princeton123211

There are HoHos that go to the cruise docks in Pireas but its a separate circuit/line than the bus that does the main sites in Athens proper-- you'll have to transfer busses when you get to the city. The docks in Pireas are about 20-25 minutes from the center of the city proper and can be a tad longer with traffic.

You could always hire a private guide but both of these things are very easy to do on your own. You can purchase timed tickets online for St Marks which will allow you to skip the normal line to enter-- super easy and you walk into a separate entrance from everyone else when you get there at your scheduled time. The gondola ride is a standardized price throughout the city so no sense in paying a commission to a tour company to take care of that for you. Its 80 euro for a standard 30ish minute jaunt which is non-negotiable. You can however ask for a longer ride which is somewhat negotiable. Usually 100-120 euro for an hour. You'll also pay more at night then you will during the daytime. Personally one of our favorite stations to pick up a gondola is right next to the Hotel Bauer-- a short walk from St Marks Square. An hour trip from where will bring you into the Grand Canal on the other side with views of the Rialto Bridge and then back. Everything is cash. At very least with the gondola ride it's silly to pay a tour guide or tour service a commission to set it up for you-- much better to spend what extra you would end up paying them for a slightly longer gondola ride.

Assuming you mean that your ship is docking in Kahului. Some ships will anchor off Lahaina and tender in so no transport needed-- worth checking and making sure. From Kahului a taxi or Uber will be your fastest way to Lahaina and back. The bus will take about an hour and a half vs about 40 minutes in a taxi/Uber. 3+ hours of my day would be a lot to give up to save a bit and take the bus. Lahaina is definitely worthwhile though-- cute little town with fun shopping and great dining. Also worth checking if your ship is running a bus from the pier to Lahaina and back-- some do. Personally I would prefer the freedom of taking my own private transport at the times I would want to go, but the ship's bus would be a decent compromise between the local bus and a taxi. There is a chance you'll hit traffic but the bus or car will hit the same traffic so doesn't really factor in on the comparison.

The Pineapples are fairly easy to find-- you can go to the farms like Maui Gold on Maui or the Dole Plantation on Oahu but they are also available in most nicer hotel gift shops and the like. Not hard to find. You can also just order them from online from Dole Fruit Hawaii: https://www.dolefruithawaii.com/collections/fresh-fruit/products/dole®-royal-hawaiian®-tropical-gold-pineapples or Maui Gold: https://mauipineapplestore.com/one-time-pineapple-shipment-includes-shipping/

Bruce beat me to it but this is a specific to Hawaii issue-- they want to keep critters and disease that only exist on the mainland or Hawaii in their respective corners. You can however ship fresh pineapple from Hawaii to the Mainland and there are many places that do it and the packaging is all quite nice from a gift perspective-- so not all is lost.

I agree with Scott that Amtrak is most likely not the most reliable (and therefore not the best) option here but taking the Metro to Union Station to do so is ludicrous-- will easily add on an hour to what is already an hour Uber ride from San Pedro to Union Station. Especially with luggage. If you were to do Amtrak a much better option would be from Anaheim which is only about a 2h 20m train ride when things are running on time (which doesn't always happen on Amtrak's West Coast trains. This is less than an hour door to door and you aren't going North just to go South as you would have to with Union Station. Again, I think you should most likely rent a one way car or get a car service (personally I think the car service would be more enjoyable/efficient when you consider the time/cost to get to the rental agency to pick up/drop off and fuel the car but thats me).

I believe most fresh fruit and flowers are still banned even to ship. The USDA rules apply regardless of how you send them.

Things are fairly limited in what you can send back to the mainland-- most fresh fruit and flowers are restricted or banned from being sent back to the mainland. I know you can send fresh pineapples but most of the other things have to be dried etc. Below is the USDA site that overviews everything. You will have to go through an additional agricultural screening on the way home where they will scan your bags for prohibited fruit so also not worth trying to put it in your suitcase. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/traveler/hawaii/hawaiian_products

I would not trust Uber booked ahead of time-- I would only trust a private taxi company booked ahead of time on Kauai.

That would be odd since Avis always checks your name when boarding the bus.

Do not rely on Uber in Kauai-- the only places you can reliably count on Uber are Honolulu and Maui (most of the time). As Scott said, try and prearrange a car/local taxi to pick you up. They are mostly independent and it takes some googling. A lot of these ports, with the exception of Honolulu, are not designed to take the influx from these large cruise ships and lack the infrastructure to deal with it.

Correct. There is no tour guide-- all tours there are self guided. But it will cost you $21.99 per person. You can also buy the passport for $79.99 which will also include the USS Missouri but again, this will NOT include the timed ticket you would need to go to the USS Arizona Memorial.

No water taxi. Fastest, easiest will be a quick Uber (about 10 minutes max). Walking would take an hour and not the most scenic walk.

As Charles mentioned, they drive on the left. If you've driven in England/Scotland/Ireland before and are comfortable than its not a big deal. The Twizy's they rent are center console and the passenger sits behind you (tight fit). They have a few European microcars that are right hand drive so easy enough. But they do have these electric mini Hummers that are actually left hand drive (like we have in the US) but you have to drive on the left, which is very confusing. Technically the speed limit for the entire island is 21 MPH but this is rarely heeded by the locals. Most rental vehicles are limited in speed to adhere to the law but locals and busses will be whizzing by you. Something to keep in mind if you are a nervous driver.

Where are you coming from? Delays along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington DC) are fairly rare and I would be fairly comfortable doing a same day arrival, especially if it was an early train that gave you a little bit of padding. Delays with Amtrak's longer distance trains are far more common. Coming from outside of the Northeast Corridor the day of would give me pause.

I haven't taken this specific tour but have been to VNP several times. The 4.5 hours is subjective-- its a huge national park. You could spend days there (one of our favorite things is to stay overnight at Volcano House Hotel located within the park and spend 2 days exploring). VNP is very easy to do on your own with a rental car-- if you feel like you might want more time, or do things at your own pace, then this would be the way to do that. It will obviously depend on the length of your port stop-- you might be able to get an extra 2 hours in but you'll also have to account for the time picking up and dropping off the car. Personally I can't stand busses and organized tours so this would be how I would do it in this situation. If you would prefer not to go through the hassle of renting a car then the NCL tour will both get you there as well as guarantee your timely return to the ship.

All of these things are essentially separate-- the Bowfin and Missouri are commercial enterprises with entry fees and are not run by the National Park Service. USS Arizona Memorial is part of the National Park Service and is administered by the US Navy. There is no fee to go to the Arizona Memorial (aside from the $1 administration fee) but you do need to reserve tickets ahead of time. Do so directly with the NPS at https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/233338/ticket/16. Do not buy tickets for the Arizona Memorial from any other site but this one.

We need a lot more info from you to even begin to make a suggestion-- there are hundreds of hotels within a short distance of the MCT that range from a couple hundred a night to several thousands and everything in between.

Never have had any issue with Uber availability in San Diego.

Rent a car for whats essentially a 2 mile walk along a waterside path?

It's very easy to do on your own. You'll tender ashore at Perrotti Park which puts you in the middle of town. You can walk down America's Cup Ave to Memorial Blvd over to the beginning of Cliff Walk. You'll pass the Casino and Audrain Museum along the way (on Bellevue Ave) which are both worth a stop on the way to or from the mansions), The Cliff Walk will put you along the water but wont offer easy access to the mansions-- they are better accessed from Bellevue Ave. Its long enough that if you walk one way you might want to Uber back,.

I hear what you're saying but issues along that road aren't as frequent as some indicate and the Lahaina Bypass has also improved odds considerably. Especially if the ship was overnighting at Kahului I don't know if that would give me pause enough to get onto a bus with some more inconvenient touring times for twice the amount it would cost me to do it on my own.

You can continue on the (or a) train from Penn Station to Newark Penn Station in New Jersey and then take an Uber over to the pier. If you don't plan on staying in Manhattan you can stay overnight at the Doubletree thats attached to Newark Penn Station which is super convenient. From Manhattan with luggage I would just jump in an Uber or Lyft over to Cape Liberty. You will get a bunch of responses here outlining all sorts of public transportation options as well but frankly I think its a bit onerous with luggage, especially when I'm trying to get geared up to go on vacation.

I don't think this is a great deal then-- both from a $$ standpoint (you can do it for half for 2 people on your own) and the time you'll be there isn't really the best. Uber in Maui works well in the afternoon/evening from Lahaina and where you dock in Kahului (which is also where the airport is located) but still leaves a lot to be desired in the morning. Another option would be prearranging a private taxi service. We use a fellow named Kevin who owns several nice Toyota minivans (808-205-4555) but there are plenty of other private services you can google. This might be a good option for the outbound. You shouldn't have an issue getting an Uber in Lahaina though.

An Uber from the port to Lahaina is about $60 each way, so if the excursion is less than $120 for 2 people its most likely not a bad deal if you don't mind being on a bus with a bunch of folks. The timing of the excursion will have a lot to do with how enjoyable it is. Lahaina is pretty sleepy in the morning and not a lot is open. If they are dropping you off at 9am it's going to be until about lunchtime that things start to fire up. If you have an option I would do this in the afternoon into the evening (assuming you have an overnight stop). Far more to do and a bunch of great options to eat/drink etc. If you go on the earlier side consider taking a a short Uber ride up to Whalers Village and seeing Kaanapali-- about a 12 minute drive from where you are. I love Lahaina but would be hard pressed to find 6.5 hours worth of things to entertain me-- especially if it's earlier in the day. If you don't have an option about timing with the excursion, but you do have an overnight stop, it might be worth just doing this on your own and staggering your departure from the ship into the afternoon.