Lorey2007 Posted September 14, 2014 #1 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I would love to hear comments about the land portion from anyone who has taken the 11 day Pride of America cruise tour. Were the precruise tours done on large coaches or smaller 25 passenger buses. On boarding day what time did you get to the ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic-123 Posted September 14, 2014 #2 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I would be interested in this too because we are doing the same thing on Nov. 15th. Would like to have more info on the 3 day tours offered by NCL. We will be staying at then Marriott for 3 nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 14, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I would be interested in this too because we are doing the same thing on Nov. 15th. Would like to have more info on the 3 day tours offered by NCL. We will be staying at then Marriott for 3 nights. I hope someone will respond as I am thinking of cancelling our 3 night at the Waikiki Marriott cruise tour if I cannot get some better information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmzav Posted September 15, 2014 #4 Share Posted September 15, 2014 We booked this same trip for next summer, and I too am wondering about the specifics. I've done lots of googling and come up with very little information about the land portion. My understanding is that this trip just started being offered in january, but still, you'd think that someone on this board would have been on it! :) Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic-123 Posted September 15, 2014 #5 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I just found the site. Go to www.ncl.com/hawaii-cruisetour and it should take you to O'ahu explorer. It tells you what you will be doing for the 3 days. Let me know if this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 15, 2014 #6 Share Posted September 15, 2014 See my comments under NCL forum. It was a great trip. Feel free to ask specific questions here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 15, 2014 #7 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I would be interested in this too because we are doing the same thing on Nov. 15th. Would like to have more info on the 3 day tours offered by NCL. We will be staying at then Marriott for 3 nights. The Marriott Waikiki was very nice. Don't miss their prime rib buffet. Duke's was also an excellent restaurant. Fireworks on the beach on Friday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmzav Posted September 15, 2014 #8 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Earlbird- Would you say this description of the tour was fairly accurate? http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/norwegian-cruise-line-expands-cruisetours/ How much time was allotted for shopping and eating? (I'm hoping not TOO much!) What time were you back at the hotel in the evening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 15, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted September 15, 2014 See my comments under NCL forum.It was a great trip. Feel free to ask specific questions here. Posting here also. Thank you so much for responding. Can you give me a little more detail about the land portion. What time did the tours start each day and approx. what time did you return to the hotel, were your evenings all free or were there additional excursions to choose from. What time did you have to check out of the hotel and did you have to have your luggage out by a certain time. I assume these are 50+ passenger buses did you feel you had to spend too much time on the bus? Thanks again I am feeling much better about this cruise tour now.:) Did you fly home on debarkation day if so did you use NCL to drop you at the airport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 16, 2014 #10 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Earlbird- Would you say this description of the tour was fairly accurate? http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/norwegian-cruise-line-expands-cruisetours/ How much time was allotted for shopping and eating? (I'm hoping not TOO much!) What time were you back at the hotel in the evening? Sorry, I could not open the link. Shopping and eating time was minimal - just right. We were back at thw Waikiki Marriott between 4:30 - 5:00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 16, 2014 #11 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Posting here also. Thank you so much for responding. Can you give me a little more detail about the land portion. What time did the tours start each day and approx. what time did you return to the hotel, were your evenings all free or were there additional excursions to choose from. What time did you have to check out of the hotel and did you have to have your luggage out by a certain time. I assume these are 50+ passenger buses did you feel you had to spend too much time on the bus? Thanks again I am feeling much better about this cruise tour now.:) Did you fly home on debarkation day if so did you use NCL to drop you at the airport? Our days started between 8:30-9:00 A.M. and ended between 4:30 - 5:30 P.M. This was plenty of time to see everything that was scheduled. Our evenings were free to do as we pleased. By the time that we cleaned up, ate, and walked around Waikiki for a while, we were ready for bed. They were definitely three full days. On the last day we left our luggage in our room, it was picked up while we were on tour, and delivered to the ship. We had priority boarding when we got to the ship, and boarded very quickly - maybe about 10 minutes. The buses were 50 passenger buses. Everything was so well organized, however, that we never thought about the bus time. Our driver, Cody, shared much information with us, but was not overbearing. He definitely knew the time schedules of all of the venues, and we were always a step ahead of the crowds. Definitely the way to do Oahu. We thoroughly enjoyed it and had no complaints. We also did the NCL shuttle to the airport, and were off the ship in no time at all. Disembarking is so well organized. We have done 31 cruises, and this was the quickest exit that we have ever experienced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 16, 2014 Author #12 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) Our days started between 8:30-9:00 A.M. and ended between 4:30 - 5:30 P.M.This was plenty of time to see everything that was scheduled. Our evenings were free to do as we pleased. By the time that we cleaned up, ate, and walked around Waikiki for a while, we were ready for bed. They were definitely three full days. On the last day we left our luggage in our room, it was picked up while we were on tour, and delivered to the ship. We had priority boarding when we got to the ship, and boarded very quickly - maybe about 10 minutes. The buses were 50 passenger buses. Everything was so well organized, however, that we never thought about the bus time. Our driver, Cody, shared much information with us, but was not overbearing. He definitely knew the time schedules of all of the venues, and we were always a step ahead of the crowds. Definitely the way to do Oahu. We thoroughly enjoyed it and had no complaints. We also did the NCL shuttle to the airport, and were off the ship in no time at all. Disembarking is so well organized. We have done 31 cruises, and this was the quickest exit that we have ever experienced. We will be arriving a day or two before the actual tour begins and most likely will not be renting a car. Is the area around the Marriott walkable to shops, drug store such as Walgreens or CVS or any fast food restaurants? Did the land portion include a pineapple plantation? What time were the shows on the ship and what kind were they? If we have dinner at 6pm is that a good time to catch all the shows? Again thanks again you have been great!:) Edited September 16, 2014 by Lorey2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 16, 2014 #13 Share Posted September 16, 2014 We will be arriving a day or two before the actual tour begins and most likely will not be renting a car. Is the area around the Marriott walkable to shops, drug store such as Walgreens or CVS or any fast food restaurants? Did the land portion include a pineapple plantation? What time were the shows on the ship and what kind were they? If we have dinner at 6pm is that a good time to catch all the shows? Again thanks again you have been great!:) There are two ABC stores in the Marriott. They will have everything that you need. There is definitely ample shopping near the hotel. McDonalds, of course, is about a five minute walk. You will be able to find any type of restaurant that you want within walking distance. Our bus driver made suggestions for different kinds of restaurants. Dukes was excellent, but make reservations well in advance. Yes, we saw pineapples. I believe that the shows were at 7:00 and 9:00. There was quite a variety. We only made three of them. Dinner at 6:00 will probably not get you to the 7:00 show on time. If you are looking for tours, I will strongly recommend Marylou's Tours on the Big Island - especially in Hilo. Inexpensive, maximum of six people, and very personalized. Ask to go with Marylou, although her husband, Ken, also seemed to be excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 17, 2014 Author #14 Share Posted September 17, 2014 There are two ABC stores in the Marriott. They will have everything that you need. There is definitely ample shopping near the hotel. McDonalds, of course, is about a five minute walk. You will be able to find any type of restaurant that you want within walking distance. Our bus driver made suggestions for different kinds of restaurants. Dukes was excellent, but make reservations well in advance.Yes, we saw pineapples. I believe that the shows were at 7:00 and 9:00. There was quite a variety. We only made three of them. Dinner at 6:00 will probably not get you to the 7:00 show on time. If you are looking for tours, I will strongly recommend Marylou's Tours on the Big Island - especially in Hilo. Inexpensive, maximum of six people, and very personalized. Ask to go with Marylou, although her husband, Ken, also seemed to be excellent. Did you take snacks, water on the bus with you or were they provided? Was there more than one bus of cruisetour folks and what was the age demographic. Did you go to the Dole Plantation on one of your stops with the cruisetour? Again I really, really appreciate your feedback.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 17, 2014 #15 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Did you take snacks, water on the bus with you or were they provided? Was there more than one bus of cruisetour folks and what was the age demographic. Did you go to the Dole Plantation on one of your stops with the cruisetour? Again I really, really appreciate your feedback.:) We did take water with us, although there were ample stops for refreshments. Two buses, mostly over 50. Yes to the Dole plantation. However, they did not give out pineapple samples - kind of strange. On the Big Island we tried white pineapple - delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmzav Posted September 17, 2014 #16 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thank you so much for this info. How much time was spent at the dole plantation? Was there enough time to go through the maze? I am feeling so much better about this trip now. We will have our 10 year old son with us. He's grown up going to museums and more adult tours, so hopefully he will enjoy this trip. Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 18, 2014 #17 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Thank you so much for this info. How much time was spent at the dole plantation? Was there enough time to go through the maze? I am feeling so much better about this trip now. We will have our 10 year old son with us. He's grown up going to museums and more adult tours, so hopefully he will enjoy this trip. Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app As I recall, we probably spent about 45 minutes at Dole. Most of the time was spent at their store. I believe they had some type of tour behind the store, but we elected not to do it. The three days before the cruise were excellent, also quite tiring with all of the planned activities. Well worth it, though. I don't know if is is possible to request a particular driver, but try to get Cody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 18, 2014 #18 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Thank you so much for this info. How much time was spent at the dole plantation? Was there enough time to go through the maze? I am feeling so much better about this trip now. We will have our 10 year old son with us. He's grown up going to museums and more adult tours, so hopefully he will enjoy this trip. Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app Dole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 18, 2014 Author #19 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Does the ship dock at all of the ports or do you need to tender? Which ports could you just get off the ship and walk around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 18, 2014 #20 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Does the ship dock at all of the ports or do you need to tender? Which ports could you just get off the ship and walk around? Tender in Kona. Outside of Kona they are all industrial ports. Nothing to see in the immediate areas. Evidently there are free shuttles to shopping areas, although we did not use them. It is not like the Caribbean. This information is readily available on NCL's website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmzav Posted September 19, 2014 #21 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Lorey- if you haven't already, go to the reviews section and read the reviews of poa. Lots of people share really good information about the cruise. It was really helpful! Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 19, 2014 Author #22 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Lorey- if you haven't already, go to the reviews section and read the reviews of poa. Lots of people share really good information about the cruise. It was really helpful! Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app I'm reading them on a daily basis;). Since we have the 11 day cruisetour booked I couldn't find much information on that, earlbird has given some great information and I'm feeling much better about the cruisetour portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbird Posted September 19, 2014 #23 Share Posted September 19, 2014 I'm reading them on a daily basis;). Since we have the 11 day cruisetour booked I couldn't find much information on that, earlbird has given some great information and I'm feeling much better about the cruisetour portion. Don't worry. You will love it!! Sit back and leave the driving to someone else. The amount of information that you will receive from your driver (at least from Cody) was unbelievable. He was definitely a wealth of knowledge, and made everything very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic-123 Posted September 19, 2014 #24 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Thank you for all your information. We are on the 11 day land and cruise in November. It helped to know what we will be doing on the 3 day land tours and that you enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorey2007 Posted September 20, 2014 Author #25 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Thank you for all your information. We are on the 11 day land and cruise in November. It helped to know what we will be doing on the 3 day land tours and that you enjoyed it. Please come back here after your 11 day cruise tour and tell me all about it! Have a wonderful trip. There seems to be a abundance of info on the cruise portion but limited on the land portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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