best ship for hawaii

[travelingran]

considering hawaii next year. any thoughts on best ship and length of cruise? :D

[CC Help Michell]

considering hawaii next year. any thoughts on best ship and length of cruise? :D

 

Welcome to the Hawaii boards!

 

What's "best" for one person isn't necessarily "best" for all. How long do YOU like to cruise? Do you like sea days or do they bore you? Are you all about visiting Hawaii and doing all you can in ports there, or are you more about the ship and you don't think Hawaii is any different than, say, the Caribbean in terms of interesting ports? How much time do you have to spend on your vacation? Are you averse to flying?

 

There's no "right" answer to those questions -- but your answer might help figure out what the "best" ship is... for you.

[travelingran]

we like sea days. would like to tour as well. do not like to rush around and seldom take tours.

[greatdanemom]

we like sea days. would like to tour as well. do not like to rush around and seldom take tours.

 

You sound like a prime candidate for one of the round trip cruises from the West coast! We've chosen Golden Princess for this since she's the largest ship sailing this route. We figured a bigger ship would do better if the seas are rough and might also offer more things to do on the numerous sea days.

[Addictedtwo]

considering hawaii next year. any thoughts on best ship and length of cruise? :D

 

 

We cruised in Jan and did back to back cruises with NCL. We liked their itinerary because it gives you more time to tour the islands with no sea days.

It's return trip from Honolulu.

We felt being from Canada it would be an expensive vacation so we wanted to cram in as much as possible.

We did and it was a fantastic port intensive vacation.

[CC Help Michell]

we like sea days. would like to tour as well. do not like to rush around and seldom take tours.

 

Well, I'm still a bit confused with the reference to liking to tour, but seldom taking tours (?), but basically you have three choices. 1) You can cruise one way from the North American West Coast to Hawaii (or from Hawaii to the North American West Coast) -- those trips take about 11 days or so, and typically include 5-6 sea days, plus a few days visiting islands within Hawaii. 2) You can cruise the "circle" route, which is from the North American West Coast to Hawaii, and back again -- those typically last 15 days, and include 8-10 sea days with about five days visiting Hawaii. Celebrity, HAL, Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean (among a few other lines) offer one or both of those types of cruises, typically in the spring and fall as part of the transition from the Alaska cruise season (though HAL and Princess also sail to Hawaii as part of their longer South Pacific legs of their world cruises, etc). 3) The third type is the NCL port-intensive cruise the poster above me mentioned. This option involves the US-flagged Pride of America, which originates and ends in Honolulu, and visits a port every day during a 7 day cruise (no sea days, and including 2 overnight stays in port). The Pride of America also sails in Hawaii year round, which might be important depending on when you want to cruise.

 

The first two options are more in the vein of traditional cruise experiences; the third one involves using your ship more as your transportation from one land destination to another one. The onboard experiences are also different between the first two options and the third one (though less so now than when NCLA first began sailing in Hawaii), because the Pride of America has a predominately American crew, and offers service which is more like you might receive at a local US restaurant or hotel than the more traditional cruise service experience -- which always feels to me a bit more fawning and subservient -- I never felt that way on NCLA and I haven't seen many reports of folks who have.

 

I would suggest you read member reviews here at Cruise Critic (select destination Hawaii to get reviews of different ships from different lines sailing to or within Hawaii) -- here's a link to all the Hawaii reviews at CC so you can take a look. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=destinations&destination=12

 

Hope that helps you at least find a bit more information to guide your decision. :)

[travelingran]

thanks for the info. sorry i confused you. we usually do the touring on our own rather than with the cruise line. i did not make that very clear. your info gives me something to think about. i think i will read the review as you suggested.

 

madi

[CC Help Michell]

thanks for the info. sorry i confused you. we usually do the touring on our own rather than with the cruise line. i did not make that very clear. your info gives me something to think about. i think i will read the review as you suggested.

 

madi

 

Ah, okay -- well then you found the right board -- this one is excellent for helping suggest independent tours, and the number one piece of advice on this board is "rent a car!" so that should also meet your style. Do read some reviews and then post questions if you have them here or on the individual cruise line's board, because there is a lot of great info in the reviews, especially about the sea days and ships (this board is more about the islands themselves). This Hawaii board is one of my very most favorite places on the internet, whether I'm visiting by cruise ship or not (looking here now as we're planning our land visit next summer!). :)

 

Regardless of cruiseline, a number of regular posters here have done the one way and/or circle cruises, and others have sailed NCLA in Hawaii, but most usefully we have all of those plus those who reside in Hawaii, or visit frequently, who post here to help you get the most out of your days on the islands. :)