Mele Kalikimaka, Kids! Santa Says We Are Sailing in Hawaii! (TR 12/29/15-1/10/16)

Aloha! My family and I returned yesterday from our first-ever visit to Hawaii, which included a cruise on Norwegian's Pride of America. I used the trip reports on this board to prepare for our vacation, so I thought I would pay it forward and share our experience as well. In my reading, I didn't see many (if any) POA reports that included children, so I hope this information will be helpful to those of you taking your kids along for the ride (but most of it will be applicable to all). I plan to include many details and photos. Of course, today I am dealing with piles of laundry and the four hour time change back to central time, so it may take me a day or two to gain momentum, but I wanted to start the report as soon as possible.

A little about my family: My DH and I are both 41. We will celebrate our 20th anniversary in July. We have one DS who turns 14 this month, and one DD who is 11. I am the planner in the family, and I have been researching this vacation for 2 years. DH never traveled growing up, but he is warming up to it, and we have enjoyed several great vacations in the last few years. His favorite so far is Alaska.

DS is a typical 14 year old boy who is happy playing video games and looking at his phone. If forced to turn off his devices, he enjoys basketball and baseball. He is easy to be around and enjoys traveling (although we did have to make him put his device down and take in the scenery several times).

DD is the firecracker in the family. She is full of drama and passion, and isn't always easy to travel with, but she is also the one that most enjoys meeting new people and learning new things. She soaks up everything around her, and keeps us laughing (when we aren't ready to kill her). :)

We have been on four cruises prior to this trip (two Bahamian, one Alaskan, one Western Caribbean), all of them with Disney. I will be sure to include some comparisons and contrasts of Disney and NCL in my review.

I hope this review will be helpful to those of you planning your trips. I look forward to reliving our adventures--it helps the vacation last a little longer!

Aloha! My family and I returned yesterday from our first-ever visit to Hawaii, which included a cruise on Norwegian's Pride of America. I used the trip reports on this board to prepare for our vacation, so I thought I would pay it forward and share our experience as well. In my reading, I didn't see many (if any) POA reports that included children, so I hope this information will be helpful to those of you taking your kids along for the ride (but most of it will be applicable to all). I plan to include many details and photos. Of course, today I am dealing with piles of laundry and the four hour time change back to central time, so it may take me a day or two to gain momentum, but I wanted to start the report as soon as possible.

 

A little about my family: My DH and I are both 41. We will celebrate our 20th anniversary in July. We have one DS who turns 14 this month, and one DD who is 11. I am the planner in the family, and I have been researching this vacation for 2 years. DH never traveled growing up, but he is warming up to it, and we have enjoyed several great vacations in the last few years. His favorite so far is Alaska.

 

DS is a typical 14 year old boy who is happy playing video games and looking at his phone. If forced to turn off his devices, he enjoys basketball and baseball. He is easy to be around and enjoys traveling (although we did have to make him put his device down and take in the scenery several times).

 

DD is the firecracker in the family. She is full of drama and passion, and isn't always easy to travel with, but she is also the one that most enjoys meeting new people and learning new things. She soaks up everything around her, and keeps us laughing (when we aren't ready to kill her). :)

 

We have been on four cruises prior to this trip (two Bahamian, one Alaskan, one Western Caribbean), all of them with Disney. I will be sure to include some comparisons and contrasts of Disney and NCL in my review.

 

I hope this review will be helpful to those of you planning your trips. I look forward to reliving our adventures--it helps the vacation last a little longer!

Is your screen name an homage to your kids?

Sounds like a great review is coming up.

Is your screen name an homage to your kids?

 

 

 

Sounds like a great review is coming up.

It is! I used to have a blog called Baseballs and Bows, which represents my son and daughter. :)

Our first trip to Hawaii was on the (since renamed) Pride of Hawaii in 2007 and we also took our kids (13 and 11 at the time). We fell in love with Hawaii and have been back at about 10 times since. We didn't *really* fall in love with cruising, but didn't completely rule it out either! We may actually do the NCL Hawaii cruise at some point in the future...

I'm looking forward to your report!

I'm another one looking forward to your report.

I've taken a land vacation on three of the islands but that was a LONG time ago.

Following. Trying to convince my husband to do this. Cruise. He is worried about the flight with kids. Hopefully you had a good flight. Looking forward to seeing how the trip was.

Following! We visited Hawaii on a land-based trip before and we only visited 2 islands. We would love to comeback and do a cruise in the future!

Another PoA review to read and look forward to my trip this spring even more! :D

Our first trip to Hawaii was on the (since renamed) Pride of Hawaii in 2007 and we also took our kids (13 and 11 at the time). We fell in love with Hawaii and have been back at about 10 times since. We didn't *really* fall in love with cruising, but didn't completely rule it out either! We may actually do the NCL Hawaii cruise at some point in the future...

 

I'm looking forward to your report!

Wow! Ten times! I'm sure most of the places we visited will be very familiar to you!

I'm another one looking forward to your report.

I've taken a land vacation on three of the islands but that was a LONG time ago.

Which three islands did you visit? We really enjoy cruising, but after visiting, I think there are also benefits to doing a land trip. The cruise gave us a great overview, and now we know where we would want to visit if we return!

Following. Trying to convince my husband to do this. Cruise. He is worried about the flight with kids. Hopefully you had a good flight. Looking forward to seeing how the trip was.

We had good flight experiences. I will definitely include specifics when I get to that portion. How old are your kids?

Following! We visited Hawaii on a land-based trip before and we only visited 2 islands. We would love to comeback and do a cruise in the future!

Thanks for following! Which islands did you visit?

Following along hoping to relive some memories of our POA cruise last April/May. The only thing I didn't like was our 6 hour time difference flight home.

A little over two years ago, in December of 2013, I was freezing. As I HATE being cold, I started dreaming about a vacation to a warm, tropical location. This was six months after our cruise to Alaska, and my son had mentioned wanting to see Hawaii next. So...I ordered a book, snuggled up under an electric blanket, and starting planning with my sweet girl in my lap.

FullSizeRender by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

This would be the beginning of a long planning process. I soon discovered that most cruise lines, including Disney (which was the only cruise line we had experienced), only travel to Hawaii in spring or fall, and they all go from the mainland. My kids do get 5 days of excused absences for a family vacation, but these cruises would be longer than that, and with travel time, only missing 5 days of school would be impossible. That's when I discovered that the Pride of America sails in Hawaii year-round.

The POA reviews were mixed, but with the intensive port schedule, I figured we wouldn't be on the ship that much anyway, and since we hadn't visited Hawaii before, I thought the cruise would be a great way to give us an overview of all the islands.

Fast forward to the fall of 2014, when our district released the 2015-2016 school calendar. To my surprise, the schedule included an extended winter break, giving the teachers three days of inservice at the start of the second semester. That meant that the kids didn't have to go back to school until Thursday, January 7, 2016. I began to get excited for two reasons.

First, I knew the extended break would give us the chance to visit after Christmas and have good amount of time in Hawaii and on the cruise. Second, I knew that since most kids in the states would be going back to school on the 4th or 5th, it might be possible for me to get a Kids Sail Free/3rd and 4th passenger sail free deal (these deals are usually available for times when kids are in school). It was time to get serious about looking for a deal!

Ok, motherhood calls...I'm off to help my son study for a Spanish quiz. Will try to write some more in a bit! I do, however, want to mention that while I used the book pictured above to begin my research, I also used some of the Revealed series. I purchased Maui Revealed and Kauai Revealed and enjoyed both of them. Now, I enjoy looking at them again because I can read about the places we visited with a different perspective.

I'll be back!

Following along hoping to relive some memories of our POA cruise last April/May. The only thing I didn't like was our 6 hour time difference flight home.

Be sure to chime in if your experiences differ from mine!

From the fall of 2014 to February 2015, I closely watched the Norwegian website. In early February, NCL released some of their best savings. I was able to book for January 2-9, 2016, with the 3rd and 4th passenger sailing free, and I also got the specialty dining package free and a $75 OBC. I booked through Costco, which saved me a little more as well. I was happy with our deal, but a few weeks later, the price dropped again. The OBC went down to $50, but the price dropped a little over $1,000, and we got to keep the specialty dining and 3rd/4th passengers free. I was so excited. I was thrilled with our price, and the kids would only miss 2 days of school.

At this point, my DH and I decided to keep the trip a secret. We figured it would make a great Christmas gift from Santa. My kids are getting older and more difficult to surprise, especially the teenager who always has a specific wish list. I'm not great at keeping my mouth shut, but I somehow managed to keep it a secret from the kids until Christmas, even if I did tell everyone else I know!

I spent the months between February and December planning, and one part of the planning was deciding how to reveal the surprise to the kids. This past summer (2015), we visited San Francisco and Yosemite, and my kids fell in love with In-N-Out Burgers, so I decided to order a gift card from In-N-Out for each of them. Then, I printed out letters from Santa about what we would be doing each day of the trip, wrapped the letters, and numbered the packages. When my kids opened the first package from Santa, they found the gift cards with a note saying they would be flying to California on Tuesday, December 29th, to eat at In-N-Out Burger (I will go into greater detail about our flights and traveling to Hawaii in the next post). The kids were dumbfounded. They said, "Are we really flying all the way to California just to eat at In-N-Out?"

IMG_0029 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

I confirmed that we were flying to California and encouraged them to open the next gift. In that letter, Santa said, "Do you think you are going to California just for In-N-Out? Oh-ho-ho-no! You are going to Hawaii!"

At this point, both kids were just in shock. My daughter kept asking if we were joking, and it took a little while to sink in that we were, in fact, really going to Hawaii. They opened the rest of the packages that explained the trip in greater detail, and we had a fun morning discussing all the plans. Of course, we were now only days away from the trip, and we needed to start packing. I was actually worried that my daughter had outgrown most of her summer clothes, so we spent a good chunk of Christmas Day figuring out what we could pack for both of them. It was exciting, and it was a Christmas surprise that they will always remember.

Coming Up...The trip begins, and we head west!

What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Day!

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm booked on the POA post refurb cruise from San Francisco in March :D

What a great surprise for your kids. Makes me smile.

And I get the 2years on the making as we booked early too.

Looking forward to hearing more.

And happy early anniversary.

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I love surprise trips as Christmas gifts!! We did that last year with our kids.

Looking forward to more as this cruise is definitely on my radar. Like you, our kids can't take too much time off either because of school schedules, so this might be a good way to do it.

P.S. I have a shih Tzu that looks a lot likes yours! They are the best!

I can't wait to hear all about your trip!! My family loves Hawaii!! My husband and I went by ourselves two summers ago, while we were there we kept saying "the girls would love this"...well we came straight back home and planned out last summers vacation for Hawaii. We did wait until school had gone back, like your kiddos, mine get so many excused absences for traveling...learning experience we called it ;) It's been our favorite vacation to date! We are thinking of trying to back Christmas 2016. Maui is our favorite!! Oahu was great but just lacked what Maui offered...lol. Can't wait to read along!! And we totally want to try In-N-Out!!

What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Day!

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I'm booked on the POA post refurb cruise from San Francisco in March :D

You will get the benefit of having lots of sea days and port days! We did miss having some sea days.

What a great surprise for your kids. Makes me smile.

And I get the 2years on the making as we booked early too.

Looking forward to hearing more.

And happy early anniversary.

 

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Thank you!

I love surprise trips as Christmas gifts!! We did that last year with our kids.

 

Looking forward to more as this cruise is definitely on my radar. Like you, our kids can't take too much time off either because of school schedules, so this might be a good way to do it.

 

P.S. I have a shih Tzu that looks a lot likes yours! They are the best!

They are the best! Oreo (my dog) is a Shichon, which is a Shih-Tzu/Bichon mix. She is my baby. I hated leaving her so long, but we have a great dog sitter that comes to our house so that she can stay in her own environment. She was very happy to see us when we got home!

I can't wait to hear all about your trip!! My family loves Hawaii!! My husband and I went by ourselves two summers ago, while we were there we kept saying "the girls would love this"...well we came straight back home and planned out last summers vacation for Hawaii. We did wait until school had gone back, like your kiddos, mine get so many excused absences for traveling...learning experience we called it ;) It's been our favorite vacation to date! We are thinking of trying to back Christmas 2016. Maui is our favorite!! Oahu was great but just lacked what Maui offered...lol. Can't wait to read along!! And we totally want to try In-N-Out!!

We also liked Maui better than Oahu, but I don't feel like we gave Oahu a fair shake. I'll explain more in my report!

After booking the cruise, I had to figure out how we would get to Hawaii. We live near Nashville, and I soon figured out that tickets from Nashville to Honolulu are expensive and inconvenient. For $1000+ per person, we could purchase seats on a SUPER long flight (a minimum of 11 hours with 2 stops and some flights even as long as 21 hours). With four of us going, and two being kids, that didn't sound very good! So, I started researching flights from California.

My husband frequently flies with Southwest Airlines, so we could use his points to fly free to California. From California, I found tickets to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines for $200 per person each way. This lowered the cost for all four of us to $1600 instead of well over $4,000. The one downside was that because of flight schedules, we would have to spend the night in California going out and coming back. We decided that two extra nights away were worth the savings, especially since we could pay for the hotels with points as well. This also broke up the flights, with the non-stop flight to CA being 4+ hours, and the non-stop to Hawaii being 5+ hours on the following day.

The only catch was that the $200 rate going to Hawaii was from San Jose, and the $200 rate returning from Hawaii was to Oakland. The only non-stop from Nashville to the Bay Area is to Oakland, so on Tuesday morning, December 29th, we boarded a flight to Oakland. Our plan was to arrive in Oakland, rent a car (also on points), head to In-N-Out for some yummy burgers and fries, and then check-in to the Embassy Suites in Milpitas, which is near the San Jose airport.

The day before we left, my husband found out that you can tour the Tesla factory (electric car manufacturer, for those of you, like me, who don't know anything about cars). It just so happened to be on the way to our hotel in the San Jose area. Unfortunately, all tours were booked, so my car-loving husband was disappointed. (But, hold that thought.)

Our flight from Nashville to Oakland was about 4 hours and 20 minutes, but the kids have gotten old enough that the flights are usually pretty smooth. With their devices and the free television shows offered on the Southwest wifi, the trip didn't seem too long.

As soon as we landed in Oakland, my husband checked his email and found out that the Tesla plant had openings for the 4:00 tour. It was about 2:40 at the time. Despite the fact that we were all starving, the kids and I sucked it up, rushed with DH to baggage claim and the rental car counter, and made it to the factory by 3:40. Considering normal California traffic, we felt this was a minor miracle. It probably helped us that it was around the holidays and some people were still off work.

(My DD will kill me if she knows I posted this picture with her squinting.)

IMG_8992 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

You sign a nondisclosure agreement when you go on the tour, and since I don't want to be sued, I'll just tell you that the tour was interesting and fun. At 5:00, we were finished and off to In-N-Out.

We love In-N-Out! The menu is simple: burgers, fries, and shakes. But, it is fresh and yummy, especially with their special sauce. As it was about 7:30 central time (5:30PT), we were VERY hungry, and this meal really hit the spot!

IMG_8995 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

After eating, we checked into the Embassy Suites Milpitas. The rooms were a bit dated, but it was clean, and we tried to soak up the space in the suite. We knew we would be in much closer quarters for the rest of the trip!

Coming Up...Aloha, Hawaii!

Just booked POA today! Excited to read more! [emoji2]

We love In-N-Out! The menu is simple: burgers, fries, and shakes. But, it is fresh and yummy, especially with their special sauce.

We hit In-N-Out whenever we're near one! The "secret" menu used to me larger, but it still exists:

http://www.in-n-out.com/menu/not-so-secret-menu.aspx

We hit In-N-Out whenever we're near one! The "secret" menu used to me larger, but it still exists:

 

http://www.in-n-out.com/menu/not-so-secret-menu.aspx

Wish I had known about the 4x4! I was hungry enough to eat one! :)

Just booked POA today! Excited to read more! [emoji2]

I'm sure you will have an amazing trip! When are you sailing?