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Hawaii cruise ideas


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Yes, went on NCL. Flew to Honolulu cruised to all islands.  Rented convertible on Maui and kawaii,  best ever, cant get lost, basically Q main road along seashore around islands.went in October,  no problem with seas. I imagine if you sail from west coast could encounter rough seas simce it takes 2 or 3 days to get there.

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We did this a few years ago. Had a great time! Got to watch lava pour into the ocean at night from our balcony. I don’t recall the seas being particularly rough on the journey to the west coast (we started in Oahu and ended in Ensenada). 

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My parents just came back from the repo Honolulu - Vancouver cruise on Celebrity Equinox. 5 days cruising the Hawaiian islands and 5 days straight at sea to Vancouver. They loved it and told me that the waters were calm in Hawaii but once they got into the open waters in the Pacific, the motion was very noticeable. They mentioned that the last sea day was the roughest. 

As @twangster always says, motion can really vary on many factors. It is very hard to predict and YMMV.

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With Hawaii cruises you really have to look at the itineraries and pay attention to port times.  For Royal these can vary quite a bit from ship to ship and year to year.  It can be great way to see the islands. 

I've visited on a fly in basis and while it's relatively easy to fly between islands, there is something to be said for unpacking your things once and not having to deal with airports multiple times, if you find the right cruise itinerary.

The nice thing about Hawaii is that it is part of the US.  It's easy to rent a car, cell phones work, GPS on phones can be used to navigate, etc.  You don't have to book ship excursions as long as you don't mind doing the research and planning your own day like you would have to when you fly in.  

Some ports are tender ports so a ship excursion can be a great way to ensure your spot on a tender boat.

The Pacific ocean can be rough sometimes and gentle sometimes.  It is a cooler ocean on this route compared to the Caribbean but for me that is a good thing.  

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We have a cruise booked late in August on NCL. Flying to Honolulu two days before the cruise, doing the Oahu Pearl Harbor/Circle tour the day before (I did this same tour 50 years ago in the USN), then the 7 day Islands cruise....Maui, Hilo, Kona, Kauai, Napali Coast drive-by.

I've been watching the webcam on POA and the seas are remarkably calm right now. They can get rough in foul weather, but normally pretty calm.

We have some great excursions booked.....going to the crater rim of Kīlauea, a luau on Kauai, Maui tour, and a self-guided excursion to the Kona Brewery ?

When I saw Oahu 50 years ago, didn't make the other islands. (Thanks to Primo beer, didn't see a whole lot of Oahu). So....when my wife suggested going to Hawaii I was all in. Can't wait!

 

 

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On 5/17/2019 at 6:04 PM, Brenda Landry said:

Has anyone gone on  a Hawaiian cruise. Was it rough seas?  Was it a great way to see the islands. We have never been there. 

We did a 12 night repositioning cruise from Ensenada, MX (just south of San Diego) to the islands.  It was remarkable and a really good value.  The 5 days across the ocean were wonderful sea days.  Then there was 7 days in the islands.  The cost was not much more than a typical 7 night cruise.  We did it on the Carnival Spirit.  I'm guessing there are many choices.  April and October would be the months.

I will say some things didn't go perfectly smooth.  We think it was because most of the trips most of us go on are done by the cruise line every week.  A repositioning cruise is out of the norm, and it showed itself a couple of times.

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We did a repo on the Radiance from Honolulu to Vancouver (positioning for Alaska itineraries).   Going to the different ports in Hawaii - awesome and no issues.  The repositioning from Maui to Vancouver was 5 long days and we had rough seas.  We thought there would be more balcony and pool time - weather prevented that.  I don't know if that is the norm.

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On 5/19/2019 at 8:02 AM, Bob_KY said:

We did a repo on the Radiance from Honolulu to Vancouver (positioning for Alaska itineraries).   Going to the different ports in Hawaii - awesome and no issues.  The repositioning from Maui to Vancouver was 5 long days and we had rough seas.  We thought there would be more balcony and pool time - weather prevented that.  I don't know if that is the norm.

It seems there is a Northern cruise (HI to Vancouver) and a Southern cruise (San Diego to HI).  We purposely chose the Southern cruise because of the potential for better weather.  I would not hesitate to do the Northern cruise, but would choose the Southern route given the choice.

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I did an eleven night repositioning cruise from Vancouver thru the Hawaiian islands, ending up on Oahu.  I loved it.  The seas were a bit rough the first couple of days, but I have had worse in the Caribbean.  Those first five sea days made me feel like I was on a voyage from long ago, with everyone relaxing and enjoying a slow pace.  As RC Voyager said, there were a couple of times it was obvious that it was not the well-rehearsed routine for the staff.  Many of them were going to Hawaii for their first time.  I think it was exciting for all of us.  I hope to do another one again one day.

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