Need Advice about Hawaii

[JTfromGA]

My husband and I want to take a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands next fall (around Sept or October 08) to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. I would like to stay with Carnival but not sure if I like cruising out of Mexico. Has anyone taken this cruise or could recommend another cruise line? I would appreciate any advice!!!

Thanks :)

Janice

[yst347]

In the fall Carnival runs one 12 day cruise from Vancouver Canada to Hawaii followed by one 12 day cruise from Hawaii to Ensenada Mexico. The transfer from Ensenada to San Diego is included in the fare.

 

If you want to cruise Hawaii only you might want to look at the NCL sailings. NCL America operates three ships that sail only in Hawaii.

[TennesseeTater]

My wife and I are going to Hawaii August 2008. NCL is the only cruise line that operates 7 night cruises around Hawaii. We booked the Pride of America, but there are lots of negative reviews about the NCL cruises around Hawaii.

[2Ports]

NCLA is the way to go. They actually only have 2 ships (or will soon) doing HI run. If you just think of the ship as a VERY small motel room (rooms are way smaller than CCL), with 2nd rate (at best) service, and plan to eat on the islands as much as possible, it's great. If you're looking for a 1st (or 2nd or 3rd) rate cruise experience, go with another line. They have beautiful ships, fab itin., but they are chronically understaffed due to US work rules. The food was awful, the food service was awful, lines were long, stewards were lacking in much of the ship (we had one - he was great!), staff was about 55% under what they needed (the staff members we talked to said). I lost 5# in a week. :eek: 'Nuff said?

[JTfromGA]

wow, comments about NCL not to encouraging. Are there any other cruisers with similar experiences?

[SDPadreFan]

I believe Princess has a 15 day (5 at sea, 5 around the islands, 5 at sea) roundtrip sailing out of Los Angeles or Long Beach. Keep in mind that it does involve 10 "at sea" days.

 

For Carnival, for the time frame you are looking at, you have 2 choices. Departing Vancouver, Canada, 5 days at sea, 6 days around the islands and 1 overnight, ending in Honolulu. So you would have to fly to Vancouver to start and fly home from Hawaii. The second choice starts in Honolulu with an overnight, then 6 days around the islands, followed by 5 "at sea" days. This cruise ends in Ensenada, Mexico but it doesn't really end there. You do get off the ship in Ensenada but then Carnival buses everyone up to the Cruise Terminal in San Diego. While this can tend to be a bit tedious, you will still actually end your cruise at the San Diego Cruise Terminal so you don't have to worry about getting dumped off in Mexico. Personally, I am planning on taking this cruise in April (in the reverse direction), Ensenada to Hawaii. I think it is a better itinerary than Princess on a better ship as well. Carnival Spirit is a great ship. I've already done an 8 day on her.

 

I also don't believe that NCL offers the same quality but this is based upon other's opinions and not my own direct experience. Just not something I'm interested in (especially anytime dining). Guess I'm a traditionalist when it comes to cruising.

[ATV Boy]

Avoid Ensenada! We have been to Hawaii on the Spirit from Ensenada and Vancouver. With Ensenada you will have a long ride on a crummy bus and don't forget the border stop. Vancouver is a short ride to a modern terminal. From Vancouver you will be used to the 6 hour time difference when you get to Hawaii and also can spend a few extra days in Honolulu. The Spirit is very nice. Don't have any experience with NCL.

[gem2]

Hi Janice

 

My husband and I returned two and half weeks ago from our Hawaiian cruise. We also took the cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary! We were on the ship Carnival "Spirit".

Our cruise started in Ohau and ended in Ensenada Mexico. We had a wonderful time. Our cruise was great..the staff was great...and of course Hawaii was amazing.

Our stop in Ensenada was very short, we were to arrive late in the evening of the last night of the cruise and at the time it was going to be to late to even bother going off the ship to look around. But due to one of the passengers having a medical problem that needed attention, we arrived a few hours ahead of time and we did get off the ship. We did have to get up very early (4am) to be bused to San Diego for our flight home, but other then that, I have no complaints.

We were 7 days visiting the islands and 5 days at sea to Ensenada.

If you have any specific questions i would be happy help you.

What I can say is, it's a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversary!

Let me know if I can help

Meg

[Peto]

Nuthin wrong with Mexico .... I go there all the time.

[mikefast]

My wife and I cruised the Islands on the "Pride of Aloha". Before we left, we heard a lot of negative comments about the ship and the cruise line in general, but we didn't find it that way at all. One of the complaints we heard was that service in the restaurant was terrible, and it could take three hours to finish dinner. My wife and I are used to eating early so we went to the restaurant about as soon as it opened. We got the table and waiter of our choice, and service was excellent. We often finished dinner, including dessert in an hour or so. We heard the food was terrible. With the exception of the lobster, I thought the food was really quite good. I thought the ship left a little to be desired, it was hard to get from one end to the other without going up or down a floor and then across, but we have had the same problem with other ships too. I expected a little more live Hawaiian music on board. If I remember right, there was only one show that had a Hawaiian theme to it. We took several tours, in Oahu, of course the Pearl Harbor tour, and then a city and countryside tour. In Kauai, we rented a private plane instead of taking the helicopter tour. About half the price and we could go where we wanted to. On the big Island, we went to Rainbow Falls, a mac nut plantation, an orchid nursery, and of course the volcano. On Maui, we rented a car and drove across the island to Lahaina. Two things that I really enjoyed about the cruise were sailing past the Napali coast and the past the Volcano at night. Seeing the red hot lava run down the mountain and into the ocean was something to see. As far as we are concerned, the service and food was good, no complaints. I just thought it was a little too busy with a new port every day, not enough sea time. But we really did enjoy it.

[CC Help Michell]

wow, comments about NCL not to encouraging. Are there any other cruisers with similar experiences?

 

(<wave> Hi, fellow Georgian!) -- I would respectfully suggest that you read several CC member reviews of the NCLA ships that sail within Hawaii. My second suggestion is to focus on the reviews from the last 8-10 months on all three ships. People who sailed these ships when they were new ('04-'06 time frame, depending on the ship) had a lot of (valid) bad news to report, and their reviews are still out there. But if you only read those early reviews, I really think you will be getting a misleading picture of the way these ships are today.

 

For the last several months reviews of all three NCLA ships have overall been quite positive; the early crew turnover issues appear to have been resolved in large part; and many travelers are now reporting really great Hawaiian experiences using these ships as their base of operations.

 

I have also noticed that the occasional negative review over the last several months frequently comes from someone who apparently didn't realize that these ships don't offer a conventional cruise experience (see below). For the most part those who did a little research in advance seem to have had a good experience.

 

Last, I used "Find a Cruise" here at CC to see which ships sail to/in Hawaii. Even with the early negative reviews averaged into the overall score, CC members rank Pride of Aloha at 4, Pride of America at 4, and Pride of Hawaii at 4+. That's equal to or higher than the rankings for the Carnival, RCCL, and HAL ships sailing to Hawaii.

 

The bottom line is what is your goal for your Hawaiian trip? If your goal is to spend as much time on the islands as possible, the NCLA product offers a lot of bang for the buck (and a LOT of port hours). But because of the port-intensive nature of the NCLA cruises, plus the fact that the ships do not have casinos, the vast majority of the crews are American, and the ships follow the "Freestyle" rules of NCL on dining, dress code, and disembarkation -- the NCLA ships do NOT offer a "traditional cruise experience." If you are more into "a cruise that happens to visit Hawaii" as opposed to "a Hawaii vacation that happens to be via cruise ship" you likely would be happier with another line.

[bonniemari]

We did a 7 day on Pride of America a couple of years ago and it was just ok. We had previously done an 11 day on NCL Dream and it was great. The 7 day on POA was a freebie for our business doing a large amount of advertising in our local newspaper so I couldn't complain too much about an all expenses paid cruise to Hawaii. But would I sail again on NCL POA-no way.

 

Don't know if ya'll are gamblers-but be advised on 7 day NCL POA cruises there is NO casino.

 

 

If I ever decided to do a Hawaiian cruise again it would be on Carnival.

[Middleager]

We cruise on the NCL Wind in Hawaii in 2005. It was a great cruise.

 

The food was good. Service was good. We booked our own excursions. And we were in paradise.

 

The best part we like was freestyle dining. You go to the dining room ANY time you like. The only busy time just when the dining room opens, but they get you seated quickly. They also had optional formal nights. Some people dress up, some don't, and there's no problem.

 

 

There are some people who expect to be pampered and expect a lot on a cruise. When we just got to our room after embarking, we saw a man in the next door yelling at the steward that their luggage did not arrive yet and the wife needs her medicine that's packed in the luggage. This couple probably won't give a positive rating of their cruise.

[bubbles1209]

Hi neighbor! We are next door to Augusta as well on the Grovetown side:) Was also interested in seeing people's responses, I have always wanted to go to hawaii. Just found out about a month ago that I have an old high shool friend that lives on Maui, would love to get to see her again. Thanks for starting this thread to give us some good ideas:)

[MrPete]

Sailing out of Mexico was no problem at all. We flew into San Diego, had a very enjoyable bus ride (coach) down the coast with brilliant views, all while doing check in right on board.

 

Got on the ship, and had 5 days of glorious sea days on our way to what we found was one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

 

That was almost 10 years ago, and I can't wait to make the time to do it again!

 

And doing it the Carnival way suit us to a T.

[flyingb]

My husband and I want to take a cruise of the Hawaiian Islands next fall (around Sept or October 08) to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. I would like to stay with Carnival but not sure if I like cruising out of Mexico. Has anyone taken this cruise or could recommend another cruise line? I would appreciate any advice!!!

Thanks :)

Janice

 

DH & I did a 12 day cruise on the Jubilee back in '99. :) We flew to Honolulu, then cruised 5 islands, two days on the Big island. One on each side. Then we were at sea for 5 days to Vancouver BC. Call Carnival and see if that itn. is still offered. At that time you could reverse and sail from Mexico for 5 days, cruise the islands then fly back to the states.

Wonderful trip! :D We rented a car on each island and just took off and saw everything we wanted to on our own. That is the best way to see Hawaii! I would also reccomend CCL over NCL, have cruised both. I'm a CCL fan!

Luv's Crusin'

[tracyvansmith]

For your 30th may I suggest the Spirit 7 day Alaska inside cruise followed by the Spirit 12-day Hawaii cruise. When we did the Spirits last Alaska cruise in 2006 there were a lot of people doing this. The Alaska cruise is a beautiful cruise. So you would fly into Vancouver Canada mid Sep. do the Alaska 7 day round trip then leave from Vancouver on the 12 day Hawaii late Sep. Last fly home form Hawaii early Oct. This would be a grand way to spend a 30th anniversary.

[Texas_firefighter]

DH & I did a 12 day cruise on the Jubilee back in '99. :) We flew to Honolulu' date=' then cruised 5 islands, two days on the Big island. One on each side. Then we were at sea for 5 days to Vancouver BC. Call Carnival and see if that itn. is still offered.Luv's Crusin'[/quote']

 

It is,we are sailing the Spirit on that itenerary in April '09, for our 30th! It is 4 islands in 7 days ,then 5 days at sea to Vancouver

[LHP]

Don't let the "Mexican port" throw you. You are basically sailing out of San Diego ...since the transfer is from San Diego is included.

 

Carnival makes it as convenient as possible.

 

My only other advice is that you need to take me with y'all!!! :D

[sassyredhat]

We live in san Diego, so we always take HAL RT from San Diego to Hawaii.

 

If your departure is Ensenada, you will go by bus there to board your ship. We prefer not to deal with that.

 

I believe Princess and Celebrity (not sure about RCCL) sail RT from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

 

You have many choices. Just depends on what you want. San Diego is such and easy embarkation port. We are spoiled. :)

 

Pat

[JTfromGA]

So much great information! I have another question. We were thinking about going during the Fall season but is spring better? In other words, is there a difference in either weather and/or prices?

Janice

[KatSt]

So much great information! I have another question. We were thinking about going during the Fall season but is spring better? In other words, is there a difference in either weather and/or prices?

Janice

My DH and I took the Carnival Hawaiian cruise in April of 2006. We flew to Honolulu a few days early and spent some time in a hotel. Then we got on the Spirit and started the cruise. After we cruised around the Hawaiian Islands for 7 days we had a 5 day cruise back to Vancouver, BC. We then stayed a few extra days in Vancouver. Our 12 day cruise turned into a 16 night vactaion

 

It was a wonderful vacation. We never set foot in Mexico. I highly recommend this cruise.

 

You can see our pictures at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Koseykat.

[Kurbanfan]

I personally have heard horror stories about the 2 hour ride to Ensenada.

I would never go that route. We have driven that route before ourselves and I can't even imagine starting my cruise off this way on a bus.

Princess has a round trip from L.A. If you have extra vacation days.

And we are personally looking into Pride of America ourselves for next May. Have heard good reviews from personal friends that this ship is great.

Good luck!

[Aloha_Cruisers]

I live in Hawaii............please email me if you have any questions.

[bankofdad]

wow, comments about NCL not to encouraging. Are there any other cruisers with similar experiences?

 

We've sailed the 7-day inter-island itinerary on NCL America twice; once on Pride of Aloha (great trip, great service) and then a year later on Pride of America (great trip, lousy service onboard). The itinerary can't be beat, and Hawaii is beautiful and full of fun things to do, but don't expect the onboard experience to be your normal cruise feel.

 

Staffing has always been the issue with these ships. Because they are American flagged ships (giving them the right to sail solely inter-island without going to a foreign port) they must have a mostly American (or legal alien) crew. They've had a tough time maintaining employees, and the turn-over consistently caused short staffing and/or inexperienced crew, resulting in poor service.

 

Would I do another NCL America sailing? Probobly if the price were right, but I'd go knowing that I'm just as likely to get great service onboard as I am to get ujneven or lousy service.