Need help - SPLEEN

[coiran]

Maybe you can give me some advice on the following:

posted 04-25-04 07:50 PM
Our problem is this - we will be arriving in Honolulu on Oct. 19 - our NCL cruise is leaving Oct., 24 - I would like to get a 3 star at a reasonable price - a car - and need to know where the ship docks in relationship to the airport and hotel I may get - would like to arrive - get a car at the airport - a hotel for the 5 days - and be able to drop the car off at either the pier or the airport and get some reasonable transportation from the car/airport to the ship.
Similar problem when landing back at Oahu on the 31 - want to go perhaps to the big island for a few days then somewhere else then bsck to Honolulu to catch a plane back on Nov. 8.

I know this is asking a lot, but any help from anyone would be appreciated.

PS - would maybe like a condo .

NCL PRIDE OF AMERICA Oct. 2004
SUN PRINCESS 2004 Caribbean
REGAL PRINCESS 2003 Europe
GOLDEN PRINCESS 2002 Canada New England
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Panama Canal
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Mexico
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
SEA PRINCESS 2001 Alaska
REGAL PRINCESS 2000 Mexico
REGAL PRINCESS 1999 Panama Canal
PACIFIC PRINCESS 1999 Europe
SUN PRINCESS 1998 Caribbean
ROYAL PRINCESS 1996 Panama Canal

[spleen93]

Condos become slightly harder.

The airport, Aloha Tower, and Waikiki are along a line and the airport is the most west, Aloha Tower is somewhere in the middle but on the west side, and Waikiki is on the east. You will be landing at Honolulu International Airport, rent a car there, and then probably move to Waikiki for your hotel/condo. You will stay there for 5 days, then on the cruise embarkation day, you'll drop by Aloha Tower, drop off your luggage, have somebody watch it, and then drive back to airport to drop off the car and take a taxi/shuttle back. Similar situation on the post-cruise stay.

Now, how many people are you traveling with? If it's just the 2 of you, then I highly encourage looking at Priceline for both the car rental and the hotel stay. I also encourage people to look at BiddingForTravel.com to get advice on how to bid on Priceline and get the accomodations that you want. Don't worry - if you follow the FAQs in BiddingForTravel.com, it's hard to screw it up.

Otherwise, other ideas include (for hotels and condos) checking out the [url="http://www.aston-hotels.com/aston/index.jsp"]Aston hotel chain[/url], the [url="http://ohanahotels.com/index.aspx"]Ohana hotel chain[/url] as being good budget options. The [url="http://www.doubletree.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=HNLKADT"]Alana Doubletree Waikiki hotel[/url] has also gotten good reviews here on CC and is generally available close to $100 a night for a very good room (only problem is that it's relatively far from the beach).

For car rentals, if you don't use Priceline, you can try using Alamo with the famous 6T rate code (see [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=927093444&a=tpc&m=1083072077&f=309097554"]old thread[/url]). For getting back to Aloha Tower after dropping off your rental car back at the airport, either take a taxi or look into a shuttle (see [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=927093444&a=tpc&m=98110514&f=309097554"]another old thread[/url]).

Hope this helps. Let us know if there are other specific questions that come up.

Spleen

<a href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/logos/time98.gif[/img]</a>
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;6;9;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  until RSSC Navigator - Canada - 6/04

Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02

[coiran]

Thanks Spleen

You have been a big help - we are not beach people so an inland hotel or condo will work for us - we want to get a car and do lots of siteseeing.

Ron & Connie

NCL PRIDE OF AMERICA Oct. 2004
SUN PRINCESS 2004 Caribbean
REGAL PRINCESS 2003 Europe
GOLDEN PRINCESS 2002 Canada New England
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Panama Canal
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Mexico
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
SEA PRINCESS 2001 Alaska
REGAL PRINCESS 2000 Mexico
REGAL PRINCESS 1999 Panama Canal
PACIFIC PRINCESS 1999 Europe
SUN PRINCESS 1998 Caribbean
ROYAL PRINCESS 1996 Panama Canal

[coiran]

Spleen

One more question - what is the Aloha Tower connection??

Ron

NCL PRIDE OF AMERICA Oct. 2004
SUN PRINCESS 2004 Caribbean
REGAL PRINCESS 2003 Europe
GOLDEN PRINCESS 2002 Canada New England
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Panama Canal
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Mexico
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
SEA PRINCESS 2001 Alaska
REGAL PRINCESS 2000 Mexico
REGAL PRINCESS 1999 Panama Canal
PACIFIC PRINCESS 1999 Europe
SUN PRINCESS 1998 Caribbean
ROYAL PRINCESS 1996 Panama Canal

[coiran]

Spleen

The Ohana has some good rates starting at $69 + tax - but they have several locations - is there any one of them that is prefeered?

Ron & Connie

NCL PRIDE OF AMERICA Oct. 2004
SUN PRINCESS 2004 Caribbean
REGAL PRINCESS 2003 Europe
GOLDEN PRINCESS 2002 Canada New England
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Panama Canal
SUN PRINCESS 2002 Mexico
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
DAWN PRINCESS 2001 Caribbean
SEA PRINCESS 2001 Alaska
REGAL PRINCESS 2000 Mexico
REGAL PRINCESS 1999 Panama Canal
PACIFIC PRINCESS 1999 Europe
SUN PRINCESS 1998 Caribbean
ROYAL PRINCESS 1996 Panama Canal

[rnewste]

corian,

We stayed at the Ohana Waikiki Tower last March (03) and it was fine. Also stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki and was pleased there also.

Ray [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[spleen93]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by coiran:
Spleen

One more question - what is the Aloha Tower connection??

Ron
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ron - not sure what you're asking but you know that Aloha Tower is the Honolulu cruise ship pier, right?

The Ohanas are all roughly about the same. I don't have any particular experience staying in any of them (only what people have told me) so can't personally recommend any of them. Since Ray has and liked his room at the Ohana Waikiki Tower, I'd go with that. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Location's pretty good - actually pretty close to the beach. Of course, that may not be a big pull for you. Check to see if any of them have parking included ... that can be a big expense in Waikiki, if you're not careful.

Spleen

<a href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/logos/time98.gif[/img]</a>
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;6;9;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  until RSSC Navigator - Canada - 6/04

Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02