Plan your Hawaii vacation, the best way to explore paradise without impacting your wallet
Hop on the ONLY USA TERRITORY inter-island cruise, doesn’t leave the country!
In January, my husband and I decided to take some time off and go on a long vacation. When we thought of going on a long trip that required us to travel across the country. We had two options: Alaska or Hawaii.
Some friends were planning on going to Alaska in February and we decided to match the same schedule to either join them or find a warmer option. Surprisingly, airplane fare for both places during winter was pretty much the same. After making our decision and rushing into buying the tickets we encounter a new problem. Hotels were extremely pricier than what we expected; BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel. In Hawaii there is a one of a kind cruise: an INTER-island cruise.
Enjoy the Pride of America hawaiian cruise
This Norwegian cruise ship is called Pride of America and it’s definitely a gem. It’s a 7 day weekly ship that goes all year long; this means every Saturday a new cruise sails. Sadly, our itinerary got changed due to bad weather and this is something that you need to take in mind when you visit during the winter. Following this I’ll share with you our itinerary and activities that you might want to enjoy while cruising the Pride of America (PoA).
Why choosing a cruise could be the best way to explore the different islands of Hawaii without worrying so much about the money you spend?
Prices start at $749 per person. You can enjoy all this and more. When you book through their official website you can get some extra perks such as free specialty dining, free excursions, free wifi, and a free beverage package plus some additional ones depending on selected offers.
With a cruise you get accommodations for all 7 days, complimentary food and activities and transportation between at least 4 different islands.
Image by Norwegian Cruise Line, Pride of America, Itinerary.
The regular itinerary is:
- Day 1 Honolulu, Oahu
- Day 2: Kahului, Maui
- Day 3: Kahului, Maui
- Day 3: Kahului, Maui
- Day 4: Hilo, Hawaii
- Day 5: Kona, Hawaii
- Day 6: Nāwiliwili, Kaua`i
- Day 7: Nāwiliwili, Kaua`i
- Day 8: Honolulu, Oahu
When we decided to book our stateroom for this trip, there wasn’t any room available through the official website. We booked ours through Vacations to go and they got us into a Sailed Away fare for an inside room. This basically means that they ensure a place for you on the cruise but you won’t get the stateroom details till last minute, very likely on embarkation day. You can choose from Studio to Suites and the price will vary on it.
Our favorite restaurant for this trip is definitely East Meets West, a complimentary Asian restaurant where you can get delicious noodles, wok, soups and more. The service here was everything that you wait for! You do need reservations because it’s not a huge place compared to other dining options on board.
If you want to have the flexibility in your dining options, we enjoyed the Aloha Cafe buffet. It was very convenient when we didn’t feel like waiting and getting the server options.
All the port excursions we went on we booked by ourselves, we didn’t book through the cruise line. For us, it gave us some flexibility on our price options and our budget and luckily everything was easy to rebook when we had that change of schedule.
Look forward to the next blog entries as I’ll go over each port and things to do on each Island and enjoy the best of Hawaii.
