Hawaii Cruise and stay vacation

[GTT1]

Hoping someone who has done both can give some thoughts.

Wondering if a cruise gives a good flavour of the different Islands, leaving from Vancouver Appeals but you spend 4 days at sea.

if we stayed for another week any suggestions on where to stay. Have no interest in night life, busy beaches. Prefer to have a car and tour around so wouldn't need a pricey resort.

Suggestions on a good cruise line?

[RETD]

I did this in 2010.

If you want to spend more time cruising AROUND the islands vs cruising TO the islands then NCL is your only choice. Cruising is an efficient and cost-effective way to get from island to island and have food/accommodations taken care of. NCL takes you to four islands (six ports) and you get to see stuff that you can't easily see from land, namely the Napali Coast (Kuaui) and lava flowing into the sea (Big Island).

Not sure where the "land" portion of your trip would be but after our cruise we stayed in Waikiki at a rented condo. Lots more space than a hotel room and about a 5 minute walk to the beach with included parking.

[GTT1]

I did this in 2010.

If you want to spend more time cruising AROUND the islands vs cruising TO the islands then NCL is your only choice. Cruising is an efficient and cost-effective way to get from island to island and have food/accommodations taken care of. NCL takes you to four islands (six ports) and you get to see stuff that you can't easily see from land, namely the Napali Coast (Kuaui) and lava flowing into the sea (Big Island).

Not sure where the "land" portion of your trip would be but after our cruise we stayed in Waikiki at a rented condo. Lots more space than a hotel room and about a 5 minute walk to the beach with included parking.

Thanks how did you find the rental condo.

I notice RCL visits most of the same islands on the departures from Vancouver so gives us something to consider as we can visit with family in BC before we leave.

Anyone have an opinion on which is the preferred cruise line.

[dealguy2]

RCL is a better line than NCL however, cruising from Vancouver to Hawaii will be cold for the majority of the sea days to get to Hawaii so be aware of that. We had a heat wave here in Victoria a couple of years ago and it was 35 degrees on land and I went out ocean fishing just off shore and I needed a sweater. Even so I'd still go for the rcl one.

[Arrgh]

Years ago we flew to Honolulu for a cruise around the Hawaiian islands and Fanning island. It was a great way to see the islands in a shor time, and stayed in the same room without having to pack/unpack and fly between islands.

The cruises that start from the west coast then get to Hawaii, typically stay less time in the island ports. Currently NCL Pride of America is the only ship that cruises the Hawaiian island on a 7-day basis year-around. It stays in Kahului, Maui 2 days, and also in Kauai 2 days (well, 1.5 d). In other islands it also stays a little longer than other ships.

Cruising the islands is a port intensive cruise and you don't stay much time on the ship. In that respect, NCL as a lower cost cruise, is really just as good as paying more for some other cruiselines. Paying more for other cruiselines can make sense if you want to make use of the ship amenities a lot, but that's not the main reason people cruise Hawaii.

We're going again in Aug., staying in Oahu for 5 days, then the 7-d cruise.

[redkid]

btw, 40k aeroplan points takes you to hawaii
might be worth it if you have them

[Arrgh]

btw, 40k aeroplan points takes you to hawaii
might be worth it if you have them

It changed to 45k a while back.
Still a good deal, if you can get seats.

[RETD]

Thanks how did you find the rental condo.

Your question can have two meanings so I'll answer both ways.


1. You can try vrbo.com or IIRC I just googled something like "condo rental honolulu", then cross-reference to reviews on tripadvisor.com


2. We found the condo rental to be reasonable accommodations for our plans. We are pretty active on vacation and don't spend a lot of time hanging around so property amenities like room service, in-hotel restaurant, etc. weren't that important to us though our condo did have a pool. That said we chose the condo b/c:

a. Lots more room to hang wet beach & shower towels and to just spread out in general
b. In-condo laundry facilities allows you to pack less for the entire vacation
c. Kitchen and dining area allows you to eat in to save time & money (groceries in Hawaii are expensive but cheaper than restaurant meals)

It was a great way to see the islands in a short time, and stayed in the same room without having to pack/unpack and fly between islands.

The cruises that start from the west coast then get to Hawaii, typically stay less time in the island ports. Currently NCL Pride of America is the only ship that cruises the Hawaiian island on a 7-day basis year-around. It stays in Kahului, Maui 2 days, and also in Kauai 2 days (well, 1.5 d). In other islands it also stays a little longer than other ships.

Cruising the islands is a port intensive cruise and you don't stay much time on the ship. In that respect, NCL as a lower cost cruise, is really just as good as paying more for some other cruiselines. Paying more for other cruiselines can make sense if you want to make use of the ship amenities a lot, but that's not the main reason people cruise Hawaii.

+1 to this post. On many itineraries a lot of the ports are pretty much the same (e.g. Caribbean cruises) and I'd just prefer to stay on the mostly empty ship. Hawaii is not like that and almost every day was a full day out with lots to do/see.

Note that b/c the NCL cruise does not go into international waters its crew must be American. Many (American) cruisers complain that the service is not as good as ships typically staffed by people from Eastern Europe, Philippines, etc. If you don't need to be waited on hand & foot then I would ignore this. Some cruisers are extremely picky.





.

[Chigu]

Your question can have two meanings so I'll answer both ways.


1. You can try vrbo.com or IIRC I just googled something like "condo rental honolulu", then cross-reference to reviews on tripadvisor.com


2. We found the condo rental to be reasonable accommodations for our plans. We are pretty active on vacation and don't spend a lot of time hanging around so property amenities like room service, in-hotel restaurant, etc. weren't that important to us though our condo did have a pool. That said we chose the condo b/c:

a. Lots more room to hang wet beach & shower towels and to just spread out in general
b. In-condo laundry facilities allows you to pack less for the entire vacation
c. Kitchen and dining area allows you to eat in to save time & money (groceries in Hawaii are expensive but cheaper than restaurant meals)






+1 to this post. On many itineraries a lot of the ports are pretty much the same (e.g. Caribbean cruises) and I'd just prefer to stay on the mostly empty ship. Hawaii is not like that and almost every day was a full day out with lots to do/see.

Note that b/c the NCL cruise does not go into international waters its crew must be American. Many (American) cruisers complain that the service is not as good as ships typically staffed by people from Eastern Europe, Philippines, etc. If you don't need to be waited on hand & foot then I would ignore this. Some cruisers are extremely picky.





.

If you don't mind the extra time it takes to get to Hawaii and it goes to the same islands. I would go with the RCL hands down. I went on the NCL hawaiian cruise, and it's an older ship, with an all american crew. The service and food were subpar as were the amenities on board. I have been on NCL to Bermuda, and then had no choice but to to use NCL for Hawaii.

My wife was with me on both, and she has been on RCL (twice), as well as Princess cruise lines. She would never cruise NCL again, not because we had a really bad experience, but if you can get a better ship/food/service for relatively the same cost why wouldn't you?

[Arrgh]

If you don't mind the extra time it takes to get to Hawaii and it goes to the same islands. I would go with the RCL hands down. I went on the NCL hawaiian cruise, and it's an older ship, with an all american crew. The service and food were subpar as were the amenities on board. I have been on NCL to Bermuda, and then had no choice but to to use NCL for Hawaii.

My wife was with me on both, and she has been on RCL (twice), as well as Princess cruise lines. She would never cruise NCL again, not because we had a really bad experience, but if you can get a better ship/food/service for relatively the same cost why wouldn't you?

The NCL POA stays at the ports a lot longer. The main attraction of the Hawaiian cruises is Hawaii, not the ship. So being able to spend more time at the ports at the Hawaiian island, is worth a lot more.

The NCL POA is the beginning did have bad reviews of the all American crews. That apparently had improved a lot. You can read a lot of reviews in cruise critic Hawaii forum. Most people really like the cruise. But reading some of those complaints you'll see why these people will complain. I was once on an NCL cruise to Hawaii. In the afternoon we boarded, we saw a nearby neighbour yelling at the room stewart that their luggages have not arrived. They said they have important medicine in the luggage, and if they don't get their luggages soon they'll leave the ship and ask for a refund.

[canabiz]

Bumping up an older thread as I am doing some preliminary research for our trip to Hawaii next year.

I will redeem my Aeroplan points to get a free ticket to Hawaii (not really free as you have to pay taxes and fees but I digress). I understand Air Canada flies into Honolulu and Maui (other islands are accessible through its partner?) so I will need to decide which airport to fly into. I am leaning towards Maui as it's less touristy and commercial than Honolulu (from my limited research so far). We are looking at Easter next year and I believe that is the low season so I hope I can find some seats (will book the ticket tomorrow).

We were looking at doing a cruise with NCL but have ruled it out due to the costs. I do like the fact accommodation and food will be taken care of on the cruise but at $1,500/person for a balcony suite (interior is not much cheaper at $1,300/person), we are looking at at least $3K for the cruise for the 2 of us.

What we will most likely do is to rent a condo/beach house and cook our own meals. Again from my limited research so far, we can get a decent one for about $100/night so a week there will set us back about $700, give or take. I don't know how expensive the food there is but regardless, the total expense should not come close to the $3K tab for cruise.

We will also rent a car to drive around and partake in activities. I will most likely use Priceline/Hotwire for that and research on TripAdvisor/Frommers/FlyerTalk/RFD for ideas and tidbits. In the meantime, if you have any tips for us, feel free to let me know, I am all ears. Our first time in Hawaii and we are looking forward to it!

Aloha!

[dealguy2]

- I like both Oahu and Maui personally. They both have different things going for them.
- You can fly between Honolulu and Maui for $89 one way on Hawaiian Airlines.
- $100 a night won't buy much on maui but in Waikiki that kind of price range is more than do-able
- I found food to be pretty cheap in Hawaii compared to Canadian prices. Some items were crazy expensive though. Potatoes for example were somewhere near a dollar a pound!

[Mars2012]

Bumping up an older thread as I am doing some preliminary research for our trip to Hawaii next year.

I will redeem my Aeroplan points to get a free ticket to Hawaii (not really free as you have to pay taxes and fees but I digress). I understand Air Canada flies into Honolulu and Maui (other islands are accessible through its partner?) so I will need to decide which airport to fly into. I am leaning towards Maui as it's less touristy and commercial than Honolulu (from my limited research so far). We are looking at Easter next year and I believe that is the low season so I hope I can find some seats (will book the ticket tomorrow).

We were looking at doing a cruise with NCL but have ruled it out due to the costs. I do like the fact accommodation and food will be taken care of on the cruise but at $1,500/person for a balcony suite (interior is not much cheaper at $1,300/person), we are looking at at least $3K for the cruise for the 2 of us.

What we will most likely do is to rent a condo/beach house and cook our own meals. Again from my limited research so far, we can get a decent one for about $100/night so a week there will set us back about $700, give or take. I don't know how expensive the food there is but regardless, the total expense should not come close to the $3K tab for cruise.

We will also rent a car to drive around and partake in activities. I will most likely use Priceline/Hotwire for that and research on TripAdvisor/Frommers/FlyerTalk/RFD for ideas and tidbits. In the meantime, if you have any tips for us, feel free to let me know, I am all ears. Our first time in Hawaii and we are looking forward to it!

Aloha!

If budget is going to be an issue, I suggest you go during the slower times (i.e..not Easter or Xmas)...prices will be the highest then, and availability will be limited. A lot of people plan their next trip soon after coming home from their present one!

Have backup plans available for your plane tickets. Those reward ones are few and far between and sometimes they have restrictions on them. If you know when you are going, you can book a car through Costco's online site. It will forward you to Budget or Avis...you can cancel any time up to 24 hrs. Priceline might give you a better price, but you have to pay for it up front and you'll likely have to pay for the second driver.

Unless there are things you need to see on two islands, I would stick to one for this trip. Inter-island travel isn't that expensive for two people, but you are really cutting your time short with the checkins/outs and waiting at the airport. If you stay in a condo, you will get better rates for a longer stay. And on Maui, a lot of the condos waive the cleaning fee if you stay a certain period of time. You can probably find a studio that meets your needs on Maui for that price...if you go through vrbo or similar site, make sure you look for reviews. If something seems too good to be true, it often is. South Maui (Kihei) is often more affordable than West Maui. A car is a must on Maui, but you can get away with taking the bus on Oahu for the most part.

[canabiz]

Thanks for the feedback guys, we have decided to fly into Honolulu and I checked for availability on Aeroplan website and there are still good choices for the timeframe that we want (late March, early April next year)

It will set me back 45,000 Aeroplan points and $112 in taxes and fees (for 1 ticket). I will have a look at vrbo and homeaway.com and see what's out there. We are pretty flexible so the whole idea is to have fun while not blowing our budget.

Thanks for the tips on car rental, Mars2012.

[danibunny]

Try out airbnb too... I find people never update the availability on vrbo and homeaway, so it's a lot of e-mailing back and forth. I recommend something more towards this part of Waikiki beach:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=deruss...en&sa=N&tab=wl
It was the nicer beach and was a bit of a walk from where we stayed, so it would've been nicer to be closer to it