pink845

The last time we were in Honolulu with Princess, we got off the ship as soon as we were allowed. Grabbed a city bus $2.50 per person and got off at Diamond Head (no more than 20 min ride). Trekked up to the top and were on our way back to Waikiki by bus prior to Princess passengers even boarding their tour bus to Diamond Head. And, we got to experience the trek up without hoards of other people. A blessing. Once the bus dropped us back in Waikiki, we walked along the main drag, did a bit of shopping, had lunch at the Sheraton Moana Rider, popped into an ABC Store, bought a couple of beach chairs (the soccer version), then walked along the beach to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Personally, I do not like the Wakikik sand, it is full of pebbles. I heard that the sand gets brought in from somewhere else. The sand on the Eastern beaches past Hanamau Bay which is to the East of Diamond Head are much much nicer. Baby soft sand. I know this as we once spent a week in Oahu and circled the whole island by car, stopping at every beach along the way, saw the surfers, visited the Baywatch Beach and stayed for another week at the Hilton Turtle Beach (now called something else). There is also a city bus that goes to Hanamau Bay where the snorkeling is divine and to be honest there is also a city bus that circles the entire island of Oahu (but it takes a couple of hours). Don't waste your money on a $100 per person Princess Beach Break. Waikiki Beach is very much a DIY project.

You do not say whether you are starting your cruise in Honolulu or if you are arriving in Honolulu from Vancouver or LA or SF, but my familiarity is mostly with Princess cruises which over night in Honolulu (to allow people to attend evening events. The pier is a five minute city bus ride from the Alo Moana shopping centre; a fifteen minute city bus ride to the Diamond Head Volcano; a ten minute bus ride to Waikiii Beach and the shopping on that main drag. I would rent a car and go to the East Coast beaches and definitely snorkel at Hanauma Bay. If you are only there one day, you have to really decide on your top priority. The Arizona memorial is great but it is a hike via the expressway and tickets are hard to come by. If I remember correctly, you can do an excursion tour with most ships to the Arizona, but it is pricey. Hilo, if that is your stop requires a taxi ride or mini bus ride into the town. The city bus there is not really efficient. Kona, I believe the ship docks in the Centre of town. We did not cruise there, We actually spent a land week vacation there at the Hilton. Maui, Lahania the ship tenders passengers to the centre of town and that town is a picture postcard from the ship!!!! There you would want to take a tour as there is only so much to see in town. They have a great volcano - Haleakala. Kauai, there is nothing at the pier other than a beach with fancy hotels on it. You can use the beach. A few little shops. Again, there you would want a tour to the Grand Canyon of Hawaii (name escapes me now) or rent a car. I did not see any big name car rental agencies at Kauai pier.

We are experienced cruisers both having done several Transpacifics and well as Transatlantics and also San Francisco to Hawaii return (16 day). We enjoy the sea days. We are doing Radiance of the Seas in May 2019 departs from Honolulu, spends two days in Maui, two days in Kauai, stops at Kona, and Hilo and then cruises five days to Vancouver. Been to all these islands before. We love the idea of having two days in both Maui and Kauai which means we can rent a car on the first day and no worry about what time we get back to the ship and the ship overnights in those ports. We will have plenty of time to explore and revisit what we have missed from previous vacations on those islands. A seven day cruise is very short for those islands. The seas can be rough out of San Francisco but nothing that we have not been able to handle. Also approaching Vancouver can be a little rough as well. But we have fared well. It is so relaxing - these longer sea days. Beware, however, not all days are not sunbathing as it can be rainy and overcast and a tad chilly during those sea days. So be prepared.

We were on Star Princess a couple of years back in April and we took a tour to the Haleakala Crater. It was fabulous. We took such wonderful pictures. We were then brought to lunch at some wonderful gardens and watched a dance show. We arrived back in Lahaina directly across from the pier at 2 pm and spent three hours strolling the lovely streets, walked to the Coach Store, and visited the Wyland Gallery, people watched for a while then it was time to board the ship, oh, before that my son administered medical care to a passenger who had suffered a medical emergency, then we boarded boarded at 5:30 pm. Poor passenger had to remain in Maui. There is no way we would have done the road to Hana. That jaunt is a 8 hour affair. The roads are windy and if you are touring with the ship you will be in a 8 to 12 passenger van - not the most fun. This is something you would want to do on a land based tour or on a trip when the ship overnights in Maui, as will be the case with us when we do a cruise in 2019 with Radiance of the Seas.

Singapore is a fabulous city. We stayed pre and post a Princess cruise this past February. We arrived from Hongkong at 8 pm in the evening. We were over any jet lag at that point having spent four days in Hongkong prior. We took the city bus (yes the city bus). It came right to the airport - Changi. The total cost per person $2.00 CDN dollars. Yeah. Took about half an hour and dropped us right off in front of our hotel, Conrad Hilton Centennial. No fuss no muss. We had a back pack and a large suitcase each. For the next three days we bought a 3 day MRT subway pass $20 bucks per person - I believe and went everywhere by subway. So very efficient - and I say EVERYWHERE. It was hot in February, so it was great to take the subway rather than a hop on hop off bus. Never liked those anyhow. There is so much to see. Took to subway to the Marina Bay Cruise terminal from our hotel (subway right across the street at the Suntec Centre.) In fact that is exactly where the bus from the airport let us off in front of the Hilton. A ten minute walk under a covered walkway to the pier. Easy! On the way home, we stayed at the Hilton once again and the on our last night we transferred over to the Crowne Plaza Changi which is literally at the airport - right at the airport (inside the airport). Took the subway once again. No issues. This is Singapore. There are elevators everywhere at the subway stops. No need to worry about stairs very accessible and accommodating unlike a lot of countries we have visited.

Thank heavens now that I am elite, I get to stay away from the laundromat. Room steward takes care of the laundry and dry cleaning - what a bonus and a great perk!!!!!

Wow, Caribbean Princess is experiencing technical difficulties - yet again - unable to cruise at full speed. Boy have I heard that before, and they are unable to fix it and are rescheduling cruises up to six months from today. Same issue has plagued Princess now for a good four years. We ending up being shipwrecked in St. Maarten for two full days and then we limped back to San Juan for the remaining five days of our cruise - worked out fine - it was March break and we were all happy as they refunded us our entire fare - and gave money for another future cruise. Since then, no matter what the deal, I stay away from the Caribbean Princess. She has real speed issues. They have to change the ports now to make the distances between the ports smaller so that they can still fit in seven days and not give anyone their money back other than the taxes - remember in their post script in small print, you are warned that itinerary may change for any reason. This folks is what you have here. The Caribbean is getting old I am sure it will not be long before they send it down under as Princess seems to do with their older gals.

Only one road to Whittier. Plus you have to wait for the train to go through the tunnel. Why not simply come in the night before the cruise. Plenty of hotels near the airport (most with shuttles to and from airport). Why worry about your plane arriving late into Anchorage and then missing the Princess Shuttle and having to pay in excess of $300 for a cab to Whittier. We have cruised out of Whittier several times. always came in night before. Less hassle, less worry.

My opinion, if you have a serious medication condition that requires monitoring, or if you are in the least bit worried, WHY PUT YOURSELF THROUGH THE AGGRAVATION of worrying about medical facilities on board, just do not risk it. There are a lot of wonderful land based vacations that you can take in the US and if you encounter a medical emergency, you can simply be whisked off by ambulance to an ER. I would not travel with a medical condition that requires specialized care. My mom who is 84 travelled for years on cruises - just adored them, but when she developed issues with her kidneys, that was the end of cruise travel, but she still land vacations all the time.

Grand Cayman is lovely. Take the public bus $2 00 per person (across from the library) up to the top of Seven Mile Beach - well maybe not quite at the top - the driver will know and there is a parking lot there) and walk back down the beach until you get to Royal Palms (stop for a drink there and you can use their facilities once you have a drink in your hand and then grab the bus back). That is what we always do. It is so nice to walk in the water and take pictures of the ships in the distance. Makes for a lovely day. Alternatively, you can go visit the stingrays, but a reminder it is a good 20 minutes on a boat to reach the sandbar where the stingrays hang out and depending on the day, it can be very windy. The cruise line will have its pricy excursions or you can visit the locals right outside the pier where the prices will be a bit lower. If it is your first time to Grand Cayman, it is also nice to wander the streets. Lots of shopping.

Yep, just received notice from RCCL a few minutes ago that Harmony of the Seas will be stopping at St. Thomas as opposed to St. Maarten for their Dec 2, 2017 sailing. Works for me. I am just wondering if the roads will be operational and whether I will be able to rent a car. Hmm.

Interesting little side note here. We were travelling with another couple on Independence of the Seas a couple of years back and had balcony cabins side by side. Same room steward served both cabins as well as two opposite inside cabins for the teenagers. We let the gratuities hit the account daily, while the other couple removed their gratuities from their account on Day 2 (this was a 12 day cruise). The service that the other couple and their teens received from the room as the days wore on was not very nice. There were no more smiles, or hello, how are you today? Wine glasses were forgotten, requested extra towels had to be mentioned each and every day. Lots of little things were always amiss. I mean, the bed was made every day, and the washroom cleaned but the garbage can did not get emptied, just a host of misadventures. We on the other hand had no issues. We six extra towels we requested daily were there, the wine glasses always replaced, the list goes on - all good. I do believe that as soon as you remove those gratuities, the room steward gets notice that this has happened. Some room stewards then act accordingly. Our friends at the end of the cruise after all was said and done - did not give anything to the room steward because of this behavior. So, you never know what can happen when you remove those gratuities. A caution to all. The way I see it if you can afford to cruise, you can afford to pay the gratuities.

Can I have some clarification with respect to the Continental Breakfast which I understand is still free for the Harmony of the Seas. Can someone who has cruised Harmony OTS of late advise whether we can order coffee and toast and yogurt the night before by placing an order request on the door handle (I do this on Princess all the time) or do we have to call Room Service between 6 am and 11 am to order our coffee and Toast??

Wow, what a lively and contentious topic among all the posters. We are cruising on Harmony of the Seas Dec 2. Ship is heading to St. Maarten and to San Juan and Labadee. Been to these islands numerous times before. Lovely Lovely, very welcoming of tourists and very appreciative for our support during our past visits. Now, in their time of need, if we can help, we are there for them. Yes, it may not be picture perfect, but these lovely people need us to support them with our disposable income - our travel income. Kuddos for RCCL for going back. I can guarantee you that each and every RCCL ship that arrives in these islands will be dropping off loads of food and medical supplies. To those people in the threads who are worried about safety, then, stay on the ship. To those mothers who are travelling with their kids, USE THIS AS A TEACHABLE TIME. Teach your children that disaster happens, and show your kids what disaster looks like. They will appreciate their own home much more. RCCL is not going to be able to make everyone happy. At one point, RCCL changed the Harmony of the Seas itinerary to I believe Costa Maya, Cozumel and Falmouth, then recently changed it back to its original itinerary of SJ and SM. RCCL is running a business. They are also limited on the ports to which the Oasis class ships can visit. They know that irrespective of the the ports visited, many of the 6000 plus passengers on these ships are happy to be on the ship, partaking in the activities that are on board. The islands are the gravy here. The ship is the destination. So I say once more, if you are worried about the condition of the islands, stay on the ship, but that would not be very empathetic towards the folks that are suffering. If you are adamant about not going, then look at the cancellation schedule and take a loss if you so choose but then you will have made your choice. RCCL is pretty accommodating in most respects but they have been through hurricanes before and the know when to cut their losses and when to cruise ahead.

What does Diamond Status mean to me? The free Pre-Dinner Cocktails once I hit Diamond Status in another 8 nights. I can't believe I will get something free from Royal Caribbean without strings attached!!!! What would be even nicer would be free laundry and dry cleaning similar to what I just recently achieved on Princess as an Elite. That was a lifesaver during our Asian cruise this past February. It was so nice to get our clothes cleaned after sweating like pigs on our daily tours.

A secret menu item - bacon. My husband always wants bacon on his caesar salad and he always asks the waiter to get it for him. I have yet to be on a ship (and we have sailed Princess, RCCL Norwegian, Carnival and Celebrity) where the waiter has not been able to get him bacon. It is not on the menu but they do have it at the ready. Just ask if you are a bacon lover. And also, if you want fries, they can get that for you too. Just ask. In fact, on subsequent nights, the waiter asks would you like bacon on your salad. Ha Ha.

We use a foreign exchange company to buy all of our currency prior to leaving our home country rather than the bank as banks do not carry all the currencies, some have to be ordered,etc. but foreign exchange companies (they are everywhere) will have the currency sitting there or will have it the next day for you.

John Bull,

Many Thanks for backing up my statement that using ATMS in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, etc, China, can be quite a "hassle". We would hate to waste our precious time searching for ATMS, it has always been better for us (and we have traveled extensively throughout the world to bring the currency of the country with us. We do a value comparison of cost prior to leaving using the McDonalds menu in whichever country we are visiting and choose the most appropriate smaller denomination of currency. The smaller the denomination of the local currency we have in our possession, the less chance we will have of getting bilked by a vendor. If you rely on the ATMS in foreign countries, they will only spit out the larger denominations. Also, there are fees attached to using those ATMS in other countries and heaven forbid, my card gets eaten up by a machine.

Seriously, upgraded on Royal Caribbean???? Never in a million years, at least for me. We have been sailing with them a good 20 years and have never ever been upgraded even from an inside bottom cabin to a higher level. Now Princess, we have been upgraded several times even at when buying a Guarantee inside cabin a week before sailing, moving us right on up to balcony. Maybe people do get upgraded but no one in my fellow group of cruising buddies have yet to experience an upgrade from Royal Caribbean (complimentary that is)

We could not print either, so we called RCCL and they told us to use Internet Explorer to access the site. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox or every other web browser have problems according to their IT person. Once we used Internet Explorer, presto it worked.

For Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, we simply bought currency at home, brought it with us and hence had no hassle with having to use ATMS in those countries. Souvenirs cheap in Vietnam and Thailand, $50 per day that you are in each port is sufficient. Singapore is pricey - basically very comparable to US so you will need more $ for Singapore put it at $75 a day for souvenirs, t shirts.

In Singapore, we stayed at the Conrad Hilton - the MTR (subway) was right across the street from the hotel - took the MTR directly to the Marina Bay Pier MTR stop and literally walked 10 minutes under a covered walkway to the ship. Easy as pie. You can also do this in reverse. MTR was really cheap.

Dear Av8tor,

Looking forward to your upcoming days of reviews. I sailed on the original Regal Princess in 1993 and will be cruising on this new Regal Princess on June 9th out of Barcelona. I myself will be noting any differences between Regal and Royal (on which I sailed this past December 2013). Have a great time. Sailing anywhere in Europe is wonderful so much more than the Caribbean I find. Your fortunate to have the late dining as it was completely full when I booked but again that was only last week.

Cheers Pink845