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Just booked Carnival cruise to Hawaii!

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cruisingrandma123

cruisingrandma123

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:cool: A group of 9 of us just booked Hawaii on Carnival Splendor! We cruise Carnival often but never to Hawaii for 14 days. very excited. Looking for good information on good excursions and any other knowledge we may find helpful on Spendor also. Ages range from 42 to 69 yrs olds.. Appreciate any helpful hints out there! Does anyone ever do excursions on there own in Hawaii?? Thanks in advance for the help!!

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Jamman54 Great Review Rare

Jamman54

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:cool: A group of 9 of us just booked Hawaii on Carnival Splendor! We cruise Carnival often but never to Hawaii for 14 days. very excited. Looking for good information on good excursions and any other knowledge we may find helpful on Spendor also. Ages range from 42 to 69 yrs olds.. Appreciate any helpful hints out there! Does anyone ever do excursions on there own in Hawaii?? Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

First, Welcome to CC!! Which sailing are you on? We are also doing a Hawaii cruise on the Splendor on 10/13/18. Head on over to the Roll Call section and join the roll call for the cruise you will be sailing on. Happy Planning!! :cool:

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jabcruiser

jabcruiser

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We did 15 day few years ago on Miracle in Jan. A few suggestions for you. #1 - take warm clothing for first and last few days. It is cold! Had to stop at Walmart on Islands to get warm clothing for return as froze going over. Also got into big storm on way over and arrived 4 hours late so missed an independent whale watching excursion and money lost. Thought we had plenty of time after arriving (over 4 hours), but not! Rented car on most islands and was very easy(same as anywhere else in USA and easy driving) and cheap so you might check into this option, especially on Oahu if you plan on going to Memorial, and Big Island to drive to Volcano National Park. That way you can stop and do what you want, when you want. Your group could look into renting a van. Only paid excursion we had planned was the whale watching which obviously cannot do on your own. But all was not lost. We saw whales in all ports except one, right next to ship. Kauai was especially great as several whales cavorting right off ship. LOVED Kauai, so beautiful. But don't know if you go there on the 14 day cruise. All in all, we loved this cruise. The 5 sea days over and back didn't seem that long, as we had anticipated. Another suggestion. Join your Roll Call. We had a very active one and joined several organized activities especially during the 10 sea days. Have fun. This is a great cruise.

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bar1068

bar1068

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I heard on NCL the casino is closed when sailing inter island. Is this the same on Carnival?

 

Slight adjustment. The NCL Pride of America, which does their inter island Hawaiian itinerary has no casino to close.

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swodog94

swodog94

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On Oahu: Arizona Memorial, USS MISSOURI, plane museum on Ford Island, Punchbowl Cemetery. Diamond Head (it's a hike with lots of stairs...tough for older folks). The North Shore to see big waves and get the best shave ice in the islands (Matsumoto's). Waikiki of course with sunset at Duke's Bar. Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Do a luau anywhere, but best one is at the Cultural Center.

 

Maui: Drive to top of Haleakala volcano [Note: there are companies that drive you to the top and then you ride bikes back down; only for the brave of heart!] Lavender farms. Skorkeling and diving off Molokini. Whale watching boats.

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N7786W Flyer

N7786W Flyer

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My wife and I did the 15 day itinerary out of Long Beach to Hawaii back in January 2015.

 

If you are sailing during winter, I'll echo some of the comments here relative to the cold (or coolish) temps leaving and arriving back at Long Beach. Also, you may need a light sweater in Hawaii as well as some of the temps there at night were cooler than I expected. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite photos of our trip was the snow-covered mountains in Hilo as we arrived.

 

Relative to excursions, I can recommend Germaine's Luau in Honolulu as a 'must do'. The tour is well organized with lots of food and a great presentation of native dancing and culture. Best that I remember, it ran for about $110/per person.

 

Would also recommend a whale-watching tour if you're so inclined...having said that, it was almost impossible NOT to see whales throughout the cruise as they seemed to be everywhere. We saw several just looking out the window of our outside room.

 

Garnett

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jakesnana

jakesnana

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so they go 8 miles offshore between islands? NCL says Hawaii does not allow gambling is local waters. This was a cruise deal breaker for us

 

Slight adjustment. The NCL Pride of America, which does their inter island Hawaiian itinerary has no casino to close.

 

The NCL Pride of America does not have a casino (and is NOT ALLOWED to have one) because it's cruises start and stop in Honolulu, therefore, Hawaii gets to dictate the rules for them.

 

Any other cruise that does not embark and disembark in Honolulu is allowed to have a casino. We just did an 11 nt. Journey/Repo cruise on the Legend in April and the casino was open every night sailing between the islands.

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calbred01

calbred01

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:cool: A group of 9 of us just booked Hawaii on Carnival Splendor! We cruise Carnival often but never to Hawaii for 14 days. very excited. Looking for good information on good excursions and any other knowledge we may find helpful on Spendor also. Ages range from 42 to 69 yrs olds.. Appreciate any helpful hints out there! Does anyone ever do excursions on there own in Hawaii?? Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

So did we! there are six of us (3 couples) and we have talked about this one cruise for years, finally did it and we are nervous and excited. Which date on you going on? We booked January 2019:D

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Sandy Sails

Sandy Sails

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I did a land trip to Maui in October 10.5 years go with a guy I'd met on a cruise that April (we were engaged by the time we went to Hawaii). It rained the entire time. The cab driver that took us from the airport to the hotel was laughing that October is the rainy season and stupid tourists still come then.

 

We still had fun though! Our luau got rained out but no biggy.

 

Just a warning about October...

 

(and we've been married for 10 years now)

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cruisingrandma123

cruisingrandma123

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If you're going to Hawaii, you should see the Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial. Also, a coffee and/or cocoa plantation tour is informative. I loved the Volcano National Park tour.

 

When is your sailing? We'll be on the October 2018 sailing. I'll miss Kauai.

We are booked for April 2019. Cant wait. so exciting.

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Nic6318

Nic6318

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Hi

 

We sailed with Carnival in 2015 to Hawaii, 15 days from Long beach. It was a great trip.

 

We rented a car at each stop. It worked well for us. Research all your options. You won't be able to do everything. Decide on priorities, then make plans that allow for some flexibility. Remember, you do need to get back to the ship on time each day, but at least if you were to miss the ship there are options to get back on board (as long as it is not the last stop). One good thing is that you are still in the United States. If you are nervous, maybe that last day in Hawaii, do a ship excursion.

 

have a great cruise

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