Hawaii and clueless

[Bella Girl]

Hi,

We did this cruise in March 2020 and loved it. Hubby was talking about doing it again next year. Please can you let me know which travel agency is offering this deal?

The weather was lovely when we went. It was summer weather for us. The ship had lots of snowbirds escaping the winter weather on North America and some we spoke to, did this itinerary every year.

A highlight for us was watching the whales in the bay off Maui. They came close to the ship and it was just amazing.

There were lots of Hawaii themed activities onboard - ukulele lessons, hula dancing classes, Hawaiian crafts as well as the usual cruise activities.

We would always go for a balcony cabin but especially on this itinerary because of the wildlife and the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

X

[louiseybobs]

Originally Posted by Bella Girl

Hi,

We did this cruise in March 2020 and loved it. Hubby was talking about doing it again next year. Please can you let me know which travel agency is offering this deal?

The weather was lovely when we went. It was summer weather for us. The ship had lots of snowbirds escaping the winter weather on North America and some we spoke to, did this itinerary every year.

A highlight for us was watching the whales in the bay off Maui. They came close to the ship and it was just amazing.

There were lots of Hawaii themed activities onboard - ukulele lessons, hula dancing classes, Hawaiian crafts as well as the usual cruise activities.

We would always go for a balcony cabin but especially on this itinerary because of the wildlife and the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

X

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Of course! The company is called Admiral Travel based in Altrincham.

Would you recommend paying the £125pp per person for transfers, it says

Transfers available from £125 pp Including Arrival, Pre and Post Cruise

There’s three of us so would be £375 in total.

[louiseybobs]

Originally Posted by skalexander

I think, for me, I would have to question whether I want to spend 8 days of my precious annual leave at sea, however fabulous the ship might be.

But we aren’t sitting still people, we wouldn’t choose to go to a beach resort or the like, whereas others might enjoy the time to relax!

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I thought the same but I’m assuming the ship will have a running track for me 😂

[Loopylooloo]

Sounds lovely Lbobs, you know I love a cruise! Long way to go for a first one though. Also, check how much it is for an outside cabin or a balcony, might not be much more.

Does it include tips, wifi, drinks? If not, these things will possibly add a lot to the price.

Please let us know if you do decide to go!

[louiseybobs]

Originally Posted by Loopylooloo

Sounds lovely Lbobs, you know I love a cruise! Long way to go for a first one though. Also, check how much it is for an outside cabin or a balcony, might not be much more.

Does it include tips, wifi, drinks? If not, these things will possibly add a lot to the price.

Please let us know if you do decide to go!

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Thank you Lou! Have just asked for a price for an outside cabin!

Will also look at Wi-Fi and drinks as I’ll need to keep on top of work emails x

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We have a car.. it is not far to Turtle bay.. and having waited just a couple of months as we have the West Coast in Oct, we found ourselves priced out of where we really wanted to be. In addition, what was left in the private world didn’t seem to mention being licences.. hence our choosing Hotels.

Laie seems close (20 minutes) to Sharks Cove etc and we are looking for quiet

We have booked the two Hotels with free cancellation.. just in case things improve!

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Yes accommodation costs have massively risen and they are - I believe - cracking down further on Airbnb rentals and the like. You definitely don’t want to take a chance with accommodation!

You may have already done this too but local rental agencies may be worth a look - that’s how I found my Ilikai condo this time.

[danisleigh]

I love cruising but when we do Hawaii it will have to be NCL as they do a week from Honolulu….I wouldn’t want 8 sea days personally.

[Bella Girl]

Originally Posted by louiseybobs

Of course! The company is called Admiral Travel based in Altrincham.

Would you recommend paying the £125pp per person for transfers, it says

Transfers available from £125 pp Including Arrival, Pre and Post Cruise

There’s three of us so would be £375 in total.

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Thank you for sharing the travel agent.

When we went, it was the same itinerary you mentioned but the port was Los Angeles - Hawaii. It was significantly cheaper for us to hire a car at the airport and drive to the hotel the night before. The car hire office was literally round the corner from the hotel so easy to drop off. The next day, the hotel did a shuttle bus to the port (a 10 minute drive).
We also hired a car at the end of the holiday to drive back to the airport. This meant we could do a bit of shopping at Target! There were a lot of people coming off the ship to the car hire office.

Cruise transfers are often expensive so it is always worth seeing if you can do it cheaper another way. We have never booked a cruise transfer and have always made our own arrangements.

I have been to San Francisco and I seem to remember that there were good transport links from the airport to the city so it might be worth exploring this.

We booked a package with the hotel included and I had done my homework about hotels before I spoke to the travel agent and knew where we wanted to stay. The travel agent tried to persuade us to go somewhere some distance from the port but I was not happy with that. Some people we spoke to on the ship were put into hotels a long way from the port and had to rely on the cruise transfers so I would suggest that if you do look for alternative transfers, make sure you are happy with the location of the hotel before you book.

Hope you get sorted x

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Bella Girl

Thank you for sharing the travel agent.

When we went, it was the same itinerary you mentioned but the port was Los Angeles - Hawaii. It was significantly cheaper for us to hire a car at the airport and drive to the hotel the night before. The car hire office was literally round the corner from the hotel so easy to drop off. The next day, the hotel did a shuttle bus to the port (a 10 minute drive).
We also hired a car at the end of the holiday to drive back to the airport. This meant we could do a bit of shopping at Target! There were a lot of people coming off the ship to the car hire office.

Cruise transfers are often expensive so it is always worth seeing if you can do it cheaper another way. We have never booked a cruise transfer and have always made our own arrangements.

I have been to San Francisco and I seem to remember that there were good transport links from the airport to the city so it might be worth exploring this.

We booked a package with the hotel included and I had done my homework about hotels before I spoke to the travel agent and knew where we wanted to stay. The travel agent tried to persuade us to go somewhere some distance from the port but I was not happy with that. Some people we spoke to on the ship were put into hotels a long way from the port and had to rely on the cruise transfers so I would suggest that if you do look for alternative transfers, make sure you are happy with the location of the hotel before you book.

Hope you get sorted x

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Can only help with SFO.

The Bay Area Rapid Transport (BART) gets you to Powell Station, which is close to Union Sq where plenty of Hotels are.

The Powell Cable Car can take you from there down to close to Fisherman’s .. where the majority of likely Hotels are.. probably not great with loads of baggage!

Otherwise it is a rather pricey taxi/Uber.

[louiseybobs]

Thank you both!

Spoke with another company
Cruise.co.uk today

And their package price which includes the transfers came in at similar to the original.

He also said they would book us a 4* in fisherman’s wharf.

I have upgraded the room to a balcony and the package to princess plus and it’s coming in at

£5600 for the balcony room
£1200 for the upgrade to princess plus, he said he wouldn’t charge us for James.

admiral (the original company) was £5365 for the balcony
£1500 for the princess plus
And £125pp for the transfers