KeepCalmBearOn

For giggles I went to the TripAdvisor reviews for the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, which is consistently rated in the Top Fifty Hotels in the World. 3,818 reviews and 47 people gave this legit 5* property 1* reviews. Reading them was even funnier than the reviews for the Royal Hawaiian. I think some people get their jollies giving one star reviews.

Not a lot of people on TA. Over 5,100 reviews, over 4,000 were 4* & 5*, about 500 were 1* & 2*. I went into the 1* reviews and found most of them ridiculous, some very petty and many inaccurate. Like the one who gave them a 1* because there was no adult pool, but there is. I think I have over 500 reviews on TA. I've given two 2*, a lot of 4* and 5* and 3*, where deserved. I looked at the first 60, 1* reviews (glanced through most) and most of the posters had 10 or fewer TA contributions. Don't get me wrong, having few posts doesn't mean your opinion is invalid, but how can I judge your judgment if you only have 3 contributions and this one review? The one poster who had the most reviews, I think about 12 only had two rating, great and horrible. A place either got 4* & 5* or 1*, there was no in between. A red flag for me. While 80% of my stays in Honolulu are at Halekulani, when my room category isn't available, my first back-up is usually the Royal. I've never had a bad stay and can't imagine, even if everything went sideways, giving them less than a 3*. Quite right.

I haven't done the Viking Excursion to the North Shore, but any tour to the North Shore by its nature has to be a "most of the day" excursion. If you are on a Viking round trip out of LA, or even one of the ones that visits the South Pacific too, on my Honolulu port day I'd take a cab into Waikiki, eat lunch at Halekulani at Orchids and maybe stroll down to the Moana Hotel for a Mai Tai in the Banyan Court Bar.

And to clarify... there is no Royal, NCL, Princess, etc terminal in Los Angeles. They all share the same two main berths and the two overflow berths.

An Amazon locker where?

I would not recommend Alcatraz for seniors or for people with limited time. It sucks up a lot. SF is a photographers dream, the Painted Ladies, Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, Cable Cars, Transamerica Building, Chinatown, North Beach, the Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, the Dreamworks campus, Sutro Baths, Baker Beach and so much more.

For accommodations, look at the Columbus Motor Inn, Cow Hollow Inn, Chelsea Inn and Coventry Inn, all from the same local company.

Read the book "Hawaii" by James Michener 😁

More to the point, a lot of the workers at the PCC who are students at BYU Hawaii are from the cultures they represent. The LDS church did/does a good job evangelizing in the South Pacific with taking over the culture as my Congregational ancestors did in Hawaii.

It would be a brutal walk, uphill a good bit, and in tropical heat and humidity.

As far as I know, neither Alamo nor Hertz offers a shuttle to the port, just Avis/Budget.

Yes you have plenty of time and San Pedro is the Los Angeles terminal, as San Pedro is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, not its own city. Los Angeles World Cruise Center, 100 Swinford St, San Pedro.

Why would it matter?

Boys Town still exists and is not toned down. The gay section of West Hollywood is along Santa Monica Blvd. The Sunset Strip is Sunset Blvd and up a hill, then there is the area around the Beverly Center. Hotels in Santa Monica depends on your budget. The nicer hotels are not inexpensive.

Shoreline Village is a nice place to kill some time. It is directly across from the Residence Inn by using the pedestrian bridge. Von's is about 1.5 miles away. I don't know how much you intend to buy, but they also do delivery. https://local.vons.com/ca/long-beach/600-e-broadway/grocery-delivery-pickup.html

Not if you are on two tickets, as far as I know.

Where in West Hollywood are you staying? There are good areas and less good areas. Where to go and what to see depends on what you enjoy. On the return I'd stay in Santa Monica. When is the trip?

There is actually a sweet little beach at the tender dock in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel. I usually go not to hang on the beach, but just to get a dip in and get a taste of the ocean.

Don't know about for a cruise, but I've stayed in Melbourne Beach a lot over the last 40 years as I have a major client there. I like it very much as a very low key, old school FL beach town. I stay at the Hilton or Element (Marriott) usually depending on who gives me the best rate or who I need points with the most.

Waikoloa is a long ways from Kona and Uber/Taxi would be expensive. If I wanted to go there from the tender dock I'd rent a car for the day. Beaches are not much of a thing on the BI. I'd beach on Maui, Kauai or Oahu.

I've been to the resort recently, just not as part of a cruise. What are you looking for? The Hilton Waikoloa is not my favorite because of its huge size and Disney-esque environment, but it is a very nice resort. Typically we stay at the Mauna Kea, Fairmont Orchid or Mauna Lani.

Interisland flight on what airline? How many tickets? Some of the interisland carriers have agreements with mainstream airlines and if you book on one ticket, they will transfer bags. If it is two tickets, they will not transfer.

Looks can be deceiving ha ha. I cannot imagine a dinner cruise in MDR being any fun at all. It is a tiny marina so I am not sure where they go for 2 1/2 hours. I like the idea of the Queen Mary for Thanksgiving dinner, plus the places mentioned in Long Beach. Marina del Rey is a long ways from San Pedro.

I have not, but the tour looks completely worthless to me. It shows a picture of the Hotel del Coronado in the excursion page, but the tour doesn't say it is going to Coronado, just Old Town and La Jolla and the whole tour is only 4 hours, so how much time can you have in each place? I'd cancel and take the trolley to Old Town to meet your friend, then if you want to see La Jolla, Uber there or use the trolley and a local bus. https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/san-diego-california-excursions/city-drive-and-la-jolla-highlights/

There is parking at Kapi'olani Park, but it is first come, first serve.