Questions about NCL air package to Hawaii

[jaxterry]

We purchased our cruise with the air to Hawaii for POA departing May 20. We wonder if we will be flown to Honolulu May 19 since the air takes so long (from Jacksonville, FL) - our TA said we didn't have a choice. Also, coming back, flights seem to take overnight. Can you share your experience?

[mikedw]

Actually if you leave early in the morning, you'll get into Honolulu early to mid afternoon. Coming back most of the flights are overnight. Hope this helps.

 

Michael

[PDAZ]

Well we came from Phx so we didn't have nearly the flight that you will, but left Phx at 5:50 am and arrived in Honolulu around 11:30 am (had a stopover in LA and the time change). Left Honolulu at 8:30 pm and arrived back in Phx at 9:30 am the following day (stopover in LA... time change). Never again!

 

Actually the last time I sailed NCL, I booked air through them and swore I wouldn't do it again, but I'm old and I forget:rolleyes:

 

Go Jaguars!

[megessey]

Remember you will gain 5 or 6 hours (can't remember exact count) so if you leave at 8 am you'll get into Honolulu at 2 or so. So I'm pretty sure you'll get a sameday flight.

[singerdance]

i am going to POH on 4/16, booked flight with NCL, leave Newark (NJ) at 7:30 am connecting to chicago (lay over 1 hr ) to Hawaii at 2:30pm same day(Hawaii is 6 hr behind us). I would say next time i will book air myself so u have all yhe control, but the benefit is if your flight cancel or delay they will try try to get u to the next port or hold the boat

[Maxxie]

We are leaving for Hawaii in 2 weeks. Our flight leaves Richmond, VA at 6:00 am with a layover in Atlanta, arriving in Honolulu at 1:57 pm (same day). Our return flight leaves Honolulu at 3:30 pm and arrives in Richmond (via Atlanta) at 9:00 am the next day. We are arriving in Honolulu a few days early to beat the jet lag.

[Bettyboop66]

Singerdance

We are sailing on the PofAm in May and have also booked our air through NCL. When did you find out what time your flight was? We have made final pymt but have not received and flight info or travel docs. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that NCL emails travel docs. Thanks for the help.

Betty

[sun-lover]

They told me the other day that all docs would be e-mailed 14 days prior to departure. Unfortunately it would be nice to make plans before then!

[Don Haynes]

Yes there is jet lag when flying through that many time zones. When flying eastward its best to fly at night, sleeping most of the way, saving a hotel stay. While flying westward, its best to fly early in the morning, sleeping most of the way. Better would be to arrive a day or two earlier in either direction to get accustomed to the new time zone. Jet lag is a killer with your inside body clock.

[Gon2hwe]

We are flying from Atlanta to HNL 9:45 Am getting there at 1:20 PM. flight time aprox. 8 1/2 hrs. You gain time going over and lose time coming back.

[ROCruiser]

You won't know your flight schedule until you get your docs, which for us was a month before the cruise. Our flight is cutting too close to sailing time, IMO. We won't get to HNL until almost 4pm! Now, I can't do anything about it.:eek:

[PDAZ]

I've been on a couple of cruises where the departure was held up to wait for late-arriving passengers (including the QEII that was held up waiting for passengers arriving on the Orient Express -- must be a tough life!). I think that's the main benefit (ok, the only benefit) of booking air through the cruise line -- they'll wait for you as long as you're not overly delayed.

[jaxterry]

We did contact our TA today and he said he will change to the day before for $100 total for 2 of us - wondering if that would be smart, as we found decent hotel prices in Honolulu and Waikiki at hotwire and priceline? We were also afraid that we might not have time to do much in Oahu if we don't come in a day before. Wanted to at least go to the Arizona memorial.

 

Do other TA's charge to do this? (We had originally asked for day before air and he had said no, so we wouldn't really be changing what we originally requested, so why the additional charge?) We don't want to nickel and dime this - $100 is not much, but wondering about the best decision.

[Bettyboop66]

We got our travel documents emailed yesterday and we don't cruise until 5/26. I am so ready to go. We are flying out of Atlanta at 9:45 also. I was surprised to see that we got a nonstop flight. I'm having mixed emotions about it. I am happy that we will get there without having to worry about our luggage. But that is going to be one LONG flight. But totally worth it to get to see Hawaii. If I remember right from when we booked it is the cruise line charging the money not the travel agent. They told us that to make "requests" when booking air through NCL it will cost $50.00 per person. We did not make any requests because we are flying in on Thursday for a Saturday departure. If you can manage it, I think it is worth it to fly early to get used to the time change and see more of Hawaii.

[aldewitt]

We almost never book cruise air fare. The cruises buy up blocks of seats on commercial carriers, and they use a "just in time" method of booking such that for a cruise leaving June 3, they have you come in the morning or afternoon of June 3. That means, of course, that a bad thunderstorm can have you catching the boat on the next island.

 

We always book our air fare at the time we book the cruise and we always fly in at least a day ahead. With Hawaii, we always fly in 4 to 5 days ahead and stay either at the Hilton Hawaiian Village or the Alana Doubletree. These are marvelous places to stay in advance of the cruise and see a little more of Honolulu. If you don't go in early, or stay late, you miss the best part of Hawaii (Oahu) or are so limited that it makes no sense to go.

 

Honolulu is more than the capital. Its the social and cultural center of the islands. We love the extra time there. Next time, book your own air fare on Orbitz or Expedia and go that way. We do, and this time we're paying about $700 round trip from Kansas City. We think that's pretty good, given that Sidestep (where you can check all the fares) has fares from $624 to 1024. We pick no more than two hops (MCI to Denver, and Denver to HNL). The more takeoffs and landings, the more likelihood you are to run into weather or other delays.

 

I sure hope your air fare connections work out well for you. In our experiences the time difference (5 hours) almost always means you leave early AM from the mainland and arrive mid afternoon (3 pm) at HNL. Also, going home, you have an 8 to 10 hour flight. I advise taking an Ambien and sleeping as much as you can on the way back.

 

Have a great time.:)

[cruizinwithkids]

We booked through NCL because just for the cruise the kids will miss three days of school so as much as we would love to we can't leave ahead of time. Since we are going in the winter out of Boston just before February school vacation week, we figured this was out safest choice.

[singerdance]

I got all the E document 4 weeks before cruise,in there u will find air, cruise boarding passes info and tags for all luggage, i really want to go 1 day ahead, but my husband say no, said we will be there some other time again to see more.

[aldewitt]

I got all the E document 4 weeks before cruise,in there u will find air, cruise boarding passes info and tags for all luggage, i really want to go 1 day ahead, but my husband say no, said we will be there some other time again to see more.

 

Please don't take any disrespect from this, but your husband is wrong. For 13 years before I became an attorney, I worked at the bedside in hospitals all around the country. No one expects to go into the hospital with a heart attack, or a gallbladder attack, or something else, and come out on a slab. Unfortunately, people do it every day. There is no tomorrow; only today and a promise that you might see tomorrow.

 

The idea that you'll do it later is seductive, but ultimately, its a bad idea. Plans change. People change. Lives change. I believe you should do it when you can. Those memories are precious. Ask anyone who's ever lost a loved one; they'll tell you that no one on their deathbed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work.