princeton123211

Either Uber or taxi-- depending on which one is faster. They are nearly priced the same-- the taxi has a flat rate of $70 but you pile on some surcharges, tolls, and tips. Ubers are typically $110ish from Midtown. Taxi will be similar. You could look into doing a one way rental-- sometimes these work really well (typically between corporately owned rental agencies of a major provider like Budget, Avis, Hertz, and not as well from their franchise locations). Sometimes the one way drop fee will be prohibitive, but if its less than the $100 Uber/taxi fare it could be worth it purely for convenience.

I would do Horseshoe over Elbow any day-- and its a bit closer to the Dockyard than Elbow is. Someone else might be better up to speed on the cost of beach gear-- we have not been back this year yet.

It does happen from time to time but not very often. Typically most of the skipped ports with NCL were on winter sailings. Calls at Bermuda are most often cancelled for full on hurricanes which this is not-- 20-25mpg gusts. You're also going to Royal Naval Dockyard (which doesn't have a channel to access it) and not Hamilton or St Georges which do have tight channels so that will help. Chances are you'll be able to dock. I agree with you that it doesn't look great over those days, but that being said, weather in Bermuda can change in an instant. It's possible you could get the sun to pop out for a bit. If not, just find someplace fun to hunker down inside-- those swizzles are not going to drink themselves!

They do operate 24 hours but if you do stay in Venice proper have your hotel concierge arrange one the night before-- don't try and wing it at 3:30am for a 6am flight.

You have a ton of choices. First part to look at would be Whalers Village-- there you have Monkeypod, Leilanis, and Hula Grill which are some of the better lunch spots on the beach. Hula Grill might the the closest to a beach bar (there aren't any bars actually on the beach) but it overlooks the water and has a sand floor. Out of the three I would say that Monkeypod is in third place from a food standpoint-- Hula Grill and Leilanis tend to be of a higher quality. Then you have all the options at the hotels which will vary from fairly good to basic resort food. The Westin revamped their bar and it is quite nice. Hui Hui at The Kaanapali Beach Hotel is a favorite of ours and a great spot for lunch. The Sheraton's bar food is very ok. Further down the Hyatt has a fun outdoor bar but again, the food is very basic resort food (burgers, quesadillas, etc) like the Sheratons. Just a tiny bit past the Royal Lahaina is a little bar called Castaways which is a hidden gem. Decent mix of "locals" and resort folks. Would be good for a drink before or after the Luau. I would also consider a stop in Lahaina at some point as you'll be passing through each way and it's worth a stop. You'll find in Wailea that you are a bit more tied to the resorts in terms of food and beverage options than you are in Kaanapali. Wailea is a tiny bit more convenient to Kahului though, so not a bad option on a day you are sailing away. UberX is about $45 and takes a little over 30 minutes (assuming there isn't traffic or pricing surge).

There's only one island and you will be tendering-- there is no dock large enough to accommodate a small cruise ship, let alone a bigger one like NCL Star. You'll be tendering into the town of Oak Bluffs. It is easy to walk to a bunch of shops, restaurants, and attractions in town. For the amount of time you are there it's not really necessary unless you have something specific you want to see outside of Oak Bluffs (Edgartown is a bit larger, but Oak Bluffs is very atmospheric). There are some of the major rental car options out at the airport (which will require a taxi) or there are some more local options that have jeeps and mopeds that are in town. Tour operators are easy to find online. There won't be ones there hawking their services at the tender pier like you would find in the Caribbean-- either reserve one in advance or book a ships excursion if you want something booked ahead.

Agree with this-- while it might slow you down a bit disembarking your first flight, it also means that the airport and Hawaiian will be even more aware of the special circumstances of your tight connection and may even provide something like a courtesy car across the tarmac to your next gate/flight to help expedite it.

This. The water taxi to/from the airport, while expensive, is magic.

Avalon is not really a fishing village-- much more of a resort community. There is not a ton of commercial fishing out of the small harbor which is mostly full of luxury yachts and pleasure craft belonging to folks visiting. I believe Two Harbors, on the other side of the island, may have something more but I don't know that for sure and you won't have enough time to get there and back in the course of a day long port visit. You can rent your own small boat (which I've done but not for fishing) and I believe they do provide gear for a fee, but as far as something more substantial you will most likely be stuck with the very few charter boats that actually offer fishing. My brother in law was the fisher and when we went there a few years back he did have to arrange for his license separately, even though he was going on one of the charter boats. I didn't participate so not sure what he had to go through to get it but I think it was done in advance. Its a partial answer, but since no one else was chiming in I thought I would at least give you some of my limited first hand experience.

Agree with Scott here-- its more of a modern interpretation, the food is very ok (and its pre plated so you don't have choice like you do at others), and it is breathtakingly expensive for what you get. Far, far better values on more traditional luaus than the show they put on at the Royal Hawaiian.

If you've stayed somewhere in Stamford before that you liked I would do the same thing here. The drive from Stamford to the BCT isn't terribly different from the one to the MCT until you get to Manhattan (where you can either drive down the East Side and take the Battery Tunnel over to Brooklyn or you can just stay on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway essentially straight in). Coming in on a Saturday you will not have any significant traffic unless there is some sort of major accident. Yonkers, while certainly doable, would be a little bit out of the way coming down from NH. Stamford would be along your normal route.

Elbow Beach is in fact defunct with no plans to reopen. Most of the furniture has been auctioned off so it's not like this will change anytime soon. I think really the only game in town right now is Coco Reef which is nice- good stretch of beach but a climb in and out via a steep stairway. The other alternative, if you have an overnight stay with the ship, is to book into one of the nicer resorts which we've done and can be a lot of fun. Certainly pricey but enjoyable.

To be fair Veendam, while a lovely ship, really was/isn't that small. Still 57,000 GT. She's small in comparison to most cruise ships today, but typically the older liners that would regularly (and successfully) call on Montreal (vs stopping in Quebec) were around half the size at 22,000 GT like the Saxonia, Carinthia, etc in the 50's. Vistafjord, later Caronia, which we took to Montreal a few times, was also around 25,000 GT. When you get above 50,000 GT its a crapshoot in Montreal. Good news is, if you do get diverted, Uber works quite well in Montreal.

You have to be careful there-- you aren't booking directly with a vendor or operator, so if something goes wrong, the recovery might not be what you hope it will be. You have very little recourse when things go sideways.

To be fair, when you stayed on her in 1978 she was actually managed by Hyatt. Its always depended on what type of room you book-- there are plenty that are pretty bleak and small but the suites, mini suites, and deluxe staterooms are all outside, wood paneled, reasonable bathrooms, and very equivalent to 3-4 star hotels. The rest of the rooms are not quite there.

You can literally go to any bank ATM in Canada with you US debit card and receive the current exchange rate without any markup like you'll most likely get at a ship's pursers desk. We all make choices for convenience-- I get it-- but you do have very easy ways here to save a bit.

To lx200gps' point there is definitely a Hertz (or at least was when we were last there in 2019) in the Westin that is very close to the dock-- just across a parking lot. I would double check their website and definitely make a confirmed reservation ahead of time.

Very walkable-- maybe 10-12 minutes. There is a walkway along the water that takes you right there.

This is getting silly. When's the last time you walked up Kekaa Drive through the golf course from Whalers Village? Big hill. You don't go there for Poke-- shocked you don't know that because you seem confident you know everything else.

I think its the big hill out of Kaanapali coupled with the need to walk along the highway that made me think it was further whereas the walk from Lahaina to Whalers is flat. Regardless-- they both are at least an hour walk with some (not all of it) along some pretty unremarkable stretches of road. Would highly recommend the OP use some form of transportation. Very few folks walk either of these. Kapalua is a different story. During the day up there Uber's can take a bit-- even at night I've had to wait 15 minutes for pickup in Kapalua. From our place in Kaanapali they are fairly available starting around 1-2 in the afternoon and are readily available in the late afternoon and evening. The OP should not have an issue getting one in Lahaina where the most of them are. Which is great, and I'll give you a honk and a wave next time I drive by you, but I think you have to also put it in the perspective of who you are giving advice to. Those of us who are fortunate enough to live there at least part of the year can spend way more time doing things that someone who is only visiting for 1-2 days, and may never come back, might think is a waste of time. If I was on a limited 2 day port call, on a once in a lifetime trip to Maui, and I followed advice and walked 2 hours each way along a highway to go to an unremarkable strip mall for chicken teriyaki (or their dreamy Mahi in lemon caper sauce) I might regret my decision not to hang out on the picturesque beach I had left.

We have very different definitions of walking distance. Walking from Lahaina to Whalers is one thing (which is far for a visitor with limited time-- doable but a chore), but walking from Whalers to Honkowai Okazuya is nuts. Its a taxi or Uber ride but well worth the trip for plate lunch or dinner. The OP needs to know that Uber is readily available if they want something more effiecient than public transportation from Lahaina-- it will be faster in the late afternoon/evening (5-10 minute wait in and around Lahaina) but will be still be an option earlier in the day if you give yourself about 15 minutes. You are not reliant on the bus.

Generally not in the way you might be thinking that you've seen elsewhere in places like the Carribbean. Taxis in Kauai exist but demand far outstrips supply on days with large cruise ships. You are best to arrange for a private tour or book a taxi that advertises tours in advance. Otherwise you might be stuck with an hours long line to get a taxi (which might not be willing or qualified to give a tour anyway).

I have not stayed at this Ace Hotel but have stayed at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan and also the one in Seattle. Since you mentioned you are seniors it is worth mentioning that the brand as a whole is geared towards the very young hipster demographic. The hotels themselves are a bit sparse, louder music pumped through, very small rooms (even for New York and some have bunk beds), boisterous bars right in the lobby etc. They are well run and clean but just know what you are getting into.

Have been there twice on a ship and both times no issues. It's an enclosed harbor that's protected by sea walls on all sides. It's also a ferry port with regularly scheduled ferries operating there. I can't see any reason, short of something catastrophic, that weather would prevent you from stopping there.

We used an app called Blacklane extensively in Italy this past summer and had great experiences. You can book ahead of time in the app and it provides an all in price (with gratuity). It essentially will then book you with a local company/driver that has been vetted by them and meets their quality standards. All communication and billing is done through the app. Couldn't be easier.