We choose this cruise as it's been a "bucket list" cruise for us for a while, but mostly because back in November we were very concerned that our two week Caribbean cruise would be canceled, so we cancelled it proactively and booked the 15 day Hawaii cruise. We had previously sailed on Grand in December for a 10 day Mexico cruise and really enjoyed it.

The trip across the ocean from LA to Hilo was an eye opener for us, as we had never been on a cruise with so many sea days. The first day had some rough waves, leading to a run on Dramamine, but the captain routed us around the weather and we really enjoyed our time on the open ocean.

Our first stop was Hilo, which is on the rainy side of the big island and not ideal. The good news is that we have a friend on Kona who was kind enough to drive over to pick us up and take us to the sunny side for a wonderful day at the beach. Read more