NCL Hawaii cruistour opinions

[nina_930]

I am booking for my mom (73) and myself.  Neither of us has been to Hawaii before.  I am just curious from people who have done the cruisetour route before what were your thoughts?  How was the hotel?  How was the tours?  Would you book it again or book it independently if you were to go back and do it again?  I am pretty comfortable booking things on my own, but would rather not have the hassle of renting a car.  I'd appreciate any pros/cons you encountered.  Thanks in advance!

[trish1c]

We did Hawaii all on out own, renting a car in each port.  It was very easy & no hassle.  

POA is not like other cruises. The ship itself is small & kind of sad.  Fortunately you are on board to eat & sleep.  Literally we woke up, got breakfast & grabbed some fruit to take along.  Then we toured all day, came back showered ate dinner & went to bed.  Even if you want to stay up, there are very few other passengers out & about.  It's all about getting to tour Hawaii the next day.  

[FenixRising]

10 hours ago, nina_930 said:

I am booking for my mom (73) and myself.  Neither of us has been to Hawaii before.  I am just curious from people who have done the cruisetour route before what were your thoughts?  How was the hotel?  How was the tours?  Would you book it again or book it independently if you were to go back and do it again?  I am pretty comfortable booking things on my own, but would rather not have the hassle of renting a car.  I'd appreciate any pros/cons you encountered.  Thanks in advance!

 

I was on the cruisetour in March 2019. I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The hotel was good. Very large campus so you can get lost easily but it's very close to shopping and restaurants. The worst part was dragging your luggage from the bus terminal to the checkin desk and then around the campus to find the tower where your room is. The tours were good also. You do spend the whole day at Pearl Harbor so it does make for a very long day. I would have liked to have had more time to spend at the Polynesian Cultural Center but I got to see most of everything. The Kualoa Ranch tour was okay. I thought it was too long for what it was but you have to take the good with the bad. If I were to go back, I would book independently for the only reason that I have been there already. If I were going for the first or even second time, the cruisetour is a good introduction.

 

Hope you have a wonderful vacation.

[morrisretired]

You might check tour excursions through Robert's Hawaii. They have a page to put your cruise ship and dates sailing, and it shows what they offer at each port. Roberts Hawaii Tours are very similar to the NCL cruise ship yours, only cheaper. (They used to do the NCL ship tours years ago, but had a disagreement.) The more tours booked through Roberts the cheaper the price. We were well satisfied with them. Even did a Pearl Harbor / City Tour after disembarking cruise ship, and got dropped off at our hotel late that afternoon, before they took the others to the air port.  

[MSUcruisers]

If you have a full day available before or after the cruise,  I recommend going to the  Polynesian Cultural Center.  www.polynesia.com   The center will provide transportation from your Waikiki hotel for a reasonable price.  Several people from our  cruise stayed at Hilton Waikiki Beach.  I recommend Johnny cab  for transportation to and from the airport and for transportation around Honolulu. www.johnnycabhi.com