Norwegian Pride of America Hawaiian cruise

[Jennyb1963]

Hello, We are considering a 7 night cruise of Hawaii with 5 night pre stay in Honolulu and 3 stay in Las aVegas on way back. Has anyone experienced this itinerary all or either and give me some tips/pointers. Thanks in anticipation:)

[Lazz]

My personal opinion is that you should spend you 5 night pre stay on one of the other islands. After seeing the important sights, Honolulu is just another big city resort town. Maui or Kauai are just gorgeous. You can rent a car, get a tour book, and really enjoy the beauty of either island.

[Jennyb1963]

Thanks Lazz for such a prompt reply! - we will be flying from U.K. So want to get as much info as poss before booking cruise , stay and LV

[Seanote]

While Maui and Kauai are beautiful in their own right, Oahu has a lot to offer as well. We did three nights pre-cruise in Honolulu and we found that this was not enough time to accomplish everything that we wanted. Aside from the obvious like Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head, there's much more to see (rush-hour traffic jams notwithstanding). A favorite was a tour of the Ka'a'awa Valley. Waikiki itself has a vibe of its own that is found nowhere else on the islands.

 

Now with that, our time spent in Maui on the cruise inspired us to return for a week on a land vacation.

[punkincc]

Hello, We are considering a 7 night cruise of Hawaii with 5 night pre stay in Honolulu and 3 stay in Las aVegas on way back. Has anyone experienced this itinerary all or either and give me some tips/pointers. Thanks in anticipation:)

 

Have done the POA twice, and have to say that I love O'ahu as much as the other islands we visited. 5 nights there is definately not too much. Waikiki is busy, sure, but it has its own magical vibe. Do day trips to the Northshore ( or spend a couple nights there ) and to the Windward Coast and Koolau Mountains. They are quick drives away, but feel like a different world. The driving is very simple and easy once you are ot of Waikiki.

 

Vegas is OK, but if it were me, I'd rather spend 5 more days seeing the beauty of Hawaii. I'd cut at least a couple days out of the Las Vegas stop and spend it on O'ahu post cruise resting up. Two or three days in Las Vegas is more than enough unless you really like gambling 24/7.

[AF-1]

1.Oahu and Waikiki, you have Diamond Head and beautiful beach.

Pearl Harbor and USS Missouri museum

Polynesian Cultural Center

Haunama Bay for snorkeling

North Shore in Winter months; waves can be up to 20 feet

Lots of good dinner shows in Waikiki

2. Maui

Haleakula Crater-tour up and down great views

Lahania-this is where the ship docks

Hana: a long drive to other side of island; but there are some nice beaches

3. Hawaii(big island)

Kona; ship docks here

Hilo: ship docks here

Volcano National Park

Akaka Falls

Recommend doing a Helicopter tour out of Hilo

 

These are a few things you can do

[txskier]

I recommend Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore

[Seanote]

1.Oahu and Waikiki, you have Diamond Head and beautiful beach.

Pearl Harbor and USS Missouri museum

Polynesian Cultural Center

Haunama Bay for snorkeling

North Shore in Winter months; waves can be up to 20 feet

Lots of good dinner shows in Waikiki

2. Maui

Haleakula Crater-tour up and down great views

Lahania-this is where the ship docks

Hana: a long drive to other side of island; but there are some nice beaches

3. Hawaii(big island)

Kona; ship docks here

Hilo: ship docks here

Volcano National Park

Akaka Falls

Recommend doing a Helicopter tour out of Hilo

 

These are a few things you can do

 

Heads up: the ship docks in Kahului. Lahaina is on the other side of the island. ;)

[daedwards11]

Just got off this cruise last week. Do the helicopter doors off in Hilo. It was awesome. Book through Viator, you will save lots of money. Also do the Old Lahiana Luau in Maui. Book early. It's the best luau. Ship is great! Crew sucks! Still had fun

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Lazz]

I will throw my 2 cents in as far as things to do and focus on Kauai (my favorite island):

1) Rent a car and drive up Wiamea Canyon. Mark Twain called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. A good tour book will tell you the best places to stop. If you go all the way to the top and the weather is clear (usually in the morning) The view of the Na Pali coast is stunning.

2) View the Na Pali coast. Since the road does not go all away around the island, you can only view the coast by sea or air. We took a catamaran cruise that went up the coast and included at stop at a secluded beach and snorkeling on a sunken volcano just off the private island of niihau.

3) Take a drive up through the Princeville area and the beautiful Hanalei Bay. Continue past Hanalei and the sights and beaches are just beautiful.

4) Other than the catamaran tour of Na Pali, the only other tour we purchased was the movie tour. The tour will show you scenes from movies shot on the island and then take you to the sight. Movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and South Pacific. They did take us to the Coco Palms where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii, but I would assume that is stopped because they are finally reconstructing the Hotel that was nearly destroyed by a hurricane.

[BOOGALOO509]

Jenny

 

Hi, my wife and I are UK based as well and are doing this trip next month. When do you think you may be doing it?

 

We are stopping in Vegas for 4 nights on our way across, we have been there before so know a little of what to expect, then we are flying to Honolulu for 3 nights before the cruise and finally we will head to San Francisco after the cruise for 4 nights before we head home.

 

We have all our hotels and trips booked, with most trips being handled by local agents rather than NCL.

 

I am happy to give you some feedback once we get back if that fits your time frames.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Jennyb1963]

Hi John,

We have seen a package by one of the cruise companies in U.K. Which seems tremendous vfm - I have looked at trying to book same itinerary by doing it ourselves flights, hotels, cruise etc, but can't get close!

Itinerary in September is fly from Heathrow to Honolulu ( via short stop/connect in SF)' 5 nights in Hilton Waikiki beach, 7 day POA cruise then fly to Vegas for 3 nights in Luxor hotel.

Always wanted to go toHawaii and LV, so think this will do the trick keeping costs under control!

Are you going on the POAmerica or if not which line?

Thanks for any tips or experiences before or after:)

Regards,

Jenny, Nottingham

[RD29P5]

I will throw my 2 cents in as far as things to do and focus on Kauai (my favorite island):

1) Rent a car and drive up Wiamea Canyon. Mark Twain called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. A good tour book will tell you the best places to stop. If you go all the way to the top and the weather is clear (usually in the morning) The view of the Na Pali coast is stunning.

2) View the Na Pali coast. Since the road does not go all away around the island, you can only view the coast by sea or air. We took a catamaran cruise that went up the coast and included at stop at a secluded beach and snorkeling on a sunken volcano just off the private island of niihau.

3) Take a drive up through the Princeville area and the beautiful Hanalei Bay. Continue past Hanalei and the sights and beaches are just beautiful.

4) Other than the catamaran tour of Na Pali, the only other tour we purchased was the movie tour. The tour will show you scenes from movies shot on the island and then take you to the sight. Movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and South Pacific. They did take us to the Coco Palms where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii, but I would assume that is stopped because they are finally reconstructing the Hotel that was nearly destroyed by a hurricane.

 

I'll add a couple to your list that were just plain awesome. Kipu Ranch adventure's ATV tour was great. Tubing in one of the old hand cut irrigation canals with Kauai Backcountry adventures, sounds cheesy but it was fun for all ages Although floating down a irrigation canal going into a tunnel when one of the guides starts playing "Dueling Banjo's" on a custom lexan ukulele is a bit disconcerting. Hanalai Bay and the Napali coast are just too awesome to put into words and both have to be experienced in person. Oh and one more Koloa Rum tasting room in Lihiue is great, hey free rum tasting and rum cake with rum chocolate sauce, what else needs to be said.

[Laszlo]

Jenny

 

Hi, my wife and I are UK based as well and are doing this trip next month. When do you think you may be doing it?

 

We are stopping in Vegas for 4 nights on our way across, we have been there before so know a little of what to expect, then we are flying to Honolulu for 3 nights before the cruise and finally we will head to San Francisco after the cruise for 4 nights before we head home.

 

We have all our hotels and trips booked, with most trips being handled by local agents rather than NCL.

 

I am happy to give you some feedback once we get back if that fits your time frames.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

 

Lots to see and do in and around Vegas. Not to be missed are Red Rock Canyon and Valley Of Fire

[BOOGALOO509]

Jenni

 

We are using NCL and the POA for the cruise, have used NCL before and had no complaints but obviously not been on the POA before.

 

We are independent travellers and have put our itinerary together by ourselves, booking flights hotels and cruise in 3 separate stages.

 

Our flights are with BA and Hawaiian airlines. In Vegas we are staying at the ARIA on the strip, in Honolulu one of the Outrigger hotels and as I said before will be using several different local tour operators on the Islands.

 

If your package is with one of the reputable Tour operators here in the UK then good luck, I hope you manage to get it all sorted. We actually saw a deal including another NCL cruise we quite liked the look of for 2018. It was advertised in one of the national newspapers using a "cruise" specialist company. The price shown was very appealing although it was obviously for one of the basic inside cabins not an oceanview of balcony cabin, they may be available but at a much higher price.

 

When we rang them for details and to get a price they were only able to offer us a Balcony Guarantee type cabin not a specific one. We rang NCL direct and were told the cruise was actually sold out and they could not offer us anything at all other than a Haven suite. That got us worrying so we did a bit of research on the cruise company and didn't like some of the feedback and reviews we saw on Tripadvisor, so please beware if the deal you have seen is not through one of the major tour companies.

 

Good luck with your investigations and planning, happy to help if you have any specific questions.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Jennyb1963]

Hi John,

Trust you are now back from your trip - how did it go?

Love to hear any tips / recommendations so we can plan our 1st trip to Hawaii sailing on 30th September. We are stopping in Waikiki for 5 nights pre cruise in Waikiki HIlton Garden. Hope you can give us some pointers to make the most of this once in a lifetime trip.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Thanks,

Jenny.