West Coast - Hawaii Roundtrip Cruisers Thread

[karatemom2]

I see some on this thread have gone out of San Diego and some from L.A. Has anyone cruised out of both ports and which one did you like better? We are looking at HAL or Princess or maybe even Celeberty, any thoughts?

 

Thanks

Tim

 

We have cruised out of San Pedro but not San Diego so I can't offer any comparison. We find cruising from San Pedro is very easy for us as it's only an hour from our home and it's very easy getting in and out and accessing parking when we opt to leave our car there. I have heard that the facilities at the port in San Diego are very nice as well so I'm sure you'd be happy sailing out of either port. I'm sure you'd have a great cruise on any of the lines you mention. We happen to be big fans of Princess.

[1gail1]

Grew up in Encino and Woodland Hills (Taft grad).

 

 

Hey Don childhood neighbor' date=' Grew up in Encino as well (Birmingham [rivals'] grad '76) my mother still lives in Encino :D

[karatemom2]

For those of you looking for some things to do on your own in Hilo here are three options we are considering. The Botanical Garden looks like a beautiful place and we had friends onboard who really enjoyed the zoo last year. I also included the Vanilla farm because that really appeals to me. I LOVE good vanilla.

 

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

 

http://www.htbg.com/

 

Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo

 

http://www.hilozoo.com/Z_home.htm

 

Hawaiian Vanilla Company

 

http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/default.aspx

[lakim]

For those of you looking for some things to do on your own in Hilo here are three options we are considering. The Botanical Garden looks like a beautiful place and we had friends onboard who really enjoyed the zoo last year. I also included the Vanilla farm because that really appeals to me. I LOVE good vanilla.

 

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

 

http://www.htbg.com/

 

Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo

 

http://www.hilozoo.com/Z_home.htm

 

Hawaiian Vanilla Company

 

http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/default.aspx

 

 

Thanks for the links. We've reserved a rental car and plan to go to the VNP and maybe the Macademia Nut Factory. If we have time one of these might be a good addition to our day.

[karatemom2]

Thanks for the links. We've reserved a rental car and plan to go to the VNP and maybe the Macademia Nut Factory. If we have time one of these might be a good addition to our day.

 

VNP is an amazing place. We have been twice and it is so worth the visit. If you like ice cream I highly recommend the Macadamia Nut ice cream at the Macadamia Nut Factory. It is heavenly. We stopped there on our way back from VNP last year and it was a great refreshment break. It was pouring rain for a brief moment and we sat in the ice cream parlor in the back eating our ice cream cones and looking out the windows watching the mongoose play on the back lawn. It was just one of those "Ahhh" moments that everyone should have on a vacation.

[lakim]

If you like ice cream I highly recommend the Macadamia Nut ice cream at the Macadamia Nut Factory. It is heavenly.

 

Actually, the ice cream is the primary reason we're stopping there!

[CA Oceanfront]

Lots of us So Cal residents here! It's so great to be able to take a cruise to Hawaii like this, avoid LAX and the hassle of flying, and be able to drive to the port just a short way away. Now if they would just do an Alaska itinerary from LA!

 

You're in luck (if it's not already sold out)! Celebrity Mercury sails round-trip out of Los Angeles to Alaska on April 27, 2009. Good luck!!

[karatemom2]

You're in luck (if it's not already sold out)! Celebrity Mercury sails round-trip out of Los Angeles to Alaska on April 27, 2009. Good luck!!

 

Oh how I wish my kids school schedules would allow it! We are actually scheduled to go back to Alaska next summer on the Sea Princess which sails out of San Francisco. We did it on the Dawn a couple of years ago and it was a real treat sailing out under the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a six hour drive for us, so still doable, but certainly not as convenient as Los Angeles.

[donscomp]

Oh how I wish my kids school schedules would allow it! We are actually scheduled to go back to Alaska next summer on the Sea Princess which sails out of San Francisco. We did it on the Dawn a couple of years ago and it was a real treat sailing out under the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a six hour drive for us, so still doable, but certainly not as convenient as Los Angeles.

 

Mary,

Do you go a day early and stay there and where do you park your car?

We were thinking of this cruise in the future but then we look at it and for the same price we can go to Hawaii for 4 or 5 more days. LOL

 

Thank you

[karatemom2]

Mary,

Do you go a day early and stay there and where do you park your car?

We were thinking of this cruise in the future but then we look at it and for the same price we can go to Hawaii for 4 or 5 more days. LOL

 

Thank you

 

Don you are quite right about the price. It is as much as the Hawaii trip. We struggled with that as well! We actually leave the morning of the cruise bright and early. DH made sure we were on the road by 3:30 a.m. which was crazy as we got to the port at 9:30 a.m. We were the first ones there! They hadn't even opened up the waiting area yet. He dropped us and the luggage all off right in front where the porters are and he parked the car at a parking structure right across the street. I think it was $15 dollars a day.

[donscomp]

Don you are quite right about the price. It is as much as the Hawaii trip. We struggled with that as well! We actually leave the morning of the cruise bright and early. DH made sure we were on the road by 3:30 a.m. which was crazy as we got to the port at 9:30 a.m. We were the first ones there! They hadn't even opened up the waiting area yet. He dropped us and the luggage all off right in front where the porters are and he parked the car at a parking structure right across the street. I think it was $15 dollars a day.

 

 

Thanks for the info Mary. We were thinking that if we would do it, we would also just drive up the day of. Maybe the day before to Paso Robles as we have a place to stay there.

Deb? up at 3:30. LOL I DONT THINK SO. :D

Thanks again

[karatemom2]

The Golden Princess arrives for the first time in Hilo today! So that means we should start getting reports soon from the Golden cruisers.

 

Here's a link to the Web Cam site for Princess if you want to see the view of the ports this week. Just choose the Golden Princess from the list.

 

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/

[donscomp]

We followed it all weekend while out at the beach. And watched her pull in this AM before we left. Why? I guess we love torcher. LOL!!!!!

[ArtsyChic]

I just sent my husband the link to see the ship out there...We are very excited to see it start sailing out there now. Only a few more months for us!

Celeste

[karatemom2]

I just sent my husband the link to see the ship out there...We are very excited to see it start sailing out there now. Only a few more months for us!

Celeste

 

It looks like they went to Kauai today instead of Honolulu. I wonder why the change in itinerary?

[kirbyrox]

It looks like they went to Kauai today instead of Honolulu. I wonder why the change in itinerary?

 

 

 

also thought that was weird......

[ArtsyChic]

also thought that was weird......

 

Here is a crazy question to all..What happens when you made reservations for cars and they change up the itinerary on you like that. Did they know it was happening before hand or woke up in a totally different port?

 

Celeste

[karatemom2]

Here is a crazy question to all..What happens when you made reservations for cars and they change up the itinerary on you like that. Did they know it was happening before hand or woke up in a totally different port?

 

Celeste

 

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder how much advance notice they got regarding the change. If they knew before they left it might have allowed time to make adjustments in plans, but if they found out after they boarded it could have created a problem with those that had cars or private tours reserved. I guess that's just the risk you take. At least with most car rentals you aren't out any dollars, but if you book a private tour, depending on their cancellation policy, you might end up taking the loss.

[lakim]

Here is a crazy question to all..What happens when you made reservations for cars and they change up the itinerary on you like that. Did they know it was happening before hand or woke up in a totally different port?

 

Celeste

 

I have had it happen both ways. On our last cruise, Carnival told us they were reversing two ports on our itinerary by giving us a note about it at checkin. This at least allowed me to make calls and send emails (from my phone) before we left the port that day. On several other cruises we have been unable to stop at a port due to weather conditions and we found out that morning, too late to do much about it.

 

Independent tour operators are very familiar with the problem of a ship not making a scheduled stop and almost always offer full refunds of any deposits if the ship does not make it to the port. You usually see in their cancellation policy that while you might get penalized for making a cancellation for your own reasons, if the ship doesn't make it they will refund all of your money. At least that's been my experience and I've booked many, many independent tours.

 

I am personally more worried about the car reservation situation. I know some people hold their car reservations without a credit card so if they don't make it they don't have to worry. But I keep seeing everyone on the Hawaii boards promoting using Thrifty's Blue Chip program in the Hawaii ports, and when you reserve a car that way it is held on the credit card associated with the Blue Chip profile. By the time you are able to call them it might be too late to cancel, so will you get charged as a no show?

[CA Oceanfront]

I had similar concerns about Thrifty, especially after noting the change of itinerary on the October 1 Golden Princess departure (which, if memory serves me correctly, the pax were notified of several weeks ago). I spoke with a Thrifty representative and she assured me that, as a Blue Chip member, my credit card would not be charged (as opposed to a credit authorization, or hold) in the event of a no-show. Here is an excerpt of their terms and conditions:

 

"If You do not pick up the rental car on the day of the reservation, the authorization of credit will remain on the credit card until the normal expiration per Your credit card issuer’s policy"

[lakim]

I had similar concerns about Thrifty, especially after noting the change of itinerary on the October 1 Golden Princess departure (which, if memory serves me correctly, the pax were notified of several weeks ago). I spoke with a Thrifty representative and she assured me that, as a Blue Chip member, my credit card would not be charged (as opposed to a credit authorization, or hold) in the event of a no-show. Here is an excerpt of their terms and conditions:

 

"If You do not pick up the rental car on the day of the reservation, the authorization of credit will remain on the credit card until the normal expiration per Your credit card issuer’s policy"

 

That does make me feel better, though I'm always nervous when they have my card number. Anyone out there actually "no-showed" on a Blue Chip reservation where they had your card number?

[ArtsyChic]

I guess being in the states on this cruise has its advantages that we can easily use our phones and such and work with companies based here rather than trying to do this all in Europe or somewhere else.

 

We shall wait and see as we have a few more cruises to take off before us which I am sure we will see their comments.

 

Celeste

[D_Ivan]

My DW and I are new to this cruising thing. After 25 years, the kids can figure it out for themselves, so we're headed off for our first real time alone together since . . . umm . . . our first was born. And its also our first trip to Hawaii. Considering the short time we have on each island, I'd appreciate some suggestions on what to do in the very short time allotted. And if you make a decision about the Luau in Honolulu, we'd be interested. DW's got that on her to-do list.

[Gologo]

We're on the Golden Feb 4 and would like to rent a car in Honolulu. Has anyone done this before? How close to the terminal and how easy is it to rent?

[karatemom2]

My DW and I are new to this cruising thing. After 25 years, the kids can figure it out for themselves, so we're headed off for our first real time alone together since . . . umm . . . our first was born. And its also our first trip to Hawaii. Considering the short time we have on each island, I'd appreciate some suggestions on what to do in the very short time allotted. And if you make a decision about the Luau in Honolulu, we'd be interested. DW's got that on her to-do list.

 

Since this is your first trip to Hawaii I would start out with my two standard recommendations for first time visitors. In Honolulu that would include a visit to Pearl Harbor, and since you have a long port day in Honolulu that could also include the USS Bowfin and the USS Missouri. Our visit to Pearl Harbor and guided tour of the USS Missouri are two of our most memorable experiences. In Hilo, I encourage everyone to take time to tour Volcanoes National Park, either by ship excursion or better yet on your own with a rental car. It is a truly amazing place! And again, since you have a 12 hour port day in Hilo, you could visit VNP and still have time to see some other sites as well.

 

In Honolulu, as far as Luaus there are a couple of popular ones to choose from. Just be sure to verify that they end early enough for you to get back to the ship by 10:30 p.m. I have heard that the Paradise Cove Luau is very nice, but it is a ways out of town, so you just want to make sure you have the ability to make it back to the ship in time.

 

As for other ports there is so much to choose from. We prefer to do our own excursions and in Hawaii that is really easy since there are many reliable independent tour operators. Also, renting a car is very easy and allows you to really explore at your own pace so you may want to consider that, especially in Kauai as it is so scenic and a car really lets you get around and see the gorgeous sites.