Oahu pre and post cruise

[Beachiekeen]

For those of you that have taken a cruise from Oahu (or plan to), did you do anything the morning of embarkation or did you go straight to the ship?  Also, what are some things people have done to kill time on disembarkation day before the airport (our flight will leave at 6:30 pm).  We will arrive on Oahu the Wednesday before the Saturday cruise and I'm wondering if we can do things like Pearl Harbor or downtown Honolulu after disembarking to free up our two days pre-cruise.  I looked into renting a hotel room but it's not worth it since I assume we need to leave for the airport around 3:00.

[Casey2]

It would help to know if you are staying in Oahu before the cruise or if you are flying in the day of the cruise.  We stayed in Waikiki three days prior to the cruise and on the morning of the cruise we walked over to the Waikiki Aquarium and spend about an hour there.  Since it is across the street from Kapiolani Park, we took a leisurely walk through the park.  We opted to get to the ship early and use the day as a sea day to prepare for the hectic pace of the cruise.

After  we disembarked at the end of the cruise, we checked our luggage and walked over to Iolani Palace where we had booked a tour.

[Beachiekeen]

Thanks. I stated above that we will arrive on Wednesday before the Saturday cruise. I had not thought about using embarkation day as a sea day—my husband loves getting to the ship early, I know it will be hard to convince him to do anything that morning. That sounds like a great idea because it will be a busy vacation overall.

[papa B me]

We are arriving on the Wednesday before the Saturday embarkation as well.  We are renting a mini van(4 of us) and picking it up at the airport on Wednesday on arrival.  This will allow us to tour the island.  We are going to the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Friday.  On Saturday I reserved tickets on line for Pearl Harbor.  This way we can drive there with our van and have the luggage in it.  We will spend 4-5 hours at Pearl Harbor then get to the ship probably about 3.  We will drop the van back off at the airport and then a shuttle will take us to the Port.

 

On day of disembarkation we have rented a mini van as well.  The shuttle will take us that morning to the airport to pick up the van and then we will tour around Honolulu for the day and get back to the airport about 4:30 or 5:00 for our 7:00 flight.  

 

I mentioned on your other post that the van cost $53.00 a day which includes taxes/charges.  If there are just 2 of you there are cars. $10- $20 a day cheaper.

[Beachiekeen]

papa B, I can't wait to hear about your trip!  There will be six of us so we will be using a mini-van also.  :)

 

We are leaning towards renting a car the whole time on Oahu also.  At first I considered just trying to get away with no rental or just one day but I want us to see as much as we can.  Hubby will be driving on every island so I wanted to give him a break but he says he's ok with it.   But he has said he doesn't want to drive after disembarking which I understand.  So I'm just trying to figure out the best use of all the time.

[papa B me]

24 minutes ago, Beachiekeen said:

papa B, I can't wait to hear about your trip!  There will be six of us so we will be using a mini-van also.  🙂

 

We are leaning towards renting a car the whole time on Oahu also.  At first I considered just trying to get away with no rental or just one day but I want us to see as much as we can.  Hubby will be driving on every island so I wanted to give him a break but he says he's ok with it.   But he has said he doesn't want to drive after disembarking which I understand.  So I'm just trying to figure out the best use of all the time.

My day to day blog will be pretty live as I love to post in the morning or evening while sitting on the balcony.  I might even be able to post some picture now that you can download them directly from your photos on a phone or IPAD.  I did a test picture and it worked.  I'll be posting on the NCL board.  I'll try to remember to post something here on the Hawaii board when it's up and running.  Plan on posting about pre-cruise as well.

 

Certainly get Hubby's reluctance to drive post cruise.  I'm fortunate we are traveling with another couple who decided to join us after we booked so we can share the driving.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On a Saturday cruise I'd hike Diamond Head very early, 6:30am-ish, go to the Farmer's Market at Kapiolani Community College, go back to the hotel, pick up the bags and head to the ship.

 

Pearl Harbor can be as quick or long as you like. When I go, I only go to go to the USS Arizona Memorial, but you can spend the whole day there if you like.

[pink845]

A really nice spot to visit is Hanauma Bay just past Diamond Head.  The snorkeling or just playing in the water with all the sea life is fabulous.  Also driving up to the Northshore via East coast is great.  Many beaches on the way up.  We have been to Oahu several times in the past on land vacations and we quite enjoyed staying up at Turtle Bay when it used to be a Hilton.    If you have never been to the Arizona Memorial, it is worth a visit.  A lot of people enjoy the Polynesian Cultural Centre in Laie but we find it pricy $80 bucks a head for a meal and entertainment I believe. No thank you.  If you get a Fodor or Frommer guidebook, you can follow their advice and hit all the beaches along the East Coast and view the massive surfing waves on the North shore.  We always get ourselves a couple of beach chairs (as we will do in May of this year once again prior to our cruise) and we will relish moving from beach to beach sitting and playing in the water), taking pics and then ending up for three nights up at the Marriott Courtyard in Laie.    We have already been to Waikiki numerous times staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and we are not very fond of the sand on Waikiki, we so much prefer the beaches and sand of the East shore and North Shore.