Decisions. Decisions. Should we cruise to Hawaii or Alaska from SF?

:confused: My husband and I are planning a cruise out of San Francisco for next year. We sailed on the Grand down to Mexico earlier in the year and realize she's the only ship embarking out of SF now.

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to sail to Hawaii roundtrip. I don’t like to fly. And I love cruising. But now all of a sudden I’m not so sure I want to spend 8 days at sea. And truth be known, Hawaii has never been on my bucket list. Never had a desire to visit there.

So...now I’m not sure. And having already sailed on the Grand recently, I’m wondering if it’ll be tedious for all those days at sea. In other words, I’ll EAT all day! 😳

So, then there’s a 10 day sailing to Alaska out of SF. We originally had considered a cruise tour, but it involves too much flying. And I love driving to the port. We cruised to Alaska in 2005 with extended family. But, I wouldn’t mind going again with just my husband.

What to do, what to do. Oh, and because my husband is busy timing track meets in the spring and 10ks in the summer, we have to limit when we can sail.

Any advice? Alaska or Hawaii? Or maybe we can do Alaska now and wait for a newer ship for Hawaii.👍🏼 Maybe I just answered my own question! 😉

Both are fantastic voyages.

Overtime I would do both.

Obviously the ports are completely different.

Given all you have said I would go with Alaska. My own experience with Alaska is there is so much to see that if you enjoy it the first time around you might find that you'll want to go back for additional visits.

Keith

Having done both Hawaii and Alaska, all the way from Australia, might I suggest you do both. So much to see in the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. Put them in your bucket list. The sea days from SF or LA to Hawaii are great, way to cruise. ;)

Above all, enjoy. :*

BTW IMO Cruising with your husband is more important than timing Track Meets, tell him so. After all Alaska and Hawaii are part of your own country so go see !!

Our choice is Alaska. Which we are doing in June of 2018. Cannot wait.

I have the answer just flip a coin. :D

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

I have the answer just flip a coin. :D

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

Do both and reverse mortgage the house, SKI - Spend Kids Inheritance, as we do. :halo:

Been to, and liked both. But I would pick Alaska first if given a choice.

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Sorry to further limit you, but I'd also suggest you choose one of the sailings that includes a visit to Glacier Bay. We did that last year, and it was one of the highlights of the trip.

We did Alaska 7 day cruise out of Seattle with Celebrity this year. We are planning to do another alaska, but will do the Denali land tour with it next time. We are scheduled to do a 28 day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise in March 2018 round trip out of LA. We have done transatlantic so we have no problem with the many days at sea. As for the choice of where to go -

I would do Hawaii and then do the alaska again, since you have already done alaska. I have been to Hawaii (flying) over 10 trips and I love it. Your choice of the 15 day is the perfect time to be on the ship - hate 7 day, goes to fast.

Are there not 10 days at sea on these Hawaiian Cruises....

I would almost consider taking a Vancouver departure, and then checking off of the cruise at KAUAI, and flying home after an extra day or two there. I am not big on flying either!!! We flew almost non-stop, to Kauai from the southeast and back, with no overnight layovers. whew....

Of course, this poster wants to avoid flying. But, if anyone wanted to fly home, from a California departure, there would be penalties involved for cruising without visiting a foriegn port. ( $300.00 each ? )

PS: We have now traveled to Hawaii, and more recently cruised to Alaska.

For us, we would def. consider Hawaii over Alaska at this point.

I would do Alaska to travel with others who have not been!

My first Princess cruise was the RT from SFO on Grand to Hawaii. We love sea days, love Hawaii, and love warm weather, so that was an easy choice for us. Having said that, we are booked for the Alaska/Glacier Bay RT from SFO on Grand in 2018. But keep in mind that it also has a lot of sea days sandwiched around the Alaska ports.

If you've been to Alaska and never to Hawaii, I'd personally go with Hawaii. But if you're really not excited about Hawaii, there's far fewer sea days on the Alaska itinerary. So you should probably go with Alaska.

We have sailed to both and it would be a tough choice We have another Hawaii sailing booked next year but would do Alaska again.

I don't mind the sea days and there is a lot of Hawaiian culture stuff they normally do on the way over, if you want to learn ukulele or hula.

Having done 1 Alaska and 4 Hawaiian cruises from the west coast, I would say they are very different cruises and you will have to decide what kind of vacation experience you want. Enjoy either way!

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to sail to Hawaii roundtrip. I don’t like to fly. And I love cruising. But now all of a sudden I’m not so sure I want to spend 8 days at sea. And truth be known, Hawaii has never been on my bucket list. Never had a desire to visit there.

I'm curious about this paragraph. If you don't like sea days and you've never had a desire to visit Hawaii, why is a Hawaii cruise even on the list? Sounds to me like Alaska would fit your needs more. It looks like your first Alaska cruise was on NCL. We went first on NCL, then on Princess, and I think you'll find Princess has a lot more enrichment lectures and Alaska-themed components to the trip.

FYI: We love Hawaii and we love cruising, but have never cruised there because it seems like you're in the islands for such a short time.

Jim

Alaska.

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We have been to both by ship. Both were great!

The sea days to Hawaii in January/February are not warm (which was a surprise to me) but Hawaii is. I do prefer "warm" if given a choice. And, it is beautiful. Whales swam alongside the ship.

Alaska is fascinating. Such scenery. It is magnificent.

Poor you having to choose between two wonderful voyages! You absolutely can't lose either way.

And, unless this will absolutely be your last-ever cruise: go one place this year and the other next year.

I would probably pick the best-value price as where to go first.

Happy Sailing! Jimmybean

I'm curious about this paragraph. If you don't like sea days and you've never had a desire to visit Hawaii, why is a Hawaii cruise even on the list? Sounds to me like Alaska would fit your needs more. It looks like your first Alaska cruise was on NCL. We went first on NCL, then on Princess, and I think you'll find Princess has a lot more enrichment lectures and Alaska-themed components to the trip.

 

FYI: We love Hawaii and we love cruising, but have never cruised there because it seems like you're in the islands for such a short time.

 

Jim

You beat me to it - I agree with all points !!!

I think you should do the Alaska cruise.

I honestly can't imagine never wanting to see Hawaii - each island is so very different and so interesting, but it would be better to fly there and spend several days on each island rather than a cruise where you only have a short time to see a few islands and lose a bunch of time at sea each way. The advantage of cruising Hawaii is that you can see lava flows at night from the ship, but other than that, it is much, much better to stay on the islands.

Suite Traveler, If the ship would sail by Volcanoes National Park, would this be the evening after departing from Hilo?

I wonder how much you can see, and at about what time the ship goes by this area?

Thanks if you have more details!

:confused: My husband and I are planning a cruise out of San Francisco for next year. We sailed on the Grand down to Mexico earlier in the year and realize she's the only ship embarking out of SF now.

 

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to sail to Hawaii roundtrip. I don’t like to fly. And I love cruising. But now all of a sudden I’m not so sure I want to spend 8 days at sea. And truth be known, Hawaii has never been on my bucket list. Never had a desire to visit there.

 

 

So...now I’m not sure. And having already sailed on the Grand recently, I’m wondering if it’ll be tedious for all those days at sea. In other words, I’ll EAT all day! ��

 

 

So, then there’s a 10 day sailing to Alaska out of SF. We originally had considered a cruise tour, but it involves too much flying. And I love driving to the port. We cruised to Alaska in 2005 with extended family. But, I wouldn’t mind going again with just my husband.

 

 

What to do, what to do. Oh, and because my husband is busy timing track meets in the spring and 10ks in the summer, we have to limit when we can sail.

 

 

Any advice? Alaska or Hawaii? Or maybe we can do Alaska now and wait for a newer ship for Hawaii.���� Maybe I just answered my own question! ��

I may be wrong, but it sounds like you really don’t want to cruise or visit the Hawaiian Islands? Yes?

Also a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands is not experiencing the real Hawaii. Having grown up in Hawaii, a few hours in each port of call is not the way to experience the Hawaiian people, culture, history, or local cusine. Get no sense of Aloha. IMHO.

Go back to Alaska.

Good luck.

Based on what you have said, I would recommend Alaska for you. If you decide to cruise to Hawaii, I would leave out of San Pedro. You will have better weather and a longer stop in Ensenada. If you don't want to fly, you can drive down the day before, otherwise it's a quick flight from the Bay Area. If you want warmer weather in Hawaii, I would avoid the winter months and go in the fall or the spring. My favorite time to go is late October, or early November.

We did a Hawaii cruise (Star - LA) this last Feb and an Alaska (RCCL - Seattle) in May. Both are amazing cruise destinations so you will have to really decide what you want most out of your experience. We will always choose Hawaii first, but then we love the sea days and are especially fond of Hawaii. If the only concern on a Hawaii cruise is the number of sea days, be assured, they won't let you be bored unless you want to be.

For us cruising out of San Francisco would be a definite enhancement to take any cruise. Beautiful city.

Good luck with your choice. :)

Suite Traveler, If the ship would sail by Volcanoes National Park, would this be the evening after departing from Hilo?

I wonder how much you can see, and at about what time the ship goes by this area?

Thanks if you have more details!

If you look on Youtube, you can see videos of the lava flows from ships such as NCL's Pride of America. This is Mt. Kiluaea:

Here's another one on RCCL, I believe:

They go after dark (obviously) and in some cases, quite late at night - the second video was filmed around midnight, but it is amazing to see!

If you look on Youtube, you can see videos of the lava flows from ships such as NCL's Pride of America. This is Mt. Kiluaea:

Here's another one on RCCL, I believe:

 

They go after dark (obviously) and in some cases, quite late at night - the second video was filmed around midnight, but it is amazing to see!

You will NOT see the lava flows on a Princess cruise. Not going to happen.

For the OP I would say to take the 10 day round trip from SF that goes through Glacier Bay. Excellent cruise and the OP seems far more inclined to visit Alaska than Hawaii.