princeton123211

Give us a range you consider moderate. Given you are from New York, for the most part pricing in Honolulu will be on par with non holiday hotel pricing in Manhattan.

Always tip in local currency-- you could always tip more because it doesn't cost you as much. By tipping in US Dollars you are requiring someone to go and exchange that for their own currency. Why would US currency be widely accepted in Canada? There are stores that do but they will rake you over the coals as they can set their own arbitrary exchange rates-- its generally a horrible deal and an easy way they take advantage of tourists. If you don't want to exchange a bunch of cash just use a credit card that doesn't have international transaction fees.

We golfed an afternoon at The K Club about 45 minutes away from Dun Laoghaire which we did with a car service. They rent clubs for both Arnold Palmer courses on property. Easy to book tee times online.

Advice, especially if you are there for an overnight, is to get out of the Dockyard and go see the island. Hamilton is an easy ferry ride as is St George and both have lots to do and lots of charm. Its not going to be beach weather but a nice walk along one of the beaches could bee nice. Lots to do beyond the tourist shopping mall they've made the Dockyard into.

And maybe a tiny bit less of a bar/drinking culture...most days.

Both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are administered by the National Park Service and admission is free-- you're just paying for the transportation to and from both islands. You can upgrade the Ellis Island experience to a hard hat tour which will take you to the other side of the island which isn't open to the general public-- this is where the island's hospital complex is which is in slight ruin having been abandoned for decades. Frankly the Statue of Liberty is more impressive from the outside than inside and, from a time savings perspective, might not be worth getting off the ferry there. I know you had mentioned doing both the normal Circle Line tour, their evening cruise, and also now Ellis Island-- all of these will be very redundant. If I were considering all three, and wanted to physically go to Ellis Island, I would drop the evening tour and head into the city and grab drinks or dinner instead. You'll end up getting great views of lower Manhattan on both the normal Circle Line trip and ferry to Ellis Island. You could but just grabbing a taxi or an Uber will be faster and a bit easier. I would book tickets in advance just in case, although there usually is decent last minute availability.

And you should go see them-- just stay in Santa Monica. Hollywood strip isn't far away and an easy car ride or Uber. You'll be a lot happier with yourself coming home to the beach at night.

Also you'll see in more touristy areas like Murano (glass) and Burano (lace) in Venice-- the art of the hard sell is alive and well. A representative will follow you relentlessly. Just be aware going in and be ready to walk away.

You've actually been given good advice-- they major tourists sites in LA are nowhere near the cruise ports of San Pedro or Long Beach. Assuming you are flying into LAX-- West Hollywood/Santa Monica are not far away and are good bases for touring. Just jump in an Uber the day of your cruise and head down to the port. West Hollywood will put you near a lot of the main tourist things although it is sort of like staying in the LA version of Times Square which personally is a negative for me. Santa Monica is great-- nice beach town with a ton of things that are walkable (not a common thing in LA) with great restaurants and nice selection of hotel options from midrange to high end. If budget is less of a concern there are also some great options to stay in Beverly Hills which will be a very high end residential feel compared to the other two.

You're in the grey area here of being late enough that theres a chance but not late enough that its a sure bet. The issue you're going to have is that LGA is a business commuter's airport and will be very busy on a Thursday morning. Do you have TSA PreCheck? That would be a major help here. If the ship arrives at or before 8 and quickly is cleared you could reasonably be pier side with self disembark and through immigration by 8:30-45. Figure you're in a car by 9am. It's a 30 minute trip without traffic-- and there will be traffic on a Thursday morning rush hour. You are realistically looking at 10-10:15 curbside at LGA. And then it's going to all come down to how fast you can get through security hence the question on PreCheck-- that could be the difference if there are long lines. Physically possible but everything needs to go perfectly. Since your airline moved you, do they fly out of JFK or EWR to your destination at a more convenient time? Could be worth looking into.

MCT is Manhattan Cruise Terminal and will put you right in the middle of Midtown Manhattan-- an excellent jumping off point for touring and seeing the main sites. Its a bewilderingly large city, not unlike London, and you could spend your entire life there and not do the same thing twice. What interests you? I'm sure a few of us can make a few recommendations as to what would fit within that and what would be a good way to get to and from. I generally have used the Fodors guide in the past but there are also plenty of resources available online. You can take the Circle Line for a tour all the way around the island of Manhattan and the dock for that is essentially adjacent to the MCT. A "hop on hop off" bus might be another way to get an overview of things without spending a ton of time doing so. Manhattan has some of the great restaurants (and bars) of the world so plenty of options for popping in and out as you tour. Again if you could share what sort of things interest you it would be helpful in making some recs.

Not a perfect science but generally fairly short-- the cruise ships can and usually get in reasonably close if the weather cooperates. I would say 15 minutes at most.

That sounds about right-- we haven't done a ships Hoho tour but have done the standard Dublin Hoho tour (which I'm sure is the same one) and its about 90 minutes but there are usually lines to board busses at each stop so will slow things down. Keep in mind that later in the day the bus can get hopelessly snarled in traffic-- we sat for a while a few years back and actually got out and walked. Keep in mind that Dublin is fairly compact-- you're not physically covering a on of ground with the bus. If you're using the bus as transportation to a handful of specific places, you might be better served just walking or using a taxi. If you want the full city overview then the bus isn't a bad way to do it. The transfer back to Dún Laoghaire is NCL specific (the HoHo is shared with non cruise folks but the transfers are specifically for you). I would guess they would tell you a meet point and last departure. But again-- buffer yourself a little. Dublin's roads are small for a cities and traffic becomes very real as the day gets on. I would not cut it close getting back to the port transfer. Obviously once your'e on the transfer back you're fine even if you did hit traffic.

Generally New England doesn't include the State of New York. It includes Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The "Canada/New England" board under "Ports of Call" is where most of this would be most appropriate from a port perspective. Or also a roll call for your particular cruise.

You have some fun hotels booked for your trip. Make sure to grab a drink on the roof in Athens and then another one in the TWA Constellation at JFK. Enjoy!

Old Town is nice but if I had 1-2 days to tour DC I would stay more centrally to the downtown core. You actually waste an enormous amount of time doing this-- all trains on this routing through to Alexandria have a nearly 45 minute layover at Washington Union Station. You could Uber from Union Station to Alexandria a lot quicker.

I believe it went even further than that-- it restricts ships to 1000 people total, which would include crew as well. So the number of crew necessary for tendering operations would eat into the number of passengers allowed to disembark.

With only two days I would pick one or the other and there is far more to do in Washington DC, by a long shot. You're just going to stretch yourself thin doing the two cities and spend more time in transit than you will seeing things. In Baltimore you would want to stay in either the Inner Harbor or Fell's Point. Baltimore has a small tourist area which both of these areas essentially encompass. Be thoughtful of your surroundings in Baltimore-- unlike DC there are areas that are flat out dangerous and they are much closer to the tourist area than you would think. DC is very neighborhoody and you have a wide variety of choices in where to stay. Personally I like staying in either Georgetown or Foggy Bottom area but there are hotels that are very close to the National Mall and Smithsonian which might be more convenient. If you have a budget in mind would be happy to recommend a few places in either city.

Maui, especially with an overnight, is super easy to do on your own-- no need for an organized tour unless you really want one (which it doesn't sound like). There are very few hotels in Hawaii, and even fewer in Maui, that offer day passes (most are in Honolulu). On Maui I believe only the Fairmont and Andaz, both in Wailea, do and its a cabana rental for about $400 for the day. The Fairmont is family friendly, the Andaz is more focused on adults. All beaches in Hawaii are public, and you can rent chairs/umbreallas and beach gear, at each resort on the beach. But otherwise the resorts have a guest only policy for their pools and they police them stringently with wristbands. You could always get a room for a day (or overnight) and that would solve it and give you a place to change etc.

Nothing in Manhattan is very inexpensive but there are some options. October is prime time tourist season so rates will be higher-- even more basic spots like Hampton Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, etc will be $300-400 a night around then. There are deals that pop up and you have time-- right now rates are high but I would suspect they could go down a little as it gets closer. Also if you have credit card or hotel loyalty points this is one of those instances where it might make sense to use them. You could also stay out of town near one of the airports-- it will be marginally less expensive (not dramatically so) but you will have the additional commute the next day into town anyway and you'll miss out on a night in one of the world's great cities. If you stay in Midtown it will only be a few minutes to the pier. I would download Uber and Lyft apps-- there aren't a ton of traditional taxis anymore that are just driving around for hire-- most are queued up at airports, train stations, etc. Uber/Lyft can be a huge help if you cant find one.

As Scott said-- no HoHo on Maui any more. Also no beach clubs-- all beaches in Hawaii are public. The hotels will generally provide beach services to non guests for a charge with a few exceptions (the ones that come to mind that won't are the Four Seasons and Hotel Wailea in Wailea). Go to the beach Hales or little huts you find on the beach side of a resort to rent chairs, beach gear, etc. Hotel pools however are strictly guest only for the most part and heavily enforced with wristbands etc. There are a few that offer day passes but not many-- if you want the full services of the hotel you can look a getting a room for the day. If you were looking at going to the beach for the day I would recommend Kaanapali. You'll have Whalers Village that offers services to day guests and has some good restaurants as well as a beautiful stretch of beach with many hotels also offering beach services, restaurants, and bars. About a 10 minute drive north of Lahaina.

As noted there are three-- Carnival will be at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in Midtown Manhattan unless noted otherwise (which is exceptionally rare). There are three major New York City airports-- JFK, Newark Liberty in New Jersey, and Laguardia. Laguardia is the most convenient into midtown, but also has the fewest options and there aren't a ton of cross country flights that go in there. JFK and Newark will most likely offer the most options. Honestly, it really comes down to which one has the best price. This is entirely up to how much you want to do and see (or not do and see). New York City is vast and there is no way you can even come close to seeing even a little bit of it in an afternoon. If you would like to see some of the sites I would recommend staying in Midtown Manhattan which will also be very easy and convenient the next day boarding your ship. This will put you near Central Park, Times Square, theaters if your'e so inclined. You can walk to a lot. Hotels in New York can generally be in the low $200s for basic hotels and run into the several thousands per night for 5 star spots and there is a lot in between. Just in Manhattan alone there are thousands of hotels to chose from. What's your budget? Happy to make some recommendations with some more feedback to narrow it down.

As Bruce said, activish is Hilo, although you will most likely not see any sort of active lava. But you'll see volcanos in various states of decline virtually everywhere you go. You can go to the top of Haleakala in Maui (which I don't recommend if its your only day in Maui) and Diamond Head in Honolulu. You wont be wanting for volcanos.

I'll answer this with the preface that I'm fairly against the whole captive animal show thing. The $18 viewing thing is sort of misleading-- I think this is the $18 admission to the Museum of Bermuda in which the Dolphin experience sits. There are a number of area from the Museum you can see into the dolphin pens including a kids playground that is just off to the side of them. If your ship is docked at Heritage Wharf, and it's large enough, you can also see right into the dolphin pens from it. The Museum is very worthwhile and you should definitely spend some time there. It's a great thing to do the morning of departure if your ship is leaving early afternoon-- you are always walking distance back to the gangway. If its worth $65 for ten minutes to get into the water is totally up to you. Personally the complimentary swim at Horseshoe Bay is more my speed.

Bermuda is extremely easy to do on your own-- I wouldn't spend the premium you pay on ship excursions unless you had shipboard credit that you needed to burn. If you're not looking to go to a beach (which is a shame since Bermuda has some of the nicest beaches in the world) I would recommend doing a Blue Flag taxi tour. Blue flag taxies are ones that the driver is specially licensed to give an island tour and they last about 4 hours (although you can customize it with them if you'd like to do more or less). You should cover most of the island but you could always get dropped off in say Hamilton and take the ferry back if you wanted to spend more time in town on the way back.