Waihekean

Hi Lenie! Yes, the cruise bug bit us good and hard! We loved our Preziosa cruise and the one with the kids six months later proved to us that cruises are a fabulous family holiday! We are all so looking forward to experiencing Cunard!

Wow, you are going to do two in a row! Have a wonderful time on both the cruises:)

Late last year there was a promotion ...... .....

Hi Kat, Just a quick hello:) You really got the cruise bug now!

Just starting to look on the Cunard site, as might do a cruise next year on the British Isles with the Queen Elizabeth with my Mum. Would be great as would depart from Rotterdam and return to Rotterdam. This is where me Mum lives, so very handy. At the moment this cruise is still way above our budget. However cheaper then Celebrity, would you believe it.

As you can see on my signature will be going soon to Hawaii. Yay! This time with hubby. Can't wait to start packing suitcases.

From a fellow Kiwi cruizer, Greetings from Lenie

Hi Nicole!

There is a lot of research you can do here on Cruise Critic.

First re reviews of ship. Scroll up on this page that is now open (or when you open CC) and you will see a button for reviews. Click on then go to menu for ships and go to the Pride of America. You will see that there are at the moment 1303 reviews. Click on 1303 to go to the last review. At bottom of review there is a button for the next review. On the main page CC describes the ship and facilities.

Just above the page where your thread is, you see all the NCL ships listed. Click on the POA for it's own forum.

Then of course there is the Ports of call forum for Hawaii.

In each forum is a search function at top right of page, where you can do specific searches. Like Helicopter Tours in Kauau (click posts or threads). Then it will show posts or threads where these tours are mentioned.

And once you have booked a cruise, go to the roll call section, look up your ship and cruise date, then join! You usually can find good tips there, maybe share a tour with another roll caller or even meet with the group at Sail-away. Some roll calls can be very quiet, but you can still look up busy roll calls for ideas.

Careful! This might become a new hobby:D Hope you got LOTS OF TIME....

How do I know beforehand how much something cost when going to lunch, dinner etc?

Say buy lunch at Giovanni's food truck at Waikiki. Listed price is $10.95. How much tax do I have to add and do I have to pay a tip as well?

Say buy dinner at a restaurant of $ 17.00, how much tax do I have to add on and how much tip? Read a review where someone paid a 20%, but still got the dirty look.

Then I read review where a lady had ordered a limousine. First it did not arrive on time, did not want to pick up from location agreed and pax had to carry luggage to the end of street where limousine was parked. Although the lady was very reluctant to give any tip at all, she said she had agreed to 20% beforehand, so she felt she had to.

So, how much tax and how much tip do you add for say a taxi or a transfer shuttle?

Then I know on the Pride of America I will have to add 18% to food and beverages, but when I booked some tours with them NCL added 4.335% tax to one tour, but 6.5% to another?

For someone that comes from New Zealand where there is just a standard rate of 15% sales tax, that is always included in any price that is listed and where tipping is not mandatory and only done in small amounts i.e round up some cash for a taxi or for a special occasion. It's just all mind boggling!!:confused:

Plus with one US dollar costing us $1.5 NZ dollar. I have to be careful not to overspend. But on the other hand do not want to short change somebody. Sorry for the long post, but please help........

I really liked the shopping at the Aloha Tower little shops, which were right next to my ship's berth. Also, you could maybe find a luau that can get you back to the ship on time. Luaus are great! Worst case, take a cab back if you go to one downtown. I would like to go to Germaine's luau on my coming cruise, but husband is afraid of getting back on time. I actually think it will be ok. You could check with them about their transportation. The ones further out pick you up in a bus.

I have just booked the Germaine's Luau and the schedule given is from 6pm-8:45pm. If you are not coming by hotel pick-up beforehand, it says you have to be at the venue at 6pm. So you should have enought time to get back to the ship by 10:30pm.:)

Thanks for all the replies. Have booked this tour:)

Thank you for your reply. I'm very keen to go on the snorkel tour. Is about the only one I'm sure about:rolleyes:

That's a shame!!

Not really. At least we get to keep our souvereignty! Then will be not so vulnerable to the new Corporate powers to come with TPP.

This according to DH, who has been following the issue from day 1 and before most people were aware of this.

At first I thought too, that it was just a new design for the flag, but as a Country we loose a lot of rights when this souvereignty is gone. That's why Key is so keen on changing it.:mad:

Thinking about booking the Molokine snorkel Tour with NCL from 8:20am - 2:30pm. Then booking the Haleakala Sunset Tour with Roberts of Hawaii which is listed as 4:30 - 8:30pm.

So, in principal that would give me enough time to return to the ship and get picked up again. Or am I too optimistic about that and cutting it too fine?

Any help on that would be appreciated or any advise about these tours as well.

To OP,

If you are really organised, you can even have a swim and sunbathe before or after lunch. Must have your swimming gear with you in the carry on, of course:) Towels will be available at the pool.

However, more likely that you will be going around the ship oooing and aaahing. Most of the bars and lounges will be open. The buffet will be open. The restaurants will not be serving, but will be open to view. Sometimes it is worth checking out the speciality restaurants, as they offer 2 for 1 on the first night. I.e. only one has to pay for a couple's booking.

On most ships your cabin will be ready after 1:30pm. Your luggage might be in the corridor before that or anytime up to 7pm.

You will have to do the muster drill, which is usually around 4:30pm.

Have a great cruise!

Hi, Ashley

Another follower from your amazing Med review. So, really happy to find this one. I'm on the armchair now!:D

So, sorry you did not get any answers. Was sort of thinking about the same line, however in the end booked it as a ships excursion.:rolleyes:

Start looking at Auckland hotels through Booking.com. When looking at the hotel pictures and info etc. scroll down the page for the hotel policies and it will list the check-in and out times.

Hope this helps:)

For a relaxed, laid back, no nickel and diming plus very good service for a value for money price; have a look at Celebrity Cruises. The Solstice class ships are wonderful.

If you like dancing, go after the first show has been to the Safari Lounge. No need for a partner, as four guys from the entertainment team will look after you. They are great fun and do a lot of group dancing as well.

Maybe if they'd FIX the problem, threads like this would disappear!! :eek:

Tried to get on website 1-2 days ago and message was "THEY ARE FIXING IT":p

Careful, hirobmay. We have been checked twice, both times as we left the train.

And, yes, engaging a private car is the way to go. It's safe, convenient, and gives us a real millionaire-ish feeling ... albeit temporary.

Definitely the best way. Have done this a few times now. Organised some fellow travellers to go with me from the roll call and hired RomeCabs. Found this fabulous company here on CC and they are very used to get cruise clients here through CC or Trip Advisor. It is super convenient and works out to about 25-30 euro per person.

Another big thank you, really enjoyed your review.

This cruise is on my bucket list to do with my mother.

So, will use your review to start some of my new research.

On a aside. Have just done a Med cruise with MSC and there were a LOT of things I missed about Celebrity. Especially in the day time. i.e. decent cabin service (took 3 days to get double bed converted to singles), clean shower, bath towels and bath robe, friendly staff and professional service, a decent functioning buffet, full port days, just to be able to get a cup of capuccino and take it up to your cabin etc. etc.

To be fair MSC basic drink package (which includes alcohol) was fabulous, so were their shows and their entertainment group.

But for me Celebrity has still the best product for the price charged. Just hoping that their prices will come down a bit for the Baltic cruises.

Can't tell you which ship would have the best dancing venues, but can tell you that on our cruise last month there was a lot of dancing to be had. This was on the Preziosa and most of the dancing was in the Safari Lounge. The entertainment group (10 all up) had 2 girls and 4 guys that very worked hard every night to keep the dance floor going, as well as the resident band. Styles were from ballroom to line salsa dancing, disco etc. There was also a dance party on the pool deck one night.

The Eldorado Bar had Turkish music to dance to. Then there is also a disco with techno music.

Would think that all the Fantasia class ships woud have the same model.

Can't speak for the entertainment teams of course. Ours were just great:D

Hi Kat,

What can I say! Your writing style and photo's are fabulous.

You really got everything out of this trip that was possible and I am really enyoing your review.

Our experience with MSC was different being down with the pleb, so not quite as civilised as being in the yacht club. However, that is a different story which I'm not ready to tell as yet. First have to get over my jet lag and it seems will take a while. Eek..

Greetings L

Hi Kat:) Wonderful to hear you are having a great time. Was worried if you would have jet lag. Hope you are have good weather. In Holland it is cold and wet Brrr. Looking forward to some warm Med weather. Ciao!!

Your photo's are beautiful! Really enjoying your report.

Surprised to see how crowded it was in Venice considering it is so early in the season.

Maybe it's because of my Australian heritage....but I totally got what Kat was saying in her message.........we have all been reading the many posts both positive and negative over the past many months...and she was just making a "smart arse comment"....well.........I guess to all the Americans that I have read countless comments on this board.........you should just have chilled a little and realized that she was kidding as in a joke............but maybe you haven't been following the boards and havent' read what we all have.........Aussies and Kiwis.....have a special relationship...:)....but we understand our humour at least.............Kat I GOT IT...

I GOT IT TOO;)..... Kat was just relaying (tongue in cheek) what a lot of Americans have been saying on this board and it seemed way over the top. Especially considering that some of these "negative comments" were coming from Pax that were paying less money for this cruise then actually staying at home. Kat was not trying to be negative at all. She was just trying to convey that it would be a different experience one might be used to on; say a Caribbean cruise.

Sorry, you got FLAMED Kat, but that can be part of the Cruise Critic experience:rolleyes:

Not to worry..........Only 2 weeks to go before you are in your beautiful Yacht Club cabin:p

Strange seeing Santorini with subdued colours, but I can see that you still enjoyed the beauty of the place.

Isn't amazing sitting at the top of the cliff and seeing your ship in the caldera when in Fira.

On Celebrity we did the same tour and were in port from 2 - 10pm. So, afterwards we had a sunset dinner at top of the cliff. Just stunning.

Hi, Sandi

Always love your reviews and especially the photo's. So, I will be coming along on my armchair again:)