Paradise lost is paradise refound for those dreaming of a Hawaiian vacation by sea.
The end of a near-two-year ban on large cruise ships means that air travel is no longer the only way to reach this tropical treasure. And none too soon, apparently. Hawaii’s economy is so dependent on tourism, even the arrival of a half-full Grand Princess was met with fanfare and sighs of relief in January when the 2,590-passenger ship pulled into Honolulu Harbor.
“Welcoming the cruise industry back to Hawaii is an important part of our economic recovery, particularly for our local shops, restaurants and tour operators,” said John De Fries, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The recent restart of cruising in the Hawaiian Islands is expected to help offset the 30 to 40 percent drop in tourism that state officials said was caused by the emergence of the omicron variant. Doing their share to shore up these numbers are at least nine major cruise lines with Hawaiian itineraries in 2022. Besides Princess, which successfully retested the waters earlier this year, brands renewing their Aloha spirit include Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, Holland America, Norwegian, Oceania, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn and Viking.
By year’s end, just over 20 cruise ships will have taken nearly 150 trips with Hawaii on the itinerary, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. Nearly half of those voyages will be on Norwegian’s Pride of America, making the 2,186-passenger ship the big kahuna in Hawaiian waters. Homeported in Honolulu since its maiden voyage in 2005 — save for times during refurbishment or a pandemic — the luxury liner is scheduled to return to active duty on April 9.
Through at least 2024, Pride of America will visit four Hawaiian islands and five ports every seven days. Between embarkation and disembarkation on the two Saturdays, there’s a Sunday-Monday overnighter in Kahului on Maui, Tuesday and Wednesday calls on the Big Island (Hilo and Kona, respectively), then a Thursday-Friday overnighter in Nawiliwili on Kauai.
Pride of America, homeported in Honolulu, is the only U.S.-built cruise ship afloat. (Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)
Notice there’s no sea days, and Pride of America being the world’s only active U.S.-flagged cruise ship is the reason. The Stars and Stripes wave proudly on its stern because Pride of America was partially built in the United States — the first in nearly a half-century when it was completed — and thus was given congressional exception from the 135-year-old Passenger Vessel Services Act that requires a call in a foreign port.
That’s why every other cruise that includes Hawaii on the itinerary must pay an international visit in adherence to the Civil War-era law. These include the eight remaining round trips this year out of Southern California. The longest left in 2022 is a 45-night journey on Holland America’s 1,964-passenger Zuiderdam from Oct. 3-Nov. 17. The enviable voyage out of San Diego includes a six-night Hawaiian leg that consists of five ports on four islands. Other stops are Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands of New Zealand and several in French Polynesia.
Noordam, anchored off Lahaina, is a sister of the 1,964-passenger Zuiderdam that sails to Hawaii in October. (Courtesy of Holland America Line)
For those not ready to cruise just yet, Holland America has more round trips from San Diego that can be booked now and put on an extended layaway. They range from a 17-night voyage in January on the 2,650-passenger Koningsdam (five Hawaii ports plus an obligatory stopover in Ensenada) and a 94-night odyssey a year later on the 1,432-capacity Volendam that roams Oceania after calls in Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. At 13 1/2 weeks, this January-April 2024 odyssey is over three times longer than any other Hawaii-bound round trip scheduled out of Southern California.
Even with coronavirus-related concerns and restrictions still afloat, demand is high for lengthy itineraries that tend to draw the experienced cruiser and well-traveled guest, according to Seattle-based Holland America.
“Our guests relish the Hawaii cruises because they love the extra time on the ship and opportunity to cruise to the islands from a mainland gateway,” said Holland America President Gus Antorcha. “We have departures that sail from San Diego and Vancouver, so we have a couple of options for guests to drive to the pier or take a short flight.”
A party atmosphere is what cruisers can expect en route to Hawaii on the Grand Princess. (Photo by David Dickstein)
The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess is on tap for two round trips sailing out of L.A. Harbor. Both are 15-day trips to four Hawaiian ports, including Maui’s seldom-called Lahaina, with a brief visit in Ensenada on the penultimate day. From San Pedro’s World Cruise Center, the ship also will embark on a four-week-long sail in November that blends the South Pacific with a Hawaiian punch. Most of the 28 days are sea days, but with such exotic stopovers as Tahiti, Moorea, Samoa and American Samoa on the schedule in addition to three Hawaiian islands and Ensenada, those poor passengers will just have to suffer through 19 days spent solely on a four-star floating resort with food, entertainment and activities galore.
Grand Princess heads for Hawaii in April and October out of San Pedro. (Photo by David Dickstein)
While Crown Princess is navigating the Pacific for nearly a month, its older Grand Class sister will fill in with a 15-day sail of its own out of Los Angeles. Class namesake Grand Princess is sailing out of SoCal in April for a Hawaii-Mexico run and an October voyage that ends in either New Zealand or Australia, depending on how much time and money you want to spend. More round-trip Hawaiian cruises from Santa Clarita-based Princess are scheduled out through April 2023.
From Long Beach, Carnival Miracle will embark on a pair of 14-day voyages this fall, both with brief visits to Ensenada after stops in Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Hilo. The 2,124-passenger ship will switch out Kona for Nawiliwili for two Hawaiian cruises in the early part of 2023.
Noordam, anchored off Lahaina, is a sister of the 1,964-passenger Zuiderdam that sails to Hawaii in October. (Courtesy of Holland America Line)
The only remaining ultra-luxury cruise ending in Southern California this year is on Oceania’s 684-capacity Regatta. Embarking from Tahiti on April 6, the 18-night sail — 10 of those being sea days — goes to Bora Bora and Rangiroa in the Society Islands, Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, and three Hawaiian islands before dropping anchor in San Pedro on April 24.
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With Hawaii returning to shipshape as a cruise destination, soon there could be more good news for would-be vacationers to the Aloha State. Based on the latest information at press time, come spring, barring any more coronavirus surges, nearly all travel restrictions are expected to be lifted for domestic visitors.
Getting to Hawaii would be made easier with the end of SafeTravels Hawaii, a 2 1/2-year-old program that enabled qualifying domestic visitors to bypass quarantine. For Hawaii-bound cruisers, however, there will still be some hula hoops to jump through as, at least for now, CDC guidelines are still requiring cruise lines to demand proof of vaccination and a negative test.
Inconvenient? Perhaps. Prudent? Maybe. But for a vacation destination that just a few months ago was one of the world’s last holdouts to large cruise ships due to COVID-19 concerns, this is smooth sailing compared to the two years of rough seas that kept cruise passengers anchored to the mainland.