wanting to skip class in the fall to go to the beach, so it couldn't have been too bad.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We did the Spirit Hawaii April 2004 and it was our favorite cruise ever. We loved the ship and it was great fun to see all of the islands. I highly recommend it. I prefer the Honolulu departure so your restful days at sea are after seven busy port days. And I'd much rather sail to Ensenada than Vancouver because our last few days were too darn cool for this Floridian.

 

Here's a link to my review:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=4707

[lnew1gd1]

We are doing this cruise April 27, 2007. We choose Leaving from Honolulu and sailing back to Vancouver because of all the horror stories about embarkation/disembarking in Ensenada. I much prefer cooler sailing back to Canada than being bussed 2 hours to Mexico/California.

 

I agree with the other posters about the 5 days at sea coming home. I wanted the rest and relaxation of sea days after all the hustle and bustle of sightseeing in Hawaii.

 

There are lots of good posts on this subject. Do a search. Check out the old roll calls for Hawaii sailings and definitely look at the member reviews for Hawaii cruises.

 

We have a roll call going for our April 2007 cruise and there is one for the April 15, 2007 sailing also. Here are the links:

 

April 27, 2007 cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=272238

 

April 15, 2007:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=247949

 

April 28, 2006-----read post 69

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=245632

 

member reviews:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=176

 

Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy your cruise no matter where and when you sail!!

 

Lynn

[osiebosie]

We did the Honolulu to Ensenada cruise in fall of '03. There were hardly any children on the ship at all.

 

The last few days at sea were very relaxing after spending each and every day on an island. We were ready for the rest.

 

We were somewhat disappointed in the weather crossing the Pacific. I always thought the Pacific would be nice and warm and sunny, but it wasn't. But, we found some card playing friends in tablemates, and we played cards crossing the Pacific, so we had a blast. We napped, gambled some, and played cards, and got the r'n'r we needed.

 

Good thing, too, because the ride from Ensenada to San Diego was quite the adventure.

 

We ended up on the last bus. The driver spoke very broken english. AND he got lost from the group of buses! It was his first bus drive from Ensenada to SD, so he didn't know where in the *&%$ he was going! We ended up in DOWNTOWN TIJUANA, riding around, and the bus driver wouldn't ask for directions. We were all on pins and needles. Oh, and your cell phone WILL NOT work in Mexico! As soon as, and I mean as soon as we crossed the border, you could hear all of the phones beep as they came into range.

 

Then the bus driver missed the exit for buses at the border, so he had to back up. He was on a ramp backing up, and I was sitting at the window on the side which would fall off, if he slipped a wheel off of the ramp! It was hair raising! But, we made it, finally made it through customs, and the cruise was officially over!

 

We were all wishing that some of the officials on the cruise ship had been on that bus with us so that they could experience what we went through.

 

That said, it was an adventure, and we look back on it and laugh. The drive was beautiful (except through downtown Tijuana). If we hadn't gotten lost, it would have been an uneventful drive.

 

Here's what was frustrating. While in Ensenada, we saw a Royal Caribbean ship at port. When we finally got to San Diego, we saw the same ship at port there. Why can't Carnival just have a one or two hour stop in Ensenada and then cruise on to San Diego like RC?

 

Would we do that cruise again? In a heartbeat!!! I would recommend a balcony for this cruise. The Spirit was a gorgeous ship.

 

Highlight of the trip: on the way back crossing the Pacific Ocean, we ran into a school of dolphins. There were literally hundreds of them, jumping and swimming right up to the ship. You could see the spots on their backs! We were a handful of the fortunate cruisers who got to see them. Awesome!!

 

Shay