leesataxprep

Thank you! And yes, the walking tour goes to all of those places.

We will arrive in Rome on a Thursday morning, our cruise leave the following Monday. My original plan was to do a Walking Tour (short, 2.5 hours) on the afternoon we arrive (Thursday), then the Colosseum Friday, the Vatican on Saturday and then maybe a food tour on Sunday or maybe take a tour of the Catacombs. Is this a good plan? Should I swap the Colosseum and the Vatican?

Although Pompeii sounds great, I think we will just spend the day visiting Ravello/Positano/Amalfi on a private tour with another couple from my roll call. I won't have enough time to do all 3 towns if we also spend time in Pompeii. Thanks for all of your input!

My husband and I will be going on a 9 night med cruise next May. We will be staying in Rome for a couple days before we leave. Our last stop is in Naples. I see that everyone goes to Pompeii but I'm not sure I want to? I think we'll have seen a lot of "ruins" and a lot of history during our trip. I think I may prefer just going to the Amalfi Coast and exploring the towns there. I don't want completely miss out though. Would we be making a huge mistake if we skip Pompeii?? (assuming that most likely we'll never return to the area). In all the searching I've done on the forum I don't see that anyone is going to the Amalfi Coast without also making time for Pompeii. This makes me question my choice. Help?

Someone on my roll call posted that we should not plan a private excursion in Kusadasi because RCI has been skipping the port and going to Crete instead. I don't know where she got this information but has anyone heard anything like this?

Following.:)

Do you think it would still be under 50 Euro per person if there were only 2 people?

We'll also be there 11am-8pm. Please someone post how to do this on our own!

I am completely overwhelmed. I usually love planning vacations but I've never planned a European vacation (I must say I did a fabulous job planning our Hawaiian honeymoon). We (just my husband & I) are arriving in Rome on Thursday, May 11 and our cruise leaves that Saturday. Therefore, we will need a hotel for 2 nights and we'll get 2 days of sightseeing. My pre-cruise questions:

How far in advance do I need to book my hotel?

Is there a central location I can stay in so that we can walk or take the metro do most sites?

I've seen great reviews on Rome in Limo, do I need a guide or can I do it on my own?

Rome in Limo's website says that if you have 2 days in Rome you should do the Vatican on your own and just use them for the stuff you need rides to. Where do I need rides to? (I think we want to see the Coliseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, others?)

I am so overwhelmed and I haven't even begun to look into the sites I want to see at the different ports while on the cruise. Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!:confused:

Do they have this bags to go for Orlando too? We have 13 people looking for transportation and something to do all day so we don't have to be at the airport. Thanks

The bagstogo website says it's in Ft. Lauderdale & Las Vegas only. Check your cruise line. RCI has luggage valet. NCL had storage at the port in Honolulu.

Thanks everyone - I just checked and Royal Caribbean does offer a Luggage Value for $20 per person which is perfect. Not only do I get to walk off the ship and add a few hours on to my vacation but I can proceed directly to security when I get to the airport! RCI even prints your boarding pass for you! So worth the $20 per person!

We will be in Cozumel on April 28th on the Oasis of the Seas and already have the America's Cup Regatta excursion booked for 8:30 am. It's listed as a 3 hour excursion so I expect to be done by noon at the latest. I want to relax with food and drinks after but don't know if I should pay $55 per person for Mr. Sanchos if I'm not even going to get there till 12:30. Should we opt for Paradise Beach?

Our flight home doesn't leave until 4:30 so I don't plan on getting to the airport until 2:30. Since this doesn't leave ALL DAY, I don't want to rent a car or get a day room. The Royal Caribbean excursions don't interest me and are WAY overpriced ($89 per person to go to Las Olas "at your leisure"). I also don't want to go straight to the airport after getting off the ship and have to spend all day there. In Hawaii we were able to leave our luggage at the port for a small fee so we could walk around Honolulu before our late afternoon flight. From what I understand, this is not available at Port Everglades. Any suggestions on what we can do with our luggage or things we can do while dragging our luggage with us?

I will be embarking this Saturday on POA. I heard I can drop off my luggage at the port and then come back later to board. How early can I drop off luggage? Is there a fee? Is it through Norwegian or through the port?

This is the planned itinerary for June 22nd. It's VERY ambitious! I hope all will go as planned!

Day 1 - Fly to HNL from Philadelphia. Arrive around 2:30pm. Pick up our rental car and drive to the North Shore where we are staying at the Turtle Bay Resort. (I've been to Oahu before and stayed in Waikiki. We wanted to try something different so we're staying on the North Shore)

Day 2 - Explore the North Shore:

New hubby wants to try his hand at surfing (Turtle Bay has surf lessons)

Visit world famous surfing beaches:

Sunset Beach

Bonzai Pipeline (Ehukai Beach)

Pupukea Beach Park to snorkel Sharks Cove & Three Tables

Waimea Bay Beach Park

Laniakea Beach (aka Turtle Beach)

Finish up in Haleiwa

Day 3 - East Coast & Waikiki

Hike Maunawili Falls Trail (short & easy)

Sandy Beach

Lanai lookout

Halona Blowhole

Snorkel at Hanauma Ba Nature Preserve

Then off to Waikiki for dinner or a booze cruise

Day 4 - West Coast & North Shore

8am: Wild Side Specialty Tours for Deluxe Wildlife Charter trip (snorkel and swim with wild dolphins)

Waimea Valley Park

Dole Plantation for pineapple smoothies and maybe try the pineapple maze

Day 5 - Scenic Drive & Luau

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl)

Round Top Drive to Tantalus Lookout at Puu Uialaka State Park

Pali Highway to Nuuanu Pali Lookout

Kakapuu Lighthouse Trail

4:45pm Sea Life Park for Chief's Luau

Day 6 - Embarkation day on POA but first:

Hike Diamond Head

Day 7 - Maui

Pick up rental car

10am: Flyin' Hawaiian for zipline excursion.

Iao Valley State Monument

Mt. Haleakale to watch the sunset

Day 8 - Maui

7:30 am-Maui Snorkel Charters Excursion to snorkel Molokini (we're bringing shower stuff to shower at the public beach-Kamaole Beach Park, so we don't have to drive back to the boat)

Lahaina

Part of the West Maui Circle Drive (we plan to turn around when the dirt road begins)

Return the car and head back to ship

Day 9 - Hilo

Pick up rental car

Volcanoes National Park

2:30pm - Paradise Helicopter Tour for Doors Off flight

Return rental car

Day 10 - Kona

Sleep in!

12:30pm excursion through NCL - Captain Zodiac Raft, Snorkel & Dolphin Adventure

Day 11 - Kauai

Pick up rental car

9:45am - Kayak Wailua excursion

back to boat to shower

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge

Hanalei Valley Lookout

Hanalei Wildlife Refuge

Hanalei Beach for sunset

Day 12 - Kauai

Waimea Canyon

return rental car

back to ship for Na Pali Coast ride by

Day 13 - Honolulu

Debarkation day but we're only headed half way home! We're staying 3 nights in Laguna Beach where we have NOTHING planned but R&R! We're gonna need it after this trip!

Day 9

OK, so you can use the luggage storage when you get OFF at the end of the cruise but can you use it before you board? We will be on Oahu for 5 days before the cruise leaves so we will need to drop off the rental car on embarkation day. I'd rather drop off the luggage at storage and then take the rental car back and then get the shuttle back to the pier without having to lug our luggage. Can we do this?

I will be arriving in Honolulu on 6/22, renting a car at the airport and then returning the car to the airport on 6/27. How should I plan to get to the cruise port from there from the rental car return area at the airport? Can we just take a taxi? There will only be 2 of us, plus 3 pieces of luggage.

Can anyone tell me the All Aboard Times are for each day (except the overnights on Maui & Kaui). I'm just trying to plan our days in advance.

New husband & I will probably only eat at one of the "pay extra" restaurants, maybe 2. Which are the best in everyone's opinion? We like all kinds of food. I'll go with the majority rules!:)

Thanks so much. I used DiscountHawaiiCarRental.com and wound up with Dollar on Hilo and Thrifty on Maui & Kaui. I'll sign up for Dollar & Thrifty's loyalty programs. So if we can disembark by 8, I guess I can plan on driving away from the car rental agency by 9?

Will the rental agency let me know what time I need to be back by to get a shuttle back to the pier?

I will be cruising on the Pride of America in June, 2015 with my new husband. I have already set up my car rentals for each port (except Kona). I'm wondering how long it takes to get to the car rental place, rent the car and start my day. I want to book my activities but don't want to book anything too early If I won't have my car yet. I know that the rental places pick you up at the port and then shuttle you to the rental company where I'm sure you have to stand in line and fill out all the paper work. Any idea how long this all takes???

Is it possible to take a taxi from my Cocoa Beach Hotel to the Port? If so, does anyone know about how much it would be?

I've seen posts on this board regarding shuttle service from Dollar/Thrifty to the port but how do I pick up the rental car when we return from the cruise to drive back to the airport?