I never thought that I would be taking a Hawaiian cruise. My ten hour flight from NYC was only the second time I had flown in an airplane but when NCL gave us a great package, we decided to go for it. The package included the cruise, the airfare, transfers, two night stay at the Waikiki Marriott, three meals at specialty restaurants, twenty photos and chocolate covered fruit in out stateroom. The flight was United out of JFK to San Francisco with a two hour layover and the return flight was via Los Angeles The NCL air travel office was great, changed seats as needed and I learned that for that distance, I should have bout the Economy Plus seats. LOL I was also dismayed that travelling over this great country of ours, no one opens the window screens. Only over the ocean did the window passengers open their screens.
The transfer in Honolulu was bit confusing but we soon were on our way. We were greeted by NCL reps at the hotel. NCL has an office in the Hotel where they did our initial boarding paperwork and took the cruisecard photos. We walked around town a bit, had dinner and went to bed. It was 7 pm local time but 1 am NY time. The room in the Marriott was gorgeous. We were on the 19th floor and overlooked the beach. The only thing wrong was their was no place cheap for breakfast in the hotel.
We took a Discover Hawaii tour of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. Through the hotel concierge desk we were able to book luau for that evening. It was well worth it and got to see more of Honolulu on the bus trip there and back. We were also able to book a tour of Kauai through Roberts Tours.
It was a guaranteed inside. No complaints except as usual, no bar soap. TV set had very few choices except movies and NCL channels. Steward was Manny from the Philippines.