princeton123211

It shouldn't take a long time at that time but no one is going to be able to give you an exact number and there are other factors too like if your flight runs on time. There is no need to prebook a car from Newark-- just use Uber or Lyft when you get curbside and the pickup will be prompt. These will be of a much higher quality than a standard taxi (the taxis in New Jersey are pretty crummy). Fare will be about $60 to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

I agree with everything you said. You can get the Ritz Residences on points but you pay dearly for it-- between 80,000-95,000 Bonvoy points a night when you can get the Royal Hawaiian between 50-60k a night. AND you're a 10 minute walk from the beach. Just not worth it.

Which is a good deal but I would be, having been there twice, incredibly concerned about finding an Uber back. This is one of those if I were going by private car I would hire a driver for the day or round trip.

They are extremely close to each other-- no need to worry about distance or travel time. You either make the trek the night you arrive into Miami proper (most likely a bit more expensive) or stay up North and head down the day of your cruise departure (most likely a little bit more economical). No right or wrong answer.

Yes and no.

It depends. Bonvoy free night rewards can be as low as 35,000 points or as high as 50,000 points. It will change the category of hotel you can stay in-- and on top of that you can sometimes supplement the rewards certificate with 15,00 points to even further upgrade the level of property you stay in. The value of the reward you have will help make suggestions. It gives you access to properties that are much nicer than a standard Marriott such as a W, Autograph Collection, Westin, Le Meridien, or even the Ritz Carlton. Just depends on the redemption rate that night which you can search from the Bonvoy website.

Without a budget a great option would be the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Incredibly central to both the historic sites and shopping in Back Bay and not as expensive as the top hotels in town like the Ritz and Four Seasons (but not super inexpensive either). A Boston legend and architectural gem.

There are different levels they offer. We've been upgraded before to the Mailani Tower, which is a separate and newer (built in the 50s or 60s) addition to the older main hotel building. Its also their club section of the hotel with a breakfast and hors d'oeuvres in the evening in a small private lounge. Frankly we've never really thought it was worth it and even asked one time to be "downgraded" back to the main hotel which they were kind enough to give us a suite. The rooms in the main hotel are much larger than the tower and while they lack lanais and views due to the historic hotel being much shorter than the tower, we spend the majority of our time outside of the room anyway. The rooms in the main hotel are much more charming and better decorated in my opinion. The sweet spot is what they call a "Historic Ocean Deluxe Room"-- you get a view but aren't paying top dollar for a large suite. If you need a lanai though, or a view of the ocean that is over top of the palm trees, the only way to get that at the Royal Hawaiian is the Mailani Tower.

Best use of Marriott points (and recognition of Marriott status) hard stop is the Royal Hawaiian thats part of the Luxury Collection. You can't do better with points on the stretch of beach. Beautiful old school 1920's hotel. We always get a nice upgrade as Titanium Elite as well as amenities. Their free breakfast is great as well. Second place would be Moana Surfrider-- not as good but still a nice place and run by Westin. Charming older hotel with some more modern sections and a great location. A distant third for Marriott points would be the Sheraton. It's just a big ugly block and it's huge. Not a big fan.

No, once you clear immigration in either of those airports you will then be traveling as a domestic passenger within Canada. But be warned-- the delays in Toronto and especially Montreal lately have been insane with lost luggage, stranded passengers, and cancelled flights. And you'll have far less choices to pivot at either of these airports in case something goes wrong. You can practically fly literally anywhere from Atlanta direct-- why risk the connection through Toronto or Montreal?

I'm not sure you're getting good info there. Plus taxis are on the meter-- traffic can alter your cost significantly vs a firm quote from a service like Dial7/Carmel or the quote you are given when you confirm on the Uber/Lyft app. Not to mention that all of those options you will likely end up in a much nicer car than the average NYC taxi. For 2 people I would say roll the dice and see what Uber/Lyft cost when you got there and at very least you could always pivot to a traditional taxi. But with 4 people you also have to take into consideration that the front fourth seat (assuming 3 across the back) wont always be guaranteed in a taxi or that a minivan taxi might not be immediately available. All problems that can be solved by booking a Dial7/Carmel in advance or using UberXL.

The St Regis is new and quite nice but if you are ok with spending St Regis money, the nicest beach club and most likely nicest (de facto semi private) stretch of beach on the island belongs to the Rosewood. There isn't quite anything like it. Really great restaurant/bar and two nice freshwater pools (one is adults only, which is magic). I've stayed at both properties and overall I think the vibe, beach club, and F&B offerings put the Rosewood over the St Regis (and thats coming from someone who's pretty loyal to Marriott offerings). Also the Rosewood is quite a bit closer to Hamilton than the St Regis is-- about half as far. The Fairmont Hamilton Princess' beach is in a cove so lacks surf and frankly is just ok. The Hamilton Princess is mainly a high end corporate hotel for insurance folks doing business on the island-- its very expensive for what you end up with. The StR and Rosewood can be even more expensive, but you get what you pay for at both where I don't think thats the case in my experience with the Hamilton Princess. The Fairmont Southampton's beach setup was/is actually better than the Hamilton Princess IMO but the Fairmont Southampton currently remains closed. The Southampton property would have been a slam dunk in this scenario-- reasonably close to the Dockyard, great beach setup, and a more reasonable price point than the St Regis or Rosewood. If you want to just book something that is going to be a fantastic, no compromise beach day, followed by a night in a wonderful 5 star resort, check out the Rosewood. You can take the ferry to Hamilton and then take a taxi to Tucker's Point where the resort is located.

Totally get it, and that was the original post's subject matter, but it devolved and I'd really feel bad if someone calling on the opposite port used the wrong info-- would potentially ruin their entire day as there wouldn't be much of a chance to recover the morning of.

There is a Residence Inn by Marriott thats just on the other side of the Queens Way from the Hotel Maya. Again, can't speak to the hotel specifically as I haven't stayed there but its still close to the cruise terminal. Here you would be 20 min+ walking so barring a shuttle it wouldn't be that much fun. Outside of those three you are going to be taking an Uber/Lyft or taxi to the pier anyway so it really wouldn't matter if you stayed at the airport if there was a decent deal. Historically the Hotel Queen Mary has not been outrageously expensive-- there are more budget friendly accommodation that is priced accordingly if you don't spring for the wood paneled lined former First Class cabins and suites. These are called "Standard Staterooms" and could be had for very similar rates to the Maya, and sometimes for less. Who knows what the prices will be when they reopen but if you can get a decent deal you really cant beat the proximity to the cruise terminal as well as the spectacular history of the ship itself.

Again, we have to be really careful on this thread of using generalizations like "everyone". We're essentially having two conversations about rental cars and parking-- those that are docking in Kahului Harbor (mainly NCL) and those that are anchoring and tendering into Lahaina on the other side of the island.

The hotel thats truly within walking distance is The Queen Mary which is adjacent to the cruise terminal. Unfortunately not open right now but there are rumblings that it will be reopening in the Fall. Hotel Maya which is a Doubletree is technically walkable but it's about 15-18 minutes dragging luggage. Totally doable if you don't have any mobility issues but along a small sidewalk through a park along the waterfront-- can be hot and you are a bit exposed in the (rare) event of bad weather. I haven't stayed at Hotel Maya-- only a couple times precruise at the QM-- so someone else might know if they run a shuttle on a cruise departure day. It would make sense if they did.

$40 a night in midtown Manhattan is extremely competitive from a price standpoint, especially when you consider there is no upcharge for SUVs at the MCT that you will run into at virtually any other parking garage in Manhattan (which can be $15-20 per day extra). The other thing to consider is that you park your car at MCT and it sits where you leave it-- at a nearby valet garage your car could potentially be moved around several times per day increasing the chance of a bump or scratch. Theres no getting around the fact that parking in Manhattan is incredibly expensive. When we cruise from Manhattan we take a train into the city and avoid bringing a car in at all.

You are limited as to how early you can test-- ideally they want a negative test taken as close to departure as possible (so as to eliminate the possibility you contracted covid in between testing and boarding). It will also depend on whether you are vaccinated or not. Vaccinated passengers can take a PCR test up to 4 days before departure. Unvaccinated passengers are required to take a test up to 2 days before departure. As an example, NCL's rules for Bermuda are here: https://www.ncl.com/travel-requirements-by-country The online testing kits work really well and will allow you to test in the comfort of your home and receive a result fairly quickly. We've used LabCorp's Pixel at home test numerous times for various international travel over the past 18 months but there are plenty of other options people can recommend as well.

Once, a long time ago. We lived close enough to the embarkation port (New York) so bringing clubs wasn't a huge deal but I wouldn't have brought them if I had to fly. The crew stored them somewhere else so did not have to keep them in the cabin and had them waiting by the gangway that morning. I met up with a friend who belonged to a private club right outside of Boston so did not have to tender with them. I've been to Boston countless times for work so didn't feel like I was missing out on the experience spending the day playing a round. I would imagine tendering with them wouldn't be the end of the world but worth checking with the cruise line to see if they will allow it. Wouldn't do it again-- was a lot of hassle even without having to fly with my clubs. If I was intent on doing it again I would just rent clubs wherever I was playing.

All of Hawaii is very casual and I can really only think of a handful of places that have an actual dress code (and Monkeypod Kaanapali isn't one of them). The entire stretch of beach is mostly resorts and most folks eating at Monkeypod will will be rolling off their pool loungers and heading over in the bathing suits and sandals. That being said, while the drinks are very good and they have a great/large bar, I would say the food at Monkeypod overall is unremarkable. A short walk down the beach to the Kaanapali Beach Hotel (one of the original ones and on the way to Black Rock from Whalers Village) is their restaurant Hui Hui. Its a bit more authentic and the food overall is better than Monkeypod (or Hula Grill/Leilanis for that measure).

If the ship anchored off Lahaina the OP wouldn't have even needed a whale watch-- could have just sat there from the ship.

You could technically pull it off but it will be a lot of rushing around. Ferries run about every half hour and then about a 20-30 minute Uber from Battery Park to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. You wouldn't get much time to spend on Liberty Island and because of the time crunch would most likely not be able to do anything inside the statue itself-- just meander around outside before catching a ride back to Battery Park. Frankly your ship will give you a great view of the statue when you sail down the Hudson-- given the time constraints I would much rather stay closer to the pier in Midtown (as opposed to staying in Battery Park to get to the ferry) and have a leisurely morning and then make sure to view the statue sailing out that afternoon.

Its a relatively newly developed area that used to be dodgy but is now full of mid range corporate hotels and apartment buildings. There are a bunch of nicer (more corporate) restaurants and a few museums. Its clean and safe but frankly isn't a substitute for walking around historic Boston. If you get to Boston quite a bit or have been there quite a lot in the past it could be fun to walk around but I personally would much rather be in the historic center of the city. The quickest way is to just take an Uber from the port which are easy to get there. Its less than 10 min drive and about $12 each way from the cruise terminal to get to Faneuil Hall which put you in walking distance to most historic sites and some great restaurants/bars in the center of town.

Wont be any time soon. They auctioned off the entire contents of the hotel and restaurants not too long ago.

You may see some in the distance but as CruiserBruce says, no where near how many, and how how close, you can see them in Maui. Lahaina Roads, the water between Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, is a bottleneck for whales mating and giving birth and in seasons you can literally just sit there and watch them breach all day. Haleakala and a whale watch is a very full day that doesn't allow for anything else on the island. I would pick one and then go to a beach or grab a nice meal and relax with the remainder of your time. Having done both numerous times the whale watch would be my recommendation. Haleakala is a lot of time crammed onto a bus when it's done in an excursion format. It's slightly more tolerable when you are driving yourself up there.