Can I Have Your Thoughts?

[swimsimcoe]

considering Hawaii Next March.was Thinking Of Mercury But I Think Ship Too Old.the Golden Princess Seems To Have Replaced The Diamond Princess For Next Year And Wondering About Any Experiences?we Also Love Hal But Thnking Maybe Too Sedate For A Longer Cruise Like This.any Ideas Folks?

[Addictedtwo]

considering Hawaii Next March.was Thinking Of Mercury But I Think Ship Too Old.the Golden Princess Seems To Have Replaced The Diamond Princess For Next Year And Wondering About Any Experiences?we Also Love Hal But Thnking Maybe Too Sedate For A Longer Cruise Like This.any Ideas Folks?

 

First off we are pro NCLers, we did Hawaii in January and did back to back cruises. The one thing we liked was the fact that you get on the ship in Hawaii and go to different islands for the week rather than spending time at sea which some other cruisers prefer.

But with so much to see and do in Hawaii we wanted the most bang for our buck as it's not a cheap trip from Canada. And that we accomplished!

[swimsimcoe]

We Also Love Ncl.was On The Pearl Last Year And Hope To Go Again Some Time But We Do Want To Cruise From California.hubby Likes Casinoing-he Insists It's A Verb-and I Love The Sea Days,so Thought We Can Get Everything This Way.also From Canada-just North Of T.o. And Love The Sun And Sea.

So Have To Choose Between The Other Options.

[Sillyjilly]

Ive cruised to Hawaii on the Diamond and on Holland America's Amsterdam.

 

I have cruised on the Mercury to Mexico.

 

The Mercury has a teeny tiny indoor pool. The outdoor pools are not protected from the winds you get on the sea days. I would definitely rule it out for Hawaii.

 

It's true about Holland America being sedate. If you go to bed at 9PM, you'll be okay. If not, go with the Golden. I'll be on her in November. She's similar to the Diamond.

 

I'm not a NCL lover, so I can't recommend them.

 

Either way, you can't go wrong! Have a great cruise!

 

Jill

[karatemom2]

We sailed on the Diamond to Hawaii last Christmas and are returning this year on the Golden. We were just on the Golden in April for a Mexican Riviera cruise and she is very similar to the Diamond. The Golden is a beautiful and well appointed ship and we can't wait to get back on her this December.

[swimsimcoe]

Thanks for your input everyone.Will probably go on the Golden.Was on the Star Princess once and liked it.Although I love the service on HAL and their lunch buffet fantabulous and much more high quality than Princess-in my one experience on Princess -I think for a longer trip Princess will be better.Also less expensive a bit.

And then the people we're travelling with will probalby decide they want to go somewhere else.

[whale-watcher]

I would prefer a 15 day itinerary with 5 Hawaiian port stops to a 14 day itinerary with only 4...so would probably choose HAL, even though princess is our cruise line of choice overall (we actually went with NCLA for our first Hawaiian cruise and would probably still select this option again, but can understand the attraction of a rt west coast itinerary as well).