General: This cruise has a little different feel than most Caribbean cruises mainly because you have two overnight ports and spend more time in the port of calls. This NCL cruise spends two days on each of the four major Hawaiian Islands with an overnight stay-over in Maui and Kauai. It can offer a more economical solution in getting a taste of each of the four primary Hawaiian Islands. Whether it is your first visit to Hawaii or been there many times, you can enjoy this cruise. The latter was my situation. It seemed like we were busy the whole week but that was our objective. Our cruise sailed from Jan 1 to 8 and had a good mix of ages with most passengers between 21 and 50. I believe this will vary depending on the time of year you take the cruise. The Cruise Director mentioned that there were over 700 passengers under the age of 18 on the previous cruise (Christmas-New Years) and we only had about 120 under 18 years old. The ship passenger capacity is around 2400 and our cruise was full.

Embarkation: We flew into Oahu the day before the cruise and stayed in Waikiki. A taxi ride from the airport to Waikiki is about $40. There are lower cost shuttles that can be pre-arranged prior to arrival. If going directly from the airport to the cruise ship, the taxi ride is around $25.

We took a 5-hour beach and snorkel tour from our hotel to Hanauma Bay before boarding the ship. There are several tour companies that offer this tour for only $15/person. Hanauma Bay is about 20 minutes from Waikiki and is one of the best places in all Hawaii to snorkel. There is a $7 fee to get into the bay. Hanauma Bay has a great beach and very beautiful bay, and we saw five whales playing at the mouth of the bay and lots of fish. Read more