cwms

POA wants you off the ship pretty much no later than 9.  Can’t say positively, but I’m  sure people were leaving before 7:30, maybe even 7.

On 4/13/2022 at 2:34 PM, CruiseCriticAaron said:

This is very much a return-to-service cruise and they're definitely still working out the kinks, which does include some venues being short-staffed.

 

I haven't heard anything about crew walking off the ship in Honolulu. I'd be very cautious about spreading information that can't be confirmed.

Friends of ours on the ship were told by another crew member about crew walking off the ship.  I’m sure it was only a couple at most.  Point is, the ship was understaffed and many they had were new and somewhat inexperienced.  Things were getting  better towards the end of the cruise.

The main dining hall never had more than 20% capacity and that was only on deck 5 level.  They never even used deck 6, so basically, the main dining never saw more than 10% capacity and still had service issues.  I’m sure things will improve on upcoming cruises.

Good news is the ship is only 50% capacity.   Bad news is the ship is understaffed and those working are over worked.  This has not been a smooth sailing and we are onboard with friends who have sailed POA twice before and they are not happy either. NCL has a lot of work ahead to iron out the problems they are having.   Can’t confirm but we heard some workers quit and walked off the ship before leaving Honolulu.

On 3/5/2022 at 10:44 AM, Travelexpert35 said:

I saw that CVS Long Drugs at Ala Moana Shopping Centre does testing. You may want to check them out.

Thanks.  I’ll look into it
 

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

I'm certain the OP is referring to NCL's requirements to board the ship, not Hawaii's rules.

Yes I know about 3/25, but this is NCL’s requirement, not the state

Going on POA on 4/9.  Any chance they will kill the requirement for a negative Covid test for fully vaccinated passengers?  If not, we will have to find someplace in Honolulu to get the test as it can’t be more than 2 days before departure and we are there for 3 days plus a travel day ahead of time.

Getting on Pride of America next month and have to have a negative PCR test no more than 2 days before departure.  Will be staying in Waikiki for a couple days ahead of the cruise.  Any suggestions on getting the test?  Thanks.

Thanks

Ok, here’s my question…

I have a current passport book and I want to get a passbook card to use as back up and additional ID.

Working on the application for the card, they say I have to send in my current book with the application.  I have upcoming travel that I need my book for and to be honest, I really don’t want to put my passport book in the mail.

Anyway I can get a card without sending in my book?  I’ve searched the gov website with no clear answer.

I agree...do not rent a scooter.  Roads are very narrow, hilly and winding.  Traffic very heavy with lots of buses, trucks and drivers who will ride on your bumper.  As mentioned, they also drive on the wrong side of the road.  Even riding the bus is scary.  Get a daily transportation pass that covers buses and ferries...best way to get around the island. 

To give you an idea of how narrow the roads are...buses do not have mirrors on the left side.  Reason why, the would be knocked off in the first five minutes of driving.  They drive that close to walls, posts, signs, etc. mirrors don't stand a chance of surviving

On 5/8/2019 at 9:58 PM, Curious about cruises said:

If we dock by 8:30, can we get to St. George and then to Hamilton in a day?  I was thinking about trying to catch the 9 a.m. ferry to St. George and then catch the 1 p.m. or later back to the dockyard.  Then either get back on dock for a bite and take the ferry to Hamilton for Harbor Nights or just get straight on ferry to Hamilton and try to get to the zoo before 4:00.

 

We will be docked from Wednesday morning, so hope to use the ferry on Wednesday, and use a scooter all day Thursday, and then explore the dockyard on Friday morning before we leave.  Does this sound like a good plan.  My husband is a very experienced motorcyclist, and we plan to avoid city driving during 'rush hours.'  Thanks!

Get the daily bus/ferry pass to get around the island.  Do NOT, unless you are an experienced biker, rent a motorcycle.  Roads are hilly, narrow and winding.  Traffic is very heavy and loaded with big trucks and buses.  It is not a fun ride.  You are also driving on the wrong side of the road.  Wife and I did rent one, got about 3 miles before we almost lost it.  Turned around and returned it and got the bus pass.  Even riding the buses is scary.

We were there just last week.  Took the ship's excursion and we made up just about everyone on the beach.  We had a beach guy to provide the chairs, noodles, soft drinks, rum punch, water, chex mix.

Beach was beautiful.

The ride to/from is scary as the roads are hilly, windy and very narrow.  On the way back, we had a minor accident where the mirrors crashed as we were so close to oncoming traffic.  Keystone Kops finally showed up after 45 minutes and were basically worthless.

Thanks broberts, I see it now.  It used to be very obvious, not so much now

So why are the individual ship short cuts no longer available?  This used to be easy...no longer.

ok, we went on a hurricane shortened New England - Canada cruise on Grandeur. Instead of 9 nights, we only got 5. To encourage passengers not to cancel, we were told we would get 50% of our cruise fare credited to our onboard credit account and 50% credit to be applied to a future cruise. Whatever we didn't spend in our onboard account, we would get credited back to our credit card on file.

We got back on the 22nd. How long should we wait for these credits to show up?

Just got back from our hurricane abbreviated cruise. Supposed to be 9 days, 5 ports. Turned into 5 days, 1 port. Ship was less than 1/2 full. I believe it holds 2200+ passengers. Only had 1019. No lines for anything, PLENTY of deck chairs, lots of empty tables in the MDR, staff standing around with little to do. Actually, it was very relaxing with so few people on board.

Instead of sailing to Bermuda, Grandeur went to the Caribbean and stayed 2 or 3 extra days.

GOS was supposed to be back early Thursday. Didn't make it back to port until Sunday night. We were supposed to leave Thursday afternoon for a 9 night, 5 port cruise. Now we are only getting 5 nights, 1 port. We get into Halifax at 12:30 wed, leave 8:30 thurs am

We just drove by the port around 6. From a distance it looked like both ships were slowly passing each other. I'm pretty sure neither was at the dock

Ok, we're leaving Monday the 17th for Halifax. Was supposed to be a 9 day, 5 port, New England/Canada cruise, but because of the hurricane, it has been shortened to a 5 day, one port cruise. Can we expect the same entertainment they would normally give on their 5 night cruises or are we going to get short changed?

Not real happy about everything but we certainly don't blame RC for making these changes. They are giving us some nice financial incentives to make the trip.

Supposed to be on GOS on Thursday for New England. We understand that we will hear by 7 tonight (Tues) what the new itiniary will be.

We may still go or maybe not. We will see what they say before making a decision.

I'm wondering if they will cancel New England completely and make a run to Bermuda instead. We love Bermuda but will probably cancel as we were just there 2 years ago.

I agree that a full cancellation is extremely slim and we plan to go no matter what. I guess the worst that could happen (other than the ship sinking) is one or two ports are skipped and we spend more time at sea.

I do remember watching videos of Anthem a year or two ago trying to ride out a storm. It was ugly, and Anthem is a whole lot bigger than GOS.

OK, we scheduled to take Grandeur to New England/Canada next Thursday. There's a decent chance that Florence will be hitting the middle east coast at that time.

If that happens, what does RC do? Cancel? Re-route? etc.

so what else is open for lunch on embarkation day besides Windjammer?

Going to New England in Sept

Just go. The Baltimore terminal has a reputation for easy in - easy out and the terminal staff are good people to work with. We cruised out of there a few years ago and we had a passport issue. Our fault, not the terminal. The people there were very helpful in getting it resolved.

Going out of there again Sept. 13th. Looking forward to it.