Goodness gracious NCL's Hawaiian cruise is EXPENSIVE!

[cruisecritiquer]

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". :)

 

I know you probably do not mean it this way but your post sounds like a bragging post disguised as an informative post. LOL

[punkincc]

I know you probably do not mean it this way but your post sounds like a bragging post disguised as an informative post. LOL

 

If anyone wants info about cruising in Hawaii ( and Alaska ), there is no better person to ask than BudgetQueen! Your post sounds a little envious. LOL.

[TSUmom]

We have been on this cruise 4 times now and would go back again. The islands are beautiful. Yes it is expensive but when we plan ahead, save our money and cut back on what we don't need it has been doable. We also can't take 15 plus days and we don't want to spend too many days at sea. We love cruising but we love ports too.

 

We are having to use this strategy for our Med. cruise in 2015 also.

[cruisecritiquer]

If anyone wants info about cruising in Hawaii ( and Alaska ), there is no better person to ask than BudgetQueen! Your post sounds a little envious. LOL.

 

touché ;)

[Bocadude85]

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=

 

We opted for a land vacation to Hawaii. We made Maui our home base and flew over to the big island and also flew over to Oahu. We went in November and had beautiful weather. There are a lot of things to see and do in Hawaii and I didn't feel that a cruise was the best way to see the islands. But as others have said it is much more expensive then the cruise.

[cruisecritiquer]

We opted for a land vacation to Hawaii. We made Maui our home base and flew over to the big island and also flew over to Oahu. We went in November and had beautiful weather. There are a lot of things to see and do in Hawaii and I didn't feel that a cruise was the best way to see the islands. But as others have said it is much more expensive then the cruise.

 

Since we are taking our family and not just going as a couple, we have to consider not only our own budget but the budget of family members as well. We thought a cruise might be the best value for everyone but I'll just have to bounce this off of everyone and see what they think.

 

We generally do a cruise in the fall, Christmas on Sanibel/Captiva Island, and take turns visiting "in laws" during the summer who all live out of state. That is already three weeks of vacation so I'd have to give up one of these other vacation times to accommodate a cruise out of LA and frankly, I don't want to be at sea that long. I considered Spring 2015 but I would need to wait for my son's school to publish their calendar so I could take it during his spring break that year. I pull him out for the fall cruise so I doubt they'd let me pull him out of school twice in one year...especially not so close to end of grade testing.

 

We'll get it figured out. I don't think that a cruise is the "best" way to see Hawaii in general but with the time constraint of one week of vacation time, that may be the best way until we retire. We are in our early thirties so that's probably a long way from now. ;)

[punkincc]

We opted for a land vacation to Hawaii. We made Maui our home base and flew over to the big island and also flew over to Oahu. We went in November and had beautiful weather. There are a lot of things to see and do in Hawaii and I didn't feel that a cruise was the best way to see the islands. But as others have said it is much more expensive then the cruise.

 

In a perfect world, a land vacation would be the best way to see and experience any place. But Hawaii has many islands, each much different. We did a land vacation of 7 days several years ago split between Maui and Kauai. It was great, but we missed seeing a couple islands.

 

It would take several land vacations, several years and lots of flights to do a land vacation on each one. If you have limited time, a POA cruise is the best option for a good sampling of each island, IMO. You have time to see some of the highlights on each island and it is about as stress free as a vacations can be. We are booked on POA for next August. Looking forward to seeing the islands we missed last time and spending a few extra days in Oahu before and after. If any island especially appeals to us, we'll make plans to maybe do a land vaca there someday.

 

But, it would be super easy to just repeat the cruise often, and just see a different attraction, do something new each time on each island.

[Mard940]

goodness- i wish this post was up two weeks ago- i spent about 2 days putting together a spread sheet comparing land and cruise both for costs and pros/cons- this would have saved me a lot of work. the one part not factored in is traveling with 2 older teenage girls- what is the price having them share a 2 bedroom apartment with their parents or their own room on a boat away from us for a few hours and eating whenever or where ever the want

( for them it is priceless :)

[vivian02]

It seems the perfect Hawaian Vacation is endless when it comes to planning. Budet Queen is a excellent sourse for vacation information. One thing that I just thought of when doing our trip in 2003 cruise was the fact that I might want to take a couple of days after the cruise and visit one or two of the Isands for a couple of days. Flights out of Honululu back then were running $60 to $100 round trip. I did some checking and presently the flight say to Maui are running about $139. Not too bad after eleven years. I did notice it is pricy going to Hilo which is running around $189 per person. If you take in seeing three of the Islands that airfare can really add up fast.

I do remember booking several rental cars back then with winning bids on Priceline at $21 a day. I just checked a site that shows present winning bids on Priceline coming in at $19 to $21 for Midsize to Fullsize cars. This is a bargin for those who use Priceline bidding. Here is another source for saving money in Hawaii. Do note that those who cruise if there is a change of schedule or a change of ports then your rental car might not be accessible. I remember a guy form Michiagan on our cruise who had one of those cheap winning bids for a car in Hilo. He had a scheduled helicopet tour and was going to pick up his rental car at the airport. At the rental car agency he asked them how to get to the tour place.... the lady said walk about 500 yards to the south and you will see the tour group on the left. So much for the rental car.

Here again I am just remembering how to do Hawaii from my past experience. Oh! Another point.... gas is rather expensive in Hawaii. The good thing is the fact that you probably won't use more than a tank of gas for a two or three day Island visit. Even one day you will probably use maybe a quarter of a tank. Tim

[Budget Queen]

Expanding on the above post, an option to save time, is to perhaps consider multi city flight options. I (I better watch out, since I'm probably bragging), fly in one city and out a different one to mainland US. You can then use one way flights in between, avoiding backtracking, saving time and money.

 

An example- fly into Kona, fly Hilo to Honolulu, cruise NCL, fly to Maui, fly out of Maui back home. Yes this is an example of one of my trips, AND only a suggestion to consider.

[CactusFlower527]

We have been on this cruise 4 times now and would go back again. The islands are beautiful. Yes it is expensive but when we plan ahead, save our money and cut back on what we don't need it has been doable. We also can't take 15 plus days and we don't want to spend too many days at sea. We love cruising but we love ports too.

 

We are having to use this strategy for our Med. cruise in 2015 also.

 

That's exactly what we do .. save, save, save.....................like for 18 months.... take a fantastic cruise.................... we aren't rich people, quite the contrary .. more than one are retirees on very fixed incomes. But we don't travel a few times a year, we drive our cars for 10+ years, we don't trade up for a new iPhone every 6 months; no young kids playing soccer.........grind and brew our own Starbucks:D........every one has their own unique circumstances and ways of making things work. I wish I could go on the POA Hawaii cruise EVERY YEAR.. I am still trying to find a way to make it work that we can do any cruise at least once a year ....................(like Alaska in 2015) We don't live near a Port however and so airfare is always necessary. Add that to cruise fare, and spending money and it starts adding up. And well, the years just go by faster & faster!

[hladygirl]

I know you probably do not mean it this way but your post sounds like a bragging post disguised as an informative post. LOL

 

We go on only 14 night cruises only because we like the quieter crowd and mostly no kids. We are average Joe's. If we want to go on these cruises I have to work mega overtime over a year to save. We are not bragging but excited over our accomplishment of very hard work to be able to do this vacation. Nothing comes easy for us. Maybe you are misjudging the poster? You never know!

[cruisecritiquer]

We go on only 14 night cruises only because we like the quieter crowd and mostly no kids. We are average Joe's. If we want to go on these cruises I have to work mega overtime over a year to save. We are not bragging but excited over our accomplishment of very hard work to be able to do this vacation. Nothing comes easy for us. Maybe you are misjudging the poster? You never know!

 

I'm sure you're right. :)

[silvercrikhix]

A very true opening thread topic!

Yes, expensive, but everyone can make it work some how if they want to.

Some save & scrimp and lucky others just read out their CC number.

Hope you can work out your own plan, OP!

 

I am sooo happy that Budget Queen has a passion for Hawaii, as well as Alaska!

Her input was very valuable in planning our Alaska cruise last year.

She does have a very no nonsense, informative & factual way of posting.

She is a huge fount of information and I am looking forward to greedily reading any Hawaiian topic posts from her as we plan our NCL POA cruise 2014 :D

Thank goodness she is kind enough to share all of her knowledge with us :D

[Cubechick]

You're right that this cruise has gotten very pricey. The B1's are nearly double what we paid for ours in 2011.

 

For that reason we're looking at a land-based vacation to Hawaii next year...but we'll only be going to one island.

[punkincc]

You're right that this cruise has gotten very pricey. The B1's are nearly double what we paid for ours in 2011.

 

For that reason we're looking at a land-based vacation to Hawaii next year...but we'll only be going to one island.

 

You are right about the prices. We are booked in a B1 for next August, biting the bullet as this is a big anniversary trip, but honestly, you are off the ship or docked in port so much, we probably should just go with an inside and save the money. I think we will use that balcony very little.

 

We did price a land vacation and could probably have done that for less than half what we are spending on the cruise. And in some very nice condos. Will do this to get a taste of all the islands and then will probably revert to visiting one island at a time if we are lucky enough to get back there.

[kjquilts]

The POA cruise is expensive .... we live on the left out coast so the airplane ride won't be as bad as east coasters but still.......

 

that being said we are booked on POA for Oct 2014 to celebrate best friends and cruising companions major anniversary and a birthday. We booked two obstructed view (cat OK) oceanview staterooms and then used 10,000 points (each stateroom) to upgrade two categories to OA oceanview staterooms.

 

Here is photo of stateroom next to one of ours - there are 8 on the ship. We took one on port side and one starboard. They are close to the stairs so easily accessible one to the other.

 

http://www.02cruise.com/lines/norwegian%20cruise%20line/pride%20of%20america/photos/highres/pride%20of%20america%20cat%20cc%20stateroom%207604%20oceanview.jpg

 

Cost per stateroom is $3588 not counting the $100 cash value for the points we redeemed. Take a look every now and then but pricing hasn't come down. Seems like a lot of $$ for non-balcony but on the other hand we'll still have great view and no worries about outside odors :)

[Cubechick]

You are right about the prices. We are booked in a B1 for next August, biting the bullet as this is a big anniversary trip, but honestly, you are off the ship or docked in port so much, we probably should just go with an inside and save the money. I think we will use that balcony very little.

 

We did price a land vacation and could probably have done that for less than half what we are spending on the cruise. And in some very nice condos. Will do this to get a taste of all the islands and then will probably revert to visiting one island at a time if we are lucky enough to get back there.

 

We loved the B1. The cabins are so small that that huge balcony made us feel like we had double the space. Not to mention the awesome views.

[Cubechick]

View from the balcony leaving the NaPali Coast.

 

[kjquilts]

View from the balcony leaving the NaPali Coast.

 

 

 

gorgeous picture .... and how funny you posted just now. I had googled Key West since we'll be there in Feb on the Pearl and found your blog posts re your land visit to Key West. We just finished reading it ..love your writing style and the photos were great.

[Cubechick]

gorgeous picture .... and how funny you posted just now. I had googled Key West since we'll be there in Feb on the Pearl and found your blog posts re your land visit to Key West. We just finished reading it ..love your writing style and the photos were great.

 

Thank very much! We'll be in Key West again next month. Really wish NCL sailed there more often!

[kjquilts]

Thank very much! We'll be in Key West again next month. Really wish NCL sailed there more often!

 

 

Us too ... it is far from Oregon. Here is link to the Norwegian Pearl Feb 3rd .. we're getting off the Epic on the 2nd, spending the night somewhere and then going out on the Pearl on the 3rd. This was a fully chartered cruise for Mountain Song at Sea but evidently didn't sell well enough. Friends sailing with us on the Epic need just 4 more points after Epic to be platinum by our Hawaii cruise in October. They are already booked on the Sky for their 4 dayer on the 3rd so this way we'll all be able to fly home together. I had been tempted by this cruise because of Key West and because the entertainment looks good but didn't like the Sixth Man prices. Happy it turned into a partial charter.

 

http://www.ncl.com/cruises/4-day-western-caribbean-from-miami?pageSize=5&sortBy=Featured&destinations=4294934559&currentPage=1&autoPopulate=f&from=resultPage&numberOfGuests=4294915774&itineraryCode=PEARL4MIACZMEYWMIA

 

Friends

[punkincc]

View from the balcony leaving the NaPali Coast.

 

 

Awesome! I guess the price of that B1 will be worth it just for that aft view of NaPali alone! In the meantime, we have a B1 on the Epic in December.:D

[halos]

Even though I love NCL, I decided to cruise with another line so we could cruise into hawaii from California. We wound up on Carnival. The sea days were magnificent (although we did miss NCL music/entertainment) and because we booked so far out, the cruise was very reasonable, plus we only had to fly to San Diego.

If I had to do it again, I'd do the same thing. I'd rather have all those sea days than spend those extra hours (and dollars) on a plane.

 

 

 

I know you probably do not mean it this way but your post sounds like a bragging post disguised as an informative post. LOL

 

 

 

I didn't take it that way. :confused:

[DevCruise]

We had a BD balcony on the POA back in January '12 and loved it. Granted, we didn't spend all day out on the balcony, but I did go out and sit on it watching the ship pull into port. That alone made it worth it. Would also sit out there watching the ship pull out of port and off and on during the day depending on what we were doing.

 

I don't normally recommend travel agents as I prefer to book direct through NCL, but we saved over $1000 by finding a TA who had a group put together. Just a thought....