TeresaJ

This is one of my favorite itineraries and ships! Enjoy!

You listed The Weather first in your Rant three list. Even though you say you are not blaming NCL, you put it on your list. lol

The weather would have been the same on another ship. Should not be considered a negative for NCL. They closed areas due to weather, again...same on another ship and/or other cruise line. Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. The other items you stated are not deal breakers IMO.

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear about this. I can imagine it is very disappointing! Did you make it to Kauai?

Yes, it's very popular! We really enjoyed it.

Waimea canyon in Kauai is beautiful! We did the ship excursion which was fine but renting a car and going on your own might be better. There are also helicopter tours over the canyon. Did not do that but I bet it's amazing. Also did the luau Kalamaku in Kauai- fun and amazing! In Kona, we did a snorkel excursion through the ship. Big Island Snorkel. Highly recommend!

It happens to me all the time as well, and I can assure you I am not clicking on anything.

This happens to me all the time on my phone and I don't know why! Hopefully someone will have an answer. It is annoying.

We just sailed in February and I can confirm that were was a glow/white night party on the same night. I don't remember if there were other theme nights. Since we were so busy on the islands all day, the evenings were a blur. 🙂 There was quite a bit of music and live bands to listen to which we enjoyed.

This is exciting news! I loved the Mardi Gras and we want to sail again on an Excel class ship however the meh itineraries keep holding us back from booking. I hope they put together some better itineraries for these ships. I'm so sick of Amber Cove and Nassau on practically every itinerary. 😫

When are you going? I booked my reservations on the Perarl Harbor/USS Arizona site for $2.00. We just went there on our own. Much cheaper and more freedom on the time we wanted to spend there.

We cruise both lines and feel they are more similar than different. As long as you don't go on an old, small ship, you will be just fine! Happy cruising!

Thank you. I understand that VV does not have a drink package. I was asking where I can actually see the bar tab I'm getting with this promo when I attempt to book. I am leery because it does not show anything on the checkout screen and I want to see what I'm actually receiving and have confirmation of that before putting down a deposit.

GSC looks beautiful! We are 0-2 for stopping there and being able to tender. Missed due to high winds both times. Maybe someday we will get there. 🙂 Also, I agree NCL Wi-Fi is something to be desired. We were on Pride of America a few weeks ago and I couldn't even get service in my room most of the time. My husband thought the corn beef hash was odd too! Enjoy your cruise; thanks for taking us along!

Any chance you can change your flight to earlier in the day or fly in day before? Seems like a stressful way to start your vacation. Like others have said, any flight delay will cause you to miss the ship.

I got this email from Delta being a Skymiles member. I clicked on the link from the email and checked out some cruises. Where can I see the bar tab that we are getting? I find it confusing. I am used to other cruiselines where I can buy a drink package or it is included.

There is a double up promotion running right now but I think it only lasts a few more days. We just sailed NCL and I remember the CruiseNext gal telling us about it.

Sorry to hear that but you should have read the terms before booking. When booking, Carnival will show multiple rates both refundable and non-refundable. Usually non-refundable is the least expensive.

Sorry to hear that but you should have read the terms before booking. When booking, Carnival will show multiple rates both refundable and non-refundable. Usually non-refundable is the least expensive.

How was the weather on your sea days? I've heard it can be a little cooler. We are interested in the Mexican Riveria cruises this time of year but are hesitant to book if it will be cold. We live in a cold climate so when we travel during the winter, we want to go to warm places.

I think we just had bad luck. We never met our steward so I'm not even sure who it was! Very odd experience because all of our past cruises we know who they are and have interacted with them. We will probably rent cars in some of the ports next time so we have more control of what we want to do and when.

We booked our own flights on Delta because we wanted control of when we would be flying. I know you can save some money booking with NCL, but I have not heard great things about their air program and you have no control of flight times. We flew from Minneapolis to LA Wednesday evening and stayed over in LA right near the airport and then got up Thursday morning for an early morning flight to Honolulu. We landed in Honolulu at 11:15am. For whatever reason it was a lot cheaper to split up the flights this way then fly it all in one day Thursday and it was great getting there before noon. I felt it was enough time for the things we wanted to do. I would suggest reading some other comments about the NCL air program on CC because there's more negative than positive. The savings might not be worth it if you are not able to do all the things you want to do in Honolulu. Kauai is beautiful and so lush! I was feeling the same thing before our cruise because you don't want to miss anything! Hopefully you find something to do the last day. Our excursion was in the morning so we had the afternoon to ourselves and just went back on the ship and relaxed in the pools and hot tubs. We did not rent any cars this trip so I can't speak to that but it looks like someone else commented about that. Have a great time!

A few other final thoughts... We did not rent any cars. We took Uber/taxi or walked in Honolulu; Uber to the beach in Maui and the rest were NCL excursions. I know a lot of people rent cars and I do think it gives you much more freedom to spend more time at different places versus the time constraint of an NCL excursion. We were happy with our decision as this was our first time to Hawaii and we didn't want the stress of renting a car, finding parking...etc. If we ever do this cruise again, we would consider renting a car in a couple of the ports now that we are familiar with the area. Most of the ports are very industrial looking except for Kona. The main pool was closed for about a day and a half due to an accident. I heard a child threw up but I don't know if that's true. Sailaway on deck 11 aft Aloha Lanai is the best. The Hawaiian duo played music, there is a nice bar, and a lot of seating. We saw whales a few times. It's just so beautiful and peaceful in that area. Cabin steward - never saw him/her and I would say they weren't the greatest. We had to call down for towels a few times because they never replaced them. Also, on the first night as we were getting ready for bed there was a stain on our sheet. I called guest services and they came right up and took care of it and were very apologetic. The ship never felt crowded to me. We have sailed larger ships lately so the low passenger count was awesome. The ship is clean and most of the staff were amazing!

I checked the Freestyle Dailies. Wednesday - Day 5 was Glow night which was wear neon or all white. Have a great time!!

We stayed at Hyatt Centric Waikiki beach. Excellent location - walk to everything including beach. The hotel is nice, clean, and the staff were friendly and welcoming. The hotel provides beach chairs which is nice. We would definitely stay there again. It is not beachfront - a few blocks off the beach.