princeton123211

We used Blacklane extensively in Italy a few months ago with great results. It's an app and connects you to private liveried drivers at fixed rates that you lock in when you book. You can pick between three options-- E Class Mercedes, S Class Mercedes, and a Merc van for more people/luggage. Would highly recommend it and it saves you from having to find a company on your own or rely on a concierge (who's going to build in a commission).

It will depend on the specific vendor NCL uses but from the looks of it they use Roberts. Yes, the van/mini busses to make several planned stops and I've seen them over the years also pull to the side when able to take pictures. Keep in mind there are places that these larger van busses just cant stop because of limited space that a rental car can. I get it but the experience of driving yourself is vastly superior than an organized tour in nearly every way on this drive. You'll see more when you're in transit (can you imagine being on the right hand side of the bus the whole time on the way out and not getting great views?), have the ability to make additional stops that you choose, and it will take a little less time overall on your own. Makes even less sense to be honest-- more expensive and still a lot of the same limitations/disadvantages of the group tour.

TWA Hotel is a great option and they do allow you to get a room for up to 4 hours for something around $150. Can be easily booked on their website. Even if you don't stay at the hotel you can pay a fee to use their rooftop pool overlooking the runway-- its open year round and heated with a fun bar/restaurant up there. It's located adjacent to Terminal 5 so unless you are flying JetBlue you'll need to build in a little bit of time to get over to your terminal, but not bad.

The Edgewater is the vastly superior option in terms of quality (and thats coming from a Bonvoy guy). Its a great hotel and has a great history. No-- you are on your own to get your luggage to the pier at either hotel. Yes-- you drop your luggage like at any other major cruise port and it is taken aboard the ship.

We just got back from Ovation in the Med from Barcelona to Rome. Only about 250 passengers total-- tons of space. And Thomas Keller was onboard for a good part of the trip.

Smart move. You won't even need a rental car for Aulani-- you could easily just do that in an Uber and not even have to bother dropping the car at HNL.

So luggage to the airport no, but there are companies that will pick your luggage up pier side and send it all the way home to the UK. https://www.luggageforward.com/ It requires you pack a smaller carry on etc but we've done it a handful of times and its worked very well. Especially at the end of a trip it can be nice not hauling around a case full of dirty laundry.

You might want to check with the RCCL board if it will even be open on a cold weather departure. My experience on departing from New York in December is that the outdoor pools are closed until the ship reaches warmer weather (with maybe the exception of 1 or 2 hot tubs).

You would have to figure that you'll get away from the luau around 8:20 if it ends at 8pm. Budget an hour to get to HNL-- it should be a little shorter than that at that time but pad it a little. That puts you at Avis (with a fuel stop to top off which will add a little more time) around 9:30. You can just grab an Uber from Avis. Figure that you get in at 9:45 and you'll be back at the pier no later than 10:15. If the ship leaves at 11pm, your all aboard time will likely be more like 10:30. So you should have enough time but you don't have a ton of time. Basically things would need to be smooth-- traffic (which you shouldn't at that hour) or something like a flat could put you in a weird spot but otherwise it should be ok.

None of the above-- if you are going to go to a game, split the difference between seaport and Fenway and stay centrally in Back Bay or downtown by Public Garden/Boston Common/Faneuil Hall. You'll have easy access by both public transport or taxi/Uber to both Fenway as well as your ship when its time to sail and you'll be in walking distance to most historical things and restaurants.

You most likely have a little less time than you think. If you are going to get to the airport at 2 you're going to leave downtown by at least 1:30. If you are coming from the Dole Plantation thats more like 1pm. Frankly I don't think you really even have enough time to fully take advantage of a resort for a day pass. I think your best bet is to just stay in downtown by Waikiki and find a nice place to post up at for a leisurely lunch and last walk along the beach. If you book a lunch at one of the nicer hotels along that stretch they will be more than willing to store your luggage for a nice tip to the bellman. We've done this at the Royal Hawaiian and Halekulani before with no issues and it was a great (and relaxing) way to spend some of our last hours on the island.

It's essentially SF's version of Times Square in New York-- there are just nicer, quieter areas of town to stay in. I agree with Scott that this would not be my first choice in area to stay and the restaurants that are there are not SF's best. Personally Nob Hill is my favorite area to stay in-- walking distance (downhill!) to virtually everything and more residential feeling. Personal favorite there would the the Fairmont Hotel which can sometimes be had at or a little below $300 if you plan in advance and its not during a busy time. Intercontinental Mark Hopkins next door also can be in that price range.

Thats actually further than the drive to the ranch in Maui. Turtle Bay Resort is nice though and the north shore is very pretty. You aren't going to get the same elevations and vistas you would in Maui if departing from the resort there. In Maui you are starting at a decent elevation-- Turtle Bay Resort's stables are down by the ocean.

I don't even know if you need a tour unless there's something specific you want to see-- New Orleans is fairly easy to get into mischief on your own. Personally I would find a nice, centrally located hotel near the Quarter to grab breakfast or an early lunch in and use them to check my bags. As long as you are buying a meal from them they'll store your bags for a nice tip to the bellman. The ones that I have experience doing this with are the Ritz, The Roosevelt, and The Monteleone. Although I think any 4 or 5 star would do this. Then spend the balance of the day walking around and doing some light sightseeing, eating, and drinking before heading to the airport.

Keep in mind there is a limit to your daily use with most of the major providers $10 per day international plans. After a certain amount of usage the data portion goes to an absolute crawl until the next 24 hours kicks in. It'll work for you for a bit but won't be a reliable data source even beyond a couple hours. The OP should try and find a WiFi option in the Dockyard or somewhere else comfortable for them to work on the island. Thats awful that NCL Wifi is so bad-- no excuse for that these days.

Because it doesn't exist anymore. Closed in 2020.

My wife is an equestrian and rode there once. It's a pain to get to-- you'll have to rent a car to do this. There is zero chance that an Uber or taxi will be over that way to bring you back-- its a little less than an hour from where the ship docks each way. It's a pretty area and the views over Makena and out to Molokini are spectacular-- I went shooting at Maui Sporting Clays which is nearby while she rode. Just keep in mind that this is a very basic nose to tail trail ride. There is nothing more than just the horse walking along. If your granddaughter is a more advanced rider she might be bored by it. It was one and done for us.

Totally agree. The OPs friend isn't painting an accurate picture. Honolulu is a mediumish sized city, and as such you should always be aware of your surroundings like in any big city, but Waikiki is extremely safe. Tons of options for kids in Waikiki for dining and family friendly hotels with nice pools and access to the beach.

I certainly try not to at least for personal travel. Usually the move is to burn a bunch of Bonvoy points on an otherwise ridiculously priced room at the St Regis on 5th Ave. My company has an office in Times Square so I do stay there occasionally if its a quick in and out trip. When that happens The Algonquin is usually my go to-- adjacent to Times Square but slightly enough off of it you aren't walking right into the throngs and you still get Marriott points. Tiny rooms though but fine for a quick biz stay.

Which cruise terminal? You'll also most likely needlessly pay the hotel's commission on it. I used to use a company called New Road Limo when I lived in New Jersey that is sort of by there-- no idea if they are still around. The other option would be to use Blacklane which is an app that sources black car limo services. Assuming it is Manhattan Cruise Terminal being you are staying in Ridgefield it's such a short ride that really Uber or Lyft would be the easiest option-- even if you used Uber Black so you would get the nicer black cars. Without traffic its only about 25ish minutes-- a traditional limo company will most likely charge a heftier than usual premium for a ride that long.

I assumed they wanted something Midtown due to their wanting to walk to the theater. I usually stay in Midtown before a Brooklyn departure-- its really not that bad of a transfer.

Uber is quick and easy on that part of the island near the airport.

$200-300 will be in the 3 star range for Midtown but you'll still have options. Sweet spot would be about $300-400 where you would get most brand name 4 star full service hotels. Having lived in NYC for years I think of Times Square as the 10th circle of hell but it will certainly be convenient for what you are looking to do and then getting to the ship the next day. Some options to look at: The Michelangelo , W Times Square, The Knickerbocker, The Casablanca Hotel, or The Edition. If any of those fit within your budget for the date you're looking at book it. If those are more than you are looking to spend you'll have a pick of the usual Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn, Hampton Inn etc 3 star places which are easy to find-- I just wanted to give you some ideas of more unique places in case it fit. If you wanted to get a little bit out of Times Square and a bit more of the "real" New York a few nearby places (still within a walk) would be Tudor City Hotel (sometimes there are deals there and its a straight shot down 42nd St to Times Square), The Library Hotel, Intercontinental The Barclay, or The Algonquin. Again, they might be at the top of or exceed your budget depending on the night but sometimes they sell in that range.

Yes, UberXL seat up to 6 passengers. Usually an SUV with a third row or a minivan.

Actually just looked at the website from the link and it confirmed my suspicions on days of operations at least-- if you look to the right hand side it says its only open Monday-Friday. The verbiage in the body of the website is very misleading.