Carnival Hawaii questions

I am looking to do a first time Hawaii cruise with my wife. We are both early 30s

When is better to go April or September? Is it better to go from Hawaii to vancouver or vice versa?

Is legend a good, clean updated ship? If not would you recommend another cruise line to hawaii.

I am looking to do a first time Hawaii cruise with my wife. We are both early 30s

 

When is better to go April or September? Is it better to go from Hawaii to vancouver or vice versa?

 

Is legend a good, clean updated ship? If not would you recommend another cruise line to hawaii.

I would also like to know the answers to these questions because that is what we are thinking about.

We cruised the Hawaii itinerary out of San Diego in mid April of 2012 and over the years I've done a few land based Hawaii vacations in September. If I had to choose between those two months, I would choose September mostly because it will be a bit warmer with less rainy and/or overcast weather.

We've never sailed on the Legend but she is a Spirit class ship which we love. Princess does the Hawaii itinerary but they don't call on Kona. HAL does the Hawaii itinerary with the same ports as Carnival.

Honestly, with a Hawaii cruise I don't think you can go wrong, especially if you love sea days and don't mind that the seas can be a bit rough at times when crossing the Pacific. If you don't like sea days I would either do an inter-island Hawaii cruise with NCL or P&O or do a land based vacation.

Hope this helps!

Could also do RT from Los Angeles. Went on the Miracle (Legends) sister two years ago in October. And going again this October.

Crowd was older with only 20 kids in the clubs. It was a very mellow cruise.

Expect some rocking the first/last two days near the West Coast.

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Personally, I would take the 2 weeks that the cruise takes and instead go on a land based Hawaii vacation. You could do two or three islands spending several days on each island. The Hawaiian islands are truly magical and each island has a different vibe. There is so much to see and do on the islands that I don't think spending a portion of one day on each island from a cruise ship would do it justice. Just MHO.

Unless the cruise is part of the whole "experience" you are looking for, I agree you might get more out of your Hawaii vacation by flying there, staying a few days (I might suggest Kuaui and Maui as they are spectacular) and a few days in Hololulu... You will get a better "Hawaii experience".

But if the cruise is part of the experience you are looking for, I love the legend, nice ship and well maintained and a good "medium/small" ship... I would prefer to get the flight out of the way on the front side, stay a few days in Honolulu, cruise the islands then use the next 5/6 sea days to relax and unwind after touring... I have done both options and enjoyed the long cruise at the end versus the front side... Just IMO

I've been to Hawaii 20+ times. I'm with the others who recommend a land based trip. There is sooooo much to see and do. Pick two islands. When you move between the islands it pretty much wastes the whole day.

We went to Hawaii on a cruise about three years ago 15 day round trip on the Splendor it was a great cruise just loved it one of the best we have been on we are going again October 2017 cant wait dont know how it will be in October when we went on the Splendor it was in January seen lots of whales then Again we just loved our 15 day Hawaii cruise cant wait till next year for another.:)

I am looking to do a first time Hawaii cruise with my wife. We are both early 30s

 

When is better to go April or September? Is it better to go from Hawaii to vancouver or vice versa?

 

Is legend a good, clean updated ship? If not would you recommend another cruise line to hawaii.

I guess we would have had to do all 4 to compare, but we chose ENSENADA to Hawaii in April. We figured it would be warmer and we like extending the season by starting early as opposed to ending it late.

But we ended up finding the crossing a little cooler than we expected, but only to the point of needing a sweater. Once we got to the islands it was completely tropical.

What we DID NOT EXPECT was the amount of 80 90 and 100 year olds on board. It was kind of like cruising in a retirement home.

The Legend is a fine ship. We sailed it 3 times, but not to Hawaii.

Could also do RT from Los Angeles. Went on the Miracle (Legends) sister two years ago in October. And going again this October.

Crowd was older with only 20 kids in the clubs. It was a very mellow cruise.

 

Expect some rocking the first/last two days near the West Coast.

 

 

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The round trips are so much more expensive than the repositioning cruises.

We went to Hawaii on a cruise about three years ago 15 day round trip on the Splendor it was a great cruise just loved it one of the best we have been on we are going again October 2017 cant wait dont know how it will be in October when we went on the Splendor it was in January seen lots of whales then Again we just loved our 15 day Hawaii cruise cant wait till next year for another.:)

Was that the big oops, where they didn't realize the ship couldn't fit into the port on Kauai, and they had to skip it? That is the best stop of that itinerary.

I've been to Hawaii 20+ times. I'm with the others who recommend a land based trip. There is sooooo much to see and do. Pick two islands. When you move between the islands it pretty much wastes the whole day.

We avoided Hawaii for 20+ years just not having to be on a plane that long, and really not knowing where exactly to go. Had I, I would have probably chosen Oahu, and ended up completely disappointed.

Cruising there made it so much less stressful. And we got 5 stops on 4 islands with two overnights. Should I ever return, I know where I would go, but most likely I would cruise again.

I go to Hawaii every year. I have done the Vancouver trans cruises, and the round trip LA sailings, but the winner- and my preference is always, NCL's POA. Simply- the best option especially since I add at least a week on each side for more time on Maui and Hawaii.

10 sea days are a lot, and not my preference. The Legend/Miracle, aren't what I consider stand out ships. They do have the big bonus of, usually Michelle- the ship naturalist. Princess- is far superior with their Hawaii activities on the ship.

First- I suggest you figure out WHAT you want to see and do- then be certain, it fits with the ship you choose. Superior- as multiple times mentioned- is just parking yourself in Hawaii. Hawaii is so simple with a rental car. I wouldn't consider any trip there without one.

April and Sept are not when I want to be there, as my preference is February. Superb humpback action. :)

We have done it twice, CCL and Princess and loved both including the sea days.

Did both in December and second time end of Dec saw lots of whales.

I guess we would have had to do all 4 to compare, but we chose ENSENADA to Hawaii in April. We figured it would be warmer and we like extending the season by starting early as opposed to ending it late.

 

But we ended up finding the crossing a little cooler than we expected, but only to the point of needing a sweater. Once we got to the islands it was completely tropical.

 

What we DID NOT EXPECT was the amount of 80 90 and 100 year olds on board. It was kind of like cruising in a retirement home.

 

The Legend is a fine ship. We sailed it 3 times, but not to Hawaii.

This is what we DONT want. We are young just turned 30. It would suck being on a carvinal 'fun ship' cruise in this environment.

This is what we DONT want. We are young just turned 30. It would suck being on a carvinal 'fun ship' cruise in this environment.

I think the poster you quoted was talking about a 15 nt. r/t LA cruise to Hawaii. That sailing has 10 sea days, WAY to many for me. We are doing the 11 nt. repo cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver on 4/19/17, a Journeys cruise, which should have a larger variety of ages onboard. We are spending 4 nt. in Honolulu pre-cruise, which will give us plenty of time to see that island and get over the jet lag. We were able to find a great place through Air BNB for $99/nt. for our pre-cruise stay. As others have said, I would prefer to have the sea days at the end of the cruise. Gives me time to relax after the hectic pace of seeing 5 islands in 5 days PLUS it is a shorter flight to get home :)

This is what we DONT want. We are young just turned 30. It would suck being on a carvinal 'fun ship' cruise in this environment.

longer cruises, many times have older demographics. You are NOT going to have the typical "fun ship" experience, outside the Caribbean. This shocks a lot of people, with the 7 day Alaska cruises, who seem to quickly dismiss Carnival, due to their assumptions. Can't be farther from the reality.

The round trip Hawaii along with the reposit, all are going to be very different from what you may be expecting.

A younger demographic is usually on the NCL POA, which I have taken the most, but have done the above 2 as well.

I'm picky on my Hawaii travels, and aren't in Oahu very long, as my priority is elsewhere. open jaw flights work excellent, if a consideration.

So true about demographics.

Longer cruises, especially those when school is traditionally in session will have an older average age.

Our 13 & 15 day Carnival cruises had an average age only a few years younger than our similar length Princess cruises. All out of Los Angeles. Vibe is mellow fun on Carnival. Just mellow (almost dull) on Princess.

Carnival does have a wider demographics dealing with age and job description.

West Coast cruises, generally, have a different vibe than Caribbean cruises. Several CDs have said that some things that work over there just don't work over here.

Longer cruises do attract an older crowd.

When we did it about 18 months ago never a worry about getting into seeing an R rated comedy show especially the midnight ones.

One of them with an hilarious comedian had less than 25 people.

I guess we would have had to do all 4 to compare, but we chose ENSENADA to Hawaii in April. We figured it would be warmer and we like extending the season by starting early as opposed to ending it late.

 

But we ended up finding the crossing a little cooler than we expected, but only to the point of needing a sweater. Once we got to the islands it was completely tropical.

 

What we DID NOT EXPECT was the amount of 80 90 and 100 year olds on board. It was kind of like cruising in a retirement home.

 

The Legend is a fine ship. We sailed it 3 times, but not to Hawaii.

Ensenada to Hawaii? Was this a HAL cruise?

Ensenada to Hawaii? Was this a HAL cruise?

Think Celebrity does this on occasion.

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I think the poster you quoted was talking about a 15 nt. r/t LA cruise to Hawaii. That sailing has 10 sea days, WAY to many for me. We are doing the 11 nt. repo cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver on 4/19/17, a Journeys cruise, which should have a larger variety of ages onboard. We are spending 4 nt. in Honolulu pre-cruise, which will give us plenty of time to see that island and get over the jet lag. We were able to find a great place through Air BNB for $99/nt. for our pre-cruise stay. As others have said, I would prefer to have the sea days at the end of the cruise. Gives me time to relax after the hectic pace of seeing 5 islands in 5 days PLUS it is a shorter flight to get home :)

That's incorrect. It was a 12 day repo from Ensenada ending in Honolulu. It had 5 1/2 sea days.

Ensenada to Hawaii? Was this a HAL cruise?

No, it was a Carnival cruise.

I have done the Vancouver to Hawaii cruise and NCL sailing just around Hawaii and I have done land vacations in Hawaii. All are great! I live in Vancouver and something you must think about is,, April in Vancouver is usually rainy...September is usually still summer like. Sailing from Vancouver would be my choice. Many hotels are around the port, even one right at the port (Pan Pacific) Holiday Inn downtown is good ,,not pricy,,we have had business events there and stayed over night. We stayed a few nights in Waikiki after the cruise which was wonderful, we rented a car in Maui and drove to a beach close to were the condo we stayed in a few years back. In Kauai we just walked to shopping and the beach, Hilo is great for Volcano Nat park, Kona has a great tour to some ruins, and you can just walk around town close to tender port. Just love Hawaii!!

We went to Hawaii on a cruise about three years ago 15 day round trip on the Splendor it was a great cruise just loved it one of the best we have been on we are going again October 2017 cant wait dont know how it will be in October when we went on the Splendor it was in January seen lots of whales then Again we just loved our 15 day Hawaii cruise cant wait till next year for another.:)

I agree with you. Sounds like you and I were on the same cruise out of Long Beach. Best vacation I have ever had.

Can't go wrong with a Hawaii cruise regardless of which one you take.

Hope you have a great trip.