TeresaJ

The Serenity area on Mardi Gras is awesome. You must check it out!

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

3 minutes ago, MajSteve said:

I did not imply that weather was the fault of NCL.

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?

3 hours ago, Genealogy_Lover said:

Thanks for this info! We booked the Luau. I've heard half the ship goes to the one in 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!

16 hours ago, shof515 said:

most likely you are accidentally clicking on one of many ads on the site

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. 

On 2/10/2024 at 9:54 AM, ShipawayAtx said:

Hi all - for POA Hawaiian cruise, I’ve read about a white night, neon night and 80s night. Can anyone verify if these were on your cruise and if so, did anyone dress for the theme?

 

Is there any music/dancing on this boat? 
 

Thank you!

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.  😫

On 3/23/2024 at 3:34 PM, Mr.Dude said:

Question on pre cruise Pearl Harbor tour with NCL - looks like it always occurs on a Friday. 

 

Has anyone done this recently? We leave in May and want to break off the tour to go to see Arizona memorial? What time does the tour actually arrive at PH and when is the best time to break off tour to go see Arizona? Need to get tix separately.

 

Any other advice appreciated. 

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.

7 hours ago, Bonthewater said:

Currently sailing on the Encore and visited the CruiseNext desk. The individual I spoke to told me I can add 2 $250 to any balcony or higher booked. I can’t seem to find anything that doesn’t say the $500 is only for Haven.  I know they have promotions but he said that it’s always 2x$250 available for balcony and higher. I guess I am somewhat distrustful that he’s not trying to sell me more than I can use. 

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. 

1 hour ago, USC-UVIC said:

We had to cancel a Carnival cruise that we booked on an early saver deal. The deposit was non refundable. However, we did not realize it was also non transferrable. So instead of being able to transfer the deposit to a future cruise, we have now forfeited the deposit. Not sailing with this POC Carnival ever again.

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.

14 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

I'm sorry about your steward, Teresa. I met mine on the first day and Jeffrey was very good. He even went and found our luggage for us, because I was anxious. They had so little time to turn the cabins around, so sometimes it tends to be the cleanliness that suffers.

 

Since I'd been to Hawaii twice before, we pretty much rented a car on each island and I knew to rent compact size ones and where to go to find parking and how early to get there.

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.  

50 minutes ago, duggage said:

 

We plan on cruising PoA this fall. Did you use NCL for flights or book separate? We were looking to fly in 3 days early and both Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head (sunrise) were in our plans (plus a luau at the hotel). I'm worried that if we did two days and took advantage of the NCL "2nd flies free" option that they only allow 2 days max and might not fly us in the first day until 7pm. (basically leaving us with only one day for everything)

 

What time did you touchdown in Oahu? Did you feel 2 days was comfortable enough to manage both excursions and the beach?

 

Our ship itinerary is also very close to yours. We will probably snorkle Molokini on Maui instead of Kona and maybe look for a coffee tour there. By the time I get to Kauai I'm a little burned out on planning. Canal tubing the first day and then I'm just not sure.

 

 

We were planning to rent a convertible on Maui and drive up to Haleakala (we plan on staying past sunset for some stars). I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he was critical of rental cars on Maui (particularly convertibles). I haven't been to HA before but I've used google maps/etc to scope out what I think are good parking spots. Have you rented the first day and then overnighted the car at the Kahului mall village? Can you weigh in on the quality of car rental or make any recommendations?

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!

On 3/3/2024 at 12:48 PM, KatieMcGee said:

We are leaving Thursday, 3/7, to join the cruise on 3/9.  Wondering if there was a 'white night' where everyone wears white.  I thought I saw that somewhere in the posts.  We're so looking forward to this cruise.

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