back to back ncl in Hawaii

[blakethan]

Anyone ever done a back to back cruise on NCL in Hawaii. What was your experience like? Was it worth it? Just dont think 1 week would be enough!!!!!!

[chihuaha]

This February we added 6 days in front of POA cruise on Maui, then 3 days after POA on Oahu (Waikiki Beach) as land only vacation. If you have to go that far, and from the East coast it's a LONG trip, might as well stay a while and enjoy it!

 

There was one post earlier this summer from someone who did POA B2B. I'll try to find a link.

[Ilovesailing]

We only do b2b especially Hawaii as it's just so expensive to fly so we look at it as a way to average air cost, its also a way to extend winter vacation.

But for Hawaii because there is so much to see and do you can spread it out over two weeks and have some relaxation time in there as well.

We have done POA b2b three times now plus we stay in Waikiki for 5 to 7 days pre cruise.

 

Bottom line is that its not a cheap vacation as everything on the is islands is expensive because everything is imported in. But its the best bang for your buck.

[Budget Queen]

The cruise is an excellent itinerary and is a great idea for back to back. But, if you have the time, also consider alternative touring. I spend three++ weeks in Hawaii every Feb and put the cruise in the middle. I fly into Kona, out of Hilo to Honolulu for a week, cruise, stay a few days in Oahu, then a week to Maui. The 2 Interisland flights are cheap and the extended time, allows way more touring than a port stop. :)

[Keith1010]

Consider either spending a week pre cruise or a week post cruise.

 

Another option is taking a cruise from California R/T Hawaii.

 

Keith

[Middleager]

If I have time to do b2b, I'd go for land vacation. There are things you can do a lot easier on a land vacation than on a cruise.

 

In Maui, if wanting to do a Mt Haleakala at sunrise, one needs to go in the very early morning. That'll disrupt your sleep pattern. If wanting to do other things in Maui, it'll be better on a land vacation. If doing a road to Hana tour, it takes up an entire day, and no time to do anything else if during a cruise.

 

In Kona, there is manta ray diving/snorkeling. That's done at night and cruise ships don't stay overnight at Kona.

[Alder]

We did b2b about 4 weeks ago (see our review on the POA page.) I'd guess the cost per day works about the same as a reasonable hotel and there's certainly plenty of food! In one week you don't really get enough time to see everything on the islands and have spare time to relax on the ship as well.

As long as you book the same cabin there's no need to move anything out of the cabin on the change-over day - we simply went to reception during the first week and they just swapped our registration cards for later dated ones. We told our steward not to bother cleaning the cabin that day -as it's his busiest day he was grateful. The only confustion was if we needed to go to the safety briefing for the second week - we got different info from different people and got the impression they had changed the rules - we went just in case to avoid being chased later in the week (don't asked - a previous cruise...)

I note comments from others that it's easy to move to a hotel, but (if you have time) you can stay on Oahu before or after the cruise - for the other three islands the ship visits, you get two days on each anyway without the trouble of internal flights. From our POV can't see a downside in going b2b.

If you've got any specific questions just post them. I'll get round to posting a review of what we did on the islands in the next few days.

:)

[born2cruize]

Anyone ever done a back to back cruise on NCL in Hawaii. What was your experience like? Was it worth it? Just dont think 1 week would be enough!!!!!!

 

In 06, 08 & 10 we did land and cruise. In 11 & 12 we did back to back on POAm. I can tell you we did slow down our activity on the back to backs because we had double the time on the islands. I agree, with airfare even from the West Coast one week is not worth the airfare.

 

I feel the biggest mistake that is made with a single cruise (be it 7 day POAm or a West Coast cruise with only 4 days on the islands) is people rushing to get as much into their time on the islands. Relax, enjoy the islands. Your on Hawaiian time.