Opinions on whether I should keep Hawaii cruise or not

[FSU Girl]

I'm thinking about cancelling the Hawaii cruise I have booked. The super long flights to both Vancouver and Hawaii are a bit daunting, I've never been on a plane that long and the Hawaii one would require a layover too. Neither DH or I have been to Hawaii before, but I'm thinking of maybe doing a round trip on another cruise line out of LA or something in the future. Or possibly hold out to see if Disney ever offers a round trip again. If I did cancel I'd book either Europe or Alaska instead. DH is fine with whatever I decide, he just doesn't want me to cancel and then regret it a month later and nothing we can do about it then. What do you think I should do?

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'd go. The flights won't be that bad but I bet there will be a lot of people thinking the same thing closer to the PIF date.

 

[Karin1984]

Just go, do 2 long flights days outweigh all the awesome things Hawaii and this cruise have to offer?

When you go to Europe you will also have long flights ahead of you.

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you want to go to Hawaii, you'll have long flights anyway. I think you should go. Also, if you do Alaska, you'll still have 2 long flights, although one won't have the layover. Also Europe... if you're in North America, this will be long flights, too. So do the cruise you want and the rest is all about the same anyway.

 

[Karin1984]

May I ask you something, I remember you posting questions about going to Europe for your honeymoon and you changed your mind many times, from what I got from your posts. What is it exactly you are looking to get out of this trip, or trips in general?

There is no such thing as the perfect trip and you never can do it all in one trip. If you get clarity on what you want and why you want it, maybe then you can make a better decision on which cruise to take.

 

[FSU Girl]

May I ask you something, I remember you posting questions about going to Europe for your honeymoon and you changed your mind many times, from what I got from your posts. What is it exactly you are looking to get out of this trip, or trips in general?

There is no such thing as the perfect trip and you never can do it all in one trip. If you get clarity on what you want and why you want it, maybe then you can make a better decision on which cruise to take.

This is separate from the honeymoon trip, we are going to England and Scotland. I'm not normally that indecisive on a trip and changing it so often. For this one I booked it because I saw it was booking up fast and knew if we thought about if we wanted to go or not it would sell out. I would have preferred doing both legs to make it round trip, but we can't take 19 days off from work. I think my main issue is the length of the flight coming home from Hawaii. The shortest I've seen is 12 hours and then we'd also need a layover. The longest flight I've been on is 8 and I find those to be super long. So its not that I don't want to go to Hawaii, I do, I think it looks beautiful and there are so many things I want to do there. I'm just second guessing doing it as a one way cruise. I know Princess has some round trips that are two weeks out of LA, so that would only require a 5 hour flight. I just don't like the ships very much so I'd probably wait to see later on what were options. I'm also wondering if Disney will make Hawaii more consistent since it did sell so well.

If you want to go to Hawaii, you'll have long flights anyway. I think you should go. Also, if you do Alaska, you'll still have 2 long flights, although one won't have the layover. Also Europe... if you're in North America, this will be long flights, too. So do the cruise you want and the rest is all about the same anyway.

For Alaska I'd do a cruise from Seattle so about a 6 hour flight. Europe my flights are typically around 8 hours, which I find incredibly long, but being on the east coast it's easier to get to than Hawaii. I wish flying didn't take so long, I'm also terrified to fly, but that's a whole other issue lol.

 

[lklgoodman]

Will you be able to stay in Hawaii for a few days after the cruise? I never looked at the Hawaii cruises so I don't know where they leave from or what the ports are for them. If you have to fly to Hawaii and only get 1/2 day or less at each port then for me it wouldn't be worth it. I'd much rather go to Aulani for a week or so. I also hate long flights and would rather be able to spend all my time at the destination than just part of it if I have to spend all day getting there. I don't mind spending a lot of time on the ship for a Caribbean cruise, but for somewhere like Hawaii I'd rather spend as much time as possible on the islands. Not really what you asked, but I'd probably cancel it and do a land trip if it were me.(but wait until it was closer to PIF if I weren't sure)

 

[FSU Girl]

Will you be able to stay in Hawaii for a few days after the cruise? I never looked at the Hawaii cruises so I don't know where they leave from or what the ports are for them. If you have to fly to Hawaii and only get 1/2 day or less at each port then for me it wouldn't be worth it. I'd much rather go to Aulani for a week or so. I also hate long flights and would rather be able to spend all my time at the destination than just part of it if I have to spend all day getting there. I don't mind spending a lot of time on the ship for a Caribbean cruise, but for somewhere like Hawaii I'd rather spend as much time as possible on the islands. Not really what you asked, but I'd probably cancel it and do a land trip if it were me.(but wait until it was closer to PIF if I weren't sure)

We have the cruise that leaves from Canada and ends in Hawaii. It seems like we get about a full day in I think 4 ports to go to all the islands. We would be able to spend about one day after the cruise before having to fly home, so not a huge amount of time in Hawaii.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We have the cruise that leaves from Canada and ends in Hawaii. It seems like we get about a full day in I think 4 ports to go to all the islands. We would be able to spend about one day after the cruise before having to fly home, so not a huge amount of time in Hawaii.

I can help a little bit with this part. Trouble with Hawaii is that it is WONDERFUL. All of it. So it can be hard to find a way to "see enough of it." Fact is, you can't. Certainly not in one week, or even one trip. For that reason, I think for your first trip a "smattering" of the four main islands is ideal. Sure you won't see it all, but you'll get a feel for each of the main islands, and if you do get to go back some day, you'll get an idea about which ones YOU want to spend more time on the most. The first time we went to Hawaii, we did a two week trip, and we visited all four islands. Granted, we got more on each island than a day, but between all the "puddle jumper" airplanes and switching hotels, it wasn't nearly enough on each, and that was a two week trip. In subsequent trips we've been able to spend additional time on various islands, or even just focusing on one island, but it was much easier to decide what to do on these later trips because we had "seen them all" however briefly it felt on that first trip.

 

[braysmommy]

We are booked on the 10 night leaving from Hawaii and will spend 9 nights (6 on Maui/3 Waikiki). If we couldn't have time on the islands prior to cruise I'm not sure I'd want to travel from the east coast for it. We will fly out of Boston and most likely stay over in Seattle or LA before flying to Maui (flying Alaska and using companion fare).

 

[Jess_S]

Another Hawaii cruise option is to do NCL's Pride of America. It doesn't eliminate the long flight, but you do get to spend a full week actually in Hawaii with overnights at some ports. We did the POA about 10 years ago and really loved it. Since it leaves from Oahu, you could potentially combine with a precruise trip to Aulani if you want to still include a Disney element.

ETA: I have never met anyone who regretted going to Hawaii. As others have said, it is a really special place. I think it is worth the flight.

 

[Geomom]

Hang onto it for now. When the Summer 2020 itineraries are out, see if any of those interest you--and then make the decision to either keep it or switch to something else.

 

[fredandkell]

I have done a Hawaii cruise and it was one of my least favorites. Not because I didn't like Hawaii, but because I didn't get to do much relaxing, beach-y stuff due to always switching ports. It was neat to be able to see all the islands, but in hindsight, I think I would have liked a land-based trip, spending 3 nights on each of the islands in a hotel, better than the cruise. People differ greatly in their preferences as to the "best" islands; we liked Oahu and Big Island Best, with Maui a close second, and Kauai last, but others will tell you to reverse that order.

 

[FSU Girl]

I can help a little bit with this part. Trouble with Hawaii is that it is WONDERFUL. All of it. So it can be hard to find a way to "see enough of it." Fact is, you can't. Certainly not in one week, or even one trip. For that reason, I think for your first trip a "smattering" of the four main islands is ideal. Sure you won't see it all, but you'll get a feel for each of the main islands, and if you do get to go back some day, you'll get an idea about which ones YOU want to spend more time on the most. The first time we went to Hawaii, we did a two week trip, and we visited all four islands. Granted, we got more on each island than a day, but between all the "puddle jumper" airplanes and switching hotels, it wasn't nearly enough on each, and that was a two week trip. In subsequent trips we've been able to spend additional time on various islands, or even just focusing on one island, but it was much easier to decide what to do on these later trips because we had "seen them all" however briefly it felt on that first trip.

I think that's why I want to do Hawaii by cruise, there is no way I'll ever get on a tiny puddle jumper plane to go from island to island. I do feel like two weeks there would give us a really good amount of time to visit.

We are booked on the 10 night leaving from Hawaii and will spend 9 nights (6 on Maui/3 Waikiki). If we couldn't have time on the islands prior to cruise I'm not sure I'd want to travel from the east coast for it. We will fly out of Boston and most likely stay over in Seattle or LA before flying to Maui (flying Alaska and using companion fare).

I wish we could spend another week there when the cruise ends, but it'll already be pushing the time off. I picked the 9 night because it ends on a Friday so I figure we could stay Friday and Saturday and then fly home on Sunday.

Another Hawaii cruise option is to do NCL's Pride of America. It doesn't eliminate the long flight, but you do get to spend a full week actually in Hawaii with overnights at some ports. We did the POA about 10 years ago and really loved it. Since it leaves from Oahu, you could potentially combine with a precruise trip to Aulani if you want to still include a Disney element.

ETA: I have never met anyone who regretted going to Hawaii. As others have said, it is a really special place. I think it is worth the flight.

I've looked into that cruise, I haven't read the best reviews of the ship, but it could be a good option because we could pair it with a week on land and still be within two weeks for vacation time. It does seem to spend more time in each port than the Disney cruise does.

Hang onto it for now. When the Summer 2020 itineraries are out, see if any of those interest you--and then make the decision to either keep it or switch to something else.

That's a good idea. thanks! Those should be out soon right?

I have done a Hawaii cruise and it was one of my least favorites. Not because I didn't like Hawaii, but because I didn't get to do much relaxing, beach-y stuff due to always switching ports. It was neat to be able to see all the islands, but in hindsight, I think I would have liked a land-based trip, spending 3 nights on each of the islands in a hotel, better than the cruise. People differ greatly in their preferences as to the "best" islands; we liked Oahu and Big Island Best, with Maui a close second, and Kauai last, but others will tell you to reverse that order.

I don't think we'd be doing much beachy stuff, probably snorkel one day. I really would love to hike their mountains/volcanoes, see all the famous movie stuff that was filmed there, go to a luau. I wish I could pull the islands a little closer to the main land to make it a quicker flight lol. I've been watching a show on HGTV called Hawaii Life that goes around looking at houses to buy on the islands. It's fun seeing Hawaii and they show little clips of other things there besides the houses.

 

[darnheather]

Do Hawaii as a land trip instead. And do the Alaska cruise.

 

[Jess_S]

I've looked into that cruise, I haven't read the best reviews of the ship, but it could be a good option because we could pair it with a week on land and still be within two weeks for vacation time. It does seem to spend more time in each port than the Disney cruise does.

I read all of the negative reviews before we sailed on the POA and I disagree with them. A lot are in the vein of "American staff don't work as hard as foreign staff," something I found to be untrue and vaguely offensive. Having sailed on other NCL ships, I think the service on the POA is consistent with what I expect from that line. It is not as good as DCL service, but certainly not bad service. In any event, we spent most of our time onshore in Hawaii, so even if the service had been terrible, it wouldn't have impacted us that much. I think it depends on what you want from a Hawaii trip though. We wanted to actually be in Hawaii for the whole vacation without having to take puddle jumper planes around, so POA really fit the bill for us. I especially liked the overnights in port because we were able to rent a car and explore on our own without worrying that we would miss the boat.

If I were comparing to Disney, I would say that POA is a WDW moderate resort and DCL is a deluxe. Both are good experiences, one is just a bit more upscale. (One thing I do like better about NCL compared to DCL is the spa service. We got much better massages on NCL without any upsell to buy crap at the end). If you have questions on how NCL compares to DCL, I am happy to answer them.

 

[FSU Girl]

I read all of the negative reviews before we sailed on the POA and I disagree with them. A lot are in the vein of "American staff don't work as hard as foreign staff," something I found to be untrue and vaguely offensive. Having sailed on other NCL ships, I think the service on the POA is consistent with what I expect from that line. It is not as good as DCL service, but certainly not bad service. In any event, we spent most of our time onshore in Hawaii, so even if the service had been terrible, it wouldn't have impacted us that much. I think it depends on what you want from a Hawaii trip though. We wanted to actually be in Hawaii for the whole vacation without having to take puddle jumper planes around, so POA really fit the bill for us. I especially liked the overnights in port because we were able to rent a car and explore on our own without worrying that we would miss the boat.

If I were comparing to Disney, I would say that POA is a WDW moderate resort and DCL is a deluxe. Both are good experiences, one is just a bit more upscale. (One thing I do like better about NCL compared to DCL is the spa service. We got much better massages on NCL without any upsell to buy crap at the end).

I definitely think Hawaii would be the main focus on the trip, not the ship getting there on. I do think the Norwegian one isn't as important since you're not on the boat much, but if we did one starting from the main land it is important since a lot of days are in the middle of the ocean. At Disney I usually stay Deluxe, but have stayed moderate before and it wasn't terrible and would again. It's interesting to consider. I've actually never been to a spa before lol.

 

[Geomom]

That's a good idea. thanks! Those should be out soon right?

Yes Summer 2020 release could be anytime between Feb-April. With the 1/2 off deposit promo ending on 2/15, it will likely be sometime shortly after that...with my luck it'll be that week...we're at Disney World from 2/15 to 2/22 and we generally take a 'news' break while on vacation to stay in our happy magical Disney bubble!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Hawai'i deserves to be a land trip. 4 days and 4 islands is not even skimming the surface. If you have to take long flights you might as well get the most out of it. Pick 1 island to focus on (I love Oahu) and plan a 9 or 10 day trip where you can delve into everything that island offers (beaches, hiking, history, food, etc).

FYI your return flight will be a redeye just like flying to Europe as you are going in the same direction.