kgymn

There's only one port in Oahu, Honolulu. But I am guessing you are looking for the pier? In general Carnival docks at pier 2. Most cruise ships dock at pier 2, unless they are a smaller ship and there's another ship in town using Pier 2. I've only ever seen Carnival at Pier 2, though. Either way it doesn't make any difference as there's no car rentals at the pier so you'd be picked up and brought to the car rental company to get the car. We find we get the best rates through discount hawaii car rental on the other islands, though haven't used them for Oahu.

It makes me laugh when people say weather is consistent year round in Hawaii. No it's not. October in general is much warmer than January. In January on occasion the lows at night will get down into the high 50s, but more frequently the low 60s, at least in my area of Oahu. Very occasionally in Jan/Feb the weather may not even reach 70 during the day. I don't know about you, but to me under 70 is not beach weather so if I were expecting hot summer weather I'd be disappointed. January has the tendency to be wetter, as well. Each winter is different, some winters are nearly as dry as the summers. Others like this winter and especially last winter it seems to rain quite frequently. It's a little hit or miss. January is definitely great for whales, so that's a definite bonus. There could be a swell either month, but much more likely in January.

Any month is a fine month for a cruise in Hawaii (or a land vacation) it all depends on what you want out of the vacation.

They memorial itself definitely won't be open for a while. The last update a couple weeks ago they hadn't even chosen a contractor to complete the repairs! They are offering a harbor tour, where you still get to see the video and the boat takes you right past the Arizona. You can reserve the tickets online for $1.50 but with the memorial itself closed there's not generally any trouble with getting tickets for the harbor tour. The last time I went (which was November) we walked right in and were handed tickets for the next tour. Admission into the park itself is free with free parking. The tickets when you walk up are free. 

IF the memorial were to reopen (not sure when you plan to sail) then you would want to reserve your tickets for that tour online. The harbor tour I don't think you'll have any trouble.

I am not sure about any other ships other than Pride of America doing a Na Pali sailby. I definitely would not count on it. 
However, as someone who has done the sail by on the POA as well as taken an excursion with a snorkel tour that sailed past the Na Pali coast I will say that you definitely would not regret doing the tour even if the ship happened to sail by. The tour we went on the boat sailed right under a small waterfall and being so up close to the coast was a truly different experience that can't be done on a larger vessel. 

It really varies and is up to what you want to wear. I like to go as formal as I can muster which is often floor length.

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Definitely don't need to book an excursion unless you want to, say, go on a snorkel boat. There are taxi vans that will take you where you want to go or even do an island tour if you want to see the whole island. We took a taxi to governors beach ($4 per person) then walked the road from there back towards the ship, hit Jack's Shack for a while, meandered back to Margaritaville and had a drink there and a dip in the pool.

For those who are going to be in Honolulu please be aware that you can currently not visit the Arizona memorial (in the harbor over the Arizona) due to structural concerns. The exhibits at Pearl harbor are open but if you have or get tickets to take the boat to the memorial you will get a narrated tour of the harbor -still nice, but you won't stop foot on the memorial.

No word on how long this will be in effect.

http://m.hawaiinewsnow.com/hawaiinewsnow/db_352775/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=zrwAaxYR

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I do not know how much they are onboard though I'd expect a markup.

But I did want to point out that you'll have to pack them on the way home anyways so would have to make sure you had the room in your luggage to do so. May as well save yourself the money.

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Aloha! I live on Oahu and my husband and I did the POA in 2015.

For your Oahu plans, the Arizona memorial at Pearl harbor is free as well as many of the surrounding exhibits. You can go in the morning and get tickets or you can reserve them online the day before for a 1.50 service charge. Not sure how much a can is, but there is also the bus which is inexpensive and we also have Uber and Lyft here. Diamond Head is a good hike with nice views however for the "volcano" aspect I'd wait and go to the active volcano on big island where there's steam vents and sulfur banks and active lava in the caldera by Jagger meuseum. Diamond Head (or any of the cinder cones on Oahu) is not an active volcano so it's a much different experience.

For luaus we have been to and enjoyed both paradise cove and Germaine's on Oahu. Paradise cove is in the best spot for sunsets and has a lot of activities going on before the show. Germaine's is much more relaxed and we enjoyed getting to know the people sitting by us. Haven't been to any of the other luaus either on Oahu or the other islands but would do either of the two we've done again, we generally take visitors to Paradise Cove.

Generally most people rent cars in each port and do their own thing. Other than boat tours (snorkeling or coastline viewing etc) there's little reason to book anything but a car rental in the different ports.

Cruisingrands- while I don't remember exactly how long the napali sailby is, you will likely be doing the second pass until sunset. So I'd suggest doing an early dinner right as the ship leaves port OR schedule it for just after sunset (I'm a big fan of Hawaiian sunsets so wouldn't recommend missing that either.) Sunset in June should be about 7:25 so perhaps 7:45 or later as sometimes the clouds put on the best show AFTER the sun has set.

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You can call or email carnivals guest access team, they will make sure that any necessary accommodations are made ahead of time for the muster drill and any other situations where limited mobility necessitates additional assistance.

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I definitely like the list. There's a number of them that I have wanted to see but didn't get a chance in theaters so we may be watching a lot of movies on our cruise later in the month! Wonder as well what will be showed in the imax on the Vista but haven't seen that list anywhere yet.

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From John's FB page April 17th:

"Here are the DIVE IN movies for the month of May to be shown on the Lido deck big screens.

Black Panther

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Commuter

Wonder

Only the Brave

Justice League

Thor: Ragnarok

Daddy's Home 2

Pitch Perfect 3

Murder on the Orient Express

The Greatest Showman

Peter Rabbit

Please note Peter is also served on the dinner menu.

Coco

12 Strong – midnight movie"

Maybe there is some confusion about the details of showing the other guests order? It sounds to me like they just were shown the size of the stack. Not the pictures themselves. Which would mean it was unlikely the guest whose order it was could even be identified.

Not quite sure what the big deal is.

~Katy

I believe what was meant by rent a van was rent a vehicle you drive yourself. Not hiring a driver to take you around in a van.

There are absolutely no vendors like this in Hawaii. I think any reasons as to why are guesses but mine would be we rarely have ships in town, and even more rarely more than one at a time with both ships in different places even when they pull in to Honolulu, not one Pier area with a common spot for vendors to even set up like in many cruise destinations. It's just not a lucrative business model for small tour operators nor is there anywhere for them to set up.

However in most ports car rental facilities are fairly easy to get to and from so the hassle to rent is minimal. It is likely your only option if you want to play it by ear, and I think would make you the most happy.

~Katy

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Yes there are a few companies that do boat tours like that! We personally used Blue Dolphin Charters when we were in Kauai in July. We did the sunset dinner snorkel tour but they have a few different tours both with and without snorkeling.

~Katy

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Also remember you can book tickets online the day before you want to go, they release an additional block of tickets at 7 hst the day before.

~Katy

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Waze works quite well here (as well as other map apps you may have on your iPhone) and I second having a passenger to help navigate. Sometimes within Honolulu you're warned of turns a little late, where a passenger looking at the phone will be able to give you an earlier heads up. Also a friendly note- it's a quite pricy ticket to so much as hold your phone while driving. So definitely get a passenger to do it.

Traffic at rush hour can by slow in and into town. Rush hour in the mornings is typically over before 9 (I don't go out earlier so can't comment on how much earlier it clears up but I expect 7:30 is still quite busy) and is worst in the afternoon from 3-6. Unlike most cities on the mainland, if you're stuck in traffic and need to change lanes people will frequently let you over if you put your blinker on. It's glorious. (On the flip side, if you see a blinker don't be surprised if the person simply moves over. They're not cutting you off, they're assuming you saw the blinker and were planning on letting them in.)

Outside of rush hour and outside of Honolulu it's generally smooth sailing with the exception of Kalanianaole highway southbound through Kailua and Waimanalo some weekend days.

What sorts of things do you like to do? Punchbowl cemetery is certainly nice. If you're a beach person I can suggest a few nice options. The drive along the kaiwi coast is quite nice with many stop offs for scenic points along the way.

~Katy

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A note on the Arizona memorial tickets- they release some more online the day before, so you may consider checking online the day before. Typically there are some available. Also once you have tickets settled, it's not often a full day thing unless you plan to do all the other museums etc nearby. So you might consider if you can get the tickets online the day before taking the other half of that day and doing something else, or perhaps a beach day or just relaxing at the resort.

~Katy

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The best Mac nuts I have had yet are from Tropical Farms on the east side of Oahu. Not exactly close to port but so delicious! And they also sell macadamia kona coffee.

~Katy

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I am not familiar with that company, I am more familiar with Kalapana Cultural Tours. We did a lava hike with them before the lava reached the ocean and they were excellent! Though now that it is flowing into the ocean that is where their focus is.

The Coast Guard did restrict the area around the lava flow pretty significantly recently. It was only a few days ago that they have given permission to some companies to go back into the safety zone, those requested permission and who have shown that they have appropriate safety procedures in place and are following specific guidelines set forth by the coast guard. I do not know if Kalapana Lava Boat Company has received permission.

Kalapana Cultural Tours leaves from an area about 45 minutes from the cruise pier (looks like the same place that Kalapana Lava Boat Company leaves from.)

It is very easy to rent a car in the islands, if viewing the lava as up close as is safe is a high priority for you, you may consider renting a car and driving to one of the boat tours. That would be significantly less than the $175 transportation the one company quoted you!

~Katy

We did the tour a little over a year ago during a land trip. We booked not far in advance- actually, we went and booked the next tour they had when we first arrived on the island then grabbed and ate a quick lunch before returning for our tour. We weren't on a schedule, though. When on a schedule I do recommend booking ahead with them.

Honestly if there is anything else you want to do that day you may as well rent a car. If not, the excursion through the ship may your best bet.

~Katy

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I have purchased razors at ABC stores before. They do have a limited, and overprices of course, selection of personal care items. Why are you unable to bring them with you, besides the large lysol which I'm not sure is even necessary (and there are travel size lysol cans)

Prime shipping is unreliable, to be honest. Some times you order something and it arrives in 3 days, others it takes 10 days. You never know until it ships out and they take longer to get items out of the warehouse even than if shipping on the mainland. I've had orders where a part of the order arrived before they even got the other part of the order out of the warehouse. Some things you would want to have wouldn't necessarily ship to Hawaii either- like the lysol they only ship within the lower 48.

You can look into taking the bus or an Uber to one of the previously mentioned stores if the ABC store doesn't stock what you are looking for.

~Katy

definitely check the map, and check which pier your ship will be using. It is closer to the Aloha tower than to Pier 2, which could make a difference in deciding if you would mind walking to it. I am not aware of a shuttle.

~Katy

Both are free so renting a car may be the easiest way to go. You can reserve tickets for the boat ride to the Arizona memorial the day before online for $1.50 convenience fee if you don't want to wait until you show up to see what time you can manage to get. They release a certain # of tickets at 7am Hawaiian time the day prior, I've yet to have any trouble getting tickets the day before. Depending on what time tour you get, you can do punchbowl either before or after.

~Katy

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I've been to both Paradise Cove and Germaines and enjoyed both for different reasons. Paradise Cove hands down has the best sunset views. The area it is in is on of the best places on the island for sunsets period, it's my go-to place for sunset pictures. Paradise Cove also has a lot going on. There's a lot of cultural demonstrations and there's other activities and little shops to check out while there.

Germaines has a more intimate feel to it. It was more laid back, we had a chance to get to know the people who sat near us and really just relax with a drink until the show started. Depending on time of year it also has a good view of the sunset- it is best in the winter, because it's south facing and in the winter the sun sets farther south.

I enjoyed the food at both. Neither stands out as better as far as that but I do like the tiki souvenir cups we got at Germaines. Paradise Cove uses hurricane glasses for their souvenir glasses. At both you get bigger drinks for the same price if you use a souvenir glass ;)

~Katy