WHEN to cruise to Hawaii

[wandb]

Hope I can get some info from all of you that will help us make a decision about the timing of a Hawaii cruise from San Diego. What are the advantages and disadvantages of either a February or October date? Are the seas usually calmer at one time or another? Is the weather in Hawaii a deciding factor? I'd love to hear your experiences and advice.

[papergypsy]

I used to live in Honolulu and remember that the early months of the year bring Kona winds and accompanying rains. Based on this. I would cruise in October rather than February because the weather would be "nicer" then. But the weather was never really awful there, unless we had a hurricane or a tsunami warning

[Himself]

I have done it in November and October and have had good luck both times. Years ago I was there a couple times in Spring.

[sassyredhat]

We have done 2 Hawaii cruises, both in April, and we're planning another for April 2011.

We like April because the humidity in Hawaii is lower then. IMO :)

Pat

[wandb]

Thanks for the input. Have any of you cruised from San Diego to Hawaii?? I guess we are a little concerned about rough seas since we have never had that many days out at sea before. Would October be more likely to have storms (hurricane type)?

[catl331]

Seems to be hurricane time in the summer in both Pacific and Atlantic. We have never cruised to Hawaii as my DH doesn't like extended sea days. We have flown to Hawaii twice in January because we wanted to see the whales. They are in Alaska etc. in the summer. Coming from Florida, I didn't feel much humidity in Hawaii or heat for that matter!! We didn't have much rain either. I have heard not to go to Hawaii during Christmas as that is the rainy time. On the other hand, weather is doing strange things all over the world lately.:confused:

[leoandhugh]

We have done 3 cruises to Hawaii - 2 in Sept/Oct and the weather was very good. One in February, we hit the rainy season out there which did not stop us from doing what we wanted to. But the rainy season in Hawaii tends to be the same as here in So CA, December into March, and there are years when that amounts to very little overall:)

[Sage]

We have been in April, and the seas were like glass, and next year we will be going in March during the height of the whale season. We have also chosen to go in March of next year instead of later because I believe beginning with the October sailing of next year, they will cut the number from 15 days to 14 days, and they will leave off the port Kona. October is still hurricane season, and it just depends on the season as to what kind of weather you will have. The Pacific was really active this year. We hope that you enjoy Hawaii as much as we did.

[bepsf]

It makes more sense to go someplace pleasant in February when the weather is dismal here at home than waste a couple of rare good-weather weeks in San Francisco by going elsewhere.

[furluvcats]

Thanks for the input. Have any of you cruised from San Diego to Hawaii?? I guess we are a little concerned about rough seas since we have never had that many days out at sea before. Would October be more likely to have storms (hurricane type)?

we did 14 days on the golden princess from LA r/t to Hawaii in March. It was pretty rough in passing and alot of the ship was noticably sick. This was our first cruise that we had our doc prescribe the patch and we felt fine so I would say it saved us a mess lol. Also we take ginger root capsules on every cruise and have never gotten sick but we wanted to pull out the big gun for crossing the Pacific. Enjoy your cruise!

[Tamaracboy]

It makes more sense to go someplace pleasant in February when the weather is dismal here at home than waste a couple of rare good-weather weeks in San Francisco by going elsewhere.

Brian

But in February SF usually gets those two marvelous weeks.
I always referred to them as the "False Spring"

r.

[Redsailstheseas]

We did a Hawaii cruise r/t out of San Diego last February. We had 2 wonderful weather days in CA prior to the cruise - 60's and 70's and sunny, glorious weather.

Our Pacific crossing was a bit tough - we never really had horrible seas, but they were fairly rough for some of the passage and the winds were strong. I (perhaps stupidly) thought that we would be experiencing warmer weather on the sea days, so I was disappointed in the weather, but there was plenty to do on board, so that was not really a problem.

Once we got to Hawaii, it was lovely - we did have some rain from time to time, but all in all the weather cooperated pretty well. Our only glitch was on Kauai - we were unable to make port due to the high winds and sea conditions, so the Captain set sail for scenic cruising along the Na Pali Coast. The views were exquisite - amazing terrain - and probably not something the average cruiser gets to see, although the tradeoff was our day in port and our excursion to Waimea Canyon, which we would dearly loved to have seen.

Our passage back to the mainland was rough and windy and we were pretty seriously delayed by the sea conditions, so we missed going ashore in Mexico - they basically exchanged the paperwork with the authorities and we had to hustle back to San Diego to make port on time.

I'm not really certain if this is typical of the weather in February when crossing the Pacific - I was unable to find any info on Pacific weather conditions.

One more note - we were able to do the whale watch on Maui and it was spectacular. We saw loads of whales, including literally just born calves. It was incredible, and maybe another reason to consider February or March as the time to cruise.

Hope this helps - it's not an easy decision...

[Bobs cruising]

We have gone on 12 Hawaii cruises S.D R/T to Hawaii and L.A R/T to Hawaii on four different cruise lines.
I can tell you the weather is never the same. Most of our crossing have been great as the seas were calm. I do remember one crossing about 5 years ago where everyone on the ship was sea sick, including most of the crew. This was the worst crossing and have never had one like that again.
The first two days are the calmest and the next two the roughest going each way.
As I said it is a gamble on the weather and the seas.
We have gone different months of the year and never had a bad time on an Hawaii R/T. :)

[bepsf]

Brian

But in February SF usually gets those two marvelous weeks.
I always referred to them as the "False Spring"

r.

You mean when SF actually gets into the high-60's?
I'll take 80's and 90's in the Caribbean every year...
;)

[Susie51]

We cruised to Hawaii from San Diego in March. The weater was about 75 in SD, but at sea on the first two days it was cooler. We had just a little gentle rolling as we crossed the Pacific. The weather in Hawaii was beautiful, but it is humid.

I recommend March because in Maui there are hundreds of whales from Alaska there. The whales spend the winter there. They are often found in groups of three which include the mamma, baby, and rscort. Be sure to take a catermaran excursion. You get an up close and personal experience. Well, it feels close, but actually in Maui there are restrictions about how close the boats can get to the whales. You can see the whales breech continuely. The view from the top deck is amazing because all around the ship you see many whales breaching all the time.

If you are resticted to Feb., be sure to check if the whales are there.