Which Cruise Line to Choose for Hawaii?

We go on Celebrity the most often, but have been on NCL a very long time ago, Regent and Holland America. We are not party, drinking people. We have 1 or 2 drinks/day and like the shows and piano bar and dancing. We are not sure which line to choose for a Hawaiian cruise. Celebrity has lots of sea days traveling to Vancouver, which would be more difficult to deal with, being American. I heard this particular Princess Mexico/Hawaii cruise is not good. I don't know if NCL is good. Loved Regent but don't want to pay the price for an American cruise. Any cruise line suggestions would be appreciated.

I am a cruise lover, but having been to Hawaii many a time, I personally think that with 7 days I'd pick two islands and rent a car gives a much better experience than sailing port to port, YMMV.

DW and I are loyal HAL customers. However, last month we took a 7-day Hawaii cruise on the NCL Pride of America. We had sailed with NCL a few times in the past and I was not too keen to try them again. I was pleasently surprised by the excellent cruise NCL gave us. The ship was in fine shape, the staff very friendly and helpful, outstanding entertainment and the 4-island itinerary gave us an opportunity to see much more than had we been land based. On the downside the food in the MDR left something to be desired but the lido buffet and specialty restaurants were quite good. To me, the POA is an option I think you may wish to consider.

Our last three cruises were the LA-Hawaii RT on Princess. I never felt bored on the sea days as there's a full range of activities, including many Hawaiian ones. Here's from the Princess website: http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/hawaii-cruises/cruises/aloha_spirit/

There's always live Hawaiian music featured. Elua was on our last two cruises and we tried to be there whenever they performed in the Piazza, on the pool deck, at the Ultimate Deck Party. I also took the hula classes on our last two cruises and participated in the Aloha 'Oe passenger show on the final day of those cruises.

If it's just a matter of spending more time in the islands, we would just go there and stay as we did on our honeymoon (and each of us have been there before that, before we met each other). But as someone who doesn't like flying, I find the Princess Hawaiian cruise a way to avoid that (we live about an hour's drive from San Pedro) and still get to the islands.

Celebrity has lots of sea days traveling to Vancouver, which would be more difficult to deal with, being American.

We have taken the Vancouver to Hawaii route several times on Royal Caribbean ships and really enjoyed the islands along with the five at sea days. There was plenty to do at seas or just relax when you wanted to.

Just curious why be American would make the Celebrity cruise difficult. :confused:

We go on Celebrity the most often, but have been on NCL a very long time ago, Regent and Holland America. We are not party, drinking people. We have 1 or 2 drinks/day and like the shows and piano bar and dancing. We are not sure which line to choose for a Hawaiian cruise. Celebrity has lots of sea days traveling to Vancouver, which would be more difficult to deal with, being American. I heard this particular Princess Mexico/Hawaii cruise is not good. I don't know if NCL is good. Loved Regent but don't want to pay the price for an American cruise. Any cruise line suggestions would be appreciated.

I wan confused by the comment as well. Not sure if Vancouver is the problem, or the number of sea days.:). We loved Vancouver and cruised from there to Alaska. But about 2 sea days with no land in sight is about all I can take consecutively. I would not be a fan of the cruises to and from the mainland or Canada.

We chose NCL's Pride of America inter island cruise for our Hawaii trip this past August as we wanted to maximize our 14 days with time in the islands, not on several sea days looking at water. Most agree that POA has the superior itinerary for this purpose as it gets you to all 4 of the major islands with 2 ports on the "big island" and overnights in both Maui and Kauai allowing you to maximize your touring time. It also does a sail by of the Na Pali coast.

We flew into Oahu early and then stayed on after the cruise for further exploring. Inter island flights are quick and relatively inexpensive if you want to spend additional time on a neighbor island pre or post cruise. We spent as much as 12 hours a day ashore some days, and since every day is a port day, you really don't spend that much time on the ship. But we found the ship a great base to come home to. There are many things I love about that ship. The POA is unique amoung the NCL fleet since it is US flagged, but you will find NCL has changed a lot since you sailed her last.

We sailed in 2013 on Celebrity Solstice, Hawaii-Mexico. The cruise was wonderful, we flew into Hawaii 3 days ahead and did all we wanted in Honolulu before we boarded. Big Island and Maui and 5 wonderful- relaxing sea days. Not boring at all, plenty to do or not do. The only negative was having to get off in Mexico and go through that hassle of a bus to San Diego.

Now ports have changed and we end in Vancouver- much better! We booked the same cruise for next April and looking forward to it and as we have never spent much time on the west coast we will stay a few days.

We love the Solstice Class ships and their crew, must have a good following as our Roll Call has been very busy since last July. It is a repo cruise comming from Australia so alot of friendly Aussies onboard.

Read some of the reviews for the ships you have narrowed down to and see what works best for you.

Bev

I think the NCL itinerary is a winner. :) I don't spend a lot of time on Oahu, so I like adding an additional week with flying into Kona, then another week, after the cruise, in Maui.

I've done the transpacific Hawaii cruises as well, but am pretty bored on all those sea days. My husband does like the sea days, however. :) There can be less port times involved. I do agree, Princess does offer a very nice Hawaiian theme on the sea days with a lot of Hawaiian activities.

NCL also has a Hawaiian Ambassador on board, but, I'm frequently off the ship all day, every day. :)

There certainly is something for everyone. I will say, Hawaii is some of the most cheap touring available. So much to see and do, just driving up for all that natural beauty. I'm a snorkelers, so am in the water every day- combo of shore jump ins and boat tours, to my preferred sites.

DCL is returning to Hawaii this September with two 10 day One Way Itin's between Vancouver, BC and Honolulu. I will be on the one sailing Sept. 17th from Honolulu to Vancouver! Woohoo! And aloha!:D

We took Holland America 15-day. Wasn't our favorite. Although we love sea days, 5 in a row are just too many. Then another 5-day block at the end. We loved NCL 7-day. Although will admit we had a week before and a week after the NCL cruise. We love Hawaii in any way shape or form, so probably we aren't the best advice givers.

I would never hesitate to be in Vancouver. Great city, and so easy to fly back from there to US.

Whatever you decide, ENJOY.

With Hawaii there is either too many sea days or too few. We did POA 2 weeks ago and loved it! In addition to the Hawaiian Ambassador, the cruise director is also Kama 'aina (from Hawaii) they both performed hula dances to the Hawaiian band one of the evenings which to me was one of the highlights. We did miss having sea days but having so much time in port allowed us to do so many things, including sunset at Haleakala which was breathtaking. You really can get the most of Hawaii on the Pride of America. Also, I enjoyed the added touches that NCL included for our CC meet and mingle group (meeting the heads of the different departments, including getting their personal extensions in case we needed them for anything)

Hawaii is amazing and you really want to be able to enjoy it on "island time" which POA allows you to do. It has some great entertainment and very little nightlife LOL... Hawaii doesn't lend itself to nightlife. The sun is down by 7:25 at the absolute latest. Which makes it feel late a whole lot earlier (at least to me.)

If you are going on a cruise to see Hawaii, POA gives you the most Hawaii. If you are going to get a very small taste of Hawaii or as just another cruise, maybe consider a different one.

~Katy

We are also doing the POA in 89 days. when I looked at all the options, to me, to POA gave you the best option for the money you would have to spend.