Hawaii dilemma

[lovelife]

The beaches on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island (Hawaii) are frequently rated in the top 10 in the world.

 

You are right. Hapuna Beach is absolutely awesome and I spent many days at wonderful Anaeho’omalu Bay.

[MichaelCMTX]

Whole thing is we simply didn't have the time or the funds for a proper land tour and a cruise. We flew into Honolulu a couple days early, did an all day tour with Honolulu Airport Limo that started with Pearl Harbor and went almost all the way around Oahu.

 

Sure, we only scratched the surface, but the trip on the Radiance gave us a chance to scratch all the surfaces. It was nice when people asked which island we went to the answer was "all of them."

 

Absolutely we'd do it again.

[pearlie]

We have cruised Hawaii 3 times.m. First on American Hawaii cruises, very old ship, but saw so much. 2nd cruise was a repositioning on Rhapsody, 4 or 5 day in Hawaii and a lot of days at sea to Vancouver

Third was NCL. Sept 2010. Hawaii itinerary was great, was not a fan of the ship. Arrived to a filthy bathroom, i mean truly filthy. Food was lousy and room was very small. We did see the live volcano at night on all the cruises and really is spectacular. On the back to Honolulu we passed the Napali Coast, so beautiful, beyond words. Land or sea, it is worth the trip.

[amiller236]

Just completed our second cruise on Pride of America. It gives you a great chance to see each island. Rental cars are really easy. We enjoyed exploring the dining options on the ship.

Arrive a couple of days early to adjust to the time change

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I am a RCI loyalist, but we did the POA cruise on NCL in 2011 and it was the best vacation of our life. The cruise was wonderful. NCL did a nice job. No complaints about the ship or service for what we were expecting. Of course, it was not to be compared to a regular cruise, it was more of a floating hotel. But we had an enjoyable time, the food was good, the service excellent and the ship was pleasant and in good repair. The shows were lacking, but we had HAWAII as entertainment! As stated the itinerary is excellent and it gave us a good overview of the islands with plenty of time to visit and experience what we wanted.

 

Because the cruise was only 7 nights we had time to extend our vacation on Oahu. Pre-cruise we stayed at Turtle Bay on the North Shore. From there we visited Pearl Harbor one day and explored the north shore beaches the next. We could have easily spent several more days there. We hope to do that again, soon. Post cruise we stayed at the Outrigger in Waikiki. We visited the Iolani Palace post cruise and also the International Market, etc. We enjoyed Waikiki but loved the North Shore.

 

We are currently booked on a one way cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver in 2016. We do enjoy sea days, but would not want to give up some land time on the North Shore again, so we would need to spend a few days pre-cruise there once again. This time we hope to have enough time to do it all.:cool:

[Cruise Junky]

We enjoyed Waikiki but loved the North Shore.

 

 

We're spending Christmas and New Years up at a Turtle Bay. Can't wait !

[WestfieldTraveler]

We did the NCL cruise, and I would recommend it (plus at least two nights on Oahu) as the perfect way to do a first visit to Hawaii. However, if you are taking two weeks, I would recommend

- three nights on Oahu, you'll be doing more touristy stuff on average

- do the cruise, in Maui do the Road to Hana from the cruise, and even the volcano sunrise,

- Big Island, see the Volcano

- Kauai, drive around to see the natural beauty (few options..)

- then, if you want more of a resort feel, choose the remainder of the days on Maui, else for more of a natural feel, choose the Big Island.

At each island we rented jeeps, took down the top and had a blast!

 

But if you don't mind spending most of several days to/from/ and at airports, two weeks is enough to do island hopping...

 

but enjoy regardless!

Edited July 27, 2014 by WestfieldTraveler

[alligeek]

There's some very good advice here! I have to throw in my $0.02 anyway. :)

 

I'd recommend a land vacation to anyone visiting Hawaii for the first time. Each island has its own vibe, as the previous posters have said, and there's NO WAY you can experience any one of them in a few hours. All of them (including Oahu) have cool and fun things to do, and while you'd see most of the islands on a cruise, you'd miss out on finding the true gems of each island.

 

Once you've been to a few islands, then I'd suggest the cruise. You'd have a good idea at that point of where you'd want to spend your precious island time. Either way, you cannot go wrong with a trip to Hawaii. :)

[IWORK2CRUISE]

We love cruising and we love Hawaii.

We are about to sail for the 3rd time on Rhapsody of the Seas from Vancouver to HI.

We love those 5 sea days just as much as the HI Island stops.

1st time we flew home after the cruise. 2nd time we had 2 nights on the North Shore of Oahu. This time 3 nights.

To each his own? If I could do the same every year, I would.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cjdixon4]

What I didn't like about Princess Hawaii was the no sail by the volcano at night, the highlight of my Rhapsody Hawaii cruise.

 

OMG...I agree that there's no point if cruisers to Hawaii miss the volcano sail-by in the evening! :eek:

[pepsicruiser]

If you are going with the purpose of seeing Hawaii, you should do a land vacation. It's much easier for Americans than most places that cruise ships sail. If you want to do a cruise with a little bit of Hawaii thrown in, by all meals do the NCLA cruise.

 

Hawaii is all about the Aloha spirit, the relaxed way of life etc. You won't get that on a cruise. There are so many things to do on Hawaii - I've spent several months and have only scratched the surface.

 

If you want to get the best of both worlds, you could do one of the one way cruises that go to or depart Honolulu and do a land vacation before or after your cruise. Radiance of the Seas does two cruises each year in transit between Vancouver and Sydney. Celebrity's Solstice does the same.

 

I totally agree about doing a land trip if you want to really see Hawaii. You can't truly appreciate the cruise life when you want to be off the ship as much as possible and staying in Hawaii you get to see and feel the islands without being on a bus from morning to night when touring from a ship. jmho

[Quincella]

We chose to do the NCL itinerary instead of a land trip for our first Hawaii visit, and I'm so glad we did!

 

Had I chosen a land trip with just an island or two, I probably would have done Maui and maybe Kauai.

 

Turns out my favorite island by far was the Big Island. I could live happily every after snorkeling my life away off the Kona coast. Pure heaven.

 

Also, much to my surprise, Oahu was my second favorite. So much culture and history and varied terrain. We loved sitting at Duke's having a Mai-Tail. But the best part, for us, was driving up to the North Shore. Spectacular.

 

It's all breathtaking, really, but the cruise was perfect for us. We're considering booking the same itinerary again next year. And, like last time, we'll add a couple days on the front end.

[Lars2014]

We've done the 14 and 15 day trips several times on different lines. The sea days at the beginning of the cruise are great, but the return trip seems endless and almost depressing. We have never done a one way trip but if we did, we would do the sea days at the beginning.

[MichaelCMTX]

We have never done a one way trip but if we did, we would do the sea days at the beginning.

 

Not the way we did it. Wanted to do Hawaii while still in the grip of "just started vacation" fever and could recuperate during the sea days to Vancouver. and have the shorter trip home. Worked OK for us, but those sea days were a bit weird. In our experience, in the Caribbean there's always something off in the distance... a ship, a platform, island lights. Up in the part of the Pacific... nothing!! Not even waves after a few days.

Edited July 27, 2014 by MichaelCMTX

[sugarnyc]

I looked at various choices before booking my Hawaii cruise.

 

I went on NCL POA and feel I picked the best cruise for me & my family. I didn't want sea days and their itinerary gave us a good amount of time in the ports! My first time to Hawaii. Flew in a few days early to Oahu and spent several days after the cruise. Worked out very well.

Edited July 27, 2014 by sugarnyc

[CGBCruiser]

I haven't read all the posts on this thread, but we went to Hawaii last year and did the 7 night NCL cruise. We had a great time and it was a wonderful way to see a LOT of Hawaii in 7 days. We stayed in Waikiki another three days after the cruise so did several things in Oahu. You're even overnight in two ports so two days in Maui and Kauai!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I haven't read all the posts on this thread, but we went to Hawaii last year and did the 7 night NCL cruise. We had a great time and it was a wonderful way to see a LOT of Hawaii in 7 days. We stayed in Waikiki another three days after the cruise so did several things in Oahu. You're even overnight in two ports so two days in Maui and Kauai!

 

Those overnights are the biggest selling points of that cruise. No hurry to return to the ship. We stayed out late in Maui with our cousins who live on the island and we enjoyed a luau in Kauai. Then with our 3 nights pre-cruise on Oahu's North Shore and one night post cruise in Waikiki I really think we had the best of both worlds - both a land and sea vacation.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Margy23]

We did the Royal 12-day cruise from Vancouver (5 days at sea, then 7 days sailing around the islands) 11 years ago on Legend. It is one of our top two cruises out of over 20.

 

We were at a table for 10, 4 couples from British Columbia and my husband and I from the Chicago area. We all enjoyed each other's company, and a couple who owned a florist shop on Victoria Island invited us to go with them to visit a vendor instead of taking the excursion to a botanical garden. That may be the most beautiful spot we've ever visited, and we were able to wander at our leisure with knowledgeable people instead of following a guide with a prescribed speech.

 

We enjoyed the lava flow and are happy we made the trip to Pearl Harbor. We have a niece on Maui, so that was a family day seeing their favorite spots.

 

Unless time is an issue, we recommend the 5 day ocean voyage from Vancouver. I don't think we would have enjoyed the reverse - flying to Hawaii, touring the islands, then traveling back by ship. For us that would have been a let down, while our sea trip was leading up to a dream.

 

There was also a humorous moment my husband speaks of often. On the morning we approached Hawaii, the deck seemed covered with people talking on cell phones. We had not had a signal since we left land, and many were suffering from cell phone withdrawal.

 

However you decide to visit Hawaii, enjoy!

 

Margy

Edited July 28, 2014 by Margy23

[markeb]

I have a hard time imagining cruising Hawaii. My wife did it years ago with her mother and loved it; we've been back a number of times over the years, and I have 3 days split as layovers on a trip much further in the Pacific next month.

 

If you can do the cruise, and add on some land time, I'd really recommend it. We both love Oahu, but the Big Island is amazing! We spent 4-5 nights there (a long time ago, I'm afraid) in Volcano National Park (Kilauea Military Camp), and it was one of the most amazing weeks of our life.

 

Either way, enjoy, aloha, and mahalo!

[critterchick]

Very interesting answer. I have a goal to visit all 50 states and Hawaii will be my last visit. [still have 9 to go] :D I thought we would combine one of the one-way cruises and a land visit. . . .may have to rethink this.[/QUote]

 

My favorite US based itinerary is the repositioning cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver. Ideally, we would arrive 4-5 days early and spend some time outside of Honolulu or on another island pre-cruise.

 

But for a first time visitor who has 2 weeks to spend, I would say pick two islands and spend your time enjoying each one for a week. On my first visit lo these many years ago, I visited Oahu and Maui. Waikiki Beach is hustle and bustle, but it's fun for a few days - then head to the North Shore or windward side of the island for some relaxation. Then head to Maui or Kauai for the second week. Rent a car on each island.

 

OMG...I agree that there's no point if cruisers to Hawaii miss the volcano sail-by in the evening! :eek:

 

Although it's a spectacular sight, I think that the Big Island offers plenty of interesting things to do, including visiting the lava flow fairly up close and personally.

[elhenry]

As you can see from the signature (if it shows up) we are Emerald on RCCL, but have also sailed NCL, and sailed the POA July 2013.

 

I would counsel go for the POA! As for land trip versus cruise, that depends on your goal. I did not want to experience Aloha, but see Hawaii, and the cruise was the best way to do that. With a 12 hour trip from the East Coast, I wanted to see all the islands, and the POA was the best way to do that.

 

For me, forget the lava sail-by (and we did have lava), the Napali Coast sailby was the mind bender. I have a photo (again I think) attached.

 

For these purposes, RCCL and NCL are essentially the same.

 

Happy Cruising,

el henry

[pspercy]

Does Radiance do a "drive-by" of the Na Pali coast when leaving Kauai ?

[reallyhooked]

We're planning doing Vancouver to Hawaii next year. Thanks for the encouraging remarks on the 5 days. We plan to book next month. We're not beach goers.

[h20skibum]

If you are making a first time visit to Hawaii, do a land based trip. Plan on at least a couple of weeks to get a taste of the islands. We have made six land based trips there and stayed in Ohau, the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. Maui is, by far, our favorite.

 

We are looking at the NCL cruise for 2016, coupled with a week before or after the cruise. It will be a combined 60th birthday / retirement celebration. The cruise will give us a little time to revisit some of the islands we may not include in our pre and post cruise stays.

 

It has always been a long trip for us, but now with our kids in the Bay Area, we can break it up before taking the flight to Hawaii. And after retirement, scheduling vacation time will not be an issue.

[FunCruiser56]

We chose Celebrity Solstice for our Hawaii cruise. We flew to Hawaii and stayed 3 days precruise did lots of touring and relaxing on the beach. Visiting many islands and saw wonderful things and met friendly people. My DH and I both have lived in Hawaii as children with our Military familys. We saw more on our cruise then we saw when we did live there.

We loved the 5 sea days returning and it was a great way to relax after some very busy touring.

The sail by the volcano was the hightlight of our cruise since the lava flow was very active at the time we went.

 

We are looking forward to doing the very same cruise in a couple years.

 

No matter what you choose Hawaii is a beautiful state and just not to be missed!

 

Bev