We purchased airfare and a pre-cruise tour on Oahu before the start of our cruise. We went with NCL because they are the only cruise line that goes to Hawaii in the summer. The airfare that NCL offered was a good price, but be prepared to wait until about three weeks before your trip to learn anything about airline reservations or your pre-cruise tour reservations. Planning was difficult since many decisions revolved around when our flights would leave. NCL scheduled late flights leaving Honolulu for all 10 of us. Most of our party ended up having to spend the entire day after disembarking waiting with their luggage at the airport for their flights. There really is nothing within easy walking distance to the airport to do so they were just stuck there. The storage area charged $20 for large bags & ~$12 for smaller bags. None of us decided it was worth the price.

We traveled as a group of 10. Due to the way the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort assigns rooms only at checkin, we were put into 2 different towers at the resort on Oahu. This was particularly frustrating since we had made numerous calls and had notes attached to our files saying we really wanted rooms that were near each other or at least on the same floor.

We all disagreed with being pre-charged a set amount for gratuities to be split among staff members. Is it still a gratuity if you are charged for it up front or is it just another fee? What is the incentive for the staff if you are guaranteed to split all tips? This was also the policy for the "free" drink package which is not so free when you are pre-charged non-negotiable hefty gratuities. Read more