Excursions Booked!!! Two weeks to go!

[amylynn68]

I think hubby and I finally planned it all out (Ok.... it was mostly me, but he did point out the ones he liked). It will go a little something like this.

Monday- Get on the boat (very important)

Tuesday- Volcano National Park/Rainbow Falls Tour with Roberts 9:30am-3:30pm

Wednesday- Molokini Crater Snorkel with NCL 8:15am-1:15pm

Thursday- Maui Tropical Plantation/Iao Valley/Maui Ocean Center with Roberts 8:30am-2:30pm

Friday- History of Kona Tour with Roberts 10:00am-2:30pm

Saturday- Luau Kalamaku with NCL 4:15pm-8:15pm

Sunday- Mudbug and Waterfall Safari with NCL 6:45am-12:15pm

Phew....after all that research, I feel like I could write a book on Hawaii without having been there yet. Thats alright, planning is half the fun. If anyone has been on these trips and may have some insight on things like what to bring, or what to look out for... that would be teriffic. I'm hoping we left enough wiggle room for things like shopping, eating, and swimming at the beach. Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to post on these boards after they get back. Very very helpful. :)

Amy

[alikim]

I got 4 more weeks to go. Hope you have fun and when you come back share your experience with us especially on your excursions because you are taking 4 of the excursions I have booked:

 

VNP/Rainbow Falls w/ Roberts

Molokini Crater Snorkel w/ NCL

Maui Tropical Plantation/Iao Valley/Maui Ocean Center w/ Roberts

Luau Kalamaku w/ NCL

 

Have fun!

 

I think hubby and I finally planned it all out (Ok.... it was mostly me, but he did point out the ones he liked). It will go a little something like this.

 

Monday- Get on the boat (very important)

 

Tuesday- Volcano National Park/Rainbow Falls Tour with Roberts 9:30am-3:30pm

 

Wednesday- Molokini Crater Snorkel with NCL 8:15am-1:15pm

 

Thursday- Maui Tropical Plantation/Iao Valley/Maui Ocean Center with Roberts 8:30am-2:30pm

 

Friday- History of Kona Tour with Roberts 10:00am-2:30pm

 

Saturday- Luau Kalamaku with NCL 4:15pm-8:15pm

 

Sunday- Mudbug and Waterfall Safari with NCL 6:45am-12:15pm

 

 

Phew....after all that research, I feel like I could write a book on Hawaii without having been there yet. Thats alright, planning is half the fun. If anyone has been on these trips and may have some insight on things like what to bring, or what to look out for... that would be teriffic. I'm hoping we left enough wiggle room for things like shopping, eating, and swimming at the beach. Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to post on these boards after they get back. Very very helpful. :)

 

Amy

[cal101]

Amylynn68 & Alikim,

 

We leave on Thursday for Honolulu and board the POAm on Saturday. We have also booked 4 of the same excursions.

 

Volcano National Park with Roberts

Plantation & Iao Valley with Roberts

Molokini Snorkel with NCL

Historic Kona with Roberts

 

We also plan to rent a car in the afternoon and drive to Lahania, Helicopter trip with Island Helicopters in Kauai, Wailua River & Fern Grotto with Roberts and Tubing the Ditch with NCL.

 

Hope you both have a great trip and I will try to post a short review as soon as I get back.

[alikim]

Hope you have fun. I wish I was going this Thursday!

 

I waited a whole year....I guess I can wait 1 month.....

 

Will look forward to your review.

 

Have fun!

 

Amylynn68 & Alikim,

 

We leave on Thursday for Honolulu and board the POAm on Saturday. We have also booked 4 of the same excursions.

 

Volcano National Park with Roberts

Plantation & Iao Valley with Roberts

Molokini Snorkel with NCL

Historic Kona with Roberts

 

We also plan to rent a car in the afternoon and drive to Lahania, Helicopter trip with Island Helicopters in Kauai, Wailua River & Fern Grotto with Roberts and Tubing the Ditch with NCL.

 

Hope you both have a great trip and I will try to post a short review as soon as I get back.

[amylynn68]

I will definitely post a review when I get back. It's the least I could do for reading everyone else's reviews. I found some really great stuff thanks to some of you. Have fun on your trip.

[amylynn68]

I'm afraid I wont be able to write a review of the Molokini Crater Snorkel or the Mudbug Waterfall Safari because they are already sold out. I called NCL and they advised me that they sometimes sell out 6 months in advance. I wish my travel agent had told me that. Any other cruise I have ever been on, I just booked my excursions on the ship without a problem. This really stinks because those two excursions were going to be the highlights of our trip. :( For those of you who haven't reserved yet, do it now.

[alikim]

I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't book with NCL. I've booked mine 2 months ago for my August 26th cruise.

 

Anyway, there is another site (Roberts Hawaii), slightly cheaper ($79) than NCL who has the same Molokini Crater Snorkel.

 

http://www.gorabbitgo.com/

 

I've looked at their site and they have 6:30 am and 8:30 am schedule so maybe you can get in with them.

 

Just remember if you cancel with them, they will charge 10% from the total cancellation fee.

 

I'm using Roberts Hawaii for VNP & Rainbow Falls, Haleakala Crater, and Maui Tropical Plantation & Iao Vally & Maui Ocean Center because their rates are ALOT cheaper than NCL.

 

I did book Wailua River & Fern Grotto, Luau Kalamaku, Surfing Lessons, Kona Bay Beach Blast (because it's tender port - guarantee to be off first), Molokini Crater Snorkel, and Grand Circle Island Tour becuas these excursions worked better with our schedules so I was willing to pay the extra.

 

Good Luck.

 

I'm afraid I wont be able to write a review of the Molokini Crater Snorkel or the Mudbug Waterfall Safari because they are already sold out. I called NCL and they advised me that they sometimes sell out 6 months in advance. I wish my travel agent had told me that. Any other cruise I have ever been on, I just booked my excursions on the ship without a problem. This really stinks because those two excursions were going to be the highlights of our trip. :( For those of you who haven't reserved yet, do it now.

[judyf]

I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't book with NCL. I've booked mine 2 months ago for my August 26th cruise.

 

Anyway, there is another site (Roberts Hawaii), slightly cheaper ($79) than NCL who has the same Molokini Crater Snorkel.

 

http://www.gorabbitgo.com/

 

I've looked at their site and they have 6:30 am and 8:30 am schedule so maybe you can get in with them.

 

Just remember if you cancel with them, they will charge 10% from the total cancellation fee.

 

I'm using Roberts Hawaii for VNP & Rainbow Falls, Haleakala Crater, and Maui Tropical Plantation & Iao Vally & Maui Ocean Center because their rates are ALOT cheaper than NCL.

 

I did book Wailua River & Fern Grotto, Luau Kalamaku, Surfing Lessons, Kona Bay Beach Blast (because it's tender port - guarantee to be off first), Molokini Crater Snorkel, and Grand Circle Island Tour becuas these excursions worked better with our schedules so I was willing to pay the extra.

 

Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the tips. I plan to go right from here to the NCL site to book our tubing excursion.

 

alikim did you book your Grand Circle tour ahead? I read on here that you couldn't book the "after cruise tours" till you got on the ship? I guess I should check that out for myself.

 

It's time I stop reading and make some decisions. :eek: LOL

[lvcruises]

Hi judyf, we have already booked our after tour, the Explorer the famous North Shore. I've had it book for a couple of months now. We did all of our excursions thru NCL also. Times were better and we weren't renting a car so getting to some of the locations would have been difficult since most of what we looked at wouldn't pick you up at the port. Costs for most were really close and the ones that weren't either conflicted with times or days in port. Hope this helps.

[alikim]

I booked it ahead as soon as I found out my flight home schedule. Because our flight is at 10:15 pm I debated for long time before deciding on the Grand Circle tour. I would have like to do Pearl Harbor but it would have ended too early and we would have spent over 5 hours at the airport which my boys did not want to do. They rather be in the tour bus...

 

I'm think maybe you couldn't book the "after cruise tours" because they may have bought their own air versus I bought my air with NCL and they did check to make sure my flight was late enough for me to be on the excursion.

 

Once you know your flight home schedule, it won't hurt to try to reserve.

 

Thanks for the tips. I plan to go right from here to the NCL site to book our tubing excursion.

 

alikim did you book your Grand Circle tour ahead? I read on here that you couldn't book the "after cruise tours" till you got on the ship? I guess I should check that out for myself.

 

It's time I stop reading and make some decisions. :eek: LOL

[judyf]

Okay I should be able to book them, as I booked air with NCL and paid a hefty deviation fee to fly in two days ahead. So we already have our flight information.

 

 

Thanks

[Disneyworld]

For anyone reading these posts and thinking they can't book the after cruise tours unless air was booked with them, I booked the Grand Circle tour with NCL for our disembarkation date with no problem and booked my own flight since we had "rewards" and are flying for free!!

[alikim]

Again I guess it depends on who you talked to. NCL really needs to be on the same page.

 

We were so lucky to get the credit back because of the price drop and now I'm reading they are not doing it (only for the new bookings).

 

 

For anyone reading these posts and thinking they can't book the after cruise tours unless air was booked with them, I booked the Grand Circle tour with NCL for our disembarkation date with no problem and booked my own flight since we had "rewards" and are flying for free!!

[lvcruises]

We also booked our own air. Booked it in Dec with Delta. Called the NCL excursions desk and had no problems booking the post excursion. I even changed it after Delta changed our flight times and we fly out later. NCL just confirmed that our flight had to be after 4 and it was. I have made lots of excursion changes and the NCL excursion desk has been great!