We started planning our cruise vacation over one year ago. The plan was to learn everything we could about Hawaii and NCL so our first experience would be very positive. The Hawaii trip was for our 25th wedding anniversary. We left to Hawaii on May 22 2008. Originally we booked an inside cabin mid level thinking we would not be in the room very much and could not justify the additional expense. We received a call from NCL one month prior to sailing and was told we could be bumped up to an outside balcony room for $200 more. We took the upgrade offer without hesitation. The new room could accommodate three people. Our 19 year old daughter asked if she could come along since the new room will sleep three. She was on her summer break from college and the timing was good. We were told by Cruises Only that we needed a passport for the Hawaii trip. We called US passport agency to confirm. We were told that some Hawaii cruises make a stop at an Island that is not under the United States. We went ahead and rushed a passport for our daughter. In the end, we did not need a passport after all.

The flight over to Hawaii was long. The flight from Orlando through Minneapolis to Honolulu was 12.5 hours of flying time. It took over 16 hours from our door in Florida early in the morning to the hotel in Waikiki mid afternoon. The flight over was uneventful other than accidentally knocking a container of chocolate milk into our daughters lap early into the flight. We did not have NCL book our flights. We did the flights on our own and saved over $200 per ticket. We had no problems on Northwest Airlines other than being crammed in like sardines. All of our flights were over sold and extremely crowded. Apparently that is the way of all airlines. They have all cut down to the minimum amount for flights in order to fill all seats to make money. The individual seat back entertainment systems made the trip much more tolerable. There was a huge assortment of video games, movies, music, and TV shows to watch. I recommend you bring your own sandwiches, Subway, Quiznos, grocery store deli, etc on board with you. There is no such thing as free food on a plane anymore, at least in the coach section. Northwest had sandwich packs for $10.00. The sandwiches were OK, but not even close to the $10.00 charged.

We stayed at the Waikiki Marriott the first two nights prior to the cruise. We booked the hotel on our own verses through the cruise company. We saved again over $200.00 a night. We did not have any major issues with transfers from and to the airport, or to the cruise terminal due to arranging our own pre-cruise itinerary. We did not have a good experience with "Reliable Transportation Company" the driver was a mad man and will someday kill a bunch of people with his van. He was the most aggressive driver I have ever seen. I would recommend booking your own flights and hotels only if you are arriving a day or two early. Otherwise we would not want to assume any risk for missing the ship. Our room was great. We were on the 23 floor overlooking Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. The view was incredible. We always heard about the exorbitant restaurant prices in Hawaii and were prepared to pay out the nose for food. We asked the hotel concierge for restaurant recommendations that would not kill our wallet. Both Lulu's, and the California Kitchen were great recommendations. We ate at Lulus on several occasions. Read more