Best time to cruise Pride of America

[Rick2594]

I imagine this question gets asked a lot but I'd like some advice when is the best time to cruise NCL's Pride of America. I've done a number of Caribbean cruises but this will be my first visit to Hawaii. I'll be going with my wife and in-laws. We're planning on going in 2010 which will be my 50th b'day and my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. We can go anytime during the year as we won't have any school age kids with us.

 

From the research I've done it sounds like the weather is nice year round so that might not be an issue but is there anything else I should consider when we plan the time of year to go. Appreciate any advice.

[Sally Forth]

We've been to Hawaii many times, and except for one Christmas trip, always go in late January, early February. We've always had good weather, with maybe one rainy day per week. (It will rain a little bit on many days, but I'm talking about only one day of full pouring rain) When we went this year, we went in late January, and the weather was quite bad for Hawaii. We had a lot of rain and it was almost chilly! That said, 70 degrees in Hawaii beats winter in Canada, so I could handle it just fine.

 

Viv

[ksmaage]

Definitely go during the whale watching season. We went in March of last year and it was toward the end of the season but still saw alot of whales from the ship and on the whale watching excursion. We even saw several breach right in front of the ship. The whale excursion crew told us that after March, the whale activity really slows down.

[Cruiser7]

The winter, in general, has more rain, slightly cooler temperatures, and higher seas. But it also has Whale Watching, higher waves for watching the surfers on the North Shore and elsewhere, and of course it is still much warmer than where most of live on the "mainland".

 

The summer generally has less rain, warmer temperatures, calmer seas (can be a factor in getting into port on a cruise, particuliarily ports like Kona where you tender in), and less crowds.

 

Holidays weeks (including Japan's "Golden" week, usually in early May) also bring more crowds.

 

My wife has been to Hawaii six times, but this is the first trip for me so she let me plan when to go. I choose mid May '09 on the POAM. I am treating it more like a sight seeing trip. We are from the east coast, so for a relaxing tropical getaway we would go to the Caribbean (closer and less $). Having the best chance for good weather (I really want to take the helicopter tour on Kauai, and am even planning it for Thursday to have Friday has a weather contingency) was an important factor to me. I also choose May to avoid the higher summer rates when school is out.

 

All that being said, it could still be cool rainy week in May. We can only hope!