Questions about POA for Honeymoon

[Gr101997]

My fiancee and I are considering taking this cruise for our Honeymoon in September. We both love cruising as opposed to just going to a resort for a week and really want to go to Hawaii. So we thought this would be a nice option. I have a few questions.

With the very port intensive itinerary, I get the feeling that it will not be as relaxing as a vacation that we were looking for. Is this the case? Ive have always enjoyed a sea day where you can just sit out on the deck and do nothing.

On the overnights, do you have to be back on the ship by a certain time?

Do they do a Lu'au type party one of the overnights?

Also, I have never cruised Norwegian. With the Freestyle cruising, if you wanted, would you sit with other people for dinner or is it just your group?

 

Thanks in advance for the advice

[jgallow]

We did this for our honeymoon in May......DO IT. It was amazing. We were in an owner's suite and had a blast. No you don't have to be on the ship at any time during the overnights, you can stay off all night if you choose. Yes, the luau is on one of the overnights. You can be as busy or not busy as you want. We had a blast.

[jgallow]

The dining is just like a restaurant. You simply show up and tell them how many in your party. So you eat whenever you want with whoever you want.

[beachchick]

The luau NCLA currently uses is on Kauai. It is a paid excursion and not done on the ship. Many people really like it.

 

For sea days, you could always take the afternoon of your second day on Maui as a "relax onboard as if we are at sea" day. The second afternoon on Kauai, the ship leaves at about 2 so you'll have a "sea afternoon" then, but part of that is the Na Pali coast viewing. Beautiful. It is a very port intensive cruise, no question. But you needn't cram every minute of every day to the brim until you are exhausted. Pick a number of things to see and do, then narrow it down, then narrow it down again because there are literally 100s of things to see and do in Hawaii. Take some time to stop and smell the plumeria. Some people try to do so much that their main memories are of rushing from one place to another and having glimpses of a whole bunch of stuff without really "seeing" that much of it.

 

If you can, fly in at least 1 day early, preferably more, and spend a bit of time on Oahu. If you can, stay for a few (or more) land days after your cruise on one of the other islands. Kauai is the most laid back of the four main islands, so you might want to look into that to get the relaxation you want. The best of both worlds.

 

Congratulations.

 

beachchick

[salty dingo]

We are doing a 2nd honeymoon trip on POA in August. We have car reservations at all the islands and just plant to drive around and explore.

 

Does anyone know if the Kaui luau is open to the public or excursion-only? We did a luau when we got married in Hawaii, so it's no big deal if we don't go to one this time, but it would be nice.

 

Do many other cruisers rent cars to sightsee as opposed to doing the excursions?