HAL Cruisers

[daisymae253]

I am looking at hawaii cruises for next year....never have sailed with HAL before...if some of you HAL faithful's would give me your thoughts of this line ....i would certainly appreciate it....i have sailed with carnival and celebrity before and am looking at a different line:confused:

[RuthC]

I'll be taking my third HAL Hawaii cruise next month. It will be my 21st HAL cruise out of 26 cruises. Guess you could say I'm sold on the line.

Although I've never sailed Celebrity everything I read tells me that it's a comparable experience. HAL is a traditional line, relaxed, it has an elegance to it. I love that the stewards learn my preferences right away.
I also love the fresh flowers that are everywhere! I like the feeling that "I'm home" every time I board and the gracious, friendly service.

[daisymae253]

Sounds simply wonderful....the extra personal attention is what helped to sell me on Celebrity...Sounds like HAL is right on top as well....I look forward to cruising with them in the future....;)

[daisymae253]

I f u happen to be back on this post....please give me some heads-up on what to see and do while cruising the Hawaii Islands....:confused:

[hammybee]

We sailed NCL in Hawaii and did the Kitabati thing too. The NCL versus HAL experience are day and night. NCL was not a bad experience, just different.

One of the reasons we chose NCL was that we wanted to maximize our island time versus sea days going to and returning from the islands. It was all about shore time and the ship just happened to be where we slept, took some meals
and when we were not too pooped, enjoyed some evening entertainment.
NCL offered a tremendous value and we got more than what we paid for.

The other thing that was most intriguing was to be on a ship with a predominate staff of U.S. or green card crew.

When cruising in Hawaii, or the Med for that matter, I think it is important to know what you want out of your experience, maximum shore time or a traditional and fabulous cruise experience with adequate, but not abundant, shore time. Having said all this, I am always delighted to come home to HAL.

[RuthC]

I f u happen to be back on this post....please give me some heads-up on what to see and do while cruising the Hawaii Islands....:confused:
I'll do what I can for you, daisymae. It would help if I knew your interests and abilities. Perhaps you would even want to start a separate thread---there are many on this forum who have cruised there, and Aloha Pride lives there and is happy to tell all.

Do you like to walk? Or are there mobility problems? Do you like cultural things? Shopping (not my area of expertise)? Active sports?
I'll say I loved the Blue Grotto and the Grand Canyon of the Pacific on Kauai. I had a helicoptor flight out of Maui that was spectacular. Just walking up and down the streets in Lahaina is lots of fun (I even shop here!). There was a nice sight/sound show in that port, too.
In Honolulu I would go to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. I loved the Bishop Museum and the ride out to Waikiki. The Polinesian Cultural Center is an excellent experience, but a very, very long day.

That's a start for you. Post some ideas of what you're looking for and I'm sure there will be a host of answers for you.

[daisymae253]

We were looking at going out of calif...due to the fact of the time change in flying from the east coast...if we cruise we gradually change and it seems we wouldn't be as tired ...versus flying into hawaii and boarding the ship there...i love spending time on the ship as it is very relaxing.....there seems to be more time than i really expected at the port of calls....i am going to have to do some serious planning and looking before we actually decide which cruise...this site is such a big help...i will keep looking...thanks