princeton123211

We go once a year-- Hawaiian Airlines runs a great nonstop from JFK, Boston, and Orlando direct to Honolulu. United has a direct to Maui from Newark seasonally and Honolulu from Dulles year round. Hawaiian is an absolute joy to fly compared to the usual suspects and has a much better inflight experience. I love cruising (or else I wouldn't bother posting on here) but it's just one of those places that doesn't lend itself well to cruising as things currently stand with rules and regs. Lots of sea days (unless that is your thing and then have at it) or stuck on NCL Pride of America which I think is a subpar ship. Flying intra island is easy, quick, and usually pretty inexpensive. Hawaiian has a great service and flights are usually a quick 20-30 minutes with nearly hourly departures more like a shuttle-- you don't go sit and wait at the airport like you do for flights at home. Also there are some great smaller options like Mokulele Airlines which fly smaller planes which can essentially give you a free aerial tour (the flight from Kapalua to Honolulu usually takes you on the North side of Molokai which people pay hundreds per person for in a helicopter). I get what you're saying but, especially if you haven't been before (making an assumption), spending 3/4 days there and sailing 5 days in either direction is going to seem like a tease when you have to leave.

The only thing I'd add (aside from a glowing re-recommendation for Le Continental) would be to grab a drink at the bar off the lobby at the Chateau Frontenac-- very cozy and great views during the day. Le Champlain, the formal dining room at the CF, is actually quite good and worth the trip. It is much less formal and stuffy than it was prior to the renovation but it is still a fixed tasting menu so not for everyone.

Not really. The Typhoon season really only applies to the northwestern part of the Pacific in and around Japan-- doesn't really apply to Hawaii and certainly not the ocean between Hawaii and the Mainland. There is no predicting the sea state. What we can predict is that it will get warmer as you approach and cooler as you leave Hawaii. It'll be a little bit cooler in San Diego in January vs October but not by a huge amount. It will cool off a bit once you get out to sea the first few days. Either time is a great time to visit the islands-- if you're worried about the sea state why not consider just flying over and spending more time? Unless you love a ton of sea days, instead of 3/4/5 days on the islands you can spend a week or more. It's a much better way to see the islands than by sailing to/from.

And to further expand, if Heidi isn't available, you can take what is called a Blue Flag taxi which is one that is specially licenced to give tours. This is the same classification that Heidi falls under. A majority of taxis in Bermuda are minivans that are either compact European versions or more full sized American built ones. If the scooter can be collapsed my guess is that it COULD fit into one of the larger sized minivans. But you should confirm that when booking a tour.

This needs to be repeated. It's chilly (although you do get used to it) and personally I am a little claustrophobic and had a couple of the tunnels (mainly the bendy ones as opposed to the straight ones) that gave me pause. I'm glad I did it once but wouldn't necessarily do it again-- if you are more than moderately claustrophobic I would give it a thought. There is a spot to bail out along the route though.

It is King Street Station. It really depends on your budget. There is an Embassy Suites literally right next door and would be the only one I could recommend thats walking distance. The main tourist areas are a bit to the North which would be a very short Uber ride in the morning. Would highly recommend not staying directly next to the station if you do want to sightsee a bit. A really neat option that's close is the Arctic Club Hotel which is housed in a former private club. A little more on the expensive side a personal favorite is the Fairmont Olympic. The other one thats super unique is the Edgewater Hotel which is right out on a pier into the harbor.

There's no real way to compare them-- Quebec City is the capital of the provence, has incredible architecture, and an extensive amount of historical places to visit. It feels like you could be in France. Corner Brook is fine but its small and sleepy with significantly less to do and see. If you've not been to Quebec you really should go to Quebec.

I don't know where you are coming from in New Jersey but what about just taking an Uber to the port? Even if it was a break even cost wise you still wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to your car there.

Keep in mind that resort day passes are not nearly as prevalent in Hawaii as they are in the Caribbean with the exception of Honolulu where there are a bunch of options. Resorts for the most part police their pool areas pretty stringently using wristbands to identify guests. On Maui the main beach areas I'd look at are Kaanapali and Wailea. Wailea has the Fairmont which has a day pass thats a good deal but it does sell out so book in advance-- not as nice as the neighboring Grand Wailea but not nearly as expensive as the $1700 cabana you need to rent to use the ressort . On Kaanapali the Westin offers a day bed for $250 for 2 adults plus a $50 food and beverage minimum and has a great pool set up right on the ocean. Otherwise you can try booking a day room at basically any resort.

Not a ton. Maybe if you found a deal at one of the offsite Newark Airport lots and Ubered to the port?

Got it-- then the Fairmont all day long if you are going to the airport anyway. When you said you then had to pay taxi fare I wasn't sure what you meant but you'd have to pay for taxi fare regardless. The food at the hotel is very good, nice bar, and they have a small but nice pool and hot tub. Great way to wind down for a late flight.

I've used the Fairmont multiple times for a day room and it is one of the great airport hotels. Highly recommend it. Are you flying into or out of the airport in conjunction with this stay? If so the Fairmont is well worth the premium. If you aren't going or coming from the airport it might not be worth the hassle and just stay downtown.

What port?

You can but the one way drop fees from Canada to the US can be substantial-- $200-300+ on top of normal rental fee (because they know they need to bring it back). Also there is only a limited number of cars the major rental companies have allocated for cross boarder use so will limit what's available. Any of the major rental companies-- Hertz, Budget, Avis, etc will do it but just look at the fees before you book.

Uber or Lyft would save you a bunch of time with this and cost maybe half of what Celebrity charges for 2 people on the bus. That being said you are right to not use a taxi-- they're awful in that part of New Jersey.

No-- frankly would only use them if they were significantly less expensive than the major ones. What you give up are things like quick roadside assistance and choice of cars. They are all located at the airport so not far from where your ship is docking. Basically all the major rental companies on Maui have a ton of Jeep Wranglers and Mustang Convertibles.

Also keep in mind that in NYC a 5 hour minimum for a minibus is fairly standard-- the shorter ride from North Bergen to NYC is a terrible use here. Split the group up into Ubers.

They keep changing names. My wife used what I believe is now called Dive Bermuda Somerset which is close to the Dockyard though not in it. They are located right next to where you can rent Boston Whalers and go on jet ski tours-- not sure if its the same company as that or not. But they were great-- nice dive boat and equipment (from what she said).

OP said "not a Broadway show"

Is that $500 for both rooms or $500 per room? The good news is that, while not the low season, rooms for that night aren't stratospheric by New York standards. Some that might be in your budget I would look at are the Intercontinental The Barclay, The Library Hotel, The Edition Times Square (I don't usually recommend staying in Times Square since I think its the 10th circle of he!! but its a great hotel that is close to the MCT), New York Palace, and Le Meridien Central Park. If you are willing to jump in a cab or Uber and head downtown a bit either Raouls or Minetta Tavern would fit into not crazy fancy but where locals go. Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe are getting a little fancier but still comfortable. The previous poster mentioned Le Bernardin-- truly excellent but you are in the realm of white table cloth fine dining. They do have a nice lounge if you want to pop in for some lighter bites and a drink but forgo the whole dinner. Harry Cipriani is one of my favorites over the years in Midtown-- its like taking a trip to Venice. Pricey but consistently very good. Some bucket list fun stuff in Midtown-- consider drinks at The King Cole Bar at The St Regis Hotel or at Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle on the Upper East Side. Bemelmans, while expensive, has a cover for the nightly music but its dramatically less expensive than the Cafe Carlyle across the hallway. Its fairly standard although they do try and provide "benefits" with it. For example, they'll charge you $45 a night but you get a $45 credit at the bar, free dry cleaning, and something else. That sort of set up. Both of them are sort of touristy wastes of time but personally would do Top of the Rock over ESB-- much better views over Central Park. The new skinny skyscrapers that have gone up have diluted ESB's views in my opinion.

So the good news is you can participate with Alaska. I wasn't aware of any direct SEA to Sydney flights so thought that might be the case.

Agree with Charles-- they drive on the left, roads are narrow and slippery, and these EV rentals are governed at slower speeds. Locals in busses, mopeds, and cars will just run roughshod over you on the road. Nighttime driving in them is hazardous as they are not well marked and they are significantly smaller than cars and even golf carts. It's just not a great program. To be clear-- there is no way as a visitor to rent a traditional car on the island. We use a combination of the ferries and taxis when we're on the island. The ferry from Dockyard to Hamilton is absolutely the way to go for Harbour Nights. For Tobacco Bay and things on the East Side of the island just take the ferry from Dockyard to St Georges and then work your way back via taxi. Once you get to Hamilton you can take the ferry back from there.

Best course will be Uber/Lyft. Easier/higher quality than a cab and much less expensive than car service. Easy to use. Just download and put your info and credit card in ahead of time.

You could do both if you wanted to-- Hana you would have to do day 1 since that would be the bigger time suck being several hours in either direction and even more if you stop and see things which you should. Where your ship docks in Kahului to the top of Haleakala is only a bit over an hour though-- very doable on day 2 leaving you plenty of time to get back and turn in the car. Of course this leaves zero time for the beach which is where I would be at least one of the days. My personal preference if I had to choose one of them would be Hana.

Not different than normal except there is a section well beyond Hana that washed out. This would only impact you if you were planning on driving all the way around vs turning around in Hana or really at the pools beyond it like most do. I will be back in Hana in April and will report back but not anticipating much out of the ordinary except for the section of road that is currently closed until May for improvements.