Hawaii Cruise

Has anyone taken the Hawaii cruise from LA? How rough are the seas going there

Done it 5 times. Usually the sea isn't bad.
It's the ocean and you never know when a storm that the captain can't go around is going to pop up.
On one cruise we had massive swells and very rough sea for a day or 2.
You can't plan ahead for rough or calm, there's no predicting.

We have not had too rough seas on 4 such cruises. It can be cool the first day or two out and the last coming back.

The first and possible second day out of L.A. is frequently a little bumpy.

JF, which month was it that you had the massive swells/very rough weather for a day or 2? Thanks!

Has anyone taken the Hawaii cruise from LA? How rough are the seas going there

We've done it twice. The seas really aren't that rough, unless there's a storm around somewhere churning things up.

Our last cruise the issue was the weather. We only had 2 days that we actually had sun the whole day - one while in Honolulu and one on the way back. It was pretty chilly, and grey every day.

We've done it twice. Once from Vancouver and once from LA and never had a problem. As a matter of fact we sail again in December.

We've done it twice. I would describe the most bumpy experience as "moderate roll." There were whitecaps but not giant waves. On the return leg of our first such cruise, the sea was glassy smooth (seriously) for two straight days. I've cruised through more serious seas between Los Angeles and San Francisco and, definitely, in Alaskan waters.

That being said, it's the ocean. Lots of things can happen, weatherwise, and our forecasting ability 100s or 1000s of miles out at sea beyond a few hours in the future loses a lot of its reliability very quickly.

On the return leg of the cruise prior to our second, they sailed through the dregs of a hurricane. The ship was never in any danger, but the waiters in the restaurants said it was hilarious trying to pour wine into wine glasses or coffee into cups that were setting on moving tables.

On that second cruise, our course from Los Angeles to Hawaii was altered a bit to avoid that storm and the crossing was, pretty much, a non-event for us. Also, there was no delay in our arrival to the islands.

Did it twice out of LA and weather was fine. In Jan out of San Fran first day and a half was rather miserable and weather was cool until we reached Hawaii..

Can never tell.

Went from SFO in February about 3 years ago , cold first 2 and last 2 days ...never was as warm as I had hoped even in Hawaii .

Has anyone taken the Hawaii cruise from LA? How rough are the seas going there

This sailing has been known to be quite rough on the first couple of days out and again on the last couple of days back. We've done the sailing from LA twice (one in Mar, one in Sept) and the one from SF (Mar) once. All were very rough on the days described above.
I don't think it was just because we were unlucky, although on one of these, 600 got off in Hawaii and flew back home ... so maybe that sailing. Rather, it was rough because it is known to be rough. I would more say that you are lucky if you have a sailing with this itinerary with calm waters and yes, it can happen.
Rough waters is a relative term here on CC ... just because others don't recognize the waters as being quite choppy on these boards doesn't mean they aren't. It just means that people on these boards are usually those that are used to cruising and rougher water doesn't really bother them that much. I know I used to get terribly sea sick but after a few dozen sailings, it doesn't bother me anymore. If you are not terribly used to cruising AND you feel the affects of motion sickness quite easily, then, I would not recommend this sailing. You are at sea for nearly 5 days before there is any relief in sight. We love it but if that was my first sailing when I was quite prone to sea sickness, I think it would have been my last.
Just my opinion!

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Weather patterns are variable. Storms along the west coast can (and will) create some rough water. Just like in Florida, sometimes it is good and other times it is "what are we doing here?" type weather.

Low and toward the center will keep things on an even keel.

Jim

Has anyone taken the Hawaii cruise from LA? How rough are the seas going there

We did the 15 day Hawaiian Cruise from LA in Nov 2017. Great cruise, Seas were not bad at all. The temp was a little cool for the first day and a half, then you get into warmer waters. Also a little cool from Mexico back to LA.
Just bring along a sweet suit jacket and you'll be fine

Did the Hawaii cruise out of Vancouver twice. The first time was my first cruise ever. It was very rough. Many activities were cancelled, and even some of the crew got seasick. It was quite cold for the first two days as well.

I was told that a number of passengers chose to fly back to avoid the return trip. On the way back it was very smooth.

A year later we went again. The trip was much smoother. I guess it is just a matter of luck.

The first and possible second day out of L.A. is frequently a little bumpy.

I totally agree with you.
Tony

on one of these, 600 got off in Hawaii and flew back home

Wow, 600 people willing to pay the fine for violating the PVSA rules that forbid embarking in one USA port and disembarking in another USA port without stopping at a distant foreign port.

Wow, 600 people willing to pay the fine for violating the PVSA rules that forbid embarking in one USA port and disembarking in another USA port without stopping at a distant foreign port.

One cruise that I am glad I missed lol

Wow, 600 people willing to pay the fine for violating the PVSA rules that forbid embarking in one USA port and disembarking in another USA port without stopping at a distant foreign port.

Yes, that’s what I thought, too. I lent my first ever pair of sea bands to this woman at our dinner table and she never returned them to me. She was onboard with her sister and while both were sick, the one just never came out of her room after the first night. It was her sister that to,d me they were going to disembark in Hawaii. On our last port in Hawaii, there were so many lined up with their luggage to get off the ship.
After that, we noticed how empty everything was onboard. At one show in the theater, there were only a handful of passengers in there. No lines for anytime dining, either and you had your choice of just about any area for loungers at the pool.

We've done it twice. The seas really aren't that rough, unless there's a storm around somewhere churning things up.

Our last cruise the issue was the weather. We only had 2 days that we actually had sun the whole day - one while in Honolulu and one on the way back. It was pretty chilly, and grey every day.

We've only done that cruise once, but our experience was similar. We like sea days, but most of them were cloudy, rainy and cool, both coming and going. Seas were not bad.

JF, which month was it that you had the massive swells/very rough weather for a day or 2? Thanks!

Probably November (that was our MO for Hawaii...until we moved to HI).
The storm was hitting the Beaufort scale on a 10 (out of 12!!). It was an interesting ride. Glad it wasn't our first cruise, we might not have done a second.