Hawaii: What did you do? How was it? Lived up to the hype!?

[CampbellzSoup]

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[SillyInventor]

First of all: will you go for the cruise or for Hawaii? As both Hawaiian cruises (one way each) include 5 consecutive sea days and 4 stops at the islands.
If you wish to visit and enjoy Hawaii then you would be far better of with a land based vacation, giving you your own schedule what and when to visit. On the cruise you will spend 5 days and all but one evening/night at sea (there is one overnight in each cruise). Giving you not so much time to visit the islands compared to the total length of the trip.
If you really want to cruise and also see Hawaii then this would be a nice (albeit expensive) option. Nicest thing would be to do them B2B, 5 sea days, 10 days at the islands and 5 sea days back!
Whatever you choose: have a blast!

 

[over50visits]

Good advice, from SillyInventor. We've been to Hawaii numerous times, and cruised numerous times, but never both together. We enjoy ports and excursions, but have never felt we really get a feel for the islands we visit. Just not enough time in a one day stop. We really go for the cruise ship experience (and of course Castaway Cay)...we don't really thing we've experienced, for example, much of what St Maarten has to offer. We go to Hawaii for the sunsets on the beach, the countryside, the evening city life, the luaus, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the deserted countryside on the big island, etc. Little or none of this can be experienced from a cruise ship.

Awesome money? Fly to Hawaii, spend a week with a rental car and see the island(s). Then pick a Disney cruise with some spectacular scenery such as Alaska or Mediterranean, or even the Hawaiian islands!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Both replys from you two are awesome thank you so much for sharing your insights with me

 

[cashe]

I was a caribbean girl until I met my husband. I had never been to hawaii until he took me to maui. Let's just say we haven't been back to the caribbean in 10 years. This cruise in May will be the first time we've ventured outside of Hawaii in 5 years. I love hawaii and truly feel like it's a second home. I had always imagined the waters wouldn't be as "turquoise" as the caribbean and that's what i loved, but i was wrong. the waters in hawaii are so beautiful and if you're lucky enough to go during whale season, i'm jealous! lol. I've also (and my husband will attest to this also) swam with more sea life in hawaii than anywhere else. We snorkeled with manta rays right off of wailea beach, honu (turtles), octopus, dolphins, giant manta rays, huge Jack fish and even saw Laverne, the resident Tiger Shark in the marina in Kona. lol.

I don't think Hawaii will disappoint you, however, I wouldn't cruise hawaii. You just don't get the opportunity to explore the islands or get a feel for them on a cruise. There's not enough time in port, as most islands there is A LOT of driving to be had (except oahu b/c you can get around via public transportation if you chose). Every single island is different. Decide what kind of vacation you are after, then pick an island. Island hopping requires at least 10-14 days for a vacation. It's not easy. So if you only have 5-7 days, choose one island. Our choice is FS Maui in Wailea, but my girl friend and her husband are adventurous types and they loved Kauai. It's all about the type of vacation you are hoping to achieve.

Hawaii will NOT disappoint!!! Have a great vacation!

 

[xlxo]

Harbour Dinner cruise? Submarine ride? Dole Plantation? Pearl Harbour?

Two things were my highlights

• Big Island volcano's (lava sightings not guaranteed) http://www.bluehawaiian.com/bigisland/video/Big_Island_Intro
• Polynesian Cultural Centre (do stay for the night show).
  

 

[cashe]

Habour Dinner cruise? Submarine ride? Dole Plantation? Pearl Harbour?

Two things were my highlights

• Big Island volcano's (lava sightings not guaranteed) http://www.bluehawaiian.com/bigisland/video/Big_Island_Intro
• Polynesian Cultural Centre (do stay for the night show).

so jealous. we went two years ago and stayed at FS Hualalai for a few nights. I booked BH to go see lava and the other side of the island had bad weather so we couldn't go. We did the BH Maui tour and it was just ok. I wouldn't do it again, but I want to see lava!!! Guess that's my reason for talking hubby into another 15 day jaunt to the BI and Maui again next year! lol.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

As previous posters suggest, fly to Hawaii. We did the Oct 2012 14 day Hawaii cruise with DCL. I don't regret the cruise at all but just would not do it again. The islands are all so beautiful with so little time to explore. The many sea days were mostly rough, cloudy and cold. The sea days are no comparison to Caribbean Sea days. Fly to Hawaii and stay as long as you can, it's amazingly beautiful!

 

[OKW Lover]

We just completed what many might consider the ultimate Hawaii vacation. We flew to HNL and spent a week at Aulani followed by a week cruise around the islands.

During that first week we spent more than half of our time just relaxing at the resort. The rest of the time was spent touring around Oahu by car. Just driving around and stopping wherever a nice view of little settlement captured our fancy. We also drove up to Diamond Head, around Waikiki, shopped in some up-scale shops and some really low-scale (tin shacks) shops. We enjoyed the flea market at Aloha stadium, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Dole Plantation. Pearl Harbor is a must-do.

The second week we boarded the Pride of America at the pier near Aloha Tower. We sailed to several other of the Hawaiian islands so we could see what life is like there. Found there was a great deal of similarity among the islands, but each had their own personality.

 

[GooniesAndy]

Agree with the people that say if the goal of the vacation is Hawaii, don't do it on a cruise. The only way I'd ever take a cruise to Hawaii is if it was a round-trip from my home port and the price was amazing. You just can't experience Hawaii on port visits the way you can when you are staying there, able to take nighttime walks on the beach, wake up early to drive up to see the sunrise at Haleakala, barbecue on your lanai... rent a condo and stay for at least a week! It is amazing!

 

[SillyInventor]

Wow, look at those replies. We are still on the DCL board, so if cruising is what you want, by all means do the cruise!
But know what to expect and decide for yourself what will make your vacation perfect!

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

I have never taken a cruise to Hawaii, but I have been there twice. There is so much beauty there and great things to do that I couldn't imagine getting the full experience within a few hours at port. For a first time, I would fly in.

The first time I went, we island hopped, which I did NOT like! I liked seeing Oahu and Maui, but packing up and going to the airport again in the middle of the vacation was a pain.

I took a tour that went to Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, and up into a mountian. Pearl Harbor is beautiful, but somber. I didn't get much out of Dole. It was interesting to see the fields, but the plantation was kind of shabby. Plus you can get awesome fresh pineapple anywhere on the island. Shopping was fun on Oahu, but there are more tourists at Waikiki. Waikiki beach is wonderful in the early morning and very quiet. There are also free shows every evening on a stage at Waikiki beach. We saw some very talented hula dancers there each night at sunset. I loved the catamaran rides! One during the day to see everything and one at night for the drinks and sunset.

I really perferred Maui for less people and more of the natural beauty of the island. We drove Hana Highway, which was beautiful! A bit of a hair raising experience though since it is often one lane with two lane traffic. It is also steap mountain on one side and ocean on the other. But swimming in a waterfall and the scenery is so worth it! We also stopped at the black sand beach which was interesting to see.

Overall, I love Hawaii and I would go back again! I usually prefer going to places I've never seen, but Hawaii is my exception!