Celebrity Edge - Hawaii Crossing: Vancouver to Honolulu

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 5 sea days over 10 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Vancouver, BC

   CanadaDepart

   Canada Place is the rare cruise terminal that is genuinely in the middle of the city - white sail-roofs on the downtown waterfront, with Gastown five minutes away on foot. Most Vancouver calls are turnaround days for Alaska, which means customs queues and half a day rather than a whole one. Ships that don't fit or can't get a slot go to Ballantyne Pier, which is a shuttle ride out.

   • The Stanley Park seawall and the totem poles at Brockton Point
   • Granville Island Public Market, reached by the little rainbow ferries
   • Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Grouse Mountain gondola on the North Shore
   • Gastown's steam clock, then Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Canada Place opens onto the downtown waterfront beside the Waterfront SkyTrain station; the overflow berth at Ballantyne Pier is a few kilometres east and needs a taxi or shuttle.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Alaska season); Jul-Aug driest

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Hilo

   United StatesPort

   Hilo is the wet, green, unpolished side of the Big Island - it takes well over 100 inches of rain a year and looks nothing like the resort coast. The pier is an industrial one a few miles from a downtown of old plantation-era storefronts. Nearly everyone uses the day to get to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is roughly 45 minutes inland and the reason ships call here at all.

   • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea's caldera rim and the Thurston lava tube
   • Rainbow Falls and Akaka Falls, both short stops close to town
   • Liliuokalani Gardens and the Pacific Tsunami Museum in downtown Hilo
   • Mauna Kea visitor station on the slope of the mountain

   Getting ashore

   Docks at a commercial pier a few miles from downtown Hilo; shuttles or taxis are needed, and the volcano park is a separate 45-minute drive.

   Best months

   Year-round (Apr-Sep drier; volcanic activity varies and can change what is open in the park)

8. Day 8

   Kona (Kailua-Kona)

   United StatesPort

   Kona has no cruise pier, so every passenger comes ashore by tender onto Kailua Pier in the middle of town - and when the surf is up the call is shortened or cancelled outright, which happens often enough to plan around. Once landed you are on the dry, lava-black leeward side of the Big Island, with Alii Drive's shops and the old royal compound within a few hundred yards.

   • Hulihee Palace and Mokuaikaua Church, Hawaii's oldest Christian church, both on Alii Drive
   • Snorkelling at Kealakekua Bay by the Captain Cook monument
   • Kona coffee farm tours in the uplands around Holualoa and Captain Cook
   • Puuhonua o Honaunau, the restored place of refuge south of town

   Getting ashore

   Tender only, landing at Kailua Pier right in town; tendering is genuinely weather-dependent here and calls are sometimes dropped.

   Best months

   Year-round (Apr-Sep calmest seas for tendering; Dec-Mar swell causes the most cancellations)

9. Day 9

   Honolulu

   United StatesPort

   Ships dock at Pier 2 beside the Aloha Tower, which for decades was the tallest building in Hawaii and still marks the edge of downtown Honolulu. You step off into a real working capital city of office towers and Chinatown lunch counters, not a resort strip - Waikiki is a separate place three or four miles east. Most Hawaii itineraries either start here or stay overnight.

   • Pearl Harbor: the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the Bowfin submarine
   • Diamond Head crater hike, which requires an advance reservation for out-of-state visitors
   • Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, with the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned
   • Waikiki Beach and the Honolulu Museum of Art

   Getting ashore

   Docks downtown at Pier 2 by the Aloha Tower; Chinatown and the palace are walkable, Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are not.

   Best months

   Year-round (Apr-Oct driest; Dec-Apr for humpback whales offshore)

10. Day 10

    Honolulu

    United StatesPort

    Ships dock at Pier 2 beside the Aloha Tower, which for decades was the tallest building in Hawaii and still marks the edge of downtown Honolulu. You step off into a real working capital city of office towers and Chinatown lunch counters, not a resort strip - Waikiki is a separate place three or four miles east. Most Hawaii itineraries either start here or stay overnight.

    • Pearl Harbor: the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the Bowfin submarine
    • Diamond Head crater hike, which requires an advance reservation for out-of-state visitors
    • Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, with the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned
    • Waikiki Beach and the Honolulu Museum of Art

    Getting ashore

    Docks downtown at Pier 2 by the Aloha Tower; Chinatown and the palace are walkable, Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are not.

    Best months

    Year-round (Apr-Oct driest; Dec-Apr for humpback whales offshore)

11. Day 11

    Honolulu

    United StatesArrive

    Ships dock at Pier 2 beside the Aloha Tower, which for decades was the tallest building in Hawaii and still marks the edge of downtown Honolulu. You step off into a real working capital city of office towers and Chinatown lunch counters, not a resort strip - Waikiki is a separate place three or four miles east. Most Hawaii itineraries either start here or stay overnight.

    • Pearl Harbor: the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the Bowfin submarine
    • Diamond Head crater hike, which requires an advance reservation for out-of-state visitors
    • Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil, with the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned
    • Waikiki Beach and the Honolulu Museum of Art

    Getting ashore

    Docks downtown at Pier 2 by the Aloha Tower; Chinatown and the palace are walkable, Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are not.

    Best months

    Year-round (Apr-Oct driest; Dec-Apr for humpback whales offshore)