Help me choose; Panama Canal or Circle Hawaii

[Overhead Fred]

We did both of these itineraries in 2017. Circle Hawaii was on the Oosterdam in December. Westbound Canal transit was on the Eurodam in April. We enjoyed both cruises very much and would do either of them again. However, I would redo the Canal transit (maybe go the opposite direction) before redoing the Circle Hawaii. 

 

We like the sea days but they can get pretty rough between Hawaii and San Diego. We had high seas in both directions. There were lots of activities on the way to Hawaii, but not so much on the way back to the mainland. 

[What was that?]

On 7/20/2020 at 3:39 PM, Andi Land said:

I'd like to draw on the collective wisdom of my fellow HAL cruisers. I'm looking at booking my next cruise vacation for my 25^th wedding anniversary.

Panama Canal Cruise, hands down! Unless you really need a lot of at sea days.

My recommendation for Hawaii is to visit one island at a time (or perhaps two for a ten-day/two-week visit). On Maui, consider booking at The Mauian; it's the only place we ever go anymore. One secret to the Mauian is if you are planning to go on to another island, you can fly out of the West Maui Airport without the headache of driving halfway around the island and dealing with the Kahului Airport crush (just be sure to rent a car that can be returned in West Maui!). Very convenient for day trips to the big island, too.

[PigsCanFly]

We took a 17-day Hawaii cruise out of San Diego on the Veendam.  We loved the cruise.  The sea days out and back from/to San Diego were very relaxing.  The 5 stops we had in Hawaii were also stellar experiences.  Our only Panama Canal cruise was 11 nights on Zuiderdam in late February 2020.  It was a partial transit rt from/to Ft Lauderdale.  We really enjoyed the lock experience both ways (in & out).  We also enjoyed Columbia, Aruba, Curacao and Costa Rica ports for our first time.

We had considered the full transit options, but really were not interested in the multi stops on the Mexico Pacific Coast.

I hope that whichever you choose, you have a great cruise.

[shadesofblonde]

Also have done both these cruises, and agree they are both very different. Your choice really depends on what you’re looking for.

 

The canal is definitely worth seeing, but we were totally underwhelmed by a lot of the port stops (Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica). Ours was a repositioning cruise (Fort lauderdale to Vancouver) in April, and was so hot some days you couldn’t go outside after noon. The workings of the canal were fascinating though.

 

Our Hawaii cruise was in May, (from Vancouver) and our weather was stellar and seas were calm both ways. If you’ve never been to Hawaii it’s a great way to get a taste of the islands. But it is a lot of sea days in a row, and you need to like that too

 

But... we have also done the South Pacific (42 days Brisbane to San Francisco), which i would take over the Hawaii cruise hands down! Haven’t looked but I imagine there are SPacific cruises that leave from the US and circle some of the S Pacific islands for it’s a “beautiful beach”  holiday you’re after

[Doubt It]

Hawaii is best appreciated via a land tour with the fast and easy island hopping jets.

 

Each island is so specific that it makes sense to pick 3 islands and explore then fly home. Going to Kaui and taking a private plane trip to see the Napali coast mountains was a trip of a life time. Oh my.

 

If you are willing to spend days and days at sea to get to Hawaii, might as well spend those days seeing the real Hawaii. It is a long trip to get there by ship or air, so make it really worth your while.

 

Done the Panama 2x, enjoy it but many of the ports are not worth much, except those in Costa Rica. I have done Acapulco twice and really enjoyed this most interesting city - the geographic landscape and the cliff divers are amazing.

 

[rafinmd]

There is one other way to see Hawaii with a cruise but unfortunately HAL doesn't offer it.  A few cruise lines do their transpacific repos in 2 segments, one from Vancouver to Hawaii, and then Hawaii to Asia or Australia.  That could be combined with either a Pride of America cruise of a purely air/land trip.  I know Royal and think Celebrity have done it this way.

 

Just a thought.

[What was that?]

39 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

There is one other way to see Hawaii with a cruise but unfortunately HAL doesn't offer it.  A few cruise lines do their transpacific repos in 2 segments, one from Vancouver to Hawaii, and then Hawaii to Asia or Australia.  That could be combined with either a Pride of America cruise of a purely air/land trip.  I know Royal and think Celebrity have done it this way.

 

Just a thought.

Since the subject has been broached ... NCL Pride of America does a seven day tour of the islands starting in Honolulu on Oahu. It visits two ports on the Big Island, and one each on Maui and Kauai. We took that cruise in September 2007 and quite enjoyed it! Arrived a few days early and saw some things on Oahu, and then boarded and saw a bit of the other islands. We quite enjoyed it as a cruise experience, but felt it was really necessary to spend more time on each island to really get a taste of Hawaii.

Since then we have mainly gone to a quiet little place on Maui (The Mauian). It is a bit out of the way, but it is the place we have come to love.

[dockman]

26 minutes ago, What was that? said:

Since the subject has been broached ... NCL Pride of America does a seven day tour of the islands starting in Honolulu on Oahu. It visits two ports on the Big Island, and one each on Maui and Kauai. We took that cruise in September 2007 and quite enjoyed it! Arrived a few days early and saw some things on Oahu, and then boarded and saw a bit of the other islands. We quite enjoyed it as a cruise experience, but felt it was really necessary to spend more time on each island to really get a taste of Hawaii.

Since then we have mainly gone to a quiet little place on Maui (The Mauian). It is a bit out of the way, but it is the place we have come to love.

Be prepared to pay a premium price for the 7 day hawaii cruise...probably more than a 15 day circle hawaii cruise.  Monopolies are not your friend when it comes to pricing.

[Roz]

I went to Hawaii on a cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it, including the 5 days across the Pacific to get there.  Unlike some of the other posters, I think a cruise is a good introduction to the islands, and gives you an idea of where you would want to spend more time if you went back on a land tour.  

 

Schlepping a suitcase on and off numerous island hopping flights holds no appeal for me. 

[Mosaic]

Do Both 🙂

 

[DaveOKC]

Last year I saw one HAL cruise that was 6 days from Vancouver to Hawaii, a one way.  I would be interested in this, as the cruise TO Hawaii on HAL was alot of fun and entertaining, but coming back to the States was boring (not much activity).  Thay way you can spend as much time in Hawaii as and where you want and then fly home.

 

[boom_boom]

The Panama Canal full transit was my second cruise ever and I loved the experience we stopped at Cartagenta Columbia as well as Aruba and found Cartagenta to be the most interesting port of the cruise. Been to Hawaii on land trips several times and think I would prefer the Canal because, IMO, you really need time on each of the islands, not just a "stop and go."

[RetiredRich]

I would go with full transit Panama.in either direction. .  It's a daylite to dark experience you will never forget.  There is a guide that boards your ship and explains everything as you go.    I'm a 1944 born war baby and went to Pearl Harbor.  I'm a ham radio guy and even got to run the ham station on the Missouri to talk to my friends in Kentucky.  We did the circle the islands thing and was not very impressed.  I'm sure if we took some of the flying around the islands trips it would be different.  But there was a sort of unwelcome feeling we got from the islands.  Cannot really say why but it was there.  We started on the Panama trip in San Diego and every stop down the coast to Panama was special.  Everyone was treated like royalty with local people dancing and music.  All around much more fun than the islands trip.

We had to rebook an Alaska trip to August 2021.  Make your pick and enjoy.

[AlanF65]

9 minutes ago, RetiredRich said:

I'm a ham radio guy and even got to run the ham station on the Missouri to talk to my friends in Kentucky.

When I was growing up a friend of mines father was a member of a ham radio society and on weekend about 3-4 times a year they would go up in the hills and communicate for the civil defense network around the country and the world. This would have been the mid fifties to early sixties.

 

I remember  going into the bomb shelters in the public park and testing the radios and facilities.

 

I am following this thread because I booked the San Diego to Fort Lauderdale  18 Day Panama Canal Cruise on March 5, 2022

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