Best time and ship for hawaii cruise

[zurich72]

Hi everyone -- thinking about 2008....more travel dreams..

Would love everyone's input on what's the best time of year , and also, what is the best ship/line/itinerary.....Thanks!

[judyf]

For me it's the one I'm on. LOL

 

I choose fall as it won't be too hot, no whales but I'm not going for whales as we see them on the east coast locations in the summer. I would pick a NCLA ship and the POAmerica for next year as the POHawaii is leaving. POALoha is a little older. I think the itineraies are all about the same unless you do the longer cruises.

 

Someone should be able to help more.

[beachchick]

May I suggest that you start with an advanced search on this forum only and go back about 3 months? Try "best cruise" and "best time" and maybe "best month." As you can imagine, this subject comes up frequently and there've been several thorough and detailed threads about it recently; including various cruise lines, NCLA options, some of the various reasons people choose specific times of year (things like whale season, etc.), ocean crossing conditions, and so on. This should give you some ideas of what might appeal to you. Then, when you've narrowed it down a bit, members can give you more details and further information.

 

The bottom line is that "best" is a very fluid and personal thing.

 

beachchick

[mithryl]

We sailed 16 days, RT from LA to Hawaii in February '07 and loved it so much, we've booked it again from March '08. We sailed on The Island Princess and will be on the Diamond Princess next year.

You really need to decide how long of a cruise you want. If you only have seven days and you want to fly to Hawaii, your choices are very different than if you want the longer RT experience. I love sea days, and the RT gives you 4 full days over and 5 full days back at sea.

There's lots to do, but what I loved most was being able to get really relaxed before getting to the Islands, then going "full tilt" while ashore and then being able to completely relax and refresh again on the way back.

So, pick how many days you want to spend.

Decide if you love or hate sea days.

Pick your price point and your cabin preference. (You get more space for the price on Princess than on Hal or RCCL), but you may want some of the things either of the other lines offer.

As far as time of year...that's a personal preference as well.

I like sailing in late Feb or early Mar. For Hawaii, you get to see awesome whales (if that interests you). If not, it doesn't much matter. Our weather was wonderful..but it can vary any time of year. The cruise just before ours had bad weather and didn't make it to any of the tender ports...the one before them was great, the one after ours was great.

[bigred08046]

Humm didnt work. Tried the advanced search thing and nothing turned up. VERY intrested in this thread.:confused:

[zurich72]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies so far -- I have tried some searchs, but I think the question is too broad.

I'm not a big fan of flying, so minimizing that is always a plus (I live in Philly), so we want either a one way from CA or roundtrip CA -- we do like sea days, but I have heard that the crossing can be rough and cold -- is there ever a time of year that you could use the pool, or is the middle of the ocean always going to be cool? thanks again.

[SC LTC]

I'm taking the Diamond Princess first cruise to Hawaii, i've been reading about the best time so far they say Oct thats when we're going.:D Lets see Gloria

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

to spend more time in the Islands. That is why we've chosen NCL for the second time in two years. Also we like the longer itinerary so we've gone with the 11 days both this year and 2005. Airfare from the East coast is such that if we go we are going for as long as possible. I thought that April was a great time to see Hawai'i, as we also spent 15 days (no cruise) there in April 2006. We're going in December because of the 11 day cruise is available. There is really no bad time to see Hawai'i. I like NCL because of the free style cruising. You'll love it no matter what!

[CC Help Michell]

If I weren't a teacher (which limits my schedule for adventures like Hawaii) I would do a 10 or 11 night NCLA itinerary departing and returning to Honolulu, during whale season. It's not that I don't like sea days, I love them! But for a visit to paradise, I want to spend as much time IN paradise as possible, not 8-10 days on the ship and 5 days in Hawaii. I would pick whale season (it varies a tad, but basically December - April, so I'd pick January or February) because a) I don't live where whale-watching is possible and I'd love to do it, b) in Hawaii the water is still warm enough for snorkeling, c) I live where winters are cold, rainy, dark, and generally yucky, and d) winter is the time of big surf -- I wouldn't want to get IN it, but I'd LOVE to see it!

 

To me a Hawaiian cruise is ALL about Hawaii, and very little about the ship. So for me, the above is my answer to your "best" question, for a FIRST trip to Hawaii. Others will have different views, which is why it's good to read all you can to make the best decision on what will make you happy. :)

 

PS -- Thinking a bit more broadly, having done a cruise within Hawaii, I can say without hesitation that if money were no object, I'd do a land vacation within Hawaii -- I'm thinking at least six weeks long and visiting ALL the islands -- then take a cruise that goes on to visit Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.

[melika091900]

go on celebrity from CA to Hawaii

this was the best vacation weve ever had the service was amazing

and relaxing days at sea ......

 

you can see our pics on my webshots link below,

it was a vacation of a lifetime..

 

 

 

melissa

[beachchick]

Here are some links to recent threads which might be helpful:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=531633

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=557260

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=553283 (this one has additional links on post #2)

 

Enjoy!

 

beachchick