Paula_MacFan

That's the way all our EZ Air flights show up and always have. Never had any problems checking in or boarding.

Glad you had a good time. We leave in 3 weeks. I've read many positive reviews lately elsewhere. Thanks for the report!

We are long-time Princess cruisers but for Hawaii in January 2023 we are doing NCL's Pride of America. We're flying to HNL, doing 4 days pre-cruise on Oahu, then the 7-day POA 4-island itinerary. Every day of the 7 days is in port so there's no sea days (2 ports are overnight stops). While we love Princess, the thought of taking 2+ weeks off work for only 4 days in port just didn't appeal to us. Best of luck with whatever option you chose 🙂

I just called my Princess cruise planner to see about re-faring under the new promotion and the rates were all messed up. Long story short what we had was cheaper than what was showing on the Princess website because even though I selected 'Princess Plus' in the pricing section it wasn't adjusting for it. He made it sound like they are getting lots of calls about this and lots of people are confused/annoyed. I thanked him for his time anyway. Not his fault their system has problems.

Google search result: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/NCL-AK-Cruisetour-Brochure-May2022-273026.pdf#node-89790 There's a section on meals as well. 31 page PDF with daily schedules and other information from NCL website.

According to some online trip reports the VOG was too heavy and also high winds made it risky to tender.

Recent trip reports from last week say Moderno and LaCucina were open but not for advance reservations.

Log into your account, click the green button 'Add or Modify Flights', then click 'Change Flights' and go through the search process. Nothing will change or cancel your existing flights until you select new ones and get all the way to the end of the process. There will be a red button to acknowledge you are canceling the old ones and rebooking the new one. It's very easy! I do it every single day to check my own existing reservations and have changed several times to get better fares. 🙂

We were able to easily get USS Arizona tickets a few days ago on Reservation.gov. Per the site: Reservations are released daily at 3 p.m. HST in two windows: 24-hours and 8-weeks in advance. So for example on January 1, tickets were released for January 2 and February 26. Tickets are $1. We are leaving in 6 weeks and everyone on our roll call was able to easily get the USS Arizona tickets. There are many reports of people getting on the stand-by line the day of and getting tickets as well. As far as the NCL Hawaii land tour, here is the brochure with all the details including schedule. Hawaiiupdated111014.pdf

https://www.princess.com/html/global/disclaimers/crew-appreciation/ All those prices are on the Princess website.

Depends on what ports you're going to. Are you taking this cruise to actually visit the ports or is the cruise ship the attraction? I personally would never leave tours to chance if I was actually taking the cruise to visit specific ports. Typically port time is limited so why waste time wandering around looking for something to do, when a small amount of basic research in advance could result in a memorable day. As others have stated, trying to find a tour at the last minute for 8 people could be a challenge, and you'll be left with less choices for vendors vs those who booked in advance. If you're just going to some tropical islands and you want to sit on a beach, you can probably find something last minute. Even then I'd do some basic research in advance. But hey, it's your vacation and your money. Do whatever makes you happy.

Have you checked the rental agencies' websites for the shuttle info? We're not renting in Hilo but we are renting in other ports, and port pickup information (or the lack thereof) was listed on their respective websites.

We're going to Hawaii in January and many excursions have been sold out for months. We booked everything early and I'm glad we did.

I have been sailing on Princess since 2004 and have never seen this on any ship I've been on.

Yesterday the National Park issued an Operations Update 10/18/22: Regrettably the USS Arizona Memorial programs, out of an abundance of caution, have suspended boat tours until further notice. Operations will resume when the National Park Service deems conditions safe enough to do so. Maybe your notice had something to do with that?

I agree with this! We did a bus tour a few years ago and it was a highlight of our trip with the fall colors 🙂

Have you asked the car rental agency from where you rented the car? That seems like the best place to ask. We have some Hawaii rentals lined up and the agencies we are using have all that info listed on their websites.

This is nothing new -- POA has had restricted dining venues ever since they resumed service. As you mentioned all the open venues are listed on the NCL website. It has been widely discussed that passenger capacity continues to be limited. It has also been reported that dining reservations made in advance have been cancelled closer to sailing and passengers given $25 OBC as goodwill, and reservations could be re-booked onboard. I've read some recent reviews that things are improving, more staff continues to be added, and dining venues are expected to reopen. I am sailing in January and was able to made dining reservations online; however, I am fully aware they may not be honored as sailing gets closer.

Paid $2.87 in South Texas yesterday.

Following this as we will be on same trip in 2023. We were booked for 2020 & 2021 which were both cancelled, then this cruise which we decided to push back to next year for the original itinerary with Paris & Arhus. Thanks for the thread and your perspectives of the ship & trip!

Nope. The only thing I want to hear on my balcony is the ocean.

Thanks for the review! We're going in January. Any comments on the Kona zodiac? We are considering that excursion and welcome any feedback.

Alamo is open 6AM - 10:45PM every day per their website. I also assumed they were open when they accepted our booking to pick up the rental car on Sunday.

We have a rental from Alamo booked from 8:30 am - 8:30 pm in Maui for one day in January. I know we could have parked overnight at the airport but we really just wanted the rental for the day so that's what we're doing.

I haven't stayed in those cabins but was also curious about that uniquely-shaped balcony and location when I was researching an upcoming cruise. I did a search for those cabin numbers and found several first-hand reports. Maybe you've done that already -- but if not I'd recommend it. You may have to expand your search to all Royal class ships. I found some here on CC and some on other sources, both video and written form 🙂