15 Day Hawaii ???

[CRUZBUDS]

Celebrity is is doing a few 15 day Hawaii to and from Alaska next year.

 

We were disappointed with the HAL 14 intinerary and jumped on the Celebrity 15 day. We didn't even notice that it has just four ports. Instead of dropping Kona like HAL, they dropped Kauai. We're still trying to figure out why it's 15 days. We've done others without Kauai, but had had two days in Maui.

 

Have there been any rumors of HAL going back the the traditional 15 day intinerary?

 

We really enjoyed the Zaandam last year!

[CtheW0rld]

an extra sea day onboard so you can spend more $$$, probably :eek:

[G&G]

It may be in Honolulu for 2 days. We were on a cruise to Hawaii several years ago and we were in Honolulu for 2 days.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I loved our Hawaiian cruise -- 15 days -- 5 ports!!

But HAL claims that many people can not take an extra day of vacation to do the 15 day itinerary and it is easier for people to start cruises on a Saturday/Sunday and end on the same day of the week -- especially those that have to fly.

[CruiserBruce]

How about the longer distance from Alaska adding a day?

[EbayCruiser]

Come join our cruise for 15 days on HAL. Leaves Vancouver on 10/02 and goes to five ports in Hawaii (including Kona). The prices are great too!! We have had three price drops since we booked. :)

[CRUZBUDS]

On our last trip on the Zaandam the Captain told us the average age was 72 - Not to many people in the crowd worried about vacation days!:)

 

Maybe they are trying to get the average age down a bit -- it didn't work with us - Kona is one of our favorite ports. We're not taking an Hawaii cruise that skips Kona. (Unless DW tells me to ;)). We're still booked this fall on the Zaandam, but we're proably going to canel it.

 

No two days anywhere on Celebrity -- we still haven't figured it out. The last port is Maui and we've had to leave the last port in the mid afternoon before - but we're staying until 11:00 -- that's where part of it is

[RevNeal]

I loved our Hawaiian cruise -- 15 days -- 5 ports!!

But HAL claims that many people can not take an extra day of vacation to do the 15 day itinerary and it is easier for people to start cruises on a Saturday/Sunday and end on the same day of the week -- especially those that have to fly.

 

I wish HAL would start and end more of its 7 and 14-day cruises on SATURDAYS rather than Sundays. For me to do just a 14-day cruise that begins on a Sunday I have to miss THREE Sundays. That's murder. If they began more 7/14 Day Cruises on a Saturday I'd only miss ONE or TWO Sundays, respectively.

[Modern_Viking]

If I ran things, I would probably try having one or two HAL ships on a three cruise rotation:

 

1- 15 night Hawaii cruise, starting on a Saturday, ending on a Sunday

2- 10 night Mexico cruise, starting on a Sunday, ending on a Wednesday

3- 10 night Mexico cruise, starting on a Wednesday, ending on a Saturday

 

and then the cycle would repeat. Currently, HAL doesn't seem to like scheduling their longer than 7 night cruises so that they start/end on a weekend.

 

By the way, anyone know if a Vista or Signature class ship could do a 15 day circle Hawaii trip without needing to top off the fuel tanks in Hawaii? I know they have less range than the S-class and R-class ships, but I don't know if it would prevent them from doing this trip the more economical way (of only loading fuel in Mexico and California).

[Modern_Viking]

By the way, I have done the 15 night Hawaii trip and enjoyed having the second day on the Big island.

 

I think I also would have rather had the ship dock at Kahului, Maui instead of tendering at Lahaina, Maui. Kahului is better located for some shore excursions (Hana and Haleakala), although Lahaina is probably easier for people who want to go directly to a beach for the day. (I will admit that I have not seen the Kahului cargo port area, and the conditions there might be another reason HAL doesn't stop there.) As a compromise, I could see stopping at each location for a full day. ;)

 

Honolulu was definitely worth a full day, maybe two.

 

Still, I left with the impression that I would not want to spend more than 2 days on each island (I am not the type to play golf or go to the beach day after day), so there is a point where the cruise would be just too long.

[CRUZBUDS]

We docked for two days on the Carnival Spirit in Kahului, Maui. Yes, it's in an industrial area, but it's just a few minutes from the main Maui airport. Pick up a rental car and you're off!

 

It may have changed, but we were allowed to park our car a short walk from the ship overnight. The next morning -- you're off again! We could have gotten up at 3:00 AM and driven up to see sunrise from Haleakla. (we've done it before - we couldn't get up ;))

 

Lahina is about an easy 40 minute drive from the ship ---it is soooo much better than tendering :)

 

For Mexico, the best we've seen is a rotating 10/11 day. The 10 day leaves on Friday -- (for working folks) and comes back on Monday. The 11 day is Monday to Friday for those with more time. We have done this many times -- we live in S.D. so we can take a 10 cruise and use 6 vacation days. Whena ship leaves on a weekday we work in the morning and it doesn't count as a vacation day ;)

[Modern_Viking]

Thanks for the info CRUZBUDS. The stop at Kahului, Maui does sound like a good thing and would be a good choice for future cruises.