sirenitas

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

What night was that?  I looked at a Friday night in mid-April as an estimate of when a pre-cruise room would be required by the poster.

Sorry that was for later in April. We are on on a May 1st and I'm looking at 29th & 30th.

On 1/24/2024 at 6:56 AM, d9704011 said:

You're looking at Motel 6 and Super 8 and even those will end up over $200.  I guess you'll have to be a little clearer on 'reasonable' and, maybe, loosen the purse strings.

Out of curiosity I checked Motel6 and they are between $104 - $125.

There's a Cambria with good reviews and it's under $200. It's the Cambria Hotel Ft. Lauderdale, Airport South & Cruise Port.

Have not stayed there but it's a contender for our cruise in May.

I've been reading whale season started early this year with sightings around the Big Island and Maui. 

We will be on the PoA in a couple of weeks and had not planned on being able to actually see whales, but now I wonder if I should rethink some of our plans.

Would it be worth it to change plans this late in the game - and this early in the season? I know it is never guaranteed that you will see whales, but is it even a slimmer chance at this time since it has been just a few sightings?

12 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Again, we have to be really careful on this thread of using generalizations like "everyone". We're essentially having two conversations about rental cars and parking-- those that are docking in Kahului Harbor (mainly NCL) and those that are anchoring and tendering into Lahaina on the other side of the island. 

Apologies I was responding to the original post which asked about the area where the POA docks.

From what I've read everyone parks at the Long's Drugs about a 10 min walk from the dock.

We are renting from Turo and our car will be waiting for us (and we will return it) at the Whole Foods next to Long's Drugs.

Have you tried Turo? Have heard nothing but good about using them on the islands. We are sailing in Nov and booked a car in Oahu and in Maui (it's an overnight for us). Both will be delivered to us.  Was thinking of renting one in Hilo as well since I've read a lot of recommendations about renting a car to go to the Volcanoes Natl. Park.

We will also sail on the POA and will be going to Skull & Crown, La Mariana, Cuckoo Coconut, Mamahune's and Lava Lava.

We have reservations for our first night at Tiki Grill. And HwoaK for our last night. Not sure yet if we will make it to Tiki Iniki but they have a mug I'd like to get.

Do you collect mugs? Geckoz did the interior for La Mariana and his studio is open to those who contact him - he sells his mugs from there. In Maui Beachbumz seems to have a good selection of mugs. TikiRob is also based on Maui and his mugs are works of art.

We are doing the NCL PoA cruise in Nov. We don't care for sea days and the PoA stays overnight both in Maui and Kauai - this gives us so many more options for things to do and restaurants to try!

It also starts and ends in Oahu which we will take advantage of and do a couple of days before and a couple of days after the cruise to really explore the island. 

We are treating it like a floating hotel and transportation.  If you like sea days other lines might be better, for us we would rather spend time on the islands.

136 - but it's the POA so who knows.

Thanks! I guess Waikiki it is 🙂

Trying to figure out what to book on what island.  We want to do outrigger canoe surfing - not just a outrigger tour, although I'll take recommendations for those as well ;). 

From the research I've done it seems like Waikiki has the best options - but we have tons of things planned for Oahu. But, if it's the best place for actual canoe surfing then I'll move some stuff around.

Anything like this in Hilo, Kona or Kauai?

9 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

https://www.ncl.com/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

 

looks like only the super duper pack gets bottled water...gotta read the fine print

 

amazing you can get a 15 dollar shot of booze but not a 10 cent bottle of water. 

On the POA bottles of water are included in the drink package.  Specialty coffee only in the dining room.

We do not do the sail away rate because there are 3 of us and it works out better for us to book with the promos.

I don't drink alcohol (maybe one or two on a cruise with the promo) but I am a soda addict.  If we had to pay the full amount we would never get the package but for $277 (2 people, POA, 7 days) it is a good deal for us. 

17 hours ago, MrsTocko said:

part of the reason we always go in at least the day before (if on our coast)  we dont need the added stress...

 

our Nov 2021 cruise leaves 2 hour drive from us.   we are going the night before, and that one we are driving...just less stress, and we get to feel like the vacation is starting that much earlier....

 

We live 2 hours from the airport and always stay in the city the day before we fly.  The weather in the mountains can change in an instant and like you said - we don't need the added stress when going on vacation!  When we cruise we fly in a day (or even 2) before we sail for the same reason.

Who knows what prices will be like the next couple of years but here is what I have -   We are booked on the PoA for May '21 (hopeful but not convinced that we will go). I booked it in August 2019 (21 months out) when the offer was $50 deposit and we could use 2 Cruise Next certificates for any cabin. No other discount, but it worked for us as we had bought a couple of certificates on a cruise we took that May and since this itinerary is so port intensive we were ok with an inside. I was also thinking we might upgrade closer to sail date if prices dropped.

I have checked at least a couple of times a month since I booked, plus whenever I get a "sale" email from NCL.  Not once has the price dropped. Not on BF or CM 2019 (before Covid) nor this year, not on their recurring 30% plus extras sales. The best I've found is $400 more - yes it includes the extras but we are not interested in those for this specific cruise. It actually is more than that since my total includes grats but when I price out new cruises I do not get as far as adding them.

Basically, book as early as possible (since it's a very popular cruise and prices will probably increase) and hope for a drop between when you book and final payment. The big issue I see is all the people with Future Credits from cancelled 2020 cruises booking for the next couple of years and NCL not lowering prices at all.

This is the only Hawaii cruise I would take - we really dislike sea days and it has 2 overnights.

On 10/23/2020 at 3:44 AM, Coastalbreezes said:

Initial start-up, at least through first quarter 2021, will be just a few ships and they will sail only from Florida. According to the article below "no cruise visitors until the second half of 2021.

https://cruise.blog/2020/05/hawaii-estimates-no-cruise-visitors-until-late-2021

That article is from May - in COVID time that is years ago ;).  The one below is from earlier this month but it still does not say anything definite. 

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/10/02/hawaii-news/cruise-ships-return-to-isles-remains-in-muddy-waters/

11 hours ago, NikiPinkston said:

We're booked for the Pride of America in May and our PCC told us that they really don't know how things will be by then as far as testing, masks, etc.  We plan to have gotten the vaccine by then so, hopefully, they'll have it set up so that we won't have to deal with any of that.  Last time we were on this cruise we took only ship-sponsored shore excursions so we plan to do some independent tours this time.  If that's not possible, we'll reschedule again.  

Same here - PoA in May 😉  We will reschedule if we cannot go off on our own.  We have never taken a ship sponsored excursion and it's a deal breaker. 

They should do a better ad instead of just copy/paste their old one. It could be called be a discount or a special offer, but I don't see why it says "choose 2 free offers". 

Their offers are always the same and everyone complains and jokes about that, maybe they just thought to change it up a bit and then the next "offer" would look like a real deal.

I did go to NCL and tried to price our May PoA cruise and I still get the choose 2 - the prices are the same as they were last week.  Over $1k more than when I booked in Aug 2019. 

On 8/11/2020 at 3:32 PM, ncmrs said:

Hello Sirenitas, we are booked on NCL in May.

We are booked on the May 8th sailing (fingers crossed)

On 9/1/2020 at 2:42 PM, mjkacmom said:

It’s per person, not a good deal.

Wowsers! That is not a good deal at all.

When I log in to my NCL account the screen I get is a view of Waikiki and it says "Say Aloha!" right below that is a link to book a pre or post stay hotel.  When I click on that I get the Hawaii cruises homepage and there are tabs for itineraries, packages, gallery etc., near the end is the tab for hotels.  It gives me 3 options - 2 Hiltons and 1 Hyatt. 

At least for me (hopefully going May '21) it tells me to call if I want to book.

I am not planning on booking through NCL but have been doing some research on Hiltons (we have points to use) so I can tell you that the price is just a few dollars more that what I see on the Hilton page.  Since it includes transportation to the port it is a good deal - if the price NCL shows is not per person 😉 

On 8/16/2020 at 6:23 PM, NikiPinkston said:

Our Hawaiian cruise was canceled - twice - so I just read James Michener's "Hawaii."  It's historical fiction and covers the history of the islands from the very beginning to shortly before Hawaii became a state.  It's 1,200+ kindle pages, so it'll keep you entertained for quite awhile, but I could barely put it down!

We are booked on PoA for May 2021 and I've been saving reading Hawaii for closer to our trip - whether it happens or not 😉 I have read Texas and Chesapeake so I know Hawaii will also be a good one.

To keep it OT - I have not thought of cancelling (hope it does not come to that) but at least I booked with a certificate.   Prices have not been as good as when I booked but I am keeping an eye on it since I booked an inside (port heavy itinerary) and with everything going on a balcony might not be a bad investment.

I am being an optimist (very rare for me) since we had to cancel a trip this past May and the rebooked trip we had for Aug. 

They forgot the non-stop earthquakes in Puerto Rico.

NCL does a cruise just around the islands,  you fly in and out of Honolulu.  We are booked for next year and plan on getting there a couple of days before and stay a couple of days after the cruise.  We are not big on sea days 😉

13 hours ago, SeaHunt said:

"Tests have confirmed three cases of the new coronavirus in Puerto Rico, the first for the U.S. territory, Gov. Wanda Vazquez said Friday night.

She also announced that the public school system would close for 14 days and that no cruise ships or the ferry from the Dominican Republic would be allowed to dock.

 

Officials said the first case was a 68-year-old Italian woman who arrived Sunday on the Costa Luminosa cruise ship and had symptoms consistent with the virus. She was taken to a hospital in San Juan and a test confirmed she is infected with coronavirus.

Her 70-year-old husband also was found to be infected.

 

https://apnews.com/15b3086be86fc9d9c258c2576b670671

Starting at 9PM yesterday  - all schools are closed as are businesses except grocery stores, pharmacies,  medical supply stores, gas stations, and banks.   People can only go out to get supplies from 5AM to 9PM.  After 9PM only people who are considered essential are allowed out.  Could face up to 6 months in jail and/or fine of $5k.  There are now 5 confirmed cases.