Hawaii; Cruise to or Fly then Cruise??

[kakalina]

We are getting ready for our 9th cruise to Hawaii. We love the RT itinerary. Obviously. We have gone at different times of the year. We love it in Jan and we love it in the fall and the spring, for swimming the spring is best as the water is warmer than in Jan.

 

As for getting around. All the islands have car rentals available from all the major players. In most docked ports there would be no trouble getting around on a scooter, however in tender ports you may have a bit of a problem getting in and out of the tender boats. Other than that you should encounter no problems.

 

Shore excursions through the ship can be pricey but are generally worth it in the long run. Especially if you have some mobility problems know the ships tours will have well insured operators and they will know which ones are handicapped friendly.

 

Hope this helps. Whatever you decide have a wonderful trip to Hawaii.

[IRL_Joanie]

We did NCL in Sept. of 07 and had a great cruise! You won't be on the ship much, so the size of the room won't make a big difference. The food and service will not be up to HAL, but for the price, it's fine. I didn't want to cross the Pacific due to sea sickness and DH not liking sea days. We took all Roberts excursions and they were great! We rented a car two days and the company met the ship, drove us to their office and gave us a map. It was simple. They only thing I would do differently is fly to the west coast first. The trip from Atlanta to/from Honolulu was brutal. My sister took the same trip in Jan. to get away from Ohio winter, but we can't travel in winter due to work.The entertainment was better than we had on our other 4 cruises with NCL and Princess. Pearl Harbor was the highlight for us and now NCL includes that in their cruise. Have fun. We are late 50's.

 

 

Thank You Sunshine Nana, for the info. I appreciate every ones comments and experiences!! We have to do a West Coast departure due to living in New Mexico. So West Coast is our way to go or fly (but, as before I do not want to spend 12 hours+ on a plane when I can spend time relaxing on the ship.

 

We spend a lot of time on our veranda when sailing so that size does matter to me. Not trying to sound mean or nasty, just prefer a veranda I can relax on

 

Krazy Cruizers, WOW!!!! I know now NOT to go in April/May. I would have been stuck on the ship most of the time since I'd not have put the crew/other passengers to the test of getting my scooter on or off the ship.

 

I wish all of your thread was around somewhere!!!!!!!!!!! Just the 3 you posted sounded amazing, even wit the bad weather!!!!

 

So Kileahua Volcano (Spelling??) is on Kona??? DANG!!!!!!!!! That s the volcano I WANT so much to see!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll be checking this thread more tomorrow, have a NASCAR Nationwide race to watch i a couple:rolleyes:

 

Joanie

[sunshine nana]

Sorry I didn't pick up on the need for your scooter.I thought you meant the kind that people use to tour in Europe for fun. I didn't read carefully enough. We had a nice balcony on NCL. Same size as we had on Dawn for Alaska and Star for New England.We spent some time there,but since we went in Sept., it was dark early. Which brings up another issue. We went Sept 9th when it was still light in NY in the evening,but in Hawaii, there was not much light after 6 pm.Pearl Harbor was very inspiring. It was silent for the entire time on the actual memorial.The museum was also very interesting, but crowded. Because we were on NY time, we woke up at 5am and went to Pearl Harbor as soon as it opened. We only waited a short time in line. When we came out the line was very long. We went on our own before NCL started including it in the tour. Another thing we enjoyed was our tour/transfer to the airport after the cruise. We saw the North Shore, had a nice lunch and were dropped off at the airport in plenty of time for our early evening flight.I don't remember much about the transport boat out to the Arizonia Memorial. It might be something you should check on.

[Protseq]

DW and I have been to Hawaii 3 times, the last time being on NCL Wind before she was transferred back to NCL's parent company. The NCL cruise began and ended in Honolulu. Sea days are great, but for Hawaii, I would fly and visit the Islands. Tom