JustThinking23

So, Original Poster here. My point to post was to warn others to not repeat my mistakes. In the last 12 months I have been fortunate to drive rental cars in Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. Did not have any problems in those countries. 
 

Yes, Slovenia can have laws the way the choose , and also choose how they enforce them. As a tourist, I also choose where to visit. This was a huge turn off for me and my family. 
 

The 20 minutes was just to review the documents. It was longer that my son was detained in the police van. 
 

I obviously had not googled “Driving in Slovenia”. If I had, there was a good chance this very helpful link would have come up. https://si.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/driving-auto-accidents/

I am currently on the Gem. Today was scheduled to be a tendering into Venice. Three days ago the itinerary changed to stay at in Trieste today, where we boarded yesterday. This was somewhat expected based on prior Norwegian cruises. I had altered my itinerary a week and a half ago to spend more time in Venice prior to the cruise. 

When my November 2021 Norwegian cruise was cancelled, I looked for a replacement cruise for November or December holiday weeks. I like the website of cruise followed by the fruit, plum to look at cruises, you can specify exact departure dates, specific ports of call and a ton of other stuff. It also tracks the prices of specific classes of cabins on each cruise. The holiday Norwegian cruises I was looking at all had fairly steady prices with the exception of the Haven, which have been rising very steadily in price.

19 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

Anyone heard of 

AJ'S Monkeys and Sloth?

My family and I visited AJ's at the beginning of January with Roatan Getaway Tours. This is a small operation, basically a house with animals kept around it. It felt very personal though, we were not rushed at all, took as many pictures as we wanted etc. We first held the sloths, then interacted with parrots, then the monkeys. The handlers all seem to us to care very much about the animals.

I hear many others recommend to get to the sloth / monkey places before the tour busses.  I don't see how tour busses could get to this place. It is located in the French Cay area, right next to where we met the boat for the private snorkel tour with Roatan Getaway.

AJ's currently has 62 reviews on TripAdvisor with a 5 star average. They also have a Facebook page for more info. 

The reef extends from Belize to Panama, so yes we were on the reef. Where we were didn't sound as crowded as the West End. Saw plenty of colorful fish and Coral. Again, with an in-water guide naming things and finding interesting things to point out to us.

The slot/ monkey encounter was about 2 doors away from the dock, so no additional driving. This was a small place, it was basically a house with animal cages on the side and back. It was about a half hour visit. $10 per person. Plenty of photo opportunities. I felt it was worth it.

Besides, if you are not too strong of swimmers, snorkeling can wear you out!

We wish we had brought swim shirts. The sun screen did not protect our backs enough, even reapplying a few times...

We are just off the Pearl. We found it Ship-Shape!

One quiet place for a book is the library, Deck 12 forward.

We also splurged for a Thermal Spa pass for the cruise. On our cruise, it was the least populated place on the ship.

We have not been on the Sun. I will not sail on a megaship...

My 2 cents...

We pick cruises based on destinations to see. My observations are that the mega-ships tend to have less port days and more sea days. There are of course less ports equipped to serve the mega ships. Also when they dock, you have so many "friends" competing with you to find your guide, grab a taxi or whatever. 

Now, of course this is a personal choice. Many folks book a cruise totally based on the on-board amenities and don't really care where the ship sails to!

We are not really even loyal to NCL, but they most often have interesting itineraries for time frames we are looking to cruise.

On our last cruise we caught a presentation where they talked that NCL was launching the last of their mega-ships soon, and then they will eventually launch a series of 3,000ish passenger ships. I would find that interesting for a ship with new bells and whistles, but not overwhelming number of "friends" on board.

This past week there was a bright blue rectangular metal building on the dock that had helpful folks and sold tokens and passes. On Sunday it was open when we docked, but closed when we got back from the beach. We had a busy day on Monday, and I don't remember them being open. Tuesday there was a mega-ship there along with the Gem, and they were open and busy. I wish they posted schedules on the outside of this kiosk.

We arrived last Sunday on the Gem around 1:00. There were plenty of shuttles both ways. The weather was great for a beach day then.

How about the reverse, where a married couple owns 100 shares, but books 2 separate cabins on the same cruise? (one cabin in each of their names) (teenagers.....)

We found a GPS based smartphone App to be helpful. You download the entire island sometime prior to your adventure when you have WiFi. As you drive with the app going, it will discuss what you are about to see, and sometimes offers choices about where to turn up ahead.

We brought a headphone jack to headphone jack cord to plug into the rental car radio from the phone. (all of our rentals had a plug.) Also brought a phone charger, since the GPS can use lots of battery, but the apps don't use data. Make sure to close the app when you are done, or the GPS will still be draining the battery.

We tried the GyPSy guides. We only tried them based on the reviews at the app store. We found the information to be very informative. The timing and pace of the directions were spot on. Never did we end up in an intersection and wonder which way to go. When there was a decision to be made, there was enough time to discuss which way to go. There was no need to tell the app, your decision, it just uses the GPS signal to know where you are and starts telling you about it.

A few things, best to just buy the guides for the whole islands, not individual attractions. I thought I had done that, but on the Big Island, I only had VNP guide, and had to navigate there on my own, and find the waterfalls, black sand beaches, etc on my own too.

On Maui, the guide seemed to just work any which way you chose to drive. On Oahu, we did the North Shore, but we chose to do it counter-clock wise and the app only worked clockwise...

Parts of the app were a bit dated, and sometimes repetitive between the islands, but overall they were well worth it. I did wonder if a different app would be better, but I went for vacation, not app testing!

BTW my trip was in Feb 2016. Perhaps they have already updated the app.

I did that particular ships tour last month. The time back sounds about right. When we got back, I went to the airport to rent a car. The rest of the family showered and changed. I got back showered and changed, and then we left about 4:15 to drive to the Old Lahaina Luau.

I think you should be fine.

That tour ended up being the highlight of our trip. I feel lucky that day the seas were very calm and we had no issues crossing over. Driving by the next day, there were white caps everywhere and I did not see many boats out. Advice on this forum is to usually head over as early as possible to maximize the chance of calm seas. As this boat was arriving, the other boats over there were leaving.

We booked Body Glove last month as a last minute excursion through NCL. Our kids had so much fun snorkeling at Molikini, they wanted more.

Our thoughts on Body Glove

For us they were right next to the tender.

Boat looked new, very clean.

Second floor offered shade in the center.

Crew was very nice.

We rented a Go-Pro on board

Did a good job pointing out whales and dolphins one the way to the snorkeling and on the way back, but did not linger near the marine mammals

fresh water shower available

Boat offered slide or elevated platform to get into water from the second deck

prescription masks available for no extra fee on board

grilled lunch was good

For our particular trip, the boat did not seem crowded at all. plenty of space to move around. Don't know if that is the case every trip or not.

They offered an upgrade to resort course scuba diving. We did not do that.

I don't think Body Glove ever goes to Captain Cooks to snorkel. We had 1 snorkel site.

We had done Molikini with Pacific Whale Foundation. PWF seemed extremely safety conscious. Body Glove not to the same extent. PWF would have multiple crew members count every passenger before we left the dock and again before we left each dive site. Body Glove called out a roll call, that was a little chaotic, with the 2 levels. After lunch on Body Glove, myself and 2 of my teens went back out to snorkel. We are decent swimmers, but not the most experienced snorkelers. I was surprised to look around and see that there was no crew in the water on the kayaks at the time. I don't think that would happen at PWF.

I don't actually have an answer for you, but a few things to consider.

1. The spa area is being totally redone right now. The selection of services and prices are likely to change.

2. Spa is run by an outside company, not NCL.

3. With the notable exception if the next cruise, there are no sea days on the POA. In my opinion, it would be a shame to miss the beautiful islands to sit in the ships spa. I think you should do a spa day near your home instead.

This is specifically about the Pride of America.

1. Does anyone know what the latest time NCL will let you stay on the Pride

of America?

2. Is Cagney's open for breakfast for on disembarkation day, or is it buffet

only?

3. Is there a place to store luggage so we can walk around the port before

going back to the airport?

 

Thanks for your help, trying to coordinate travel plans for my group.

1. About 9 or 9:30 at latest. Pretty early

2. Cagney's is open for suite guests starting at 6 AM

3. I believe so, but we ended up renting a large SUV to tour for the day with our luggage.

Yes, my family of 5 enjoyed it very much. The beach location was beautiful.

This was our first visit to the state, and our first Luau, so we can't do a comparison. I booked it based on recommendations on this site.

One criticism I heard about OLL was that the food was "too authentic". My family enjoyed trying the new food, and we all left full.

I did not mind the drive either way. I think we left about 4:15. There was a little traffic going there.

One thing to keep in mind, I am not a big drinker. I drank the Mai Tai handed to me on the way in, and diet coke after that. If you were to keep with the drinks, another driver on the way home is an excellent idea. Have you checked with Roberts?

I was also surprised that there was not a drink bill at the end of the evening..

We did this Luau from the POA in Feb 2016. We rented a car. The next morning (really later that night. :rolleyes:) we used the car to drive to the top of Haleakala for sunrise above the clouds.

We purchased our OLL tickets a few months in advance. I did not see any discounts anywhere for that show. Appears that they sell out every night. They are willing refund your tickets a day or two before the date.

POA pushes folks to take their Luau in Kauai. Many, many buses leave the ship for that Luau.

Our cruise will be stopping in Honolulu on a Tuesday, from 7am-11pm. I have done some research on things for us to do, however I have written down SO much stuff and yet feel like I don't have a good grasp on everything we could or should see! And I don't have much time left to do more research here. I'm hoping for some help ...

 

 

Someone at work told me to go to Hanauma Bay, but I believe that's farther away and opposite direction as Turtle Beach?

 

I just wanted to point out that Hanauma Bay is closed every Tuesday, so the fish can rest, so you are out of luck there. http://hanaumabaystatepark.com/

But you still have more than a days things to do! Agree with previous posters about Pearl Harbor. Reserve tickets to the Arizona Memorial online 2 months before your visit. You need to pick up the tickets at least an hour prior to the tour. Use that time to visit the museums that are right there. See the movie and take the boat shuttle to the memorial. Then move on to your next stop.

Well, according to the 3rd person I talked to this morning....you could not have purchased that on board. I know you did, but these people are clueless. I think they have some pretty poorly informed employees. Also ack about buying a bottle of cognac for the room, they said no again.

I too have found more accurate information here on CC than I have from customer service reps.

What we bought may have been different from wine packages on other ships. We were able to order what ever bottles we wanted from any wine list. If you bought 6 or more, you got a certain discount. There were a couple of other levels of bottles, where you got bigger discounts, but that would have been way too much for us.

Now, the post drydock cruise is especially confusing. Usually POA has to comply with Hawaiian liquor laws, but almost half of your cruise is not in Hawaii. You also have those sea days to sip wine on your balcony, where we spent all of our days running around the islands. And of course, I am sure there are places to get good wine for cheap in SF. (or Napa!) Best of Luck!

I was on the most recent POA cruise. My wife and I purchased a wine package on the first day. I don't recall the discount, but we purchased 6 bottles. They were delivered to our room. It was optional to have the wine stored by the ship, but it was noted that it could take a while to retrieve at dinner.

6 was the minimum to buy to get a discount. If you purchased additional bottles, you would get the same discount. Discounts were bigger for more purchases.

JustThinking23, will you be writing a review of your POA Cruise, before the scheduled dry dock in San Francisco? We originally booked that last cruise and cancelled it. (They say not to book a cruise right before or after a dry dock.) A few weeks later we decided to take a chance, and book the first cruise after the dry dock because of a great sale price. Also, we only had to fly one way back to the mainland. Just wondering how your cruise was. Thanks.

A review is on my to-do list, but it is about 15th on the list right now.

I was thinking that I would post it in the Hawaii forum, instead of NCL, since my opinions on the ship are pretty irrelevant right now.

To answer your question, we experienced no negatives to this being the last cruise before the dry dock. Perhaps that was do to the fact that we spent so little time on the ship based on it's fairly unique itinerary. Truly this is just a floating hotel room. We had not planned to go to any of the shows.

We have 3 teenagers in school, so we don't really have the ability to take vacations at any time.

Thanks for all of your responses! I have another question pertinent to the Pride of America suite life. Since we're leaving in May I'm starting to book transportation, and I see that Roberts Hawaii offers hotel pick-up times of 12, 1 and 2pm on embarkation day. Would we miss out on any VIP/suite perks by arriving at the pier at 1pm? I just don't want to skip Cagney's lunch. Starting to think it might be worth the extra $$$ to grab a cab at say 10:30 or 11am (early check-out from hotel) so as not to miss out on anything. Folks who've sailed the PoA in a suite, please keep in mind that I'm a New Yorker so everything is overplanned and rushed lol :p:p

Kind of up to you. We enjoyed Cagney's for lunch and had spent a few days with very active sightseeing in Oahu, so it was kind of a rest day for us. There was a fairly long wait for the rooms to be ready, and there was not any priority given for the suites. Rooms were available as the floors were announced over the loudspeaker. Floor 13 was one of the first called, because there are so few rooms there.

We were off the ship every port day, so the only other day we made it back to Cagney's for lunch was Friday, leaving Kauai.

Just got back from the last cruise prior to drydock. We had James as concierge and George as a butler.

First, James got off the boat prior to it leaving for SF, and is starting a 2 month "off" time. He should be back on in 2 months, for another 4 month "on" stint.

We had pre-planned all of our excursions and dinners, so we did not really "use" James. He did escort us on board to the Napa wine bar at about 11:00. In the bar were representatives from Shore Excursions, dining, spa, etc. We bought a wine selection package then. I was able to adjust the times on some of our dining reservations.

We then went to Cagney's for lunch. Love that.

We did not go to any of the entertainment on board. Had not planned to either. James was very available at Cagney's breakfast every day. He has been on that ship for 10 years, so he was able to offer us advice on every port. Answered any question we had. He did offer at breakfast priority tendering at Kona, but we had a ship excursion that day. We did get a letter about disembarkment and James did discuss that at breakfast on Friday. I met him in the lobby Saturday morning, and was wisked past the lines on my way out.

My wife and I had planned for a balcony dinner in Kauai. George got that all together for us and delivered it do us. There was not a white table cloth, and all the food was delivered at once, and then he left. I actually would have preferred this versus him staying and serving each course. We were very happy with the dinner, except that it rained and we ended up eating inside, but still good! We were very please with George!

I did remember reading on one of the welcome letters that Cagney's was not available for room service for breakfast and lunch.

I was on the last cruise prior to drydock. Most of the crew was looking forward to a break in the routine. Some were worried about the sea days, especially heading to SF with a "light" ship.

They were boarding 600 contractors for the journey to SF. I heard a total price of $15 million.

Apparently in every port for the last voyage, 200 deck chairs were donated to the local municipalities. Honolulu would get the rest. Most of the deck furniture was in the hallways by 8:30 AM on Saturday.

Many rolls of carpet were loaded on the ship when we first joined at the start of the cruise.

Many of the waitstaff had the choice of tearing up carpets or serving as fire watch for welding operations.

The crew I talked to didn't seem to know the rebuilding plan. Seemed that many, many areas were being demolished.

My kids thought that we should come back and see the ship after being refurbished. :rolleyes: