phillygirl63

My TA says either NCL because you fly to Hawaii and spend two days in each port. She also suggested a two week Princess because you spend three days going and coming.

I guess the OP will have to decide whether all of those sea days going and coming would be to her and her 20 year old daughter's liking. To me, I would rather get there and spend as much time as possible at the destination.

On both our O cruises gratuities were included in our booking. We tipped a little extra to our room steward, those bartenders that we felt gave us a extra attention throughout the cruise, and to the waitstaff in Privee.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You will get a lot of information here.

I have done the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii, and loved it. It's a great way to get to spend some time on the major islands. Since POA sails under the American flag, it does not have to visit a foreign port as all of the other cruiselines do, thus saving you from having to spend many sea days getting to/from. If you have the time, my suggestion would be to tack on a couple of extra days there before and/or after the cruise and maybe stay in Waikiki before the cruise and fly over to Kona to get a little more time there after the cruise.

I thought that having sex on a cruise ship would result in a pregnancy, turns out is was a missed conception.:p

Lol!

WAVTAM, I hope you have a great cruise.........please don't take this the wrong way ( it's a joke).....but if you're cruising on Oceanic, you must be LOST !!!

LOL! It took me a second reading to get the joke.

There are different options for drink packages on each cruise line that would fit each of you. I believe RCI's deluxe beverage package is $55/pp/day plus 18% gratuity for each drink. Most of the other lines seem to be roughly the same price, but some are all inclusive (meaning, the gratuity is included in the daily cost). For example, Oceania (and I believe Princess) have all inclusive packages.

IMO, it only takes about 5 drinks per day, unless you are strictly a beer drinker. Most wines and cocktails average about $10 each. Also, keep in mind that premium or deluxe beverage packages also include all non-alcoholic beverages, such as bottled water, soda, and specialty coffees. All of this adds up at the end of the day. If you want a specialty coffee in the morning, then maybe a soda or a beer at lunch, a fruitylicious cocktail poolside, a cocktail after returning from a long day of touring, a pre-dinner cocktail, a glass or two of wine at dinner, then meet up with friends at your favorite lounge for a cocktail or two before bed, then you would be better to get the package and not have to worry about what your bar bill is going to be at the end.

As for excursions, since you are a group of 5 or six, I would recommend doing private tours. There is a lot of information on the Ports of Call forum on this. The itineraries you are contemplating involve some ports where it is beneficial to have a private tour guide. The ship's excursions IMO don't measure up to what you will cover in a private tour and cost much more, and I have done both. Not to mention, that you only move as fast as the slowest person in the bus.

Ketchikan -- we booked our own Misty Fjords Seaplane tour with Sea Wind Aviation, which was great.

ISP -- We did the ATV tour (ship's excursion). There was plenty of time afterwards for the zipline if we wanted to do that. We also did the cultural show, which was "cute."

Juneau -- The wives did the Mendenhall Glacier & whale watching tour (ship's excursion), which we absolutely loved. We saw many humpbacks, witnessed bubble feeding and a full breach. Mendenhall Glacier was ok. The husbands went halibut fishing (ship's excursion), and they had a blast. After our excursions, we took the incline to the cultural center, which we enjoyed too.

Skagway -- we did the White Pass railway, which we loved. We purchased tickets right there at the train.

You mentioned doing a dogsled excursion in Skagway in addition to the train? Are you sure you will have enough time? I don't recall having that much time when we were on Millennium. I guess I will have to check your itinerary.

When I did the Scavi tour, our tour guide dropped us off at an entrance manned by two Swiss Guards. The scavi office was right there beyond their post. There was no line at all. We just had to show the guards our confirmation papers for the tour, and we went right in. If I remember correctly, we exited the scavi tour into the papal catacombs and then walked directly to the basilica.

The scavi tour is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would recommend doing some homework prior to going in order to really understand its significance.

I am claustrophobic, and even though the humidity is very high down there, I brought a spray bottle of water with me. It helped a lot. It took a few minutes after going down the elevator for me to adjust, but I got through it. I am so glad I stuck it out.

We found Florence to be a very easy DIY city, but I would probably recommend looking into an introductory walking tour with one of the locals. For Rome, since I prefer to see as much as possible without having to constantly look at maps, check transportation schedules, etc., I would recommend booking the first full day with a private guide, as there is just so much to see. I would also recommend saving the Vatican for one of the other days. This way you get a great overview right away, and can then go back to revisit those sites that really interest you and take your time at the Vatican.

We used Aldo Monti's Your Tour in Italy for our ship's excursion, but they also provided a tour for our friends who were staying in Rome for a couple of days. Great company!

We visited Pompeii on two different cruises. First cruise, we booked the ship's excursion, which we thought was fine at the time, but for the second cruise, we had a private tour guide for our day to Amalfi coast and Pompeii. We absolutely had the best day with the private excursion, and the company we used arranged for us to have a private tour guide for Pompeii. It was awesome!

Welcome! Western Med was our first cruise too and we absolutely loved it.

You will find all sorts of helpful information by visiting the Ports of Call forum, including must-do excursions (whether private or ship) (Pst -- go private if possible), what to wear in certain ports (i.e. skirt or long pants and shoulders covered when visiting churches), and so many other useful info. Also, visit the Cruise Line forum and learn about your ship.

Good luck. Western Med requires a lot of research.

Did I miss something? I don't see where the OP mentioned about sailing on RCI.

In any event, the first thing to do is get involved in the roll call for your cruise. There, you will get to chat with others on your cruise and determine if your group wants to have a M&G. If so, someone will usually volunteer to take the lead. I believe there is a sticky that explains how to go about organizing the M&G and also who to e-mail to get it scheduled. Keep in mind that some cruise lines do not participate formally in the Cruise Critic M&G's, but will sometimes cooperate in making the arrangements. In that case, you can call the cruise line directly to get the contact information. On our last cruise on Oceania Marina (not a formal participant in the program), our roll call was pretty active and expressed the desire to have a M&G. Oceania did a great job. They reserved the space, delivered invitations to each of the participants' cabins, and had complimentary cocktails for us.

The person in charge should keep track of the participants, posting a list periodically throughout the months leading up to the cruise. I had everyone provide me with their first and last names and cabin number, either by posting it on the roll call or by private e-mail to me. The only information provided in my roll call list was their CC handle, first names and where they were from just so everyone knew a little about each other.

I have also set up informal M&G's where some of us on the roll call just planned to meet at a certain place and time on the ship without involving the ship.

There was a parking lot and then parking along a street just around the corner. Looks like that has changed since my last cruise there in 2011.

Maui has plenty of parking, but it did seem to fill up quickly toward the early evening hours, so if you plan to stay out late you might not get a spot there. We had no problem finding a spot when we returned at dinner time. As for Kauai, since we did not have a full day on Day 2, we just rented the car for Day 1, returning it to the airport that evening. For Day 2, some of us did a plane ride over the island, which I would highly recommend as you just can't see the whole island from the ground. Some others did a horseback riding excursion on Poipu Beach, which they also enjoyed very much.

Where are the rentals done in Kona, if you will?

I just answered this on another thread. Thrifty has a desk at the King Kamehamaha (sp?) Hotel right there at the tender dock. We did this and drove up to Mauna Kea to play a round of golf. It worked out very well.

I'm a planner by nature and by previous employment. Try not to leave things to chance. Since I am planning on renting a car in each of the 5 ports, I just wanted to make sure there was enough time to tender to the port, drive around, and make the last tender back to the ship. Considering that the 8-4 time frame, specifically in Kona, is pretty tight. However, it seems that possibly this is not the case and that I will have enough quality time without being totally rushed. I may just forego the rental car in Kona and instead use a local guide or public transportation so that I am not held up by unforeseen circumstances.

 

Thanks Again for the timely info..................:)

For Kona, Thrifty has a desk at the King Kamehameha (sp?) Hotel which is located right there, just a 3 minute walk, from the tender pier. This will save much time as opposed to picking up/dropping off the car at the airport.

Update to my previous post. It seems there has been some change over the last 6 months or so, and lava is now making its way to the ocean.

Unless things have changed (and maybe someone else can confirm), there has not been an opportunity to see the lava flows during the sailby since the Tsunami a few years ago (I think in 2011), which caused the flows to shift away from view of the coastline. However, the sailby of the Napali coast is breathtaking. Both sides of the ship get the opportunity to see it, but port side has the view first, closer and for a longer period of time than starboard. We had a portside penthouse suite and ordered the special pineapple drinks to be delivered to our room. It was great.

Hello all,

 

I apologize as I'm sure this has been answered a million times before. I just couldn't seem to find it in my search.

 

We are first time cruisers. We've found exactly what we want through the cruise line website, cabin and all. NCL to Hawaii. Do I book it directly through them or can someone/somewhere else get me what I want for a better price? (I know no one pays rack rate for a hotel room. Is a cruise similar?) Also, should I book my air through them or elsewhere? I would probably go directly to the airline as opposed to a travel agent, etc... as I find them too unweildy and difficult if a problem pops up that needs attention.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

RevCindy, I've been on the NCL a few times and have also done the Pride of America cruise. I've booked once with a TA and all the other times directly with them, but never booked online. The best option that I experienced was to call and book directly with NCL. I did the online search, picked my preferred cabin, and then called NCL to book. I say to book directly with them, because NCL has offered upsells to us on most of our cruises with them. I look forward to taking advantage of upsells when they are available. However, the one time that I used a TA, when an upgrade offer was going to be made to me, my TA was on vacation, and NCL would not make the offer directly to me. Their policy was that all correspondence with me had to be made through my TA. I had to go through all sorts of hoops to get the offer, which I finally did get, but I have never used a TA for a cruise since.

I prefer to book my own flights for various reasons.

What are the side effects from the patches? I don't want to be drowsy the entire time so I'm worried about Bonine or dremamine

 

 

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I don't know whether I'm prone to seasickness, but just to be safe, I have always taken 2 Bonine tablets before bedtime starting 2 nights before boarding the ship and continue throughout the cruise. I have not needed to take it post-cruise, but that sounds like a good idea for those who definitely suffer from motion sickness. I have never experienced drowsiness with Bonine even with alcohol, but dramamine does make me drowsy.

Regardless of the method of prevention, start a couple of days before the cruise.

I believe it is a given that one should consult with their doctor before taking any type of otc medication.

You can also use WhatsApp.

Not sure what type of plugs you have in Australia, but if it's the same as US, then forget the power strip. Just bring a couple of EUR to US converters. Most staterooms have plenty of EUR outlets, just not many to accommodate US plugs.

For my 50th birthday, myself and 2 of my girlfriends shared a balcony cabin -- actually it was a mini-suite (not really a "suite" but it had a little extra square footage) on NCL Breakaway. We had a blast. We had no problems at all getting ready at the same time. We simply made a plan of who was going to shower while the others were doing hair, makeup, etc. One thing that did come in handy (and I won't go on a cruise without it) is an over-the-door shoe holder. With 3 ladies and all the hair products, toiletries, etc, it is a great tool for keeping the bathroom organized. We each had a row of pockets for all of our stuff.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

I would also recommend Oceania. We are in our early 50's and have sailed twice with them. Both times were in August on Marina (1250 passengers), and there were very few kids onboard. The passengers consist mainly of couples who are mature, unpretentious, well-traveled and very interesting. Dress is country club casual in evenings, with no formal nights at all.

Both cruises, however, had very port intensive itineraries, but I suppose you don't have to leave the ship if you don't want to. Maybe a transatlantic voyage might interest you.

The only negative I have about Oceania is that the music played around the ship needs to modernize a bit.

A few years ago, our group of 6 did a cruise of the hawaiian islands. We played golf in each of the ports so we reserved a minivan to accommodate all of us and the golf clubs. We used Thrifty in all of the ports, except Hilo. They provided a shuttle to their office at the airport, which were very close to the port. However, in Kona, we were able to pick up the vehicle at the King Kamehameha Hotel which is just a short walk from the tender pier. This saved a lot of time versus having to go to the Kona airport. Two of us went each time to pick up the vehicle while the others waited at the pier with the clubs.

There is overnight parking at the cruise port in Maui and Kaui. Not sure of the other ports.

Also, whatever company you choose, make sure to join their VIP club before making your reservations. It will save having to stand in line at the counter.