Will we make our Flight following Hawaii cruise?

[PammieJune]

We are sailing on the Pride of America in November. Our flight home is 10am (Qantas) from Honolulu.

Apparently NCL recommends 3.5 hours time between when the ship gets in and flight time but we only have three hours (ship gets in at 7am).

I really don’t want to wait a day before flying home (assuming we can change flights).

Has anyone made this flight directly from the ship? Did you have to make prior arrangements to leave the ship ASAP? 

[SinbadThePorter]

I would catch a later flight and spend a day in Waikiki. Too much hassle for a holiday.

Edited September 25, 2019 by SinbadThePorter

[PammieJune]

Qantas only have one flight out per day and it’s already booked.

[The_Big_M]

No. Don't do it.

 

Long answer: Hawaii is a busy airport, so queues and waits are often long. Walkways can be long. And security is more arduous than here, especially if you get called out for secondary checking. I also wouldn't be surprised that NCL recommendation is based for US customers/domestic travellers as most of their passengers are.

 

QF require you to have completed checkin by 8 a.m based on the time you gave above, so that only leaves you one hour to collect luggage and clear the ship, get to the airport and sorted to check in. While the airport isn't that far away that's not enough in normal circumstances.

Edited September 25, 2019 by The_Big_M

[PammieJune]

According to Qantas check in closes for us at 9am.

 

[MicCanberra]

Welcome to cruise critic,

I am not sure what you can do but I would be trying to change the flight until the next day.

Several reasons are, Hawaii has horrific traffic, Hawaii airport is very busy, the Check-in may be open still when you get there but it may take some time to actually check-in, and US security checks can be very time consuming.

I wish you luck if you cannot change your flight,  Walk off with your bags as soon as the ship is cleared and get to the airport asap.

[The_Big_M]

According to both the Hawaii gov airport page, and the Qantas page on Honolulu airport (though it oddly isn't clear and only says online), 2 hours is the requirement/cut-off.

 

https://airports.hawaii.gov/hnl/flights/ticketing-check-in/

 

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/at-the-airport/airport-guides/honolulu-airport-guide.html

 

Qantas may have the kiosks open for late arrivals but if you're pushing it to be beyond what's recommended, it doesn't make a great end of the trip to be rushing to make the last minute. Unless you're looking for an Amazing Race style experience...

[Kiwi Kruzer]

For the Hawaii Cruise you really need to factor in a hotel stay to fit in with the flight times. 

 

[GUT2407]

To close for me, the last thing I want after a holiday is stress over missing flights

 

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, why stress out at ant time in your holiday.

[PammieJune]

The Big M we are flying Business Class and the cut off check in time is 60 minutes before the flight.

Our flights are already booked and the chances of Business Class seats being available the next day are very slim - plus we have commitments at home. My hubby thought the ship docked at 6am for some reason when he booked them. 

 

I was hoping that some Australians who had actually flown on the 10am Qantas flight could tell me it was possible and what procedures the airline has before boarding -

because all airlines are different. 

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, PammieJune said:

Our flights are already booked

 

Then the best of luck.

[Dimarie40]

Pammie,

 

We came off the Solstice in Hawaii in May and had a flight at 11:25 to another island. I was worried about that flight so 10am would have scared me silly.  Having said that, you have already booked and so I'll tell you what I recommend you do.

 

Do not put your bags out the night before.  Keep them with you and do self disembarkation.  Once the ship is in port you will have to wait for clearance and then they will announce the ship is cleared and disembarkation will commence.  Do not stop to eat breakfast, you can have something in the Qantas lounge and on the flight.  Get yourself and your luggage down to the disembarkation queue early, and I'm talking 6am. Hubby can go to Al Baccio for coffee which you stand in line or vise versa.  It will be on deck 2 or 3 I think but check that out while you are on board.  We didn't go to the line until about 6:45 and the queue was immense.  There were lots of people self disembarking. We got lucky and they sent us to start a new queue next to Cellarmasters but I wouldn't count on that.  As you will have had immigration done on Maui you will be able to walk straight off the ship and head for the taxis which is what we did.  Even with a delay due to the computer system having to be rebooted in order to scan our sea passes we were off the ship and at the airport by a little after 8 o'clock. 

 

It's definitely doable as long as you are organised and hit the ground running. 

 

Good luck and have a great cruise. 

[Dimarie40]

I've just realised you are on POA and we were on Celebrity so please disregard some of that information.  I'm not sure if POA do self disembarkation but if they do I would recommend it or at least get into group number 1 for disembarkation.

[PammieJune]

DiMarie they do self- disembarkation. When we went two years ago our flight home was 12pm. We got off the ship relatively quickly and had hours wait at the airport. 

You get allocated a disembarkation order and we would have to ask for priority and have a pre booked taxi waiting. 

The trouble is if we DO miss the flight -‘who knows when the next seats will be available (esp. Business Class).

[MicCanberra]

Lots of luck, I would definitely do the walk off with your bags asap, firstly so you are off early but also so you can get the first cabs and miss most of the morning traffic before it builds up..