KeepCalmBearOn

We park at the BART North Berkeley Station (reserved in advance).

Always an Uber or taxi. I never want to wait for the ship's shuttle to be full until we leave. That is especially true in Honolulu, with the airport being so close.

My thought is, "so what". Would you rather sit at HNL for 40 minutes, frustrated about where they are, or just grab a flat rate cab or Uber to your hotel? Yeah you'll shell out $35-45 for the ride, but who wants to be frustrated at the start of a vacation. In reading the reviews in Google (and the owner's responses) a lot of the problem seems to be centered around the incredible unreliability of airlines and their arrival times these days.

Hilo - I'd call Volcano National Park a 'must do', if you've never been before. Honolulu - Visiting the USS Arizona Memorial would be a 'must do' for me (for a first time visitor), maybe spend some time in Waikiki; it really depends on your interests. Kauai - Waimea Canyon or the Napili Coast (opposite directions). Maui - In winter, whale watching trip would be a must do to me. On my Hawaii cruises, I beeline to my favorite local spots, Hamura Saimin on Kauai, Kuhio Grille in Hilo, Halekulani (The House Without A Key or Orchids) and Young's Fish Market (for a plate lunch) in Honolulu. On Maui, when we've docked in Kahului, I head for Sam Sato's. My favorite place in Lahaina, Nagasko Okazu-ya, burned down in the tragic fire. Sorry, I think it is incredibly disrespectful. The USS Arizona Memorial is a sacred place in America's annals. It only takes around 90 minutes, if that. Here is something from TripAdvisor's Oahu Forum. It only applies to Oahu in the places named, but is a general idea about local food. My favorite thing about Oahu, having grown up there, is the unique food culture. I love places like Young's Fish Market, Helena's Hawaiian Food, Haili's Hawaiian Food, St. Louis Deli, Ethel’s Grill and a few others for "Plate Lunch". If you don't know what a "Plate Lunch" is, do a quick search online. It is a uniquely Hawaiian thing, what might be the Hawaiian equivalent of Street Food. It developed out of the idea of the bento box that Japanese immigrants introduced to Hawaii. There are other uniquely Hawaiian "eats" as mentioned by AlandRoberta, like saimin (Hawaiian version of ramen) and manapua (Hawaiian version of Chinese char sui bao, but Hawaiian sized). Good old school saimin is found at Shiro’s Saimin or Palace Saimin; good manapua is found at Royal Kitchen and Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory. I've never been able to find saimin anyplace else in the world, other than Hawaii. It is a distinct flavor. Portuguese Sausage is another unique, local item. Just about any restaurant serving breakfast in Hawaii has Portuguese Sausage on the menu as an alternative to bacon and rice or fried rice instead of potatoes. The Natsunoya Tea House has been around since 1921 and the Waioli Tea Room since 1922; both are very special in their own way. One or the other (or both) would make a "must go" list from me. Local food includes items like lau lau, lomilomi salmon, poke, Kalua pig, poi, chicken luau, pipikaula and chicken long rice. Foods made famous by Hawaii include spam musubi and loco moco.

Ah,I was looking for "airporttaxitours".

Execucar is Great Blue Shuttle Ain't

I can't find a website or anything on them. Do you have one?

Early or late. Our last cruise with my parents my sister who dropped us off couldn't pick us up. We were darn near the last ones off the ship which turned out to be awesome. There was no one in line for immigration control so we breezed through in 20 seconds and there were still several cabs waiting. Taxi fare to our Newport Beach home was $120 + tip so I figure LAX would be $90-100 + tip.

There would be ZERO guarantee. It depends on if a cab, nearby is available. In the "old days" I would have simply rented a car because the rental companies sent shuttles to the port, but since Covid and the new CONRAC at OGG most, maybe all, shuttles have stopped.

Getting back is the hardest part. The walk to get an Uber is less than a mile.

Never have, we always use private means. I am pretty sure they do not stop at any hotels.

I'd call security and check-in two separate things. Security is where they allow you in the terminal after baggage drop off. The port supplied a wheelchair and porter at the security checkpoint to get my mother to check-in. Once checked in, the port porter dropped us off near the ship gangway and (in our case) Princess supplied the wheelchair and attendant to get my mother on the ship. We tipped each attendant/porter, I think it was $10 each.

I don't need to call the city. I spoke to Mayor Gloria about it at a business function about a month ago and expressed my concerns. I've known him a long and we had a good conversation. He had no idea of the issues and was distressed to hear of them. I doubt much will change, but we'll see.

Not really. Long Beach, the other side of the massive LA harbor has the Hyatt Centric and Hyatt Regency.

In ordinary circumstances, 11:45 would be fine.

The City of San Diego, as well as Coronado, IB, CV and NC run the port through its commissioners.

The best solution is to get a cab or Uber to the CONRAC at HNL airport.

I was "young" back then (70's-80's), late teens to early 20's, but the thing I remember most was the spectacular Midnight Buffet. I also remember being mostly bored at the traditional dining when adults talked about boring things 🙂 We were mostly on Princess and Cunard back then and Renaissance a bit later. Cruising has completely changed since the 70's & 80's, but then again the 70's & 80's were completely different from my experiences on Matson and APL from '59-'65 when we lived in Hawaii and traveled back to CA via ocean liner vs flying. Makes me wonder what it will be like 20 years from now, should I live so long and be able to cruise still.

Why didn't you call a a taxi rather than wait until 10AM?

I find this a fascinating phenomenon, especially on Sea Days. I suppose some are rushing to get to a show, but a lot of people are not; it is just the pattern of their life, they rush through everything and have zero patience. The "old way" had some advantages, like meeting new people, but if you cruised enough, you always eventually got stuck at the table with the boorish man who tried to dominate the conversation and have a story to top every story someone else told.

There are only two, Pier 2 and 10/11 (Aloha Tower). Look for your ship in the schedule below. https://hawaii.portcall.com/#!?tab=2&port=Honolulu - Oahu

Once again, that is NOT THE ORIGINAL QUESTION. The original question is about which other cruise line to consider for a multi-generational trip, easy to get to from the East Coast, warm weather, Christmas week. That lets out Oceania and Aida. Disney and RCCL's newer ships are reasonable subs. MSC might be, but I am not a fan, based on two trips. Celebrity and Princess are great, but I still think young kids to grandparents is Disney and RCCL's sweet spot.

Hyatt Place.

At ResortPass.com, the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport offers a day rate 10am-6pm. The hotel is in the MCO terminal.

Cabrillo Liquors & Fine Wines and Von's (Safeway) are both about one mile with very good selections.