Cleocruiser

We used Trip Advisor for all of our tours in New Zealand. They all worked out great!

I agree that the lines are crazy long in Pahia. Both lines for the tender and the bus into town will very long and very hot with no sun protection. We just got back and did the RCCL Waka canoe tour. It was fun and interesting, and you get to see a traditional Waka greeting. You don't have to row the whole time, they have motors, if needed. One thing that Royal did not tell us was that you really need waterproof shoes. No one and a large group had them and we had to walk on hard shells to get into the canoe. The tour company told us to just get our shoes wet because it will hurt your feet, but we wanted to walk around Pahia after the tour. I ended up taking my shoes with me on the canoe and only having to walk a few steps barefoot. The tour operator has begged Royal to add water shoes to their description, but they haven't yet.

What about over the counter supplements, like Calcium, Vitamin E, etc? Do we need the original bottles for those as well? We buy extremely large bottles and was hoping not to worry about the big bottles. We use the tiny plastic bags as well when we travel. Will we be questioned since they are not prescription? We take quite a few different supplements. We would rather bring those in our carry ons in case our luggage is lost.

Any advise?

We just got back and rented through Affordable car rental. Nils was great to work with and he had the car waiting at the port. We were given a code and the key was in a lock box on the car. We were able to get an early start and we were the first ones to the dog sled camp of Michelle Phillips. We spent a lot of time learning about the Iditarod and playing with the puppies. Highly recommended.

Tagish Lake Kennel tours, Join Michelle Phillips And Ed Hopkins

Affordable car rental can also pack you a picnic lunch. They own Bites on Broadway in town. We printed out a copy of Murrays guide and did our own thing all day.

We did not get asked for ArriveCan, but make sure you stop at the red light coming through customs.

There was no one there, so we pulled up to the window. I guess that was a big no no.

We parked in town after our drive a shopped for a while, then retuned the car back to the port--no walking required.  Highly recommended!

Skagway Alaska Cruise Rental Cars - Home - Affordable Car Rental (skagwaycarrental.com)

We just got back and rented through Affordable car rental. Nils was great to work with and he had the car waiting at the port. We were given a code and the key was in a lock box on the car. We were able to get an early start and we were the first ones to the dog sled camp of Michelle Phillips. We spent a lot of time learning about the Iditarod and playing with the puppies. Highly recommended.

Tagish Lake Kennel tours, Join Michelle Phillips And Ed Hopkins

Affordable car rental can also pack you a picnic lunch. They own Bites on Broadway in town. We printed out a copy of Murrays guide and did our own thing all day.

We did not get asked for ArriveCan, but make sure you stop at the red light coming through customs.

There was no one there, so we pulled up to the window. I guess that was a big no no.

We parked in town after our drive a shopped for a while, then retuned the car back to the port--no walking required.  Highly recommended!

Skagway Alaska Cruise Rental Cars - Home - Affordable Car Rental (skagwaycarrental.com)

We are having the same issue. Very frustrating1

If you get into the early late line, how does it work? Does it move at all? or do you just wait until your assigned time and then get out of that line and get into the other one? This is our first Carnival cruise and we have never read what happens when you get in this line. It seems hard to catch that 30 minute window considering traffic in Miami sometimes. 

We were on the April 7th sailing and we received our refund a couple of days ago. Three separate refunds. One for tips, base fare, and taxes. We booked late, so we did not have a deposit as we paid in full at time of booking. We got our FCC back last week.

My husband and I did the bike tour this past December. We are just casual bike riders and we thought it was a waste of money. We were looking forward to getting some exercise, but barely rode the bikes at all. We kept stopping and having to get off and listen to the guide or walk around the beach and then listen to the guide sing? Pretty much everyone that was on the tour was disappointed. Some pro bikers tried to go back and do the loop themselves, but were not allowed. I have to say the bikes were in good condition and came with a basket. We were offered a soda or water after the tour.

Thanks for your details! I have a few questions for you:

 

"April 8th Sun Arrived in Maui and rented a car for 2 days with Enterprise. Walked to pick up car

as it was not at the airport. We reserved a "they pick your car" Give a pickup truck

Drove to Haleakala summit. It was rainy, so it was fine, but not as beautiful as it

could have been, but used the Shaka app with worked great! Afterwards drove to

upcountry and winery. really glad we had the truck as many roads were flooded

badly and we were able to cross where smaller cars could not.

Parked at the mall near the ship for free even with the warning signs. Many

people were doing the same. We took our chances and the car was fine. "

 

How long did you spend in Haleakala? We want to go as well, but not aiming for sunrise or sunset.

We spent about 6 hours including the drive up, stopping at many lookouts, eating in our car while waiting for the rain to stop, and stopping to shop at a small town along the way. Shaka app is great. Highly recommend ! We started our trip about 9:30 . We were back on the ship in time to do the lei making class at 4:00.

 

 

"April 12 Thur Arrived in Kauai. rented a care through Thrifty. Got off ship early to catch shuttle

to airport. Rented an SUV and drove to Wailua falls close by and went back to

airport to catch our 10:30 flight with Wings over Kauai in a private Cessna.

Great company. Nice ride with sunny views of the Napali coastline. Other parts

of the island were clouded in-not able to see anything. After flight, we drove to

Waimea Canyon with the Shaka app. Rained all the way up to the top. Glad to

have brought throw away sneakers with all the hiking we did. Covered in mud, we

gladly threw them away after the cruise. Rain eased up and were able to see some

nice views on the way back down. We wanted to go to the other side of the island,

traffic was bad on the way back, so we decided to return the rental since the shuttle

was only until 6:00pm and we didn't want to pay a cab to get back to ship.

Dinner at the buffet. Nice selection and not crowded since most were at luau."

 

Wow it sounds like you did alot on this day! How long did you spend on the Waimea canyon trip? Did you like the Shaka App for this as well? If we wanted to stop at some beaches or a small town on the way back, does Shaka give tips on that too?

We started that day about noon. Again, it was raining. The Shaka guide worked great again. It will detect your location and pick back up right where you left off if you stop for awhile. The trip took about 4 hours. We wanted to hike, but the weather was not in our favor.

 

 

 

"We used it as a floating hotel for eating and sleeping. We brought a soft fold-able

cooler to pack food for our day trips. We read that it was ok and it was very

helpful for our road trips as there is very little in food stops along the way. I took

lots of baggies and packed cookies and snacks from the buffet. They also had

chicken salad sandwiches that packed well. I made peanut better sandwiches as

well. Very cost efficient. "

 

Thanks for this tip, I think we will do the same! Would the buffet also have easy to grab whole fruit like apples, bananas, oranges?

Yes, lots of fruit available. Just bring some baggies for some ice and any other goodies and you will be set.

This thread was so helpful to us when planning our 1st trip to Hawaii, I am paying it forward.

We went for 10 nights starting April 4th, 2018

April 4th Wed - Flew American out of Tampa through Dallas to Honolulu

Used Johhny cab, pre-booked to the Coconut Waikiki Hotel for 3 nights

Walked around and had early dinner had Hula Grill with an oceanfront table.

Coconut Waikiki was very nice! Stay on 10th floor with a view of the mountains.

Good location, everything within walking distance. Decent free breakfast.

April 5th Thur Used Kaimana Tours for transportation to MakaPu'u lighthouse hike. Fun !

Went to Chiefs Luau on the Royal Pkg. Sat up front. Excellent show-food so so.

April 6th Fri Used Kaimana tours for rides to Diamond Head and Manoa Fall. Both hikes very

beautiful and tiring. Ate a late lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise--very good!

April 7th Sat Booked a private tour with Oahu private tours for North Shore Hybrid tour.

Picked us up at our hotel and dropped us off at the Pride of America.

Book this tour early as it fills up and our guide Cannon was excellent!

Got to ship around 3:30 and walked right on--no lines.

Deck 11 inside cabin. great deck to just walk to buffet and pool area.

April 8th Sun Arrived in Maui and rented a car for 2 days with Enterprise. Walked to pick up car

as it was not at the airport. We reserved a "they pick your car" Give a pickup truck

Drove to Haleakala summit. It was rainy, so it was fine, but not as beautiful as it

could have been, but used the Shaka app with worked great! Afterwards drove to

upcountry and winery. really glad we had the truck as many roads were flooded

badly and we were able to cross where smaller cars could not.

Parked at the mall near the ship for free even with the warning signs. Many

people were doing the same. We took our chances and the car was fine.

April 9th Mon Second day, drove to Lahaina . Much better weather on the other side of the island

We walked around and shopped and ate shaved ice. The ABC stores are great to

pick up a snack if needed. Lots of traffic back to ship. Returned car.

Went to dinner at Teppanyaki on the ship. Lots of fun!

April 10 Tues Arrived in Hilo. Booked Mary Lou's tours. We had a substitute guide, since Mary

Lou was ill. Daniel was a native and had great stories. Nice tour. Saw Volcano

National Park along with other things.

Got back on ship and went to lei making class and had dinner at Italian place.

Least favorite restaurant. Pasta was better at the buffet make to order station.

April 11 Wed Tender port in Hilo. We took the day off and just walked around the streets and

shopped and looked around. Nice day. Line for tender was long to get back.

Went to another Lei making class and ate at Cagney's. Great steak, lots of food.

April 12 Thur Arrived in Kauai. rented a care through Thrifty. Got off ship early to catch shuttle

to airport. Rented an SUV and drove to Wailua falls close by and went back to

airport to catch our 10:30 flight with Wings over Kauai in a private Cessna.

Great company. Nice ride with sunny views of the Napali coastline. Other parts

of the island were clouded in-not able to see anything. After flight, we drove to

Waimea Canyon with the Shaka app. Rained all the way up to the top. Glad to

have brought throw away sneakers with all the hiking we did. Covered in mud, we

gladly threw them away after the cruise. Rain eased up and were able to see some

nice views on the way back down. We wanted to go to the other side of the island,

traffic was bad on the way back, so we decided to return the rental since the shuttle

was only until 6:00pm and we didn't want to pay a cab to get back to ship.

Dinner at the buffet. Nice selection and not crowded since most were at luau.

April 13 Fri Short day, so we just walked over the shops and walked around the Marriot. We

waited for Dukes to open, so we could try the Hula Pie ! YUM ! Went back to ship

to rest and start packing. Later that day, we listened to the Napali Coat narrative

from deck 6 and had dinner at East meets West. Nice meal!

April 14 Sat Booked the early bird Pearl Harbor tour. They stayed with our luggage and then

took us to the airport by noon for our 3:00pm flight. Food at the airport was the

most expensive that we had seen the whole time in Hawaii. Eat before you get

there, if possible. Flew to Maui, then Dallas, then Tampa.

Overview: We had a nice time. The ship was better than expected. We had read such negative

things, but we were presently surprised. The food was good. We had no issues

with the service. We enjoyed the classes on board and the few shows we attended.

We really booked this cruise knowing we would not be on board most of the time.

We used it as a floating hotel for eating and sleeping. We brought a soft fold-able

cooler to pack food for our day trips. We read that it was ok and it was very

helpful for our road trips as there is very little in food stops along the way. I took

lots of baggies and packed cookies and snacks from the buffet. They also had

chicken salad sandwiches that packed well. I made peanut better sandwiches as

well. Very cost efficient. We had booked this cruise a year in advance and it took a lot of

planning. We saved a lot of money by booking everything way far out, especially the hotel and cars. The cruise had doubled in price and the airfare was crazy expensive close in. Plan ahead and go the flow. We wish the weather had been a little better, but we were prepared, so it was fine. On to future trips !

Chiefs Luau new location isn't the best by day and took us about an hour by bus from Honolulu. It gets dark soon after they start and then you don't notice that you are in a water park. Nice Luau ! Great show, so-so food. We booked the royal package and thought it was worth it to sit up front. Didn't use all of our drink tickets and our host asked us to donate them to the "bus" for future use as they play games on the bus ride over and use them for prizes.

We just got back last week. We rented our SUV for only 1 day. We got out early, rented the car, drove to the closest waterfall and went on a Cessna with Wings over Kauai. We started driving to the canyon about 11:30. Bring food from the ship. We got the Shaka app. Really cheap and works great ! We stopped at all of the lookouts in the pouring rain and went all the way to the top. Didn't see much due to the rain, but the app provided a lot of information. Rain stopped, so we stopped at all the lookouts again on the way down again. It took extra time, but was worth it as we saw much better views. We wanted to go to the other side of the island, but got stuck in traffic on the way back. It was 6:00pm by the time we got back and was starting to get dark. We didn't want to bother with a car the next day due to the early departure time. We hung out by the beach near the Marriot and waited until Duke's opened at 11:00 to get a piece of the famous Hula Pie.

Just returned and did Wings over Kauai in the Cessna. It was very nice and organized. We booked the 10:30, so we got off the ship early, picked up our rental, went to a close by waterfall and parked right at the wings parking lot. It was a bit overcast, but we were able to see a lot of things. We drove to Waimea Canyon afterwards and we ended up seeing a lot more on the plane than we could see from the road. The view from the plane is somewhat small. Think of it like looking out of a sports car. Not big viewpoints. I was in front and I could really only see out of the side window. Nice company and easy to work with as well.

We sailed along the Napali coast line the next day. We both agreed that we saw much more by air than by sea due to it being so overcast.

We were just there last week. Raincoats work great, but our shorts still got soaked. Wish we would have had a longer coat or a poncho. We had rented a car in Maui and Kauai. Drove the mountain and canyon. Rained both days. Still went to see what we could see. Don't be discouraged. It lighted up as the day went on and we hit the same stops on the way back just to see a little more of the view. Bring throw away shoes. We brought old sneakers and were SO glad we did. Returning the rental car the last day, the shoes were in the trash. They were so covered in mud and dirt as we had been to all the islands and did many hikes, tours, and overlooks.

Is there any update on this excursion that anyone would like to share?

So, after all the wonderful information, I have one last question. As of now, can you still book a next cruise with no date with a deposit and get an OBC or do you have to have a specific date to get the OBC?

Thanks for your help. I'm sailing the Mariner in April and I want to get it right the first time.