Pride of Aloha, Maui To Maui

[Phamer55]

Hello. I recently received the Panama Canal brochure for 2005-2006, and I noticed towards the back that the Pride Of Aloha is scheduled to do Maui to Maui 7 day cruises on the Pride Of Aloha, starting in mid-2005. These are offered at the same time as the Oahu to Oahu cruise. For example, cruise leaves Maui on Dec 2 and returns Dec 9, while cruise leaves Oahu on Dec 3 and returns Dec 10. Anyway, that's what the brochure says. But on their website (and other online booking sites) I don't see any of these Maui to Maui options. Anyone know the scoop if they are still are planning these itineraries? I would much prefer Maui to Maui because I could spend a week in Maui before or after the cruise.

[Philip217]

Phamer,

 

On the surface, this Maui to Maui trip looks good. But they tried it on the Norwegian Star a few years ago and had disastrous results.

It is two cruises in one; Honolulu to Honolulu and Maui to Maui.

But most cruisers will embark in Honolulu. It is usually cheaper for them to fly from the mainland to Honolulu than it is to fly mainland to Maui. This means that most of the guests will be Honolulu to Honolulu - and most ship activities will be geared toward that group.

 

Maui has almost zero security equipment in the terminal. The local authorities say they cannot afford to purchase any. All passengers must go through hand inspection of ALL bags and suitcases. It takes forever - even for a handful of passengers.

When you board in Maui on Friday, dont look for the welcome BBQ or sailaway party. They had that 5 days ago in Honolulu.

When you reach your stateroom, you may notice that your TV says this is the 5th day of your cruise. It is the 5th day for the Honolulu passengers, but the first day for you. That evening, instead of any sort of welcome aboard for you, there is a farewell show and dinner menu for all the Honolulu people.

If you are looking for the Captains welcome party, show, and dinner, it will happen the day or so before you leave.

If you try to book a spa appointment, shore excursion, or dinner reservation, forget it. They were all sold to the Honolulu passengers a few days ago. If you wait for them to leave on Sunday, you will have your chance - along with 100s of newly embarking passengers in Honolulu.

In Honolulu, the entire ship is turned upside down for half the day while cleaning and getting ready for the new batch of Honolulu passengers. Most ships services will not be available to you during that time. By the way, if you decide to go ashore in Honolulu to avoid the mess on the ship, you will find that getting on and off the ship is nearly impossible, with big crowds and long lines everywhere.

That was our experience on Norwegian Star 3 years ago, with the ship embarking most passengers in Honolulu on Sunday and a few hundred in Maui on Friday - the same program that NCL wants to try again on POA.

[Joanne G.]

Our experience sailing Maui-to-Maui on the Star in June of 2002 was completely different from Phiip217's. We found check-in to be quick and simple due to there being so few passengers boarding. The bag search was brief. Lifeboat drill was short. Sure, it was wierd to be watching the farewell show on our second night, but that hardly bothered us. We had no trouble getting on and off the ship in Honolulu; we did not exit and enter at the same place as the embarking crowds. If there is any problem with your bill, or any other business you must take care of on your last day, there are no lines at the front desk.

 

I can see why NCL discontinued this practice on the Star - it seems like more work for them. But as passengers, we thought it was great.

[jkrislc]

Maybe NCLA should dedicate a ship to Maui boardings exclusively. After all, they're going to have three ships in Hawaii in a couple of years; it couldn't hurt to have one of them embarking from a different port. In addition, it would open up a whole new pre/post-cruise market for NCLA.