Captain Zodiac

[kellymonster23]

We will be going on the this excursion through NCL POA at the end of June. What do you do with bags, cameras, cover-ups, etc to keep them dry?? Do you bring ziplock bags for everything or are there dry containers on the raft to put your things?? Any info would be great!!!!

[dcass]

the inside of the boat stayed dry, we were even able to use the digital camera while moving and did not get wet at all. They had spots for the bags and stuff to keep it out of the way, I can't remember if they put it in a dry box or not but nothing gets wet.

[Love2CruiseMore]

Hi Kelly! My family is taking this excurssion thru NCL the morning of June 30th...when are you and your sister going?

 

Mindy :)

[kellymonster23]

Hi Mindy!!! We are also going that morning, 8:15 I think!!!! How exciting to already be meeting people that we are going to be spending time with. We finished up all our flights and hotels for the trip this morning. We just have to get a shuttle for transfer to the pre-cruise hotel and to the pier!!!! We are getting closer to departure day. I'm sure that you and the family are just as excited as we are!!!

[country traveler]

We will be going on the this excursion through NCL POA at the end of June. What do you do with bags, cameras, cover-ups, etc to keep them dry?? Do you bring ziplock bags for everything or are there dry containers on the raft to put your things?? Any info would be great!!!!

 

 

They have a box in the front of the boat where they also stow their stuff. It stays dry. I didn't take much with me when I went because I was not sure there was a place to stow it. I wish I had taken a credit card or some money (it will be safe on the raft) with me so we could of done some shopping with out tendering back to the boat after the excusion. It's not a large areato store things so you wouldn't want to take alot of unnessary things.

 

You will really enjoy the trip, We went in Feb and had a great time.

[Love2CruiseMore]

My family is getting very excited about the cruise too! I am so happy to have read the recent reviews about the Captain Zodiac excurssion, I think this is going to be a family favorite! About 3 weeks ago I pulled the trigger and booked my airfare, I had been watching prices since January. Crazy to see how much the same flight could fluctuate in price soooo much! I used to check prices every morning, but now that we purchased I can't risk looking to see where prices are now!:D All I know is that at one time Hawaiian Airlines flights were $905 from PDX and I purchased for just over $500! We have our hotels lined up and car rentals, but I am not sure if we are going with the right car rental co...reservations are made so I may just leave it alone. We are going with Dollar, my mom (also going on the cruise) used to work for Dollar so she has some loyalty there...may be better not to rock the boat (ha ha) on that issue! The only other excurssion we are taking thru NCL is the Molokini snorkel on Monday morning, other wise we will be renting a mini-van and doing our own excurssions with my parents. When my parents were first married my dad (US Navy) was stationed on Oahu. My sister was born there, she isn't going on the cruise with us, but we will meet up with her and her boyfriend for 5 days post cruise. They are just doing a land only vacation. As an adult my sister found her way back to Oahu and lived there for 4 years, she worked at the Arizona Memorial! My 12 year old son is very interested in military history, so this will be a great trip for my dad and sister to take him around and show him some historic sites...he is very excited! My 14 year old daughter is more into the sand and surf! She is my kind of girl.:) Well the morning is getting away from me... I look forward to hearing more about your plans and getting to know you before our cruise! Mindy:D

[kellymonster23]

We are also flying Hawaiian Air, but out of Phoenix. We were able to get tickets cheaper by flying out of PHX ($237) than doing it any other way. My sister is flying to PHX from Milwaukee on Southwest and I am flying to PHX from Louisville on Southwest on June 23rd and staying over night there before our Hawaiian Air flight to Honolulu on June 24th :D. We are doing the Captain Zodiac excursion and the luau on Kauai through NCL. We are renting cars at the other ports, including Kauai. We have a different rental car company at each port. It seems like everyone on here goes with Thrifty but I did not find them to be the cheapest and we have gift certificates for Avis so we went with them for 2 ports :D. We are staying 2 nights pre-cruise at Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber and not renting a car those days. We are planning on doing Pearl Harbor early Friday morning since we will still be on East Coast time, I'm sure we will be up early. I think that we are going to try and take The Bus to Pearl Harbor. From what I have read on here its an easy bus system to figure out and cheap!! After the cruise we are staying at a condo on the beach in Makaha for 2 nights, away from the city and just a nice place to relax and recover from the cruise hahahaha. The night of July 5th we are flying to Los Angeles to spend until July 11th in Southern California. My sister has never been there so we figured why not, this trip is costing a fortune anyway why not go all out hahaha. We will go to Disneyland and San Diego and probably do some driving along the Pacific Coast Highway.

[Sargent_Schultz]

They have dry boxes.

 

We just did the trip. It was great. We did notice if space is available, you can buy tickets on the island for about $62/person but you take your chances.

 

Here are some pictures...

 

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[Love2CruiseMore]

Sargent, Great pics! What camera did you use?

[Love2CruiseMore]

Wow! Kelly you and your sister are going to have a great adventure!!! You are going to need a vacation after your vacation!:D

[crzyred]

Sargent_Schultz

 

Thanks so much!! Those are awesome pictures! Thanks so much for posting those.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Sargent, Great pics! What camera did you use?

 

Thank you. A Canon D10 for the underwater stuff.

 

Tomorrow we are going to try for Molokini and maybe a Turtleburg. :)

[Love2CruiseMore]

I have a Canon D10 that I have yet to use underwater, nice to know what kind of pics to expect from it! : )

[dcikon2]

We did the Zodiak excursion when we took the cruise. It was a blast and you will see lots of fish snorkeling. You will also get very wet. It is best if you have a water proof camera, especially for the snorkeling.

[mousey]

Hi, we just did this excusion two weeks ago. It was awesome! Your stuff will be kept safe and dry for you. I would recommend this excursions to anyone, anytime. Loved it!:D

[Love2CruiseMore]

Hey Kelly, I just changed my reservation...my family of 4 is saving over $100 booking direct with Captain Zodiac vrs. NCL. I called CZ and they assured me that they pick up right in the same area that the tender drops off. Just thought I would pass that along!:D Only 58 days!!! Mindy

[lah66]

We booked the Zodiac snorkel through NCL but I have read some horrible posts of waiting in the theater to be called out to tender and then ending up on the same boats as those that booked directly (and paid less!). I thought I read somewhere that they take you right from the ship to the snorkel site...What is the truth? Thanks to all of you who have already cruised and are coming back to answer our questions! Bless you!:rolleyes:

[Love2CruiseMore]

We booked the Zodiac snorkel through NCL but I have read some horrible posts of waiting in the theater to be called out to tender and then ending up on the same boats as those that booked directly (and paid less!). I thought I read somewhere that they take you right from the ship to the snorkel site...What is the truth? Thanks to all of you who have already cruised and are coming back to answer our questions! Bless you!:rolleyes:

 

lah66, I can only tell you my experience from booking on my own....We were concerned about getting on an early tender in order to make our excursion as we did not book with NCL. We arrived at Pink's to get our tender tickets at 7AM, we were given tickets for the tender that was about to depart. So, we didn't spend hours waiting at Pink's, but we did spend about an hour waiting at the pier. You go straight from Pink's, down to the tender, it's about 10 minutes by the time you step foot onto land at the pier from the ship...at the same pier that everyone who has booked an excursion with Zodiac will arrive to. There will be a covered tent area with chairs that you can sit and wait at, there is also a beach area that you can explore, there are also shops (that aren't open yet) across the street. It really is soooo easy! Oh there is also a restroom right there as well. Hope that puts your mind to ease. :D

[trbasso]

Love2CruiseMore, I'm not sure I understand your post, so I just wanted to clarify please. We also booked with Captain Zodiac outside of the ship.

 

I think you are saying that you went to pick up your tender tickets at 7:00, and were able to get on the tender right then. Is that correct?

 

And then you said it's 10 minutes from the time you step on ground from the ship. I had heard that the Capt Zodiac pick up was right where the tender let us off. But I think you are saying it's about a 10 minutes walk. Is that correct?

 

Are meeting time with Capt Zodiac is 8:15, so we want to be sure to be on time (or early).

 

Thank you!

[Love2CruiseMore]

Ship to pier = 10 minutes (Maybe more time, maybe less time, depending on the whole loading and unloading of the tender-if you are the 1st one on it might be a minute or two longer. If you are last then it might only be 6 minutes). Once you are at the pier you are THERE! :D Take a seat and wait for Zodiac or who ever you have an excursion with to announce their arrival.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

lah66, I can only tell you my experience from booking on my own....We were concerned about getting on an early tender in order to make our excursion as we did not book with NCL. We arrived at Pink's to get our tender tickets at 7AM, we were given tickets for the tender that was about to depart. So, we didn't spend hours waiting at Pink's, but we did spend about an hour waiting at the pier. You go straight from Pink's, down to the tender, it's about 10 minutes by the time you step foot onto land at the pier from the ship...at the same pier that everyone who has booked an excursion with Zodiac will arrive to. There will be a covered tent area with chairs that you can sit and wait at, there is also a beach area that you can explore, there are also shops (that aren't open yet) across the street. It really is soooo easy! Oh there is also a restroom right there as well. Hope that puts your mind to ease. :D

 

Did the passengers booking through NCL do the same process, or did they meet on the ship? Just curious what their meeting time was.... Did you encounter any on your tour or were you only with "independent bookings". I'm only asking because the people I'm travelling usually book through the cruiseline, where I prefer to book directly/independently for the cost savings. I just want to be able to address their questions.

[vbmom87]

Did the passengers booking through NCL do the same process, or did they meet on the ship? Just curious what their meeting time was.... Did you encounter any on your tour or were you only with "independent bookings". I'm only asking because the people I'm travelling usually book through the cruiseline, where I prefer to book directly/independently for the cost savings. I just want to be able to address their questions.

 

My DH and DD went on the Zodiac through the cruiseline. To the best of his recollection they met at 7:45 a.m. For my husband it was worth it to sleep in a little longer. I had suggested he do the Fair Winds snorkeling tour but he was not interested in that either as it would have meant getting up earlier and having to get in line early for a tender ticket. Then he would have had to hail a taxi. For some people this is fine. For him the simpler the better. He said the experience of meeting in the auditorium was simple and well organized. If I had gone, I would have chosen Fair Winds. However I did not go. Life is all about choices and what works for one will not be the best choice for another. Either can work. It just depends how you want to go about booking it.