Buddy Bear

I know the ship is in port everyday and that cell connectivity is available, but was just curious has anyone bought the Internet package? If so, how good or bad was the connectivity? I have purchased Internet in the past and it is usually pretty poor, barely good enough to send an email. TIA

Cagney's and the bistro is a la carte, not pay per person. Not sure about la cucina. Teppanyaki I believe is $29.99/person

 

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Thank you

Agreed, that's what I thought, but NCL tells me the restaurants are a la carte, prices vary, and they can't tell me the current prices. NCL is not being very helpful

I have seen many photos posted of menus, but was surprised to see that many of them do not include pricing. Specifically we will be dining at La Cucina, Teppanyaki, and Cagneys. Some of the menus have pricing for drinks, but not appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Seems strange. Any help is appreciated.

The amount is a personal choice. We begin with a starting dollar amount and add from there. Some go with $10 per person per day and some slightly less or more. It depends on how much you request from the Butler and the Concierge. Any special requests which are not something we do, should also add to the amount of the tip. Some people do not believe in giving tips even though these two hard working individuals are not part of the DSC. There are many threads with opinions on this sometimes "sensitive" topic. We also tip our room steward who in our opinion always made sure our coffee machine was clean and ready with extra of the coffee we prefered, kept our cabin ship shape and of course made towel animals.

OK. I was thinking of it as a total tip for the Butler and Concierge at the end of the cruise, but I see that it makes sense (at least to me) to tip as you go. We like to tip so I wanted to make sure I don't short the folks that take care of us the most. Thanks!

We have 13000 on the 8/26/2017 sailing. This will be our first trip to Hawaii (Aulani/NCL) and since I didn't know if we'd ever get back I am sparing no expense. I like to prepay where ever I can, I plan to purchase an OBC to cover excursions, dinner, etc.

We are also prepaying tips. I know the Concierge and Butler's tips are separate. Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of what is fair? Not sure what to base it on.

Thanks

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I had to laugh at your disboards suggestion. I've been on the disboards since 2002, but mostly on the cruise forums (big DCL fan) :) I honestly didn't know there was a Aulani forum. I'll check it out.

It depends on which company you are renting from. We are renting from Hertz after our cruise on POA for our stay at Aulani. Hertz picks up from the cruise terminal between 8 and 9 AM for disembarking passengers and drops off at the pier between 2 and 3 PM for embarking passengers on cruise days. The actual pick up/drop off for the cars I believe is at a downtown hotel.

Other than that you would have to drop off at HNL and get a taxi or shuttle to the pier.

I was thinking of getting a car service from HNL to Aulani and then on cruise day another car service from Aulani to the port, but I thought having a car would be more convenient to get around and DVC members get free parking at Aulani. Unfortunately, it appears that there is no convenient place to drop off a car near the port.

We are thinking of renting a car while in O'ahu. We will be flying to HNL, renting a car at the airport and driving to Aulani.

The morning of the POA cruise we plan on driving from Aulani to Terminal 2, but don't see a convenient place to drop off the rental car by the cruise terminal.

Any suggestions are appreciated,

Jeff

Subscribing. We are sailing PoA on 08/26/17 with another family, we have 13000, they have 13500 so we are taking over the front of the ship. LOL

Thanks for all the great pictures. Please post more, especially the SC category :)

Jeff

Remember - concierges are there to help make your vacation what you want it to be! Most people forget about the services they can provide, even at mid-range hotels. I've used concierges to make transportation arrangements, book restaurants internationally where I either don't know the language or they must be booked via phone, set up some pre-arrivals goodies for my room, etc.

I am used to staying at a resorts/hotels with a concierge level room and a concierge team for those rooms. It just dawned on me that Aulani doesn't have a concierge level room and that the concierge team is for anyone staying at Aulani.

Ko Olina (where Aulani is) has a transportation service. I see the limos with the Ko Olina name on them allllll the time on the highway here. Unfortunately their website is being redone and has like no info on it, but you can call them at (808) 853-4325. The definitely do airport shuttles and I'd be shocked if they couldn't arrange transportation to the pier the day of your departure. You may been to book separately for the transfer from the pier to the airport at the end, but they may be able to set that up for you too.

 

BTW good choice staying out west side- Ko Olina gets amazing sunsets! There's also a great circle island tour that I have been on that leaves right from Aulani if you want to see the rest of the island :)

 

~Katy

Thanks We are Disney Vacation Club members, Aulani is something we have wanted to visit for the last couple of years. Looks like 2017 is finally going to be the year.

Per Slidergirl's suggestion, I called Aulani Concierge, they were very helpful. A nice woman said they use and recommend Platinum Limousine. I called PL, they gave me a rate of $359 which included gratuity for a 10 person stretch limo to go from HNL to Aulani and then from Aulani to the cruise port.

I was surprised, I thought the rate was very reasonable. I just booked the same stretch to take us from Port Canaveral to WDW for $195 w/o gratuity.

Thank you both,

Jeff

If no one replies, send an email to the Concierge at the Aulani and ask for their assistance. I'm sure they make car service reservations all the time and have a list of "preferred providers." The Aulani is out on the opposite direction from where everyone else will be going, so the chances for a return fare are not very good. You may have to pay a premium because of this.

Never thought about Concierge. Good idea. Thanks.

We will be flying into HNL, staying at Aulani for 5 days and then going on the POA. I am looking for a Car/Limo service to take us from the airport to Aulani, 5 days later from Aulani to the port, and then after the cruise back to HNL.

Could someone recommend a reliable (leaning towards Limo) service to get my family of 4 around Oahu.

Thanks,

Jeff