Small Ship Cruising - Are there any?

[ljk73]

Hi there - I just found this forum community tonight and it has already been extremely helpful to me!

 

My husband and I are not cruising types, but my in-laws want us to go with them on a Hawaii cruise. They have selected the NCL POA. I am definitely not psyched about it and neither is DH.

 

I've searched high and low on the internet w/o any luck trying to find SMALL ship cruising in Hawaii. Is there any such thing? Anything even close?

 

Thanks in advance for any help or recommendations.

[spleen93]

There are dinner cruises but no, nothing like a small ship that goes from island to island visiting ports along the way. How small are you looking for?

 

The Pacific Princess visits Hawaii every now and then but even that holds 680 passengers - which may be more than you're looking for. Otherwise, you could go more upscale to lines such as Regent but they also rarely come to Hawaii as well.

 

Spleen

[ljk73]

Thanks for confirming what I already suspected. I've looked at all the cruise lines I can find and there appears to be no other options for inter-island cruising. What a shame.

 

I did look into the Pacific Princess, but they're only offering the Honolulu/Vancouver trip which is SIX days at sea and only one day (10 hours or less) on each HI island. That is just not going to work.

 

I could deal with even a smaller ship, but I can't find one. If anyone knows or hears of anything that would fit the bill, please share!

[CruisinMK]

The Wind is smaller than Pride of Aloha, probably not small enough for you but take a look. I think it's being replaced by a bigger ship (the Sun) at end of 2007.

 

You could also look at pure Tahiti itineraries instead, the Tahitian Princess is small, and the Paul Gauguin is really small

[spleen93]

Sounds like you'd be happier with a land vacation instead to Hawaii. Any way to convince your in-laws about that? Depending on where you stay, you can have a very cruise ship like experience. Of course, affordability-wise, it'll be hard to beat the NCLA experience in terms of seeing a number of islands intensely for a relatively cheap price - hotel prices in Hawaii are very expensive!

 

Otherwise, like Mike says, you might want to look at Tahiti as an alternative. The Tahitian Princess would be a nice alternative and I know people that RAVED about their Paul Gauguin experience (of course, I might be slightly biased since I'm a big RSSC fan) :)

 

Spleen

[tomluvsaida]

I think what you are looking for is something like Windjammer Cruises. They are all sailing ships (as in wind on real sails). Unfortunately I think they are only in the Carabean. I read their web site and it looks like a lot of fun! :D I just wish they were in Hawaii too.