ride4806

While we have not cruised with Tauck we have take land tours with Tauck and just recently signed up to take a cruise with them to the Galapagos.  The land tours were FABULOUS, you could not ask for anything more, we have cruised with Seabourn which is also wonderful but I do have to say I think the quality we found on the land tours we have done with Tauck may have surpassed Seabourn. I do not think you could go wrong booking with them!

On 5/11/2019 at 4:14 PM, Deeliteful said:

Interested too

sorry folks can not help since we did not get to use them -they did not stop on our cruise 😞  This is the second time we missed the Private Island due to weather, I am hoping to get there eventually!!!!!

58 minutes ago, Ray in NH said:

 

Please do write a review of your experience.  We have done a number of ACL cruises (in addition to quite a few ocean cruises), and are giving consideration to this particular itinerary.

Hope you find you ACL experience as enjoyable as we have found them to be.

 

NRayH

we ended up not taking this cruise and  will probably do it in another year or so, I broke my foot so we had to put it off.  My DH  will be retiring at the end of this upcoming year so we will have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves on multiple trips per year and this is one that is one of the first we will be looking at along with a long one to Australia!

My daughter has been researching our upcoming trip and has found the following information  about duty free shopping in St Thomas and wonders if any of you have had any further information on it or could give further clarification on it.  It says that each traveler is Allowed a total of  $1600 merchandise from the US Virgin Islands.  This can include up to 5 cartons of cigarettes and 5 liters of liquor but one must one manufactured  in the Virgin Islands.  You must keep your receipts to prove you purchase these items in St Thomas.  Thanks in advance for any help you can give with this!!!

I do indeed mean August of 2019, thanks for pointing that out, that is what happens when you are in a rush!!

I am hoping you experienced ACL folks will be able to help us out, while we have taken numerous ocean cruise, the smallest line we have cruised on is Seabourn and it appears that this line is much smaller than that.  Right now we are planning to take the Grand Heartland Cruise on the America in August of 2018 and I am wondering if you can tell me what to expect from the excursions, food and the ship.  I also am hoping you can help us select a cabin  we are looking at categories  AAM or AAC and I am wondering what the differences are, beside the price, and if you could recommend a cabin that you found to be particularly great if you have already taken this cruise? Also any must see places before the cruise and great restaurants in St Paul would be wonderful!   Thanks so much for any help you can give us with this!

10 hours ago, Wendy&Grumpy said:

They did not when we were there in February. No tram/cart either way. I would assume one with mobility issues could ask for assistance though?

Thanks so much for your  reply,  I will ask now before I book

come to my house in mid January and Ill put a bottle on the table on our patio and drink up. If its a true Chicago winter it will be 0 out there and a better view then in the ice bar.

:') I was going to offer plenty of drinks here in RI if they were willing to shovel out my driveway and walkways this winter, OPEN bar here, come on up!!!!! I can assure you it is an ice bar LOL :cool: but in all honesty, I have heard that it is pretty easy to get into the Ice Bar simply because it is so damn cold, few can survive in there for long.

I am wondering if they pick you up with the tram at the end of the day to return to the boat? I have mobility issues and want to rent a cabana but am concerned about the walk back to the ship afterward if they give me one too far out. Thanks so much for your help with this.

We have stayed at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach on our last trip and loved it and we booked it again for our upcoming trip. It is in the middle of everything, has great views, has Dukes right there, think Hula pie-it is wonderful LOL, we did not do the city view but I am sure that is beautiful we did the ocean view and that was gorgeous. Wherever you decide you stay will be wonderful, after all you can't go wrong -it is Hawaii:D Enjoy your trip!!

Thanks SO much for the replies-my granddaughter will be thrilled-we definitely will pack our suits in our backpacks for easy access!!!

We have been booking aft balconies for our last 5 cruises, I LOVE how peaceful they are and the views from them are not to be beat in my onion. For this cruise, my DD, SIL and Grand and going on their first cruise and will have a 2 bedroom aft on the side of ours, quite lucky, we sure did not start out that way LOL!!!

I know I am late to the game but I can not find this anywhere and my granddaughter is driving my crazy LOL Is the pool open the first day that you get on the ship? We have been on this cruise before but never payed attention to this detail

Johnny Cab is one person you could contact for that type of service. He picks you up at ship at the time you would like, and will do an island tour for any amount of hours - His price is $50 per hour. . He gets good reviews! Check out their website

Thanks you SO much for posting this information-I can not believe how helpful you folks are-it is MUCH appreciated!!!!!!

From the Hertz at Maui Beach Hotel website:

 

Maui, Kahului - Maui Beach HLE170 West Kaahumanu Avenue

Maui (Kahului) , Hawaii 96732

United StatesShow Nearby LocationsPhone: (808) 871-5011 Fax: (808) 871-5012 Location Type: CorporateHours of Operation: Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM

Sat-Sun 8:00AM-2:00PMAdditional InformationThe rental counter is situated in the lobby of the Maui Beach Hotel. Car lot situated at the right of the hotel.

Approximately 0.2 miles from the bus station.

Approximately 0.5 miles from the pier. Cruise ship customers please call (808) 871-5011 for transportation from the pier to the Hertz location.

 

 

This location is now taking After-hour returns! Please see Location Information or Rental Qualifications & Requirements for specific instructions.

 

• Pickup/Return Service: Available with a one hour advance notice and within 15 minutes from the Hertz Local Edition location. Once your reservation is booked, the location will call or email you at the phone number or email address provided to confirm pick up service. Airport concession agreements do not permit Hertz to offer Pick Up and Return Service at airport locations. Hertz is prohibited from providing Pick Up and Return Service if you arrive at an airport- either from the Hertz airport location or from any Hertz off airport location. Any reservations made for pick up service at an airport location cannot be honored for pick up.
  
• Pick up service available 1 hour after location opening and up to 1 hour prior to location closing.
  
• After hours drop off available – You are responsible for any damage to the vehicle until Hertz has inspected and accepted it on the next day that the return location is opened for business. Please park the vehicle on the right side of the hotel parking area, lock the vehicle doors and place the keys and the rental agreement completed with the mileage, fuel level and date/time of return in the key box located at front desk.
  

We used them five years ago and were happy with their service. If you got to Trip Advisor and type in their name under Hawaii tours you will find all the reviews and I think you will see that they have good reviews. As the other folks here have said, they would never have remained in business all these years if they did not do a good job servicing folks, but check them out yourself..

Have you given any thought to the Hertz location in the Maui Beach Hotel? They really aren't far from the ship - you can Google where they are. They close early, but we recall they do have a drop box. This applies only if you get back before dark, as walking the area at night is not recommended.

Thanks so much for that heads up-we did not realize first that the Enterprise lot was fenced in and gated so thanks to fligster for that information. We definitely plan on being back before dark so that is not an issue so we will look into the Hertz location and ask if they have a drop box!!!

We called that number so today we called again.....got a diffey werent message and they are opened on Sunday. Sorry but yesterday they connected us to someone who put us on hold....today we just got the recording with out actually talking to anyone??? I am very confused so now back to square one with planning.....but thanks for the heads up.

I am glad to hear that they are open on Sunday-when we had called we had gotten a message saying they were closed on Sunday also. When you do find out the hours there could you please let us know, since this is when we will be needing their services. We would like to pick up and drop off our vehicle in the same day and I am hoping they have a drop box there but so far we been unable tot get through to actually speak to someone. Silver Sweethearts thanks for posting that local number-I will have my daughter try that next week and see if she has any luck getting through to anyone!!!

Hi everyone. My wife and I will be on the Grand Princess on a 15-day Hawaii cruise out of SF in January 2018. We will be stopping in Honolulu on Sunday, January 28 and are in port from 7am - 11pm. We really want to do a luau as it has been 20 years since we went to the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui when we did an 8 day stay on Maui. I have read that Chief's Luau is highly recommended on Oahu and I have some questions that hopefully some of you can answer.

 

1) Chief's Luau provides transportation from Waikiki area hotels. Do you know if any of these hotels are relatively close to the cruise port? Would it be a simple taxi ride from the cruise port to get to one of the hotels to be picked up by Chief's Luau's transporation?

2) Has anyone done the combo that includes the luau and time at the Sea Life Park and if so, is the Sea Life Park worth going to? We have been to Sea World in both Orlando and San Diego. Would this park be similar in shows and activities? Is it worth going to as part of this combo in your opinion?

3) Since the luau seems to be finished by around 8:30p, seems that we would have plenty of time to take their transportation back to a Waikiki area hotel and a taxi back to the cruise port in time for our 11pm departure. Do you agree?

 

Thanks for your input and answers to these questions in advance. This seems like a viable option for us for our day in Honolulu.

They do offer a combo where they pick you up at a local hotel and a return to your hotel, I have not used it but from my research it shows that the time for pickup and returns takes about 50 minutes so I am thinking that you should be fine to get back to your cruise port for the 11pm departure time!! I have also been to Old Lahaina Luau before and we booked this one for this trip. We are not expecting this one to rival it by any means, but are hoping that our granddaughter will enjoy the park before hand and get a taste of what a luau is like. When we were in Hawaii last time we flew back to Maui at the end of our trip for an additional week so we could enjoy the luau we wanted to go to. This time we are taking our daughter, SIL and granddaughter and are more limited with time and we will be going to more child friendly activities so Chief's luau and the Park are on our list :cool:

Skrebelr we have aft balcony suite on march 17.

 

 

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We are out the week before you, Enjoy!!!!!!!

Your welcome.

We were on the July 1 this summer. Deck 7, cabin 7180.

 

Don't miss the lava flow in the evening after Hilo.

 

 

 

 

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thanks for the heads up on that we will make sure to keep our eyes open for it-this is our second Hawaiian Cruise but I insisted on the Aft cabin for this one :D

We have an aft balcony for our trip in March and I am hoping to half as good pictures as you did-thanks so much for sharing those-they are stunning!

Your roll call lists the cruise as March 10-17. If that is correct, consider renting a car for Sunday only (so no worries about overnight parking) and just driving over to Ma'alaea Harbor to do an afternoon whale watch out of there.

I will check with my Daughter or SIL and see if they are interested in driving DH, is not but thanks for that idea, we did not even consider that option. I appreciate your input! Cruiser Bruce -I corrected my signature thanks to your comment, we are cruising in March so are hoping to catch some whales in Hawaii. We were lucky enough to see them when we were up in Alaska so are hoping to see them down here.

We will be arriving on POA and unfortunately most of the excursions that I am interested in leave from the other side of the island and folks will not pick us up and we can not make it over in time to make an 8am start time. Despite a great deal of research I have been unable to find very few reasonably priced options and DH does not want to rent a vehicle because there is not where to park on this side of the island. Could any of you folks offer any ideas for us-we are traveling with our 10 year old granddaughter who is a real nature lover and her parents. I know at the top of all our lists is to go on a whale watch but at this point I am just pretty much in search of a few reasonably options for private tours Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

We had no problem at all with our anytime dining and we did not chose to dine with others-we prefer to dine alone. We arrived between 5:30 and 6:00 most evening, some times we just walked right in and never had to wait any longer than 10 minutes. We loved it, we found a waiter that we loved after the first night and were able to ask for that table and were given it most every night also, it was a great cruise!!!! :D