NCL vs Royal Caribbean Hawaii Cruise

[lengel71]

I'm planning an anniversary cruise to Hawaii for 2022.  For those that have been on a Hawaii cruise on BOTH NCL & Royal Caribbean, which one did you like best & why.  Thanks.

[smplybcause]

NCL cruises aren't to Hawaii, they're Hawaii only. Any royal cruise is to or from Hawaii so several sea days and non Hawaii ports. 

 

So do you want a Hawaii only cruise or a cruise that has Hawaii as a couple of the stops? 

[lengel71]

I am talking about the NCL cruise on board the Pride of America.

[smplybcause]

So am I. Pride of America ONLY cruises Hawaii. Picks you up in Hawaii, all stops are in Hawaii, and it drops you off at the end in Hawaii. It's also the only mainstream cruise ship that does this.

 

Any Royal cruise is either TO Hawaii or FROM Hawaii so you'd have to fly in/out of somewhere not Hawaii, you'd have a lot of sea days getting to/from Hawaii and you'll have stops in places that aren't Hawaii. None of their ships are allowed to sail to just Hawaii.

 

So - do you want a cruise that is ONLY Hawaii (NCL's Pride of America) or do you want a cruise that just INCLUDES Hawaii (Royal Caribbean).

[mugtech]

If you are most interested in Hawaii, then NCL POA is the way to go, spend a few days pre or post cruise on Oahu.  If you want a longer cruise, more sea days less Hawaii days, then cruising to or from Vancouver via RCI may be best.  The RCI ships are better, but NCL is port intensive, so the ship is more of a floating hotel.  Liked NCL in 2010, would prefer RCI now.

[Roxxy]

Definitely the NCL POA.  She is going to be refurbished in June of 2020.  Also, with the other lines you will have a mostly 'rough' ride from LA to Hawaii.  Why not just start in Hawaii and extend your land vacation while there?  In my opinion, wouldn't do it any other way.

[bluenose1]

Great question. If you cruise with NCL, fly to and from Oahu or other island's. With NCL no customs, no need for passport, no foreign port visits. Explore airfares thru Seattle, Portland and LAX or non stop to HLN. We have done the POA twice 2-3 years apart. Still thinking about a 3rd time.

The only bad thing is the rental car situation, cars being away from the port, just a little planning takes care of that. 

The sea days from Vancouver are 5 days to get to Hawaii, sometimes nice seas, sometimes not.

Have fun.

 

[Treasure Hunter]

6 hours ago, lengel71 said:

I'm planning an anniversary cruise to Hawaii for 2022.  For those that have been on a Hawaii cruise on BOTH NCL & Royal Caribbean, which one did you like best & why.  Thanks.

 

37 minutes ago, bluenose1 said:

Great question. If you cruise with NCL, fly to and from Oahu or other island's. With NCL no customs, no need for passport, no foreign port visits. Explore airfares thru Seattle, Portland and LAX or non stop to HLN. We have done the POA twice 2-3 years apart. Still thinking about a 3rd time.

The only bad thing is the rental car situation, cars being away from the port, just a little planning takes care of that. 

The sea days from Vancouver are 5 days to get to Hawaii, sometimes nice seas, sometimes not.

Have fun.

 

We took the Emerald Princess 15 days round trip LA with the forgettable  Mexican port of Ensenada thrown in. Five days out , four Hawaiian islands  then back. February was cool in the islands but great for sightseeing. The ambiance on the ship was fabulous, festive and fun. Hula lessons and ukulele lessons with a great social director ( Matt) keeping us in stitches. The full day tours were well done. I especially loved the Polynesian cultural center in Oahu and the canyons in Kauai.if we lived on the West coast, I would do it every year. Not Hawaii, but our Princess cruise of Tahiti ( Society Islands with Bora Bora) was one of our favorite cruises ever  but you have to fly there. A very expensive flight. I hear the NCL ship stationed in the Hawaiian Islands has seen Better days.