CactusFlower527

It probably won't be as crowded in the Honolulu business district but many of the hardworking locals head for the beach or run errands on the weekend. Places frequented more by tourists may be less crowded as the weekend is when many tourists arrive or head home. I've noticed fewer crowds at Maui beaches used mostly by tourists on the weekend.

Look out if they have some sort of event though.. the day we docked - they were having some 5k Run downtown, had roads shut off, and it was taking the shuttles FOREVER to get people picked up and to the airport, hotels etc... from the time we disembarked at 8 am til we were sitting in our chair at the airport gate = 4 HOURS! But we had a 1 pm flight.

Thank you for your replies on Ricky Tours. I am going to book them as it looks like they have a good tour and not many people in the van which is really good.

Yes do so quickly. He's an actual tour "business" - but he's a one-man show.. he doesn't have a fleet of vans and 'employees'... just him and his one van :D

Getting ready to book rental cars online (Avis) and from what I can tell, Carnival docks at Kahului in Maui. If true, is the airport the best/closet location to reserve a rental car?

 

Ame question for Honolulu...is the airport close to the dock or is there a better alternative?

 

Thx...

All of the rental car agencies have free shuttles from the dock.

The airport is several miles from the port in Honolulu ... you can use a paid shuttle like VIP transport, or a cab, or if you rent a car in Honolulu, their shuttles will take you to the Pier.

We rented a jeep and just did Haleakala Crater on our own.. but there were 4 of us and it was way cheaper for us to do a 4 way split on a rental car and gas that book 4 people on a small tour. It's very drivable on your own and if you are on the NCL POA - Maul is overnight on Sunday - so there is no cut off for getting back to the ship on Sunday

We really enjoyed Dukes (Hula Pie rocks!). We also had a very nice upscale dinner at La Mer to celebrate our anniversary. I would recommend both - just for very different types of ambiance!

I would recommend Dukes as well ! :)

The only thing I am aware of near the ship in Kauai would be the Kalapaki Bay and Beach area within walking distance of the ship. Sorry I have no info on gardens. There is also a shuttle that runs and drops you off at shops there. There is a large Marriott right on the beach with a Dukes Barefoot Bar and Restaurant with outdoor seating. We plan to do it the last short day in Kauai after we have returned our rental car.

 

In Kona, I'm told the area around the dock is very quaint and walkable with lots of shops and restaurants. There is a farmers market there as well. We have a snorkel trip booked for the am and will explore the town after the tour.

You are correct. Nothing but a beach is walking distance from the Pier in Kauai.. but Kona has all sorts of shops, restaurants right there as you get off of the tender. There are random free shuttles that will take you places at both ports though, like to Hilo Hatties etc.

I mean is Rickys Tours to the Volcanoes in Hilo a good one or should I book with NCL to tour the Volcanoes.

We just went last month and used Ricky ! He's great !!!

The tour was $65 (+ tip) for all day. Ricky picked us up at the Pier in his small tour van.. seats about 10 people max. He took us to Rainbow Falls, several stops at Volcanoes National Park, Lua Manu lava flow, "Mauna Loa", got to walk through a short Lava tube......then a quick stop at an Orchid Museum, a Black Sand Beach, and finally ending at the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut farm/factory before getting us back to the Pier. He also provided us with bottles of water and chips for a snack

Ricky also went out of his way to re-route the tour if he noticed a Robert's & Polynesian Adventure tour bus there with 200 other tourists, he'd take us elsewhere and bring us back later. He has lived in Hilo a long time and knows the history so lots of anecdotes along the way. He under-prices his tour in my opinion.

You won't be sorry.

This is just so tragic for the family. They just wanted to go out and enjoy themselves. I drive a MC and know well the dangers. I drive very defensivly. I will not drive a MC, scooter or bicycle in Bermuda due to driving on the wrong side of the road. I know I may really mess up and hurt myself or worse someone else.

 

Prayers for his loved ones.

there was actually a warning (aka "advice") not to rent scooters on any of the Hawaiian Islands in our POA "Daily" ---NCL made it pretty clear they are not safe.

I think unfamiliarity anywhere can be your worst enemy.

Great info and great pictures thank you very much. We did have 5 in the room, but thought better of it and booked my oldest son an inside cabin to sleep and shower in. Both my boys are adults so they may both choose to sleep in that room but spend most of their awake time when we are on the ship in our room.

 

Any other tips or tricks? My wife heard or read something about a private breakfast or lunch for folks staying in this class of cabin.

 

Thanks again. Your info and photos made us look forward to our trip even more than we already were.

 

56 hours to go

Yes, breakfast and lunch is at Cagney's for the suite life folks. We were ushered from the terminal by our butler and she showed/explained all that to us. Except for Friday (Kauai) where we had to be on the ship super early - we were hardly on the ship during lunch. We were basically getting off at 8 am and back on not until 4-5 pm or so.

ps- we had an inside cabin as well ................

Let me add that it would be a HUGE stretch to say that this suite sleeps 6 .... unless 4 are children. There is a nice king bed, but the murphy bed looked like a double. Not sure what the couch-bed was, since we never used it - maybe it, too, was a double or queen. the fact is - this suite only has 1 bathroom - so can you imagine 6 people trying to share 1 bathroom. at least there was a double vanity.

I loved the whirlpool tub, but be careful of the water displacement factor (when you have the jets turned on)....when you move around, otherwise you'll do what I do and put an inch of water on the floor and use up every towel trying to mop it up.

there is a step up to the shower and toilet areas...my mom who is only around 5' tall had a problem exiting the shower stall and almost slipped and fell a few times.

It rained almost every night and so the padded furniture on the deck were unusable until they dried off.

CactusFlower

 

I know you just got back but could you post pictures or at least say how you liked the room. My wife and I staying in the exact same room leaving on May 24 and are anxious to get any information on the room.

 

Thank you.

Will do.... strangely one of the first albums I put together was of the stateroom and ship .. I think you're going to love it. the deck is HUGE!!!!!!!!!

Tip - if that stupid coffee maker locks up or malfunctions (it did it to us a few times) there's a switch in the back to turn it off and on, and that fixes it. Hopefully you get our cabin steward, Jonathan... he was great. The butler... (Amanda?) I'll let you form your own opinion on. Thomas the concierge.. we saw him at breakfast .. he's basically Amanda's boss.

anyhow, here are the photos: SUITE 13502

Our travel agent has booked us into 13004 . This is a SE penthouse but has both a connecting door and a Murphy bed ( which we don't need ) .

 

Has anyone stayed in this type of cabin ? It is hard to see how these features are arranged and we are concerned about noise through the connecting door as well as loss of space with both a Murphy bed plus a sofa bed . Is there a photo some where ?

Murphy Beds just fold up into the wall, so you so don't really lose any space.. if you don't use it, it just stays folded up into the wall ... I believe most of the larger (balcony, ocean view) cabins, not just suites, have sofa beds in them.... if you don't use them for sleeping, they are just sofas to sit on.

we're sailing in 5 weeks in suite 13502 (class SD).. pictures when we return :D

Mary Lou's Tours and Ricky's Tours, both in Hilo, have great reviews!

We wound up choosing Ricky's Tours for Hilo .. will post a review when we return in Mid May

You can rent a car and drive up to Puuhonua O Honaumau National Park, stop to see the painted church, Kona coffee plantation tours. You could also go to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm for their tour.

we are going on the Seahorse Farm tour .. it sounded so interesting. NCL offers that as one of their shore excursions though.

http://seahorse.com/shop/Ocean-Rider-Hawaii-Tour-Tickets/

I know it's been said on here that NCL doesn't sell out excursions online... so I am trying to decide how late do I wait to book an excursion. Mind you, I don't think we're doing anything that will be apt to sell out. Like the Kona Seahorse Farm excursion at $69 and stuff like that. I've hired private guides for Kauai and Hilo .. and am looking at one or two for Maui. I'm a little cranky that we have to prepay for the ones through NCL, never used to have to. Another thing, we have .. between the 2 cabins (one is a Suite) $550 in OBC that we'd like to use for some of this stuff. Sorry, guess I am thinking out loud here, but has anyone ever waited until the embarkation day to schedule some or all of their excursions? and if so, did you find out that many, if any, sold out?

I did a search here on CC and the latest threads I could find were from 2011 (unless I just don't know how to effectively search on here, so my apologies in advance).

Has anyone used VIP Transport from the Airport to hotel(s), pier etc in Honolulu and what were your experience(s)?

Were they reliable?

An online search turned up they were one of the more inexpensive transport companies................... just want to make sure there aren't a lot of glaring problems with them before we sign up - since it has to be prepaid.:D

Are you limited to small size shaving cream,shampoo etc as you are on the airlines.Ncl Getaway

thanks for asking this, since we plan to buy a lot of this stuff at a KMart when we arrive in Honolulu rather than jam our luggage here at this end.

I would suggest filing a claim with the attorney general in your state. Make sure you write down and document every time you called NCL.

I tried this already on a different concern I had. Arizona (where I live) would not handle it at all... (YMMV) ....and Florida (where NCL is located) said they were not interested in bringing action/suit - told me to "feel free" to hire an attorney on my own dime.

The FTC is a possibility if you can prove you were truly duped, but "verbals" are hard to prove...

this is the reality.

You might want to pack them, anyway. We did and used them whenever we got off the ship, especially if we were going to a beach. That way, if my towel ended up separated from me, I would only lose whatever I spent for the towel from home instead of being charged $25 by the cruise line.

good idea.

We are Sailing May 24, 2014

You are going before us I believe . I can't wait to hear about your experience when you return.

I am very much looking forward to our first suite experience .

This is my first cruise period, afraid I will so spoiled by the "suite life" it may be difficult to sail any other way....... but yes, we are on the sailing 2 weeks before yours. We will be on the cruise during Mother's Day and hope they do a little something special for us moms :)

I found this:

 

13518

 

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/cabinpics/68/reg/314121387058157.jpg

 

 

Think I found the one we'll be in..

http://www.iceportal.com/brochures/ice/Brochure.aspx?did=3719&brochureid=6053&type=vr&design=3

class SD 13th deck - complete with hospital curtain

When are you sailing? I would love to see pictures of deck 13. Anything would be greatly appreciated . We are sailing in May 2014.

Happy Sailing !

which sailing, may I ask? we're on the May 10 th!! Less than 4 months away> SO EXCITED.

I know you sort of answered this already, but I do assume that they serve some sort of breakfast on disembark day.. you just have to be up early right?

This is all we could see of the NaPali coast :(

 

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Bummer. We were going to take a tour boat of the Na Pali coast (for our 2nd/shorter day in Kauai) - but the one that had the highest/best ratings ...included snorkeling which 3 out of the 4 of us don't want to do.................so the search continues!

We do as well, but only because we want to start vacation sooner :D

same here... + we figure the 2 days pre-cruise will give us time to get adjusted to the modest time different, unwind (?) a little and get organized before we board the ship. We also want time to shop in Honolulu ... cases of bottled water and incidentals (among other things) to take on the ship. Do a little sight seeing on Oahu .. because I think we'll be TOO TIRED after the cruise to do anything but sit on the plane and sleep on our 6.5 hour flight home.