Which cruise line?

I'm finding it to be very costly :( Just got off the phone with Norwegian and they have some great deals but WOW, the guy quoted me $6,700 and that was for 2 people including airfare,2 nights in Marriott hotel before cruise, then 9 days cruise.My AAA TA quoted me the same price without a cruise. Hubby said thats way too much $$$, Ive been to Hawaii b4 but back in 86 and he has never been and I thought it would be a great 20th anniv trip. May not be doing this now :( Anyone else have any other ideas for a 20th anniv trip, open to suggestions at this point.

You could maybe do a 7 day land on one or two islands for less, but for someone who has never seen all of Hawaii, one island is just not going to compare to a cruise taking you to all three with overnights, two full days on each island, plus Oahu pre and post. And no runs to the airports to fly between islands wasting prescious Hawaii touring time.

There are lots of TAs. We checked several big on line agencies ( the ones that specialize in cruises or do cruises only ) and booked way over a year in advance. If there are price drops you can take advantage of them or get upgraded.

Consider booking your flights and hotels independently instead of a package deal. I have heard people say that it is cheaper to go that way. As a matter of fact, my cruise fare plus what we paid for air and two hotel nights is about $1,000 less than you were quoted. I think you may be able to do better on your own. We found that Hawaiian Airlines had the best fares, about $530 per person, nonstop from Pheonix.

Nearly everything in Hawaii is free to do own your own with a rental car, so you won't be spending big bucks for tours like we did in Alaska. I hope you figure out a way to do it.:)

You could maybe do a 7 day land on one or two islands for less, but for someone who has never seen all of Hawaii, one island is just not going to compare to a cruise taking you to all three with overnights, two full days on each island, plus Oahu pre and post. And no runs to the airports to fly between islands wasting prescious Hawaii touring time.

 

There are lots of TAs. We checked several big on line agencies ( the ones that specialize in cruises or do cruises only ) and booked way over a year in advance. If there are price drops you can take advantage of them or get upgraded.

 

Consider booking your flights and hotels independently instead of a package deal. I have heard people say that it is cheaper to go that way. As a matter of fact, my cruise fare plus what we paid for air and two hotel nights is about $1,000 less than you were quoted. I think you may be able to do better on your own. We found that Hawaiian Airlines had the best fares, about $530 per person, nonstop from Pheonix.

 

Nearly everything in Hawaii is free to do own your own with a rental car, so you won't be spending big bucks for tours like we did in Alaska. I hope you figure out a way to do it.:)

Thank you for your info Punk, I will look around more before deciding. i never even thought about Hawaiin Air :eek: As you can see I have no clue about Hawaii stuff :( Is there a way that I can send you a private message on here to ask you some questions?

Well we went and bit the bullet and decided to do the Norwegian POA Hawaii, Kind of nervous about this decision because it is so costly. 1 year to pay for it. Thanks for all the input :)

Well we went and bit the bullet and decided to do the Norwegian POA Hawaii, Kind of nervous about this decision because it is so costly. 1 year to pay for it. Thanks for all the input :)

I'm thinking about this trip as well. Which company did you choose or travel agent

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So glad you decided to go for it! Did you book it yet? What date? Be sure to sign up for your Roll Call with others on your cruise.

I'm thinking about this trip as well. Which company did you choose or travel agent

 

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Booked directly with Norwegian because of 2 days sight seeing prior to cruise + airfare. This one is going fast though,go to NCL and look at Hawaii Cruises.

So glad you decided to go for it! Did you book it yet? What date? Be sure to sign up for your Roll Call with others on your cruise.

Thanks! Yes we went for it :eek: We did the meet & mingle on last cruise and sat with Host Dan. :)

after much discussion today, we decided to Not do the Hawaii cruise because of the huge cost involved. And after getting an email from RCI offering 2nd passenger sailing 1/2 price we decided we are going to do the Alaska cruise instead.Have to save money anyway way we can ;) Plus its the same week as our 20th. Hawaii will have to wait for a bit. Thanks for the input.

you won't be sorry going to Alaska. It was our favorite cruise thus far. We went on the Star years ago and had a great time.

you won't be sorry going to Alaska. It was our favorite cruise thus far. We went on the Star years ago and had a great time.

Thanks! I just hope we will be able to see the Glaciers etc, Have always wanted to go to Alaska. Looks beautiful!! Whats the weather like in July?

after much discussion today, we decided to Not do the Hawaii cruise because of the huge cost involved. And after getting an email from RCI offering 2nd passenger sailing 1/2 price we decided we are going to do the Alaska cruise instead.Have to save money anyway way we can ;) Plus its the same week as our 20th. Hawaii will have to wait for a bit. Thanks for the input.

Well, Hawaii isn't going anywhere, and Alaska is pretty spectacular too. We cruised there May 2013. It should be fairly warm in July, but I think late summer and fall may have more rain. Visit the Alaska board. It is quite a bit more active than the Hawaii board for some reason and great info there. Get a water proof shell with hood and be prepared to enjoy Alaska rain or shine!

Well, Hawaii isn't going anywhere, and Alaska is pretty spectacular too. We cruised there May 2013. It should be fairly warm in July, but I think late summer and fall may have more rain. Visit the Alaska board. It is quite a bit more active than the Hawaii board for some reason and great info there. Get a water proof shell with hood and be prepared to enjoy Alaska rain or shine!

Thank you Punkincc, appreciate the comment. Do you mind if I add you as a cruise critic friend? :)

Thank you Punkincc, appreciate the comment. Do you mind if I add you as a cruise critic friend? :)

I don't mind at all! There is not PM feature here, but if you want to email me at crowder 7160 at comcast dot net I don't mind.

I don't mind at all! There is not PM feature here, but if you want to email me at crowder 7160 at comcast dot net I don't mind.

Thanks :) do you use social media like Fbook?

after much discussion today, we decided to Not do the Hawaii cruise because of the huge cost involved. And after getting an email from RCI offering 2nd passenger sailing 1/2 price we decided we are going to do the Alaska cruise instead.Have to save money anyway way we can ;) Plus its the same week as our 20th. Hawaii will have to wait for a bit. Thanks for the input.

Check to see if RCI has a small ship excursion out of Juneau to Tracy Arm. If there is a lot of ice, the small ship can get closer to the glacier than the big ship. It is well worth it.

The ice is very erratic. We went last year in July and the big ship could not get into Tracy Arm so she (and the small ship) went down Edicott Arm to the glaciers. The cruise week before us and the one after us were able to get down Tracy Arm.

after much discussion today, we decided to Not do the Hawaii cruise because of the huge cost involved. And after getting an email from RCI offering 2nd passenger sailing 1/2 price we decided we are going to do the Alaska cruise instead.Have to save money anyway way we can ;) Plus its the same week as our 20th. Hawaii will have to wait for a bit. Thanks for the input.

We went on our Alaskan cruise just about ten years ago (exact date of sailing was 8/15/04) on the Sapphire Princess. Our glacier cruising was in the Tracy Arm Strait and it was beautiful. Princess is known for its Alaskan cruises (so is HAL). Here's the Tracy Strait from the open deck:

Here's a bit of throwback Thursday of our then 7-year-old:

Hubby basically dragged her out of bed with a bribe of hot chocolate. Note her footwear. The funny thing is that some friends just took her out for her birthday tonight (it's her 17th today!) and she was wearing heels.

after much discussion today, we decided to Not do the Hawaii cruise because of the huge cost involved. And after getting an email from RCI offering 2nd passenger sailing 1/2 price we decided we are going to do the Alaska cruise instead.Have to save money anyway way we can ;) Plus its the same week as our 20th. Hawaii will have to wait for a bit. Thanks for the input.

You won't be sorry! My husband and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary on 8/14 and celebrated a week early on the Carnival Miracle in Alaska. It was wonderful--and a lot less expensive than Hawaii. (Although, the excursions add up fast!)

Now we are debating not doing the Alaska cruise right now because I really want to go to Hawaii and I founf a great condo on my own for 10 days at a great rate and with air it would only cost around $3,000 total which is pretty good. Then add food, tours etc. Decisions decisions. My hubby wants to do the Elvis cruise in Feb going to western caribbean now too lol

Thanks! I just hope we will be able to see the Glaciers etc, Have always wanted to go to Alaska. Looks beautiful!! Whats the weather like in July?

Just got back a week ago from out third cruise to Alaska! It is so beautiful and such a great place to cruise...I don't think you will regret it at all!

We just came beck from an Alaskan cruise tour with HAL. Although the cruise and land tour were breathtaking, the ship was clean, and the staff was very friendly, the demographic of the boat was too "old" for us. It seemed most were 60+. We are in our 40's and really enjoy the varying activities (trivia, nightclubs, etc.) that we get on Carnival. We are platinum cruisers. We want to do the Hawaiian islands and want to find the cruise line that will fit us best when we are not on land. We aren't wild partiers, but we do like to be active in the fun on board. Suggestions?

Although one day I would like to fly in and out of Hawaii, I don't know if I would like POA. We are platinum also, and we did the repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver on the Miracle this past April. Yes, it's a long time on the ship, but we had fun, used the pools and the clubs, and enjoyed ourselves for this extended holiday. We also spent the night in Maui at a hotel after our luau which was a highlight of our Hawaiian experience, using a rental car for the two days there. Don't rule out Carnival simply due to the long sea days, they were what we made them!

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Which cruise line?

We just came beck from an Alaskan cruise tour with HAL. Although the cruise and land tour were breathtaking, the ship was clean, and the staff was very friendly, the demographic of the boat was too "old" for us. It seemed most were 60+. We are in our 40's and really enjoy the varying activities (trivia, nightclubs, etc.) that we get on Carnival. We are platinum cruisers. We want to do the Hawaiian islands and want to find the cruise line that will fit us best when we are not on land. We aren't wild partiers, but we do like to be active in the fun on board. Suggestions?

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We are going November 2015 on Carnival. We are also in our 40's. We choose them due to the 15 day itenerary with so many sea days. We think of it like this, we cruise because we love sea days and really only need to get a taste of the islands we visit, if we don't get to do everything in one trip than we can always go back. In Hawaii the only one thing that is a must for us is Pearl Harbor which we will get to do everything else wil be an added bonus. No matter what cruise line you go on You will have a great time and get to see one of America's most beautiful places.