Okay Dis'ers..Hawaii Question

[Eeyore1928]

Anyone sailed to Hawaii? With who..and did you enjoy it?

Thanks so much

 

[rsschneck]

Anyone sailed to Hawaii? With who..and did you enjoy it?

Thanks so much

We went on the Celebrity Infinity about 3 years ago. LOVED the ship, food, entertainment, etc. etc. We went in May and there were hardly any kids. I would say older crowd. Average age was around 60. I am not sure if it was the time of year or the cruiseline itself that attracted the older aged crowd.

 

[Eeyore1928]

Thank you! Anyone else? We are really wanting to go, but having a really hard time choosing a cruise line. I wish DCL would go!

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

I have two friends that went on a 7-day 'freestyle' Norwegian cruise in Hawaii.....one just a week or two ago. (At least I think it was Norwegian.) They both gave it very good reviews and both of their familes have cruised before. Evidently "freestyle" means there are no set times for dinner, specific dress expectations, etc.

I'm not sure which cruise line is best, so hopefully you'll get lots of opinions here. I'd be interested in everybody's thoughts as well.....I'd like to head to Hawaii two years from now, and cruising sounds like a really cool way to do it....much better than packing/unpacking and spending lots of time at airports!

 

[fauna57]

My daughter and I went in August. We at first wanted to take a cruise, but when I looked into it, there were SOOOO many bad reviews on the Norwegian, and they were the only ones doing it at the time, so we flew instead, stayed at some good B&Bs, met very nice folks, were well cared for and used the money we saved to do some FANTASTIC activities. If you are going to Kauai, either as a stop on a cruise or on your own, you MUST do the "tubing the ditch" It is the best!! Got lots of advice on the Big island and Kauai if you are interested.

 

[Eeyore1928]

I will take all advice as we have never been there. I too and worried about all of the bad reviews of NCL, so we are looking at either RCCL or Carnival doing the 12 night from California! Nervous about each of these as DCL is the only cruise line we have been on.

 

[pppiglet]

I'd like to know too about which lines you've been on to Hawaii. We would like to do this cruise in 5 more years!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The only cruise line that offers 7-night cruises that begin and end in Hawaii is NCL America, with US-flagged ships, the Pride of Aloha and Pride of America. The Pride of America was even partially built at a US shipyard. Because these ships are US-flagged, with US crews, they don't have to go to any foreign ports to comply with US law.

NCL America's early cruises on the Pride of America received all sorts of bad press. It seems that NCL underestimated how hard it would be to hire, train, and retain American crew members. NCL America was unable to provide decent service and decent meals on early cruises. As you might guess, NCL went into high gear to correct the deficiencies, but tha bad publicity still lingers.

From CruiseCritic, here are reviews of the Pride of Aloha and the Pride of America.

NCL also offers 10- and 11-night cruises that begin and end in Hawaii on the foreign-flagged Norwegian Wind, with four full days at sea to get to and from Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati.

Other cruise lines have a limited number of Hawaii sailings, typically involving Vancouver, Canada, or Ensenada, Mexico. Some are 14-night cruises, such as Celebrity's 14-night Hawaii cruises that begin and end in San Diego. Others involve 1-way voyages to or from the West Coast.

I've never taken a Hawaii cruise, but, as this post indicates, I've researched the options. In the end, I don't think we'll do a Hawaii cruise. I'd rather go to Alaska or the Southern Caribbean. However, a cruise could be a good way to sample the islands of Hawaii, especially for those who have never been to Hawaii or who have only visited one island.

 

[rsschneck]

We really liked the Hawaiian Cruise and thought it was a great deal. We paid for three $5,000 and it was a 11 night cruise (balcony room) plus 2 days before hand in Oahu. We figured $5,000 would have paid for our hotel, car and airfare but when you figure in the cost of food in Hawaii we fiured we saved money. We got to visit each island where we rented a car and did our own excusions (which saved us money from not paying for the cruiselines excursions). We would do it again!

I don't know about all cruislines but we have cruised NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, and DCL. The only cruiseline I would avoid for our family would be Carnival because of the food and too much of a party atmosphere.

 

[Eeyore1928]

Wow thanks everyone! This is helping. I think we are leaning more toward the Serenade of the Seas vs the Carnival Spirit now....I think.