KCSPUD

Our son is an only child as well. He went on his first cruise last year. He was 12 at the time. We are going again this year and he can't wait to go back to Circle C. He met a variety of friends and had fun hanging out and doing the scheduled activities. Video games, karaoke, dancing, organized activities were just some of the highlights. Going on the first night is key so he can get a feel for everyone. I hope he has a great time!

I must echo the positive sentiments about Mary Lou's Tour. My husband ended up getting sick the night before and so I went by myself. The tour guides are a husband and wife team that are very knowledgeable about the island. I used them for Hilo. We went to Volcanos National Park, saw how coffee was made, went to the nut and candy factories and enjoyed all the samples. We also got to see a black sand beach. The tour guides are very good at selecting a time to tour and see the sites so that you do not have to compete with all the other larger tour groups. I believe they gave a very personalized tour(only about 6-8 in each group) and would definitely use them again. Hopefully my husband can join us next time!

Just to let you know that the tour you have scheduled is gonna be a short one in that you will not have much time at your stops.

This tour is very close to the tour offered by numerous tour operators and it's called North Shore tour. It's at least an hour to an hour and a half to the Polynesian Culture Center and they have 32 acres there.

In my opinion and having done PPC a couple times you really really need a full day and evening there, their evening show gets rave reviews. I suspect you'll be also rushed through Pearl Harbor as well. JMO

I can't say how thankful I am that you expressed your opinion about this tour. After reading your post, I called Discover Hawaii Tours only to find out that they do not run this tour as advertised on viator within the 630am - 230pm time frame. I have since called viator and cancelled and I now I am looking for something else to do and still make it to ship on time for the 5pm mandatory life boat drill. We are going to do the Pearl Harbor/Honolulu Highlights on disembarkation day so we can have ride to airport.

We are scheduled to go in just a few weeks...we had the same dilemna so we ended up booking oahu small group highlights tour which picks us up from hotel @630am and returns @230. We will store our luggage with our hotel until our return from shore excursion. The highlights tour covers pear harbor, Polynesian cultural center, dole plantation, lunch, and other sites. We will then take either shuttle or taxi to pier whichever is more economical...this will allow us to sample honolulu and still get to the ship in good time before muster drill for sure. Hope you find something that works for you.

@beeankmon Thank You so much for sharing your experience and all the tips. We are much like you in that we want to enjoy both Hawaii and the ship. So it seems that by the 3rd night you were over jetlag is that right? Trying to figure out how long it will take us to adjust. We get in Friday afternoon around 4pm Hawaii time after a 10 hour flight from ATL. I'm thinking we will crash early as you did and wake up early Friday for a early tour and sightseeing. Did you experience the White Hot Party at all? I haven't heard many comment on it and was wondering if it was just because everyone was so exhausted and called it a night early or if it was something to be missed.

Thanks for recommendation. We will check with hotel before we book anything.

We plan on taking a bus over to Old Lahaina Luau (OLL) but plan to take a shared shuttle back. We called Hawaii Executive Transportation after reading about their services on Cruise Critic. They provide transportation from Kahului to Lahaina and from Lahaina to Kahului. Website is http://www.hawaiiexecutivetransportation.com/

We are looking for a shuttle service that will take us from same hotel to pier. Didn't know roberts would pick up later than 1pm....maybe I received misinformation. We get from a tour around 230 and need transportation to pier, is roberts best option or should we do taxi?

Thanks for positive confirmation on Mary Lou tours. We decided to book due to all the good reports-so glad they did not disappoint.

Thanks for confirmation about black sand beach. Only 109 days to go!

On either the mary lou tour or the akamai tour, did either take you to see the black sand beach?

Great review. We have 5 more long months before we get to board!! Thanks for all your tips.

I was wondering if the luau with robert was with smith or not. Did it say smiths when you booked or did it say islands best luau?

Thanks so much for your detailed review..we have six months to go..can't wait. Looking forward to the rest!

We've stayed at the Marriott both times. It's not the best price on the hotel strip, but if you're sailing NCL, it has the NCL welcome room on site. We were able to check in for our cruise, sign up for the Pearl Harbor tour before joining our cruise, we could have booked all our shore excursions/dining if we hadn't already, we got the NCL shuttle to the pier. It was just very easy for us. They also have a car rental agency on site, so after our cruise, we got dropped off back at the Marriott and picked up a car. Luggage was all handled for us too. The one thing I didn't like is that if you book it through the cruise lines, you don't get your Marriott points. Also, the restaurants on site are pretty pricy, so we skipped that, especially the breakfast. I think a bowl of granola with fruit was $25. They do have a nice bar/patio on one of the upper floors that had a great view.

Do you have an opportunity to do a tour before boarding the ship or is there a set time that you have to get on the NCL shuttle to the pier? Since they handle the luggage for you, are you luggage free until it arrives in your room on the ship?