Bocadude85

As of now the only volcanic activity occurring on Kilauea is in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater, lava is oozing into the lava lake but you won’t really get to see flowing lava. Check the volcanoes national park website daily for updates on volcanic activity. 

9 hours ago, JBethM said:

I also am looking at this same question. I am looking at Paradise Cove on Oahu because I like the beach setting. I think we will have more time in Kuai though so I'm also looking at Auli'i Luau (also beach setting, but no imu ceremony from what I've read), Kalamaku & Smith Family Garden. I'm trying to decide whether we want to do two luaus, one on Oahu & one on Kuai, or if money would be better spent in other ways. 

 
Just keep in mind that paradise cove is in Ko Olina…that’s a good 45min-1 hour drive from Waikiki in no traffic, if you hit rush hour you could be talking a good 2 hours +. 

Cabs are not normally waiting in the parking area of Pearl Harbor, you will need to call the cab or Uber. 

I saw POA yesterday sitting in port with smoke coming out of her stacks, seems to me they are getting her ready to set sail this Saturday.

Generally speaking the seas are rougher in the winter vs the summer. Another thing to keep in mind is our rainy season runs November through mid April…though you will get quick passing showers anytime of year. If I were to do a Hawaii cruise I would try and go during the month of May, everything and I mean everything is in bloom..it’s just a spectacular time of year. 

Halekulani is one of my favorite resorts in Waikiki, I’d recommend the Nutridge luau.. it’s about a 15 min drive from Waikiki at the top of Tauntalus..very beautiful setting. 

The closest hotel you will get to the port is the Ala Moana Hotel, it isn’t on the beach but does provide ocean views and Ala Moana Beach is about a 5 minute walk away. 

You could also look into renting a hui(provided by servco toyota) it’s a car rental that is by the hour, there is a pickup location in Waikiki and one in Ala Moana..very easy to use. I’m sure you wouldn’t have a problem getting a Uber to bring you to Tauntalus but you may be waiting awhile for s pick up on your way home as the nutridge estate is in a residential neighborhood. 

If this is your first time coming to Hawaii then my personal opinion is to do a land trip, there is so much to see and experience on each island that a day or two in port isn’t enough to really immerse yourself in the culture and beauty of each island. Pick one or two islands and spend multiple days on each so that you can really explore and feel the Aloha spirit. 

On 5/15/2021 at 7:21 AM, pebbles1102 said:

standing in line for Malasadas

 
If you can track them down Penny’s Malasadas are a step above Leonard’s in my opinion, they have a few trucks scattered around the island. Also if you like udon I would highly recommend lunch or dinner at marukame udon, its one of the only reasons I venture into Waikiki. Hope you are enjoying your trip. 

We are working on opening the state back up to tourists, one idea being discussed is requiring visitors to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to boarding a flight to Hawaii. 

6 hours ago, mnsweeps said:

Then you don't have to file a complaint with anyone. 

How is my experience with Hawaiian Airlines any different then yours with NCL? Hawaiian Airlines refund policy is 5-7 business days yet they are saying because the amount of cancellations they have that it could take up to 10 weeks for a refund.

3 hours ago, mnsweeps said:

That doesn't make it right. Every single tour company, airline, hotes from Fiji to India to Europe gave me credit back. If NCL (and other cruise companies) are not giving back credit in 7 days then something is fishy. I doubt bankruptcy is on the cards.

I still have not received my refund from Hawaiian Airlines for my canceled flight from Tahiti back to Honolulu, it’s been 4 weeks and counting since they canceled the flight and when I called yesterday I was told it could be another 6 weeks... so it’s not only NCL that is taking longer then usually to issue refunds. 

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Wow. That’s a surprise. I was taking to friends in Honolulu last night and there is not the mass hysteria that you see in other parts of the country. 

I live in Honolulu and I would certainly say that the mass hysteria is the same here as the rest of the country. Toilet paper, rubbing alcohol,hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes etc are almost impossible to find. Our lieutenant governor wrote to the White House last week requesting all cruise stops in Hawaii be canceled for 60 days. 

I know we have atleast 26 people canceling on our upcoming April 3rd Jewel cruise, but I have not seen any additional cabins open up, further more the prices have shot way up..very curious to see how this all plays out tomorrow once all these people are allowed to cancel their cruise. 

We had something similar happen to us one time when we were in the owners suite, we never met our butler and he was not bringing any of the daily snacks, about three days into the cruise I mentioned something to the concierge and within a hour we had a new butler assigned to us and more food in our room then we knew what to do with. 

On our upcoming 14 night Jewel cruise we have 13 of the 14 nights booked in a specialty restaurant. We just think the food and service is so much better in the specialty restaurants. 

If you are interested in something more traditional than the typical big tourist luau productions I would recommend the experience nutridge luau, much more authentic with a much smaller crowd. 

4 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

I would email the following:  Andy Stuart and Vivian Ewart and also do an indepth, with pictures, post on NCL's community page on Facebook.  Make sure to include in the email, who you spoke to on the ship and the jest of the conversation.

 

Where would one find the email addresses for the above mentioned? 

Thank you everyone for the great insight, I will post the photos to social media and see if that gets NCL attention. 

25 minutes ago, teachberry said:

We were in this suite on our March 2018 Canary Island cruise and it was not in this condition. Did you point the problems out to your room steward, butler or concierge?

Yes I did, though in all fairness I’m not sure what they could really do about it. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on who I should contact to discuss my issues with the room? 

47 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

That is TERRIBLE! I am so surprised! I hope that you spoke with someone (especially someone who would have done something--like the Hotel Director) to bring both the mess and your disappointment to someone's attention. I'm so sorry, that would have been very disappointing to me too.

 

I did make my feelings know while onboard, but nothing was done. I also sent an email to the generic NCL customer service address when I got back and never received a response.  

We just got back from a European cruise aboard the Spirit, the cruise itself and the crew onboard the ship were wonderful, however our room was a huge disappointment. We have sailed in mostly suites on our prior cruises so we have come to expect a certain quality when it comes to the suites. Our SF suite stateroom 10508 was is severe disrepair, the enamel coating in the tub was peeling off so anytime you took a bath you had chunks of enamel floating in the water with you, the shower had extreme water damage and was unsightly, the mosaic tiles on the walls were missing and falling out, the speakers in the room were falling  out of the ceiling etc. We didn’t let any of this ruin our vacation but I was extremely disappointed in the room itself. We paid almost 10k for the cruise and to me the room was not worth half of what we paid, NCL should be extremely embarrassed by the lack of quality in this suite. I have attached a few pictures below. 

We are very close to our breaking point with NCL, they seem to be constantly taking away amenities and or adding a surcharge for items that used to be included in the cruise fare, we love the NCL suite life but over the years the prices have continued to climb while the amenities have continued to decline. We paid almost 10k for the least expensive suite on our upcoming Spirit cruise, I haven’t priced it out but I’m thinking we could have sailed with Oceania for that price.  I’m fine with NCL increasing the prices as long as they add additional amenities that justify the price increases. I’m sure these issues are not specific to NCL but I have no experience with the other lines so I can not make a comparison.