Planning your cruise to Hawaii

If you go

A number of cruise lines journey to Hawaii from the West Coast, October through April:

Princess Cruises, (800) 774-6237, https://www.princess.com, from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Carnival, (888) 227-6482, https://www.carnival.com, from Long Beach.

Celebrity Cruises, (888) 245-4254, https://www.celebritycruise.com, from Los Angeles and San Diego.

Holland America LIne, (877) 932-4259, https://www.hollandamerica.com, from San Diego.

The itineraries are similar, and all include a brief stop in Ensenada, Mexico, to satisfy laws that stipulate that only U.S. owned, flagged, built and crewed ships may trade exclusively among U.S. ports. In something of a compromise, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Spirit of America, (866) 234-7350, https://www.ncl.com, qualifies and offers seven-day cruises among the Hawaiian Islands, from $1,249.