Goodness gracious NCL's Hawaiian cruise is EXPENSIVE!

[cruisecritiquer]

I've been putting down deposits on future cruises and I just want to go look at the POA cruises. I have always wanted to visit Hawaii but I think it's actually cheaper to do a land vacation even with paying for hopper planes. :eek:

 

I was kind of surprised that the cheapest balcony room is $2,219 pp. :eek:

 

That and airfare...we might have to book 6 years out. HAHAHA

 

I have nothing really interesting to add...was just stunned by the price.

 

http://www5.ncl.com/vacations?loc=undefined&date_from=&date_end=&dur=undefined&from=N%3D4294963221%26Ne%3D8050%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AI%252Cp_Fare_Code%253ABF%2529%26Nu%3Dp_Key&ship=undefined&qs=N%3D4294963221%26Ne%3D8050%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AI%252Cp_Fare_Code%253ABF%2529%26Nu%3Dp_Key&older=no&latitudes=no&location_select=Where+do+you+live%3F&location=

[shadowlover]

You honestly don't need a balcony room on this cruise. If you want to save money book an inside. You stop every day anyway. It's such a great itinerary. We used to live on Oahu and I can assure you that the cruise is much cheaper than doing the trip with hotels, food etc on your own. We went last year and loved it! Ship was just ok but you are seriously only on it to eat, cruise at night and sleep.

[DMH15]

I am a suite cruiser. I would have never thought of such a logical reply as yours. It is brilliant.

You honestly don't need a balcony room on this cruise. If you want to save money book an inside. You stop every day anyway. It's such a great itinerary. We used to live on Oahu and I can assure you that the cruise is much cheaper than doing the trip with hotels, food etc on your own. We went last year and loved it! Ship was just ok but you are seriously only on it to eat, cruise at night and sleep.

 

 

 

 

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[roger001]

It is expensive. We looked into it. The airfare is what really hurts. But supply and demand I guess.

[tallyho8]

The two main reasons the POA is more expensive than other ships is because it has no casino due to Hawaii regulations and you pay for expensive American labor on this only American flagged cruise ship.

 

As mentioned before, a balcony or outside cabin is not a must because it mainly only cruises at night and stays in 2 ports for 2 days. You will rarely be in your cabin except to sleep.

[WaldosPepper]

Here are just a few of the things that cause the difference in pricing...

 

1.) This is an American Flagged vessel, therefore our wage laws are in effect, meaning staff must be paid considerably more than on the foreign flagged vessels.

 

2.) Fuel. There are no fuel sources, nor refineries on the islands, therefore all the fuel must be brought on tankers, thereby increasing the costs significantly.

 

3.) Provisions. Provisions are considerably more expensive because they, too must be shipped to the island.

 

I'm sure there are many other factors, but these are some of the primary reasons for the increased price tag.

[WaldosPepper]

The two main reasons the POA is more expensive than other ships is because it has no casino due to Hawaii regulations and you pay for expensive American labor on this only American flagged cruise ship.

 

As mentioned before, a balcony or outside cabin is not a must because it mainly only cruises at night and stays in 2 ports for 2 days. You will rarely be in your cabin except to sleep.

 

Ah yes! I had forgotten it also has no Casino. There's a biggie right there.

[Cruisercl]

We took the R/T cruise from CA to HI on Princess and visited all of the islands. The cost was not prohibitive and we had to fly to CA from MN. There are other lines that do this too. It was a 15 night cruise; we loved it and would do it again!! No disrespect to NCL but the product they offer in HI can be expensive because you need to fly there.

 

Just my opinion. Hope this helps.

Happy cruising all!!

[zoncom]

How about the one way repo cruises on RCL, Celebrity and other lines. Spring or Fall? Also the 14-15N round trips from California. Both, to me , provide a better experience at lower dollar. Reviews of the American staffed NCL HA.ship are mixed.

[cruisecritiquer]

You honestly don't need a balcony room on this cruise. If you want to save money book an inside. You stop every day anyway. It's such a great itinerary. We used to live on Oahu and I can assure you that the cruise is much cheaper than doing the trip with hotels, food etc on your own. We went last year and loved it! Ship was just ok but you are seriously only on it to eat, cruise at night and sleep.

 

An inside would not work for our particular needs but you are right about the accommodations, food, rental car, etc. I just priced these things and for the hotel we would want, it is about $8,000.00 although it's quite a bit less if I travel during rainy season which obviously we don't want to do.

[cruisecritiquer]

I wish I had the ability to take two weeks away from work but that is not a possibility at this point. :(

[cruisecritiquer]

The two main reasons the POA is more expensive than other ships is because it has no casino due to Hawaii regulations and you pay for expensive American labor on this only American flagged cruise ship.

 

As mentioned before, a balcony or outside cabin is not a must because it mainly only cruises at night and stays in 2 ports for 2 days. You will rarely be in your cabin except to sleep.

 

It is a must for us. Thank you for the insight regarding the casino and the additional cost. That makes sense.

[cruisecritiquer]

Here are just a few of the things that cause the difference in pricing...

 

1.) This is an American Flagged vessel, therefore our wage laws are in effect, meaning staff must be paid considerably more than on the foreign flagged vessels.

 

2.) Fuel. There are no fuel sources, nor refineries on the islands, therefore all the fuel must be brought on tankers, thereby increasing the costs significantly.

 

3.) Provisions. Provisions are considerably more expensive because they, too must be shipped to the island.

 

I'm sure there are many other factors, but these are some of the primary reasons for the increased price tag.

 

All good points!

[SissasMomE]

When we do go, we are taking the 2-week cruise from CA. The cruise itself is cheaper, the airfare is cheaper, and we get a 2-week cruise instead of a 1 week cruise :)

[SissasMomE]

We took the R/T cruise from CA to HI on Princess and visited all of the islands. The cost was not prohibitive and we had to fly to CA from MN. There are other lines that do this too. It was a 15 night cruise; we loved it and would do it again!! No disrespect to NCL but the product they offer in HI can be expensive because you need to fly there.

 

Just my opinion. Hope this helps.

Happy cruising all!!

 

This has always been our plan as well. We don't have the patience to sit on a plane for that long LOL I'd much rather be on the ship relaxing! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I am really looking forward to planning that one very soon!

[Cruisercl]

I wish I had the ability to take two weeks away from work but that is not a possibility at this point. :(

 

Oh, OK. It does make a huge difference.

[elhenry]

When we first booked POA, I also was blown away by the sticker shock ... I was accustomed to the suite life on NCL and RCCL, and no way could I afford a suite on the POA. The B6 balcony cost as much as the OS on the Jewel the previous year! (we did get a great deal on the Jewel OS). And sitting in a plane for 12 hours... I was not a happy camper. I was talked into the cruise by the rest of our group.

 

We sailed in July, and it was an awesome, awesome cruise. Tip on balcony cabins: if you book a balcony cabin next to a deck 11 suite, you will have an amazing, deep balcony cabin with two lounge chairs. And a port side balcony is a must for the NaPali sailby.

 

But it IS pricy!

 

el henry

[Umbarger]

When we do go, we are taking the 2-week cruise from CA. The cruise itself is cheaper, the airfare is cheaper, and we get a 2-week cruise instead of a 1 week cruise :)

 

Yes, the cruise from the west coast is cheaper but it is just a teaser taste of Hawaii. Only 4 days in Hawaii is hardly worth it. If you love sea days this is the cruise for you.

 

If you want to experience Hawaii the POA is the way to go. 7 full days in Hawaii with overnights in both Maui and Kauai.

 

Yes, POA is more expensive but do you just want a taste of Hawaii or do you want to experience Hawaii?

 

I've done a cruise around the Hawaiian islands 4 times and would go again in a heartbeat.

[vivian02]

I am returning to Hawaii for a cruise after eleven years. This cruise will be from San Pedro to Hawaii and back to San Pedro. Saving big bucks on airfare. The NCL pre POA cruises were a real bargin looking back in time. I managed to get a flight out of Phoenix round trip at the time for under $300. We stayed in Holululu at the Hawaian Prince which was booked on a Priceline bid of something like $100 a night and got a sea view window. The cruise did have a glitch. There was a medical emergency when going out to Fanning Island and the ship had to return to the big Island. Kona was made our reassigned port and instead of half a day in Maui we got two full days. "What a deal"! In my lifetime of cruising we will probably never see those days again but I am looking forward to the long sea days and will enjoy the highlights of our cruise on the NCL Star back in November of 2003. If the POA ever gets down to what I paid back in 2003 I'll book it. In the mean time I will find those bargins else where. Tim

[CactusFlower527]

We took the R/T cruise from CA to HI on Princess and visited all of the islands. The cost was not prohibitive and we had to fly to CA from MN. There are other lines that do this too. It was a 15 night cruise; we loved it and would do it again!! No disrespect to NCL but the product they offer in HI can be expensive because you need to fly there.

 

Just my opinion. Hope this helps.

Happy cruising all!!

 

Yep, honestly though, not everyone has 15 days free................ I know I don't ...no one in our family can be 'away' for over 2 weeks.

 

Anyhow....that was a biggie with me. No matter where I cruise from it requires airfare and a night or two in a hotel..................

Hawaii doesn't cost (for me) anymore than flying a lot of other places, I think it just depends.

[CactusFlower527]

Yes, the cruise from the west coast is cheaper but it is just a teaser taste of Hawaii. Only 4 days in Hawaii is hardly worth it. If you love sea days this is the cruise for you.

 

If you want to experience Hawaii the POA is the way to go. 7 full days in Hawaii with overnights in both Maui and Kauai.

 

Yes, POA is more expensive but do you just want a taste of Hawaii or do you want to experience Hawaii?

 

I've done a cruise around the Hawaiian islands 4 times and would go again in a heartbeat.

 

 

Not that this is a big deal for most avid cruisers.. but you also don't need a US Passport to sail on the Pride of America.. no foreign ports.

 

It really does depend on what you want.. I am.. not into casinos... long sea days................... etc etc. Hawaii is the 'star' of this cruise, the POA just gets you around.. gives you a cool place to sleep and eat and make new friends.

[ronandannette]

An inside would not work for our particular needs but you are right about the accommodations, food, rental car, etc. I just priced these things and for the hotel we would want, it is about $8,000.00 although it's quite a bit less if I travel during rainy season which obviously we don't want to do.

 

We always though the POA was stupidly priced too...until we just got back from a 4-night/5-day land stay on Oahu. Airfare, 4 nights in a 3* on Wikiki Beach, rental car, meals & activities topped out over $4,000 (about $1,000/day). We could have done the POA itinerary during that week (in an inside) for about $4,300 including airfare. We really enjoyed our trip but in hindsight the 7-day cruise would have been a much greater value for the $$.

[mcmomny]

We are more about the ports of call and not the cruise life, not much into the sea day and we had 14 days to take for vacation so the POA seemed perfect for us.

 

We came in early, spent 4 days in Oahu which really helped with jet lag and then boarded the ship.

 

Great low key relaxing way to see the Islands, we rented cars at each port, did our own thing and felt like we really got the best of both worlds.

 

Free style life suited us just fine, eating when we wanted to and dressing up if we wanted to. Crew was great and so was our cabin.

 

We then spent 2 days after in Oahu before flying home.

 

I booked the cruise about 18 months out so that helped with the cost and after adding up all the costs from rental cars, hotels and meals I think we did just fine.

 

I can tell you that the POA cruise itself was cheaper than the Breakaway this summer! But I did book the Breakaway on a whim with little notice!

 

This is still our favorite cruise and we look often at doing it again!

[vivian02]

Cactus Flower,

You are so right. Taking a 15 day cruise has its issues when you work. In my case I recently retired to Arizona from New Mexico and had to deal with giving the boss a six month notice if I were to do a two week cruise. Some employers want control of the time you can take for vacation. I now have the time and that is why we are doing a 15 day Hawaii vacation cruise. I have to admit that the cruise cost for Hawaii now are hard to imagine. I think the total cost for our 10 NCL cruise in 2003 with airfare and Hotels ran something like $2900 (inside cabin). We did a 14 day cruise around New Zealand from Sydney in 2010 which ran $4800 which I thought was reasonable. Do your homework and don't be afraid to use sites like Priceline or Hotwire when booking Hotels. I like to keep the cost down so we can think about the next cruise. I hope this information helps. Tim

[Budget Queen]

The main reason for the NCL cruise price- is supply and demand. These cruises also sell out every week. The itinerary is superb.

 

We ALL travel per our own priorities, which can run a BIG range- time, money, cruise preference.

 

I now go on NCL POA every year and go for 3+ weeks. I've done the NCL "American" Hawaii cruises 8 times. My preference. I do find touring Hawaii is very cheap, since I use my guide books and drive up activities with a rental car.

 

I always book an inside cabin. I don't have any "budget" restrictions, no time restrictions either, so completely different than many cruisers. Reading up on the various ideas and reports will pave your way to YOUR decisions. No "right" or "wrong". :)