hawaii cruise

phlebo3 · June 29, 2008

I am planning to take a cruise to hawaii in May of next year for uor 40th anniversary but the only one that I can find that statrs and finishes @ the same port is NCL POA and I understand this ship has no casino onboard is this true? My husband would be very disappointed if so. Also I have been reading reviews of this ship and they don't sound very good.

I would like to leave from and return from Calif if possible. Can anyone tell me if it is. Thanks for any future comments.

JoeyandDavid · June 29, 2008

Hi phlebo... I am not a cruise consultant or expert.. but I believe you are correct about NCL.. however I do know that Princess does a 14 night round trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii and the do in-fact have a casino... I believe that Celebrity has its run to Hawaii out of San Diego and they too have a casino...

One of our more informed members will be stopping by shortly to confirm what I posted or to correct where I made mistakes..

Congratulations on 40 years of marriage... what a great anniversary present!

jbond · June 29, 2008

I am planning to take a cruise to hawaii in May of next year for uor 40th anniversary but the only one that I can find that statrs and finishes @ the same port is NCL POA and I understand this ship has no casino onboard is this true? My husband would be very disappointed if so. Also I have been reading reviews of this ship and they don't sound very good.
I would like to leave from and return from Calif if possible. Can anyone tell me if it is. Thanks for any future comments.

I may be wrong but, I believe NCL's POA sails around the islands only. That is why there is no casino.

We have sailed Hawaii twice, once on RCI and once on Princess. The Princess cruise was Los Angeles back to Los Angeles. The RCI cruise was Honolulu to Ensenada. The only time the casino was open on both cruises was when we were at sea, outside of Hawaiian waters.

The Princess cruise had five sea days out, five around the islands and five back. I have also heard negative comments regarding NCL service on their Hawaii cruises.

Hope this helps.

Shari2 · June 30, 2008

Hi Phlebo3!

In December of 2004, we sailed on the "Infinity" of Celebrity cruises from San Diego to Hawaii and back to San Diego. I checked their website to see if they have a ship still sailing to Hawaii, but the site was down for maintenance. Our cruise was a 15-day, like the one jbond took on Princess...we did have a casino, but they aren't allowed to operate while in port. We were able to use it while at sea. Your DH would have plenty of time to use the casino then. I don't think the POA can operate a casino since it sails from US ports to US ports.

If you have any more questions, and I can help, I would be happy to. One note here...If you have never been to Hawaii before, it just seems that you don't have enough time on the islands when you sail from CA., because of the time involved in getting there. We had been there before and spent some time at a hotel on Oahu, and our previous cruise on the old "Constitution" had an overnight in Maui which was great, so our second cruise from SD was just right for us then. The POA may have that overnight in Maui or Kauii, so that may be a plus. I haven't sailed on NCL's POA, but have heard they have improved. I would check out the websites for NCL, Holland America (they used to sail from LA) Princess, and Celebrity. Congratulations on your 40-years together, and hope you find the perfect cruise.

Suzila · June 30, 2008

We did NCL Pride of America last August with our family. There is no casino onboard. It was a 7 night cruise and as I recall we were overnight in Maui and Kauai...gave us plenty of time to explore each place. We had been to Hawaii many times before, but never on a cruise.

We had read all the horror stories about NCL before we went...the poor service because of the American crew, etc. Well, most of the crew is American, many others are not, but they have to sign up in an American city, and be living there a certain amount of time. But, having an American crew was a real pleasure. First time I've ever been on a ship and understood everything the crew was saying! Plus, the service was excellent. We were waiting for the other shoe to drop and something to go wrong because of all the bad reviews, and it didn't happen.

The only glitch we ran into, because we were 8 people traveling together wanting to eat dinners together, we had a somewhat tough time scheduling for that many people. However, hubby and I just returned from another NCL cruise in April, just the two of us, and we had no problems scheduling dinners in the restaurants we wanted to eat in.

You can read my review of the Pride of America, here on CruiseCrazies. It was taken in August 2007.

DebbieandJerry · July 1, 2008

We did the NCL from Oahu December 7, 2005. NO casino. My husband told me that he will NEVER go on another cruise with me if there is no casino. We also spent three extra days in Oahu after the cruise (total of 10 day vacation).

In March 2009, we will said from San Diego to Hawaii. 5 days there; 5 days around the islands and 5 days back. Celebrity Mercury is the ship we selected because it offers an overnight in Maui. Princess and RCL also have the 5 day in/5 day back cruise but I don't recall they overnight anywhere. Yes, Celebrity assured us that their casino would be open.

Perhaps you want to join us?

danna · July 5, 2008

I am planning to take a cruise to hawaii in May of next year for uor 40th anniversary but the only one that I can find that statrs and finishes @ the same port is NCL POA and I understand this ship has no casino onboard is this true? My husband would be very disappointed if so. Also I have been reading reviews of this ship and they don't sound very good.
I would like to leave from and return from Calif if possible. Can anyone tell me if it is. Thanks for any future comments.

As a current cruise employee and have done the L.A to hawaii and back many many times i do not recomend this. As soon as you leave you get into seriuosly rough water and you will feel horrible for a couple fo days. By the time you have made it to Hawaii all you want to do is get off the boat and never get back on. After all the ports which are extremely beautiful you have the 4 boring days at sea in very rough weather again back to L.A. I am a crew member but i know exactly what most of the guest say about this cruise. Do not do it.

jbond · July 6, 2008

After all the ports which are extremely beautiful you have the 4 boring days at sea in very rough weather again back to L.A. I am a crew member but i know exactly what most of the guest say about this cruise.

As I posted earlier, we have done this cruise twice and we never encountered any rough weather. The first and last days at sea were on the cool side, but then I think that it's almost always cool sailing out of LA. As for boring sea days, I don't like sea days, but there was always a lot to see and do, no different than any other sea day on any other cruise.

Shari2 · July 7, 2008

We did have very rough seas on our sailing...just when leaving San Diego for a day or two. I was actually sea sick for the first time out of my 8 cruises. I took some meclizine and felt much better then. It is also on the chilly side until you are close to the Islands. We went in December. I would still recommend this cruise. I loved the sea days. It does pay to book a ship that you will really like...good food, service, and plenty to do onboard for the sea days. We had a great cruise, and I would do it again except that I would like to do a Mediterranean cruise before I would repeat any more cruises.