11 Day NCL

[Laszlo]

Wife and I are looking at the 11 day land / sea cruise NCL offers. Wondering if anyone has done it and what you thought? Its seem overpriced but I also like that idea of letting someone else drive while I get to look out the window. The other option is flying in 4-5 days before a 7 day cruise and doing things on our own

[CruiserBruce]

Highly recommend doing the land tour on your own. Far better way to see the islands.

[Laszlo]

Thanks, the only reason I was thinking of doing it was it would be nice not to have to drive.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

Thanks, the only reason I was thinking of doing it was it would be nice not to have to drive.

Guess it depends on what you are planning on doing, on what island and your mobility. We have been to Hawaii over 30 times, mostly on Maui, but have visited all the islands at least 3 times each. We have been to Oahu 5 times, and have never had a car there. Walking, public transit, taxi (now Uber) and pre-arranged tours have all filled the transport needs very well.

 

Note, cars ARE pretty much required on the other islands.

[Laszlo]

Just now, CruiserBruce said:

Guess it depends on what you are planning on doing, on what island and your mobility. We have been to Hawaii over 30 times, mostly on Maui, but have visited all the islands at least 3 times each. We have been to Oahu 5 times, and have never had a car there. Walking, public transit, taxi (now Uber) and pre-arranged tours have all filled the transport needs very well.

 

Note, cars ARE pretty much required on the other islands.

 

Thanks for the info, this would be our first trip there. Just trying to get the most bang for the buck. I don't mind driving, but I would like to be on one trip I can look out the window at the sights Lol

[pizzalady1]

Have you actually priced out the difference in prices vs the individual cost of the cruise, hotel and the tours? If you google the tour names, you will find companies that offer the same tours with pickup at the hotels, so still no need to drive anywhere. I did a quickie comparison and it looks like the savings would be $500-700. That would buy you an extra day or two and a lot of meals.

 

If you do the 11 day, double check the Polynesian Cultural Center tour with  NCL. If it does not include the evening show, you would really miss out. 

[Laszlo]

On 10/16/2020 at 5:51 PM, pizzalady1 said:

Have you actually priced out the difference in prices vs the individual cost of the cruise, hotel and the tours? If you google the tour names, you will find companies that offer the same tours with pickup at the hotels, so still no need to drive anywhere. I did a quickie comparison and it looks like the savings would be $500-700. That would buy you an extra day or two and a lot of meals.

 

If you do the 11 day, double check the Polynesian Cultural Center tour with  NCL. If it does not include the evening show, you would really miss out. 

Thanks for the information

[princeton123211]

On 10/14/2020 at 9:34 PM, Laszlo said:

The other option is flying in 4-5 days before a 7 day cruise and doing things on our own

As others have said-- this is a much better option. I took a look at the cruise tour you mentioned and it is VERY heavy on Oahu which frankly isn't the most picturesque island. I think if you did a 7 day stand alone cruise to get an overview and then spent a few days in Maui on the beach and then flew back to Honolulu for a night or two to cover Pearl Harbor and other tourist spots on Oahu you would be a lot happier. 

 

Even if you stayed mainly on Oahu and copied most of the activities they offer you could do it for less and have more personal time to yourself than doing it through NCL's tour. 

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

As others have said-- this is a much better option. I took a look at the cruise tour you mentioned and it is VERY heavy on Oahu which frankly isn't the most picturesque island. I think if you did a 7 day stand alone cruise to get an overview and then spent a few days in Maui on the beach and then flew back to Honolulu for a night or two to cover Pearl Harbor and other tourist spots on Oahu you would be a lot happier. 

 

Even if you stayed mainly on Oahu and copied most of the activities they offer you could do it for less and have more personal time to yourself than doing it through NCL's tour. 

Thanks for the insight

[ncmrs]

Hello,  We are doing the 7 day NCL cruise in May, I hope. I looked into doing the land portion with NCL, but I thought it was way too expensive. Also I wasn't so impressed with their choices. The cruise leaves on Sat, we fly in on Wed. I am planning our own itinerary for much less.

[Silver Sweethearts]

3 hours ago, ncmrs said:

Hello,  We are doing the 7 day NCL cruise in May, I hope. I looked into doing the land portion with NCL, but I thought it was way too expensive. Also I wasn't so impressed with their choices. The cruise leaves on Sat, we fly in on Wed. I am planning our own itinerary for much less.

 

Do realize that the NCL excursion list (at least for Maui) is unfortunately out of date due to some businesses permanently closing or changing what they offer.  For instance, NCL offers a Best of Maui tour that visits the Maui Tropical Plantation.  The Plantation is no longer in business. You are smart to be doing your own homework.

[ncmrs]

Thanks, I am wondering what will become of the famous Hawaiian luaus. Certainly standards will have to be changed, such as no more buffets and less people. Any thoughts? 

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, ncmrs said:

Thanks, I am wondering what will become of the famous Hawaiian luaus. Certainly standards will have to be changed, such as no more buffets and less people. Any thoughts? 

Well, we will find out in the next month or so, as Hawaii is welcoming tourists again starting Oct 15.

[ncmrs]

According to their website, Feast at LELE is opening Oct 31. Looks like price is $148.

[princeton123211]

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Well, we will find out in the next month or so, as Hawaii is welcoming tourists again starting Oct 15.

We came in the first wave-- to see a bunch of family on Maui that we haven't seen since March and have been here since the 17th. The Covid testing 72 hours to departure was fine (we used who Hawaiian Airlines partnered with but there are other options). You get a QR code for each flight you have (ie separate QR code if you are connecting to Maui from Honolulu). It wasn't terribly well organized but you can tell they are trying. I have to imagine the testing regime we went through would be impossible to implement for a 2000-3000 passenger cruise ship unless there were massive improvements in technology and turn around times. 

 

Very little is open compared to previous visits, although a few new things keep popping up every day. Restaurants on the beach in Kaanapali are slowly coming back-- but only 2-3 are open when there used to be a ton. 2-3 resorts on Kaanapali are open in limited ways with the Sheraton, Westin, and Kaanapali Beach Hotel closed. Wailea appears to be pretty shut down still with none of their big resorts operating. The Montage in Kapalua opened, and was very quiet when we went to dinner there, but the Ritz in Kapalua remains closed. 

 

There is constant talk of shutting down the island again should things spike. We have a unique perspective in that we are visitors but obviously are family are local-- and the locals aren't super thrilled about everyone piling back. They are already seeing a major spike in Lanai and the rumor is that island will shut down for a bit again. 

[CruiserBruce]

@princeton12321, glad to hear you are back...will monitor your info closely. We hope to get over to Maui the first week of December. Closely watching the Lanai situation...hoping it doesn't get worse, but given the small population on Lanai and it's limited resources, it is already pretty bad.

 

From what I am hearing the Wailea (we will be there) resorts will start up around Nov 1. Imagine the restaurants will follow about the same time.

[princeton123211]

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Closely watching the Lanai situation...hoping it doesn't get worse, but given the small population on Lanai and it's limited resources, it is already pretty bad.

It is getting worse. We spoke with some people and thankfully most of the 65 or so that have gotten it have not been seriously ill so far but they are air lifting a few to Honolulu who need more intensive treatment. Lanai is not a place I would ever be comfortable getting ill no matter what, let alone Covid. Most of the sick were locals and it stemmed from family gathering or gatherings-- I couldn't tell exactly but thats whats being said here. The two FS resorts, while with sparse guests, have not been majorly impacted and continue to operate. We had considered jumping over for a night or two but put a stop to those plans once the spike happened.

 

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

From what I am hearing the Wailea (we will be there) resorts will start up around Nov 1. Imagine the restaurants will follow about the same time.

I had heard Nov 20th for the Four Seasons Wailea. The Grand Wailea looks to be ready to open but the Fairmont looks to be under fairly large renovation still with large barriers at the entrance. Hotel Wailea up in the hills is open now and so is their restaurant to the public. The shopping area in Wailea is open in a very limited way-- sort of like what Whalers Village in Kaanapali is right now. The most baffling thing is that the ABC Store is closed but Louis Vuitton is open-- makes no sense whatsoever. 

[CruiserBruce]

@princeton123211, Grand Wailea is scheduled for Nov 13, at 50% capacity. 

[princeton123211]

On 10/25/2020 at 4:23 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Grand Wailea is scheduled for Nov 13, at 50% capacity. 

Glad to hear that-- from what we saw it will be the first major hotel to open up there, although the shopping plaza adjacent was mostly open when we drove through last week.

 

Back on the mainland now. Leaving is a lot easier procedurally than going there-- no hoops to jump through with testing or checking in with folks. The airport at OGG sprung to life compared to our arrival on the 17th. The Starbucks and one of the shops in the central atrium were now open and had been closed when we arrived. They even have Sammy's bar open (which I found weird that they were not using the outdoor space but rather seating inside). 

 

My takeaway to anyone who cares is that, if you know a particular island well from previous visits, you'll find the things you enjoy doing but you'll have to dig a bit to find them. I would think though that it would be a lousy first experience and impression for someone who hasn't been before. 

 

Im sure that will change when/if things continue to open up in the short/medium term. 

[CruiserBruce]

@princeton123211, I just saw today the Wailea Resort (Marriott) is opening Nov 1, and Japanese tourists can start arriving Nov 6. 

 

Thanks for the info. Glad you were able to go, and hopefully all went well.