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Can your TA or PCC help you? Possibly with price reductions? Are you purchasing a hardside bag instead of a softside for any particular reason, both have wheels? Hope you have a great cruise but you seem to be having serious doubts. JMO Cherie

If this is an excursion you want, just make the reservation. You can cancel if you decide you made the wrong decision. Of course, there is a cancelation date. Why would you miss an excursion you want because an excursion specialist did not know? Go to the excursions for your cruise and sign up. JMO. Cherie

And if you find the RH beach set ups already reserved you can check waikikibeachservices.com, and alohabeachservices.com. Cherie

@LobsterStalker - Did you go to "Facilities" and scroll down to "Services"? They say they take the unattended items away but it doesn't happen. Guests will come down first thing in the morning, put towels and book or whatever on the chairs they want and then leave for 2-3 hours for breakfast. Cherie

You don't need to pay for pool chairs, just might need to get down there early to get some. But, if you want to reserve chairs you can, both at the RH and the shared pool with the Sheraton. I often do this at resorts just so I know I don't have to worry about beating the East Coast guests to the chairs I want. Also, if you travel during a busy season, school breaks, there can be competition for chairs. JMO. Cherie

Yes you can. You go to the Royal Hawaiian website and there is a Pool and Beach Services selection. Under that selection it will have pool and beach services. Under Waikiki Beach it will have a selection for Beach Chaise Lounge & Umbrella Set and the availability to reserve ahead of time. Also on the RH site you can reserve chairs and umbrella at the pool. And, you might make reservations for dinner. You can always cancel. One of our favorite spots is Lulu's. Have a great time. Cherie

@philv You'll have a great time on Waikiki. You can reserve one of the beach set ups ahead of time. This is really nice so you have your special spot during the day and you can reserve the location of your umbrella and chairs. Lots of people, including me, have preferences on location. Have a great time, Cherie

A room upgrade is not guaranteed, even with all of the status mentioned in other posts. If you are traveling during a busy time of year to a resort hotel upgrades are not always available, and there may be many with higher status than you. Make sure you book a room that you will be happy with if you do not get an upgrade. Same as booking a cabin on a cruise ship. I was recently at a resort hotel in Hawaii and there was a long list of qualified guests who wanted upgrades. The most comical were the ones who stood at the front desk saying loud enough for everyone to hear "Do you know who I am?" It took about 4 days for my upgrade and I'm sure some never got one. Have a great time and after you make your reservation just keep checking availability and offers you might be interested in. Cherie

We did this and our TA was able to transfer the reservation. No need for the transfer request form. Make your reservation and when your TA returns ask them to take care of it. Just our experience, Cherie

We spent 3 weeks on the Oosterdam in a Neptune suite. We did have CO because of this. From reading all of the recent threads on this forum I would not book CO on the Oosterdam unless you were getting an upgraded cabin selection. If you can upgrade to a cabin you want plus get the benefits of CO it sounds great. There was one CO entree in the MDR at night. I recently received an answer to a question about breakfast and there is no CO entree in the MDR for breakfast, but possibly free mimosa. I think having a special line for the MDR and priority boarding and tendering is nice but the upgrade would be the most important to me with CO. JMO. Cherie

I agree with those that say taking a red eye is o.k. if it gets you to the port city a day or two ahead. Many times the red eye is less expensive so worth the cost of a hotel for a night. We have found the first flights of the day are the most reliable and the last flights of the day are subject to what has happened during the day. I wouldn't chance option #2, but sometimes vacation schedules dictate when we need to travel. If the red eye is a great deal I would leave San Diego on the red eye Thursday and spend Friday enjoying the beautiful city of Boston the day/night before the cruise. Good luck and enjoy your cruise. Cherie

So true about Neptune Suites. We only book a Neptune Suite to get an aft corner cabin. If these were in any other category on the cruise we want we would book that category. Being in a Deck 8, aft corner for 3 weeks was fabulous, no noise issues. There are so many cabins I do not want on a ship, so great that there are cabins for everyone's preferences. JMO. Cherie

Yes, if you are in a Neptune Suite.

Do you like going to the dentist? This scenario sounds so stressful to me that I would rather schedule a dentist appointment. I will say though that when we were in Buenos Aires on the Oosterdam in January and had to depart the ship at 5:00 a.m. it was not a problem. But, we had been overnighting in port. You do not have this advantage for an early departure. Have a great cruise. Cherie

@crystalspin Yes - that is what I have done and the difference between Deck 6 and Deck 8 is $300. Same category cabin but some consider Deck 8 as a negative. We loved Deck 8 on the Oosterdam, but were in an aft cabin. We always choose our cabin and have not done the CO upgrade so I was checking for friends who want to join us and have not cruised before. Just trying to give them options. Thank you, Cherie

Thank you. These are exactly the info needed. When pricing out suites the differences were not noted. They were all priced the same, signature suites, the only difference was $300 more on deck 6. Possibly it is just this cruise. Again, thank you. Not sure why they do not indicate SZ, SY, only SS. Thank you again. Cherie

Thank you, I understand the "category" situation. It does not appear that there are SZ or SY suites on the Noordam. That is why I was asking if there was another cabin category on the Noordam that could be upgraded with CO to a signature suite. Thank you, I don't think it's confusing, I just wanted to know if there was cabin on the Noordam that could be upgraded to a signature suite with CO. From the responses I think the simple answer for the Noordam is "No". Other ships yes, but not on the Noordam. Cherie

Thank you, I understand this. So, basically a signature suite on Noordam can only be booked as a signature suite, it cannot be upgraded to from another cabin with CO. The Noordam may be one of the few HAL ships where this is not possible. I've just been reading so much about it. And, the cabin has not yet been booked. Thank you, Cherie

Thank you I understand the PG breakfast, but I was asking if their is a category that could be booked and then add CO to upgrade to a signature suite. They are not booked yet. I don't know if there is a category that can be upgraded to a signature suite on the Noordam with CO. THank you, Cherie

I'm so happy you posted this thread. I was trying to decide which CO thread to post on. My question to the experts who will hopefully respond to your thread is: If you want to use CO to upgrade to a signature suite on the Noordam, what is the cabin you should book before adding CO? I know that Noordam does not have a separate CO dining room but it would give them some of the benefits that we will receive in a Neptune suite, like tenders, etc. We have our coveted location but friends want to join us. Thanks for any help.

Do you like to eat early or late? We had open seating and loved it on our 22 day cruise. It seemed like the dining room was more full at early dining, we eat late. Also, with open dining you can choose early or late depending on your schedule for the day. We noticed that the MDR usually had a line about 30 minutes after excursions for the day returned. I also suggest skipping apps and/or dessert. Dessert is always available in the Lido. JMO. Cherie

This is true about the balconies in the Tower Wing but there are balconies in some of the ocean view rooms in the Historic Banyan Wing, and balconies in ocean front Diamond Wing rooms. City facing rooms in the Historic Banyan do not have balconies as far as I know, I and do not know if there are balconies in city facing rooms in the Diamond Wing. If you don't stay here it is also fun to sit in the rocking chairs and watch the world go by. JMO. Cherie

If you decide to rent a car, as recommended in post #8, remember that there will be a fee to park at the resort, you will need to return the car with a full tank of gas (unless you pay for a full tank), and rental car companies close at different times. After the luau the line to get a car parked with valet is very long but if you have time it doesn't matter. A rental car would give you the flexibility of doing a lot of fun things like...lunch at Lava Lava, a beach day on Anaeho'omalu Bay, and shopping at the Island Gourmet Market, or Foodland Farms Mauna Lani... all within the area of the Hilton. You'll have such a great time no matter what you decide. Cherie

Sounds like a fun day and evening. You might check to see if you can pre arrange Uber/Lyft or a taxi. There is an extra charge but it could be worth it. After the luau it will be more difficult to get a taxi/Uber. Also, look at what is nearby for getting transportation. And, post on your roll call, there may be others wanting to share transportation. You'll have a great time. So nice that the ship overnights in Kona. Cherie

For me it depended on the port. If it was a port where everyone wanted off as soon as possible we were not able to take anyone with us. We were in a Neptune suite. Just our experience, Cherie