Land or cruise in January?

I want to turn 40 in Hawaii. That is only 3.5 months after my mom's 70th in the Mediterranean. Looking at the POA, I am not excited about the ship at all, but I like the itinerary. A January birthday means I have no other options except land trips. For my first trip to Hawaii should I stay on one island or go to all of them?

If you really enjoy cruising and only have a short time for your vacation, cruising on POA might be your best choice, if you take the opportunity to explore from each port.

It would give you an idea of what each island has to offer and which one(s) you'd want to return to if you wanted to do a land trip another time.

A pre or post cruise stay of 2 or more days on Oahu would enhance the trip.

On the other hand, a land trip would be nice if you wanted a more relaxing vacation and time to more thoroughly explore one island (assuming that a land trip would be to one island only?)

It is commonly discussed on this board that a land tour is far superior to a cruise of Hawaii. How long you stay on an island is up to your interests, and what is available on each island. If you are a lay on the beach and swim person, you could spend unlimited time on an island. If you need to be touring every day, seeing different things, then some islands will keep you busy for a week or more, some have a few less things to do.

It is commonly discussed on this board that a land tour is far superior to a cruise of Hawaii. How long you stay on an island is up to your interests, and what is available on each island. If you are a lay on the beach and swim person, you could spend unlimited time on an island. If you need to be touring every day, seeing different things, then some islands will keep you busy for a week or more, some have a few less things to do.

I am the latter: tours, tours, tours. Take me to Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace, Dole plantation, Polynesian Cultural Center . . . you get the idea. But I also would be happy on the beach for short periods each day during low tide just to walk near the water. And of course I don't want to go there in the winter without taking at least one whale watching excursion.

My first time in Hawaii was on one of those guided tour packages -- three islands in nine days. For the most part, we were on a bus and going many places without worrying about our luggage and planning the details. We also had a couple of free afternoons to fill as we wanted. The second time was for my honeymoon and we limited ourselves to Kauai and Honolulu, a few days each. We went all over Kauai via rental car.

The next three times we did the cruise from LA. After going to the usual touristy places, we would just concentrate on a less hectic schedule in the ports and we had a ton of fun sea days taking part in a Hawaiian cultural program (for me) and relaxing time playing the guitar (hubby) and hanging with kids her age for our daughter.

If we go back with the idea of spending more time in the islands, we would just do another land trip without a cruise around the islands.

While we LOVE to cruise, for Hawaii we'd rather fly to Hawaii than cruise. Our favorite is Maui! :)

LuLu

I am the latter: tours, tours, tours. Take me to Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace, Dole plantation, Polynesian Cultural Center . . . you get the idea. But I also would be happy on the beach for short periods each day during low tide just to walk near the water. And of course I don't want to go there in the winter without taking at least one whale watching excursion.

Of course we don't know this, or anything else about you. That is why some reading and research on your part is very helpful to narrow down this very broad question. But I get the idea that is not what you wish to do.

We regularly spend 10 days on Maui, a mix of beach time and activities. But after over 20 trips to the Islands, we find the other islands not worth more than 5 days. Realistically you could, as a first timer, spend 7-10 days on the Big Island or Oahu. Have never found Kauai to be worth much more than 6 or 7 days, unless you are Type Z.

It is commonly discussed on this board that a land tour is far superior to a cruise of Hawaii.

Land trips have been our choice for vacationing in Hawaii ... we've really enjoyed our trips to Oahu, Maui, Kauai, the Island of Hawaii and Molokai. We have no desire to cruise there, although we've enjoyed cruises to other destinations.

But I don't feel that a land trip is superior for all people or in all situations. I know several couples (not all on the same vacation) who only had about 10 days of vacation time, had never been to Hawaii and wanted to see some of each island. Doing that on a land trip would be crazy, whereas the POA cruise offered exactly what they wanted ... some of the highlights on each island.

They all came back with rave reviews - happy to have been to each of the 4 main islands ... although they all said it was a whirlwind and they needed a vacation after the vacation:) And they have a good idea of which island they'd like to return to if they do a land trip in the future.

While we LOVE to cruise, for Hawaii we'd rather fly to Hawaii than cruise. Our favorite is Maui!

Why is Maui your favorite island?

Why is Maui your favorite island?

Having lived & still a part time resident, I'm biased but for me Maui was the best combination for my Ohana & me.

Each island has it's own wonderful options & why my suggestion to you would be to take a cruise for a first visit. That gives you a day or two on each island to get a taste of what each island has to offer. Then in the future you would better know which island you prefer & take a longer landtour of whichever island you prefer.

Our first trip to Hawaii was in 1981 and in 2 weeks we visited each of the 4 major islands. It was quite hectic checking out of hotels, returning rental cars & flying interisland which used up the better part of those 4 days. Even though a cruise is less time on each island, you unpack once & explore each island.

Having spent a lot of time in Hawaii, cruising on Princess from LA on a 2 week cruise is my best option for island-hopping and even better than doing it from here on Maui. However not everyone wants to have so many seadays & thus the NCL's POA itinerary is hard to beat for the maximum amount of time during a cruise in the Islands.

Astro, the number of sea days is not an issue for me. It is the number of days I will be gone total. I want to be home during the NFL conference championships. Those two games will be played on January 22, so I would be in port. However, I would absolutely love a 15-night Hawaii cruise with 8 sea days if I could travel solo from San Diego.

I want to be home during the NFL conference championships. Those two games will be played on January 22 ....

With your Hawaii trip planned for January 2017, it gives you lots of time to decide whether to cruise or do a land trip. For a land trip, I'd look at accommodation options about a year out.

I really like the NCL itinerary and with taking that cruise, I also add another 2+weeks split between the cruise.

I do spend a week on Maui, but my "favorite" island is Hawaii . :) It is so diverse with superb snorkeling, whale watching and volcanos. Only way to do the nighttime snorkeling and head up to Mauna Kea, as example.

Flights are reasonable, frequent and simple between islands.

I am the latter: tours, tours, tours. Take me to Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace, Dole plantation, Polynesian Cultural Center . . . you get the idea. But I also would be happy on the beach for short periods each day during low tide just to walk near the water. And of course I don't want to go there in the winter without taking at least one whale watching excursion.

Aloha :D

It sounds to me like you want to explore the islands in some detail, so I would recommend flying in early, especially to Honolulu and staying in Waikiki. Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, and the Polynesian Cultural Center can be driven to and usually have adequate parking if you rent a car. If Iolani Palace is a must see, you should call them and ask about visiting, since I don't know if the tour companies are allowed to take visitors thru the palace.

Tour buses are not allowed to stop and drop off passengers at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) that has a beautiful overlook where cars may be parked while individuals walk up to look at the view of Honolulu from Diamond Head to Barber's Point, something tour bus passengers do not get to see. The parking area also services the Honolulu Memorial at the Punchbowl, which to me is a must see if you visit the cemetery. This is something else that the tour bus passengers do not get to see, since the Punchbowl is an active cemetery like Arlington National and tour buses are only allowed to slowly drive thru the cemetery, and passengers are not allowed to hop off. http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/americas/honolulu-memorial#.VZSR_vlViko

If you don't want to drive, since Oahu has the worst commuter rush hour traffic in the nation (worse that LA), a lot of the places can be reached by a car service. I know one that offers a $9 round trip from Waikiki to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.

There are companies that have tours that will take you to a lot of the places that are mentioned by visitors to Oahu, but you must check if the tour stops at the place so you can spend some time looking. I saw the items listed on one of the tours and I know for sure that the tour is not allowed to let passengers off at some of the places.

To visit the other islands, there are interisland flights (25-75 minutes), or you could fly into one of the other islands since most have airports that are serviced by the major airlines and island hop to Honolulu. You could spend two days or more touring each of the other islands. It is very hard to get lost on Kauai, Maui, or Hawaii Island, since there aren't too many main roads. Then you can relax and cruise on POA without rushing to see multiple places at each port.

I have lived in Hawaii all my life, and I know that Hawaii has a lot to see and explore. I hope that this helps a little.

Aloha :D

Aloha to you too Rackuroda!

It looks like there are no HOHO buses and I have to rent a car. :( Are there any or is that banned everywhere?

After deciding how to travel, I will have a lot of questions for you. Aloha!

I want to turn 40 in Hawaii. That is only 3.5 months after my mom's 70th in the Mediterranean. Looking at the POA, I am not excited about the ship at all, but I like the itinerary. A January birthday means I have no other options except land trips. For my first trip to Hawaii should I stay on one island or go to all of them?

I love cruising as a vacation and the wake up in a different port.

Hawaii is one place I'd never consider a cruise as much as I like. Pick any island ( I've been to almost all of them ) I can find so many things to do and not want to hurry back on the ship and move to another port/Island. Seems a waste to be on a ship and confined when you could be in paradise with many options from local fair to the best of anything you'd want. With a little research and willinginess to drive I think so much better, and I'm not a lay at a beach all day guy, but nice to be able to do that and still do other things.

Chip, you can say that about a lot of places. It is a tradeoff we accept by taking cruises sometimes and land trips other times. The idea of rushing back to a ship would be a problem on one of those RT cruises from the west coast. That might happen on the POA too, but two overnights certainly help.

For me the main issue is the ship itself. Is there plenty of good free food? Is the crew satisfactory? Are the beds comfortable? These basics are very important if I am going to sail on that ship because they will be part of cruising every night. So is having something better to do than read a book after supper because I do not go to bed shortly after eating or take cruises to relax.

That said, the advantage of cruising is obviously being able to see more islands. Is booking one cruise not cheaper than booking four island hopper flights? Also, it would be more fun to island hop on a cruise ship than a tiny plane.

Chip, you can say that about a lot of places. It is a tradeoff we accept by taking cruises sometimes and land trips other times. The idea of rushing back to a ship would be a problem on one of those RT cruises from the west coast. That might happen on the POA too, but two overnights certainly help.

 

For me the main issue is the ship itself. Is there plenty of good free food? Is the crew satisfactory? Are the beds comfortable? These basics are very important if I am going to sail on that ship because they will be part of cruising every night. So is having something better to do than read a book after supper because I do not go to bed shortly after eating or take cruises to relax.

 

That said, the advantage of cruising is obviously being able to see more islands. Is booking one cruise not cheaper than booking four island hopper flights? Also, it would be more fun to island hop on a cruise ship than a tiny plane.

Aloha :)

There is a Waikiki Trolley that has 4 different HOHO routes and different ticket arrangements. The routes are mostly on the east side of Oahu and one goes to Chinatown in downtown Honolulu. The Panoramic Blue line has 3 stop/highlights that are 5 minute photo only stops where you cannot disembark (municipal ordinance), you must leave with the trolley. http://www.waikikitrolley.com/

Something you might consider is a 9-Day Hawaii from Honolulu (Cruise + Hotel Package), which includes two nights in Waikiki before you cruise. Problem right now is that they don't show dates for January 2016, and the fares are higher than the special $1,099 rate shown for the 7 day cruise.

You could fly into Hilo or Kona and rent a car and see both for 2-3 days (including the volcano), then fly to Honolulu pick up a car at the airport and drive out to the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore (renting a car would be cheaper than taking a car service). While on the north shore, you can drive over to the Polynesian Cultural Center (a little over 7 miles), spend a full day, have the dinner, and see the nighttime show, then drive back to the Turtle Bay Resort. Second day, you can look at all of the different surfing beaches or other north shore attractions like Haleiwa town. Only problem with the north shore during the winter is all the surf sightseeing traffic clogging the roads.

Then you can return the rental car to the airport and book the cruise hotel on your own before your cruise package begins if you want more time to see the Pearl Harbor/Honolulu/Waikiki side of the island. The cruise gives you one night on both Maui and Kauai, so those would be the islands with the least amount of sightseeing time.

That would give you at least 2 weeks to visit Hawaii before you return to Florida, unless watching the championship games on big screen TVs in Hawaii is sufficient (many of the bars will have the game on).

I hope this gives you a little more food for thought and planning.

Aloha :)

I want to turn 40 in Hawaii. That is only 3.5 months after my mom's 70th in the Mediterranean. Looking at the POA, I am not excited about the ship at all, but I like the itinerary. A January birthday means I have no other options except land trips. For my first trip to Hawaii should I stay on one island or go to all of them?

Have you done solo land or cruises in the past? Do you like them equally as well? Are you comfortable touring unknown places alone? A cruise in my mind would be a great way to do solo traveling to me.

Have you done solo land or cruises in the past? Do you like them equally as well? Are you comfortable touring unknown places alone? A cruise in my mind would be a great way to do solo traveling to me.

I wish I could travel alone sometimes! Unfortunately even on a cruise I can't do it - especially in Hawaii, where renting a car is necessary.

Stay on Hawaii...there is to much to do that you can't do on a cruise!!!

Astro, the number of sea days is not an issue for me. It is the number of days I will be gone total. I want to be home during the NFL conference championships. Those two games will be played on January 22, so I would be in port. However, I would absolutely love a 15-night Hawaii cruise with 8 sea days if I could travel solo from San Diego.

In your first post OP you use the word "I" not we or DH and I or my mom and me ect so this made me think that you were traveling alone. Also in the post above you wrote "However, I would absolutely love a 15-night Hawaii cruise with 8 sea days if I could travel solo from San Diego." This sure does not sound like someone who isn't or can't travel alone. By reading it over I'm sure that you can see how I came to that conclusion.:)

Since you are not traveling solo on this trip has your traveling companion given you any indication as to their preferred way to visit Hawaii?

I wish I could travel alone sometimes! Unfortunately even on a cruise I can't do it - especially in Hawaii, where renting a car is necessary.

I would think that tours and taxi's could get you where you need to be especially during the day or where ships overnight. I would think that many folks visiting Hawaii both on a land vacation and especially on a cruise where they are only on each island for a day or two rely on taxis and tours to take them where they want to go.

The other option is to look at a cruise doing a R/T out of San Diego, San Francisco or San Diego which usually has stops at five Hawaii Ports. The plus is it gives you a lot more cruise line options. Downside is you don't have pre cruise or post cruise time in Hawaii as you would with POA.

Keith

In your first post OP you use the word "I" not we or DH and I or my mom and me etc. so this made me think that you were traveling alone. Also in the post above you wrote "However, I would absolutely love a 15-night Hawaii cruise with 8 sea days if I could travel solo from San Diego." This sure does not sound like someone who isn't or can't travel alone. By reading it over I'm sure that you can see how I came to that conclusion.

 

Since you are not traveling solo on this trip has your traveling companion given you any indication as to their preferred way to visit Hawaii?

The reason for that is my mom would not want to take a 15-night cruise from a west coast city. If I could travel alone, I definitely would do that itinerary. Sorry for the confusion.