I need some input! I would love to go to Hawaii, but I'm not sure if I should take a cruise, or just go to one or two islands. If anyone has done the cruise, please let me hear some input! Thank you so very much!

Although I love cruises Hawaii is definitely one place I would not recommend via cruise for the first time. There is nothing like waking up and smelling the ocean and fresh flowers, not to mention sleeping with your lanai open and listening to the wind and frogs and such. Depending on how much time you have, if you have > one week I would do 2 islands

Hawaii by land will much likely be more expensive than a cruise, but well worth it.

I vote for a land vacation for sure!

My family recently took our 1st cruise and loved it so much we've signed up for another. But Hawaii... no way. There is no way we'd want to miss any time from exploring the islands. Many things you'd want to see can't be seen in the amont of shore time you'd have.

Lots of people who love CRUISING, seem to love to cruise the Hawaiian Islands. You can check out the boards at cruisecritic.com. But for those who really love HAWAII... I think most would prefer a land vacation.

Visit 2 islands this time... and you'll want to go back another time soon to visit another 2 islands!

I recommend picking one island for your first trip to Hawaii. I think Maui is a good starter for many reasons. Or Oahu if you like the option of city nightlife as well.

This is not a true comparison since I get horribly seasick and have never (and will never) taken a cruise!

Good points cawhite! There are certain places you just can't take a cruise to if you want to truly see and experience everything. Hawaii being one of them.

For our first visit to the Hawaiian islands, we did a cruise. And, although we've since been back to various islands several times on land trips, I'm still glad we did the cruise first. The cruise was a great way to experience a bit of all the islands w/o the trouble of packing up and moving between the islands by plane. Especially now that NCL has ships overnighting at certain ports, it is possible to get a more indepth look at the islands via cruise ship.

The cruise gives you such a superficial view of the islands and beaches. And you are herded into tourist traps. Ugh.
I want lots of beach time, free time to wander the beach, snorkel any time I want. My parents did one and were hugely surprised at how different the islands seemed when you stayed on land. No way I would ever do a cruise.

Although the cruise thing is not for me, I understand it can be a nice way to travel...when are you planning on traveling? I cannot imagine heading out on a cruiseship during the winter surf. If many of the beaches are unswimmable, I cannot imagine what the open sea is like......Don't want to rain on your parade...JMHO!

Well.....it's not just waking up to the smell of fresh flowers. You can often go to bed with the scent of flowers wafting thru your room as well!

I asked the fodorites for an opinion on this about 2 years ago, or so.

We enjoy cruising but after much consideration, we decided to go the land vacation route and we're happy that we did.

We rented a condo on Maui for two weeks and had a chance to really see everything we wanted to. My worry of never having an opportunity to go back to Hawaii is gone because I KNOW we will definitely visit the islands again. I only wish Hawaii wasn't so far away (we're from New England) - it's a long flight.

Plus, I know we saved a fair amount of money by doing the land vacation.

Whichever way you go, you will LOVE it!

Ag3046 I'm with you! Couldn't have said it better myself.

swtgen7
I've seen some of your other threads and think you were on the right track with your land plans.