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17 minutes ago, OceansOfTravels said:

If you want a nice place in Cozumel, Paradise Beach Club is an amazing beach club with all the facilities you could need - a pool, a spacious beach area, bathrooms, changing facilities, food/drink, and wifi - all for a $3 admission price. They just ask you to spend $10 while on the complex in food/drink, so you could easily do this with drinking. Taxi rate should be about $20 total.

 

But, if even that is still a lot, you could still have a nice beach day in Roatan by taking a taxi to West Bay Beach ($25 roundtrip) and laying out towels. That is what my friend and I did on the Armonia earlier this summer when we went, because this was a nice cheap way to spend the day. And, since we were there from about 1PM-5PM, 4 hours was the perfect amount of time to just be laying on a towel and not have the towel get soaked/start to feel uncomfortable.

 

Beware of Costa Maya though, aside from shopping at the cookie cutter stores or chilling at the pool area they made, there isn't a very "cheap" option (aside from maybe a beach day or a trip to the local city of Mahaual). I really don't like this port for that reason.

 

Others have stated above about Key West's walkability and free bus for tourists that will take you to the tourist areas. Key West can be a great port for staying on a budget!

Thank you so much ! Such great info....

Hello All - This will be our first cruise with MSC and I have been searching the reviews and boards for some clear answers to a few question. I appreciate anyone that can help answer these questions. Thanks

1. How early have you checked in for embarkation? Our flight arrives FL @ 10am our check in time for MSC assigned is 4:15pm - I have nothing planned in between this time and have no vehicle so I wanted to get to port asap and check in. Will we just be stuck waiting in the cruise terminal? What has been your experience? 

2. I have been reading that formal nights do not have to be suit and tie or tux. So I'm assuming for ladies a sundress or blouse and skirt & slack with a collared shirt for men will do?

And lastly - 3. We are budget cruising as we got an excellent deal on the airfare and because of the itinerary change our cruise was very affordable - but were are looking for suggestion on inexpensive things to do at ports besides just gift shop browsing. Ship excursions and third party excursions are pricey so we are going to try and wing it this trip. So any suggestions of free / low cost things to do in Isla de Roatan Honduras, Costa Maya Mexico, Cozumel Mexico, Key West Florida I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. Thanks ♥️

Just wondering with MSC can you bring snack items and a bottle of wine aboard? This is our first MSC ....with Carnival & RC we brought 1 wine bottle per adult and whatever leftover snacks we brought from home for the plane ride...Just wondering how strict MSC is. We’re sailing the MSC Armonia next month. Thanks 

I had to dig out of our planner... it was CB Maui Taxi Service. They picked us up at the Mall near the port around 3:30AM and took us to the Airport for our car. You should be able to Google them, the phone is 808 243 8294. Sorry, I do not recall the time the shuttle service started. Good luck with your planning and have an awesome trip!!

 

 

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Thats awesome! Thanks so much for looking into this for me! I really appreciate that :)

Thank you for posting this information! We are going to stay with our original plan of a car for two days so that we can drive up to Haleakala to see the sunrise in the wee hours of Monday morning. I did a little research today...There is overnight parking at the airport for $15, and a 24 hour cab service for around $10 each way. It will cost a little more than we planned, but is still much cheaper for the four of us than a formal tour!

 

 

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Do you remember the 24 hour cab service info in Maui...I want to book an excursion for our second day in Maui but scared theres not going to be transportation at 6:30am to the airport to get our car???? WDYT

How late do the shuttles run going back to the ship?

I've been looking everywhere for the answer to this question. Does anyone know how late the shuttles run from the airport returning to the ship for all ports. Thanks

Thanks so much! I had read something similar. We will check it out!

We are in a similar predicament , we would like to do the RTH Day 1 and keep our rental the second day and may park at the airport and try to take the rental shuttles back and forth but not sure what hours they run??? (Does anyone know?) Or I guess we could uber/taxi to go get the car when needed.

Please update us as to how it worked out for you. Thanks !

We rented cars on every stop of the POA. Found it fairly easy to rent every car. We joined the thrifty blue chip program and most of our rentals were with Thrifty. We rarely waited for a shuttle more then 15 minutes. We rented all our cars thru Autoslash.com. Great experience. They continually checked the rates and canceled and rebooked for us if the rates went down. No upfront credit cards required. No issues at any of our cruise stops and I found the prices to be better on auto slash then I could book myself.

 

My rates with taxes and fees were:

Maui (OGG) 2 days $64 (+$12 to park at Airport)

Hilo Airport Thrifty 1 day $42

Kona (KING KAMEHAMEHA HOTEL) Hertz $29

Kauai (LIH) Thrifty 2 days (+$20 to park at anchor mall) $57

Do you remember the time you dropped off your vehicle in maui and kauai for overnight parking? Did you take the rental agencies shuttle back to the ship or a taxi back to the ship? if so, around how much was the taxi? Your itinerary sounds perfect for me , but I just need to know what time the shuttle stops running to get back to the ship. Thanks

Does anyone know or remember what time the shuttles run to the rental car agencies. I imagine they're available first thing in the am to take you to your car, but returning? What the latest you can return your car and still get the shuttle back to the ship? Trying to debate for the maui and kauai overnight ports. Thanks for your help.

Yup...but if someone reads the thread, like I did today, they'll see some current info.

Yes...Very useful for me. I just saw it today and very grateful for the suggestions. Thanks

Agree, lots of ideas over there. We have snorkeling tour booked with an outside provider.

I see a great outside provider to book in Kona...Im just worried about not tendering in time to meet the tour. The one I found starts at 9am. Ship docs at 7a and I've been reading that it may take hours to get your turn to tender off especially if you don't have a tour booked through NCL. Do you think you'll have enough time to meet you tour, and may I ask which provider?

In rereading the posts, we realize the "Anchor Mall" in question refers to Kauai. We cannot speak for that, and our answers are based only on Maui.

Thanks

We rented cars on every stop of the POA. Found it fairly easy to rent every car. We joined the thrifty blue chip program and most of our rentals were with Thrifty. We rarely waited for a shuttle more then 15 minutes. We rented all our cars thru Autoslash.com. Great experience. They continually checked the rates and canceled and rebooked for us if the rates went down. No upfront credit cards required. No issues at any of our cruise stops and I found the prices to be better on auto slash then I could book myself.

 

My rates with taxes and fees were:

Maui (OGG) 2 days $64 (+$12 to park at Airport)

Hilo Airport Thrifty 1 day $42

Kona (KING KAMEHAMEHA HOTEL) Hertz $29

Kauai (LIH) Thrifty 2 days (+$20 to park at anchor mall) $57

Did you have to take taxis from the Maui OGg airport back to the ship after parking the car...if so how much was the taxi and if taxied from anchor mall or is it walking distance ? Thanks

We received the upgrade offer and submitted it today. We are 31

days out on POA. First time we booked an inside cabin due to the ports. but I was questioning that decision when the offer came in. So now we sit and wait

Just wondering did your offer on the POA get accepted? We're in a similar situation and I was wondering how it worked out for you.

In Kona we took the trolley for $2 dollars that took us down to a nice beach for snorkeling ...but you can also snorkel right off the little beach there

Thanks , good idea I appreciate the suggestion- Question - Did you have to bring your own equipment or does the beach there rent snorkeling gear?

People have given you the very best money saving tip, and that is to use a rental car and do it yourself rather than book a tour. In Maui, you can pay for a ship or private tour for more than $100 pp for the Highway to Hana, for example, or get exactly the same thing with a $35 rental car. You can book an expensive tour through Upcountry to the summit of Haleakala, or you can get exactly the same tour for the price of a rental car. In Kauai, you can book an expensive tour to Waimea Canyon, or you can see it on your own for the price of a rental. See how that works? And the best part is that you get not just the equivalent of 1 tour for your rental $, but an entire day's worth, which could include beach stops, ocean view lunch, shopping etc. You can do the summit of Haleakala for instance, and then drive to beach at Kaanapali, shopping at Lahaina and end the day with Old Lahaina Luau. For water excursions, zip line, you'll need a tour, but book direct NOT through the ship.

 

The parking info is on the Hawaii message board. In Kauai there is parking a couple blocks away at the mall near Kalapaki Bay, $20 or so overnight. Maui, the only safe option is at the airport near the rental car offices for about the same money.

 

You don't need to waste money on even an Oceanview room. There are no sea days. You will be in ashore the entire day and drop exhausted into bed after a quick dinner. Money on anything but an inside is wasted.

Thank you very much for the suggestions, that was exactly what I was looking for. Yes - We will be getting the rental car, I mainly was looking for the names of some of the best place to drive to. Haleakala, Hana, Waimea, Kaanapali and Lahaina is great info to get us started and I can do some more research. Thanks for your input. The oceanview obstructed is the same price as the inside cabin thats why I was looking for some others experiences with that category, I wouldn't pay extra ( but a balcony would be nice ;) Thanks again for your input.

You haven't booked the cruise yet, right?

 

If not, is it possible for you to save money a little longer and cruise later? Will it be your only visit to Hawaii? If yes, I think that it's worth to wait longer and have more money to spend while you are there.

People sure do have some interesting comments on these boards.

As I stated I have been saving for this trip & I will be celebrating a big birthday and that said birthday only happens once in a lifetime. Sure it can be celebrated anytime I get that.

After spending over $5000 for air and the cruise throwing a ton more money is just not what I want or need to be doing.

I am sure we'll have a great time regardless - but I just wanted to see if people could give there experience with this cruise without spending a ton of money...traveling in an inside or obstructed oceanview or any other low cost ideas. If that doesn't apply to you, then just move on to the next post. Thank you.

We did a Hawaiian land vacation 3 years ago and used the gypsy app, which downloaded to an old phone. It was amazing and we had great driving adventures with the app being our tour guide. Beautiful (and usually deserted) beaches, wonderful scenic views etc. Also, we rented cars from discount Hawaii car rentals dot come and the prices could not be beat.

Have a great vacation!!

 

 

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Yep, thats the plan. Use discount rental company and go on our own...Right now I have google trips app and just downloaded the gypsy app, lots of great driving suggestions there - awesome! ...Thanks for the suggestion.

Any low cost excursions suggestions are appreciated too from anyone. I don't want to completely rule out having a guided tour ( just not at $200 a person)

If you haven't already done so I would check out the Hawaii ports of call forum about excursions. Lots of great info.

 

Here is the link if you haven't visited it yet:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

Yes thank you - I have visited the individual port links but lots of fancy excursion with few low cost options, but I plan to post there also just so many individual stops so I thought I would start with just the cruise in general.

Hello:

Forgive me if this has been addressed over and over. I have been searching these boards for days now and haven't really found anything that truly addresses some of my questions.

1st - we are experienced cruisers but have never sailed with Norwegian before and have never been to Hawaii. We are very excited and I will be celebrating a "big" birthday.

Now we are not rich by any means , but we do save for vacations and like to have a good time. After paying for airfare and this stay on the Pride of America our funds are limited.

All the post I have been reading and the reviews are of these esquisite balcony cabins and suites with fancy excursion in every port. Uh yeah that's not gonna happen here. "I wish - I barely got my husband to agree to go"

I was looking for reviews of regular cabins. I think we're able to get an obstructed oceanview cabin and I'm currently searching like mad to find things to do while in ports that's not going to cost $150 per person and up. We don't want to stay on the ship and I have been reading that the dock areas are mainly industrial.

Yes , I have read to rent a car in most ports and explore, which we will do. But a little more structure and a few ideas would be appreciated. I will definitely post an update when we return of what we were able to accomplish.

I guess people who do these cruises on a budget don't like to post reviews, or maybe you just have to be able to ball out to go, but it will be helpful to others trying to keep the cost down. Please refer me to budget port ideas and reviews of lower end cabins please. Please include details the more the better...I have questions like what is the fee to park your rental overnight by the ship....What state parks are worth the drive to...I'm sure all beaches are nice, but what are the best...things like that etc...Thanks

I'm wondering if anyone has been to both Taino and Lucaya Beach and which is better for families? We have 11 kids 3-9 yrs old in our group and want the best kid-friendly place. Thanks for your help!

Bump

I was there last Friday. There is a shuttle from the port to the Grand Lucayan. It's $10 roundtrip and is about a 15 minute ride. Tell the shuttle driver where you want to go. Ours made a couple stops. We had purchased our day pass through Shore Excursioneer, but it didn't matter. They didn't even look at my papers. There were about 10 people in line to go in. We just handed over $20 and off we went. Make sure when you pay and go through the gate you turn left for the Grand Lucayan. No one told us and we went to the beach on the right and ended up at a different resort! :rolleyes:

 

The shuttles run every half hour back to the port. They do try to fill the shuttle before they leave.

 

Have Fun!

So you paid shore excusioneer and the resort directly? We are traveling soon and I see where a lot of people are pre-paying online through sites like shoreexcusioneer.com and getting in.

But I would like to just pay at the gate once we get there in case plans change... I see they have a free beach and possibly other things and resorts. Just wondering if I can pay at the gate with no problem once there? Please let me know. Did you get a refund after paying online and then them not acknowledging your paperwork?

...

Just trying to get additional info on the day trip to the Grand lucayan in Freeport.

I have been reading several reviews and I see that you can catch a shuttle/taxi van to the marketplace / resort area for $10pp roundtrip Correct?

Most people seem to say they have purchased their day passes online prior to their trip. Do you feel this is necessary? ....I saw at one point they had stopped issuing day passes due to overcrowding, but that was a while ago. Have you purchased on recently?

For those who have recently traveled to Freeport , has anyone recently taken the $10pp shuttle/taxi , then purchased a day pass at the Grand Lucayan resort for $20.

Please give any info you may have i.e....Food cost, individual cocktail prices , beach umbrella cost...any info would be appreciated we leave soon.

We went May 23-27 and yes catalina and ensenada was pretty chilly Low to mid 60's most of the time...We wore capri type shorts and definitely a zip up or pull over sweatshirt the whole trip. I wish we had better weather because we didn't get to swim or lay out at all. We love doing that on vacation. Guess I need to stick to the Florida trips.