NORWEGIAN O'AHU EXPLORER CRUISETOUR

[vadersprincess12]

Has anyone done this O'ahu Explorer Cruisetour with Norwegian?  Wondering if it was a good representation of Hawaii.  Please share your experience.  TIA.

[UDPT86]

My spouse and I did the NCL Cruisetour in September 2022 and loved it!! It was very organized and well scheduled. The land portion was first and we enjoyed spending time on Wakiki beach and in Honolulu in the evening. The motor coach to Dole plantation, Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center was timely and the the tour director was informative. The land hotel was nice.

We were brought directly to ship to embark. We really enjoyed spending 1.5 days on each island without needing to take a plane . The beach in Maui was beautiful. We really loved sunrise at Haleakala and visiting Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. Kauai is beautiful- make sure to visit Waimea Canyon . The beach is walkable from the dock there.

Pride of America is not as updated as ships like Encore and Joy and not as large but there are no sea days and you we be visiting the ports every day. It is the only US registered ship visiting Hawaii. A balcony is a good option for the last day while cruising the coast of Kauai. NCL did a great job arranging our buy one get one flights and they were at a great discount from what we would have been arrange on our own close to the cruise date. We had a direct flight to and 1 connection returning from our east coast airport. 
Hope this helps!

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

We did that last May and it was awesome. Our 1st time to Hawaii & have already said we will do it again some time. There were just so many options for excursions, we could do something completely different & see things we didn't experience the 1st time.

[Ellis1138]

One thing to note is that, after this June, the Pride of America will not be cruising the Na Pali coast as part of the itinerary. So, if you do go on it, you'll need to book your own excursion via helicopter or by boat/catamaran. 

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

19 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

One thing to note is that, after this June, the Pride of America will not be cruising the Na Pali coast as part of the itinerary. So, if you do go on it, you'll need to book your own excursion via helicopter or by boat/catamaran. 

Oh boo!  That was incredible!  How can they stop that part of the cruise?

[Ellis1138]

3 hours ago, Go2SeaTheWorld said:

Oh boo!  That was incredible!  How can they stop that part of the cruise?

Okay so the NCL spokesperson line says something about carbon footprint. I find that to be dubious because a) They are a cruise line, which is a high carbon footprint company and b) It's actually less of a carbon footprint for the 2000 people on the boat to all see the coast at one time versus having to all go on bunches of helicopters, boats and cars to see the Na Pali coast. 

 

One of the people who just sailed about a month ago said she talked to one of the crew. The crew member said the real reason is that the very old Pride of America engines are not able to handle it anymore. A combination of needing a certain speed to get to the coast in time, plus the added strain as every passenger on the ship goes to be on the port side. 

 

I find that one more believable and am more understanding about that as the reason. 

 

But in every cruise contract, no matter what line, is the term that the itinerary can change without any notice. And as the passenger, I'll adjust. We intend to take a helicopter over Kauai, since it's the most time efficient way to see the coast and the ONLY way to see Mount Waialeale. (And I've been on the Kalalau Trail and also a catamaran around the coast, so...)