Have You Stayed @ Aulani Pre-Hawaiian Cruise?

[keishashadow]

My better half has asked me look into booking a cruise departing from Honolulu for next year. Looking @ CCL Pride.

Have never been that far west , just starting doing my research and a bit overwhelmed. Ordered an old-school guidebook & will poke around on other cruise related message boards. Thought i’d Start here first .

Would stop off @ DL first for a few nights, then head to Honolulu. Have been lucky to book DVC there at 7 months, but not going to depend on it.

Not sure if we should go with a waikiki hotel (Hilton looks nice) or try to book Aulani at 7 months. It does seem far removed, may not be the best choice for first-timers just in town for 3 nights or so.

Both of us are miitary buffs, exploring Pearl Harbor is a must do. My dad was stationed there for a bit in WWII. Noticed independent tours are offered from the resort or perhaps we should rent a car for a day? Figure on disembark day we could likely find a tour that could let see more of the island, then deposit us at the airport for what I assume will be a late flight out.

Not seeing much information here via a search. If anyone has a link to their TR for a similar vacation, could you please post?

 

[bobbiwoz]

There are people in the Aulani thread who live in Hawaii, or any very knowledgeable about many aspects of Oahu, not only Aulani.

For our first trip to Hawaii, we spent 4 nights in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a Hawaii American Cruise around the Islands, and we finished with 3 nights at the the North Shore. We enjoyed staying in Honolulu and did a lot of local sightseeing it was wonderful location, and a we enjoyed the stay.

We have not done a lot of sightseeing in Honolulu since we stay in Aulani.

What’s your cruise itinerary?

 

[keishashadow]

NCL not my favorite cruise lune by any means but it hits the hit points

Will read search & read thru the thread, thanks

 

[disneynutz]

We are doing that in April, Aulani then Celebrity Hawaiian to Canada.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

We do not have overnights on our cruise. Bill, do you?

On American Hawaii Cruise we did overnight in Maui, so we could do Haleakala at sunrise. That was special.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are planning on doing an NCL cruise in a couple of years along with a stay at Aulani. The only other cruise I have done (Disney cruise in 2005) left me extremely sick, but we were at the very back of the ship so I'm thinking that didn't help. My original plan was to do the 7-night cruise at the beginning of the trip, and then about 5 nights at Aulani. But this thread has me wondering if I should do it the other way around. That way if the cruise makes me sick, it wouldn't mess up my stay at Aulani.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are planning on doing an NCL cruise in a couple of years along with a stay at Aulani. The only other cruise I have done (Disney cruise in 2005) left me extremely sick, but we were at the very back of the ship so I'm thinking that didn't help. My original plan was to do the 7-night cruise at the beginning of the trip, and then about 5 nights at Aulani. But this thread has me wondering if I should do it the other way around. That way if the cruise makes me sick, it wouldn't mess up my stay at Aulani.

Did you take any meds? I would spend some time researching something to take for sea sickness.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Did you take any meds? I would spend some time researching something to take for sea sickness.

Oh, I definitely will. I think I took some meclizine, but no patches or anything major. I really only got sick when I went to our cabin. It was an inside stateroom right beside the boiler room at the very back of the ship. Next time, we will get a cabin mid-ship with an oceanview, which should help. I just don't think I can handle a 10 or 12 night cruise, so I think that NCL is the best choice. I'm just curious though why many of you do the cruise at the end of the trip instead of the beginning.

 

[bobbiwoz]

For us, the RCCL cruise is a one time a season cruise, it continues to Australia, them goes back to Vancouver in spring when it does Alaska. So, it’s cruise first, then Aulani.

With your history, I would do exactly the NCL cruise, we found the Trans Pacific Cruise a bit more rocky than either the Trans Atlantic cruises we have been on.

I would do the cruise first, because I think you will be doing shore excursions at every port. You’ll want to see what you can on each island. Then on Oahu, you can spend more time, be more relaxed, and see the sites at your leisure. JMO.

 

[disneynutz]

We do not have overnights on our cruise. Bill, do you?

On American Hawaii Cruise we did overnight in Maui, so we could do Haleakala at sunrise. That was special.

Honolulu and Maui are overnighters.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

Honolulu and Maui are overnighters.

Bill

We will take our first Celebrity cruise next March. I would have liked an overnight in Honolulu.

 

[keishashadow]

Oh, I definitely will. I think I took some meclizine, but no patches or anything major. I really only got sick when I went to our cabin. It was an inside stateroom right beside the boiler room at the very back of the ship. Next time, we will get a cabin mid-ship with an oceanview, which should help. I just don't think I can handle a 10 or 12 night cruise, so I think that NCL is the best choice. I'm just curious though why many of you do the cruise at the end of the trip instead of the beginning.

The Rx patch works well for me onboard but when i take it off on land afterwards get (mild) sea sickness symptoms. My doctor said that’s common.

I now just bring along non-drowsy Dramamine and take when departing from Florida when crossing the Gulf Stream for carribean itineraries. Two years ago in January when doing a mom/son trip, I forgot. Sat down to dinner with my adult DS and the smell was akin to bad morning sickness lol. I ran to stateroom and bed for rest of night until the pills kicked into play.

We will take our first Celebrity cruise next March. I would have liked an overnight in Honolulu.

Only one on Celebrity for us, class M ship - the summit. Had one of the sweet 16 balconies, absolutely lovely! Only issue was it was just a bit too sedate for us. Could’ve been the port-intensive southern itinerary that made the ship a bit of a ghost town at night. Looking at a short one this December out of FLL as we have an unspoken week still this year and wanted to possibly save points for Aulani.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The Rx patch works well for me onboard but when i take it off on land afterwards get (mild) sea sickness symptoms. My doctor said that’s common....


Only one on Celebrity for us, class M ship - the summit. Had one of the sweet 16 balconies, absolutely lovely! Only issue was it was just a bit too sedate for us. Could’ve been the port-intensive southern itinerary that made the ship a bit of a ghost town at night. Looking at a short one this December out of FLL as we have an unspoken week still this year and wanted to possibly save points for Aulani.

Our Celebrity cruise will be around South America...next March.

 

[OKgirl]

We did the NCL Pride of America Cruise in summer 2016 followed by a 4 night stay in a Grand Villa at Aulani. Although we loved the cruise, our family agreed that our favorite part of our trip was Aulani! This resort is not to be missed. We started with the cruise which left Honolulu (Oahu) and went to Maui for 2 days (overnight in Maui), then we did 2 separate days on the big island (ports in Kona and Hilo), and then did a day and a half on Kauai. We left early to do some scenic cruising and then headed back to Honolulu. We disembarked and rented cars and headed to Pearl Harbor on the way to Aulani. I wasn't expecting to have so much fun here but we loved it! We missed the submarine tour (ran out of time) but did the USS Arizona Memorial and the Missouri (?) Battleship. Got some great pics with the giant guns behind us! Then we headed over to Aulani (only 17 miles or so from the cruise port). We checked in at Aulani and then headed to Target for groceries. Unfortunately, Target in Hawaii doesn't have sacks to carry your groceries in...... We were stuffing cans everywhere FYI - bring some sacks from home to carry your groceries (they don't have boxes to use like Sam's Club). We ate poolside during the day and the food was great (coconut shrimp, sandwiches, etc). We didn't eat at the fancier restaurants at Aulani because there were several restaurants across the street (Monkeypod was great and another good pizza place). We did one day split with a morning at the North Shore (which we loved and weren't expecting to love) and the afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center (which was okay but I would have preferred shopping at the North Shore). Shrimp from the food trucks at the North shore was amazing! We tried to book a Luau a the PCC but unfortunately they were sold out on a Tuesday.... Who'd a thought, right? We came back to Aulani and watched their night time show which was nice. As for the cruise - I picked the NCL POA due to itinerary and it had the best! As for the ship, we prefer the larger ships in general but the food was great and my kids loved the kids club (and they don't tend to love the kids clubs). It was a smaller group so they made friends on that cruise! They also combined my boys in the same group which has never happened on another cruise and they do a bit better when they have each other in a new situation. We had my daughter (age 3 at the time) which limited us on our excursions and ended up on the sightseeing buses (don't make this mistake! Do the more active excursions if at all possible! Nothing more boring than stopping at some glorified gift shop on the side of the road for 30 minutes for a "bathroom break" which clearly was a stop that the tour company is paid to do... Or waiting 20 minutes to get a 30 second "view" because you have to hurry to get back on the bus by the time you get to see the view after 4 tour buses all stopped at the same time.) We would do this cruise again but again, we picked it for itinerary! I would do Aulani last if possible so you can relax at the end of the cruise! Happy planning!

 

[lolakat]

We did 4 nights at Aulani followed by the NCL Pride of America Cruise last year. We made our plans late so actually ended up paying cash for the Aulani stay. We enjoyed the resort. The pools are great and we liked paddle boarding in the lagoon. We rented a car and left the resort for most of our meals as food was really overpriced. We did 2 excursions that we bought from the Aulani desk. The fist was surfing lessons and the second an all day catamaran and snorkeling cruise. Both were very good. We spent one day at the Polynesian Cultural Center which was a highlight for us. I highly recommend paying for the private tour and getting tickets to the Luau and "Ha, breath of life." Book these on line before you go. We also did the Aulani Luau and paid for the VIP section which was worth it for the early entry and fun pre-show activities. We drove to the cruise port. I definitely think having a car is the way to go. We picked the NCL cruise b/c it starts and stops in Honolulu and has a few overnights in 3 different ports which allowed us to explore the areas more. We did excursions each day including a waterfall hike in Maui, a trip to the top of Haleakala at sunrise and a kayak tour in Kaui. We did a bus tour in volcano national park which was also good but not great. If my DD were older I would have done a hike there. I agree with the PP that you should avoid the bus tours which mostly stop at gift shops and bathrooms. Overall this was one of the best vacations my family has every taken. I was pricey but so worth it.

Happy planning!

 

[keishashadow]

Our Celebrity cruise will be around South America...next March.

Amazing!

We did the NCL Pride of America Cruise in summer 2016 followed by a 4 night stay in a Grand Villa at Aulani. Although we loved the cruise, our family agreed that our favorite part of our trip was Aulani! This resort is not to be missed. We started with the cruise which left Honolulu (Oahu) and went to Maui for 2 days (overnight in Maui), then we did 2 separate days on the big island (ports in Kona and Hilo), and then did a day and a half on Kauai. We left early to do some scenic cruising and then headed back to Honolulu. We disembarked and rented cars and headed to Pearl Harbor on the way to Aulani. I wasn't expecting to have so much fun here but we loved it! We missed the submarine tour (ran out of time) but did the USS Arizona Memorial and the Missouri (?) Battleship. Got some great pics with the giant guns behind us! Then we headed over to Aulani (only 17 miles or so from the cruise port). We checked in at Aulani and then headed to Target for groceries. Unfortunately, Target in Hawaii doesn't have sacks to carry your groceries in...... We were stuffing cans everywhere FYI - bring some sacks from home to carry your groceries (they don't have boxes to use like Sam's Club). We ate poolside during the day and the food was great (coconut shrimp, sandwiches, etc). We didn't eat at the fancier restaurants at Aulani because there were several restaurants across the street (Monkeypod was great and another good pizza place). We did one day split with a morning at the North Shore (which we loved and weren't expecting to love) and the afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center (which was okay but I would have preferred shopping at the North Shore). Shrimp from the food trucks at the North shore was amazing! We tried to book a Luau a the PCC but unfortunately they were sold out on a Tuesday.... Who'd a thought, right? We came back to Aulani and watched their night time show which was nice. As for the cruise - I picked the NCL POA due to itinerary and it had the best! As for the ship, we prefer the larger ships in general but the food was great and my kids loved the kids club (and they don't tend to love the kids clubs). It was a smaller group so they made friends on that cruise! They also combined my boys in the same group which has never happened on another cruise and they do a bit better when they have each other in a new situation. We had my daughter (age 3 at the time) which limited us on our excursions and ended up on the sightseeing buses (don't make this mistake! Do the more active excursions if at all possible! Nothing more boring than stopping at some glorified gift shop on the side of the road for 30 minutes for a "bathroom break" which clearly was a stop that the tour company is paid to do... Or waiting 20 minutes to get a 30 second "view" because you have to hurry to get back on the bus by the time you get to see the view after 4 tour buses all stopped at the same time.) We would do this cruise again but again, we picked it for itinerary! I would do Aulani last if possible so you can relax at the end of the cruise! Happy planning!

Thanks! I’ve sat thru my shares of long-haul bus excursions over the years. Nearly always make independent arrangements after lots of research. Veering away from that tho in Falmouth this year, as it’s under travel advisory.

We did 4 nights at Aulani followed by the NCL Pride of America Cruise last year. We made our plans late so actually ended up paying cash for the Aulani stay. We enjoyed the resort. The pools are great and we liked paddle boarding in the lagoon. We rented a car and left the resort for most of our meals as food was really overpriced. We did 2 excursions that we bought from the Aulani desk. The fist was surfing lessons and the second an all day catamaran and snorkeling cruise. Both were very good. We spent one day at the Polynesian Cultural Center which was a highlight for us. I highly recommend paying for the private tour and getting tickets to the Luau and "Ha, breath of life." Book these on line before you go. We also did the Aulani Luau and paid for the VIP section which was worth it for the early entry and fun pre-show activities. We drove to the cruise port. I definitely think having a car is the way to go. We picked the NCL cruise b/c it starts and stops in Honolulu and has a few overnights in 3 different ports which allowed us to explore the areas more. We did excursions each day including a waterfall hike in Maui, a trip to the top of Haleakala at sunrise and a kayak tour in Kaui. We did a bus tour in volcano national park which was also good but not great. If my DD were older I would have done a hike there. I agree with the PP that you should avoid the bus tours which mostly stop at gift shops and bathrooms. Overall this was one of the best vacations my family has every taken. I was pricey but so worth it.

Happy planning!

Curious as to how the traffic was. I’ve been hearing Honolulu proper can be a mess.

Would likely do the Cultural Center tour/bus transport & luggage storage back to airport disembarkation day as we’d have a late flight out.

Haleakala is a must-do for us! How did you dress, hear it’s cold.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Haleakala is cold and windy.

We went when the downhill bike rides began at the top, very early morning, and there was a van to collect layers of clothing which were provided to us.

Last February we just went to the top on a sunny day, very windy, none of us even walked around much. The visitor center on top was closing, and it was around noon. Visitor center near the entrance was opened.