Tutone56

Received flight information today along with the edocs.  We are 59 days out.  Our flights from SFO to HON are free and we paid for our round trip air from RI to SFO.  We're fortunate that our son lives in San Francisco so we can stay with them for a few days to help us adjust to the time change.

Home Departure City - San Francisco

Arrival/Destination City - Honolulu

Airline(s) used - UA

Number of Connections - None

Outbound Flight departure/arrival time - 9:00am/12:39pm

Return Flight departure/arrival time - 2:50pm/11:04pm

Did You Pay for a Deviation (before or after cruise)? Yes $50

# of Days Prior to Departure Flights Were Ticketed? 2

Very happy with flight times.  Does anyone know what type aircraft United uses from SFO to HON?

On 1/3/2020 at 10:26 PM, nf5894 said:

Did the Star Princess 15 day cruise to Hawaii in December and it was great. Had done the same cruise the previous December and done all Princess excursions, but this time just explored on our own. Have to recommend Carlsmith Beach Park in Hilo if you like swimming / snorkelling. It was about a 20 minute walk from the port but worth it. Also found it really easy to get to Pearl harbor on the bus so that can save you a lot of money. Just had a beach day on Kauai and did a whale watching trip on Maui. Had great weather every day and sunsets were amazing. 

If anyone is interested then please take a look at the video.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXLAuEaZIhg

 

 

We're staying at the Outrigger Reef Beach Resort pre cruise.  I called them today asking about the best way to get to PH.  The concierge said the bus is the cheapest but it can take 1 1/2 hours because of all the stops.  She said Uber or Lyft is only about 30 minutes or so.  Can the bus really take that long?

We are on the POA in March and will have 2 days in Maui, docking in Kahului.  We'd like to do a whale watch on our second day.  I haven't seen any that originate in Kahului so I was considering taking one out of Lahaina.  Any suggestions on a tour operator?   Also, what is the easiest way to get there, looks to be about 35 minutes.  I'm sure there is a ship excursion but I thought we might be able to do this on our own, thanks.

Thanks fstuff1 - I already have a mid ship balcony on the POA in March.  I've read that since the cruise is so port intensive, I wouldn't be spending much time in the room.  That's why I was considering OBC.  Maybe next cruise I'll upgrade 😁.

Thank you!

I would say no one has started a roll call yet.  You could start one yourself or wait until someone else starts it.

This topic currently  has 193 pages so forgive me if this was asked.  I would like to redeem 25,000 points for $250 dollars of OBC.  It's been a long time since I've done this.  I don't want to mess this up so how do I go about redeeming the points for my cruise to Hawaii in March?  Thank you!

Okay thanks, I'll wait a bit.

My Edocs's show they are ready to be printed but I'm getting the message " The reservation is not yet READY to be retrieved. Try again".  I read that others were having the same issue and were told a number of different reasons by NCL.  I called them last night and they said it's because my airline flights haven't been finalized yet, which should happen around 40 days out.  I made my final payment on 11/6 and I'm about 80 days out.  Should I wait or, as others did, call technical support? 

Thanks for posting, looking forward to more!  We're going in March, still trying to figure out what excursions to take so you review is very helpful!

That's the way I was leaning, thanks Bird.

Hi all - I just received an email to bid on an upgrade for our upcoming cruise on POA in March.  We currently have a mid-ship balcony on deck 9.  If I bid on anything it would be on a penthouse suite with large balcony.  Minimum bid is $600 per person.  I've never gone through this process before so I guess I was looking for a little guidance.  The normal balcony rooms are small compared to other ships in the fleet so the extra space would be nice.  But then again I heard you don't spend a lot of time on the ship because the cruise is so port intensive. So there you have it.  What would you do, and if I were to bid, how much above the minimum would I need to bid (I realize this could vary)  Thanks for your input.  

Thank you, just what I need!

Can someone tell me what specialty restaurants are available on the POA?  We have the 3 specialty restaurant perk and wanted to make reservations for our upcoming cruise.  Thanks.

I've been to the Kennedy Space Center twice.  I absolutely loved it and would go again!  So much history there and it takes a full day to see it all.  I would highly recommend visiting the space center!

Found it, thanks. 

I called NCL to change my flight to Honolulu for my upcoming cruise on the POA.  I wanted to fly out of SFO to HNL on Wednesday instead of Thursday as I originally planned.  They said the promotion only allows me to fly out 2 days ahead, not 3.  I could not find that written down anywhere.  Does that sound about right?   Thanks.

Yes, as far as I know, its $15.00 per 750ml bottle.

If you are talking about bring bottled water onto the ship, I don't believe you can.

17 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Depends on what is a “better” cabin but it wouldn’t be best use of your 60,000 points. The highest one can go with a double meta is to a balcony so only thing it would do would be to change to a higher veranda category. 

 

If you haven’t made final payment yet, I would call and have it repriced at whatever inside category you need to keep the same room you have now. 

Oh OK that's good to know, thanks Clay.

7 hours ago, peg013 said:

 

 We upgraded from a BA mid ship balcony to a B1 Aft Facing Balcony on the Jewel for 10,000 points. Would be a great cabin for an Hawaiian cruise. 

I wonder if we would feel the ocean more in an aft rather than a middle balcony.  We had an aft facing balcony on the Pearl in the Caribbean but I thought the water was generally calmer in the Caribbean rather than the Pacific.  

Sorry if this this question was asked.  I have a mid ship balcony on deck 9 booked on the POA for next March.  Is it possible to get a better cabin for a double meta upgrade if I have enough points or should I just get OBC?  Thanks

Although it was less expensive years ago when we purchased them, we thought it was well worth it.  A nice quiet place to retreat from the crowds, especially on sea days.  The heated tile loungers were heaven 🙂 

Although it's been about 8 years, we loved the Pearl.  I'm sure she's been through a lot since then, but I love that class of ships.  It's just the right size.  We had a mid ship balcony on deck 9, and the layout seemed perfect to us.  I think the mechanical issue was just bad luck, and the norovirus can strike anywhere at anytime.   

We'll be cruising next March on the POA and we'll miss the larger balcony room and bathroom like the pearl.  I say book your cruise and enjoy it!

What is an Ag check?