Pride of America - Hawaii

[Imalismom]

Details of cruise:

Dates: July 2015

Participants: Me (aged 60), dear hubby (aged 67), dear daughter (aged 22) and her best friend from her sorority – Alpha Phi (aged 21).

Our plans for our daughter’s graduation from college trip are finally coming together – this is what we have planned for far…. I have included the prices I got since I worked very hard on trying to keep the astronomical Hawaii prices down as much as I could… this is a combination high school and college graduation trip, since the cruise we had promised for High School never got to happen due to her schedule – she has already secured a job (Civil Engineering) when she graduates in May – and the new company has promised her the time off in July for us to take the trip. I decided to do tours on my own instead of through NCL – it was a lot of research on several different cruise sites to find the tours that people recommended the most – I have included how to get in touch with each place in case it might help someone else. Note: The flight prices have not gone down for over the last year that we have been looking at the prices – breaking up the flight and taking Southwest the day SW opened their flights up for July enabled us to take first class over the ocean…

(1) We leave Houston at 5:50am and get to Las Vegas at 6:55 ( Southwest - early bird entry) [Tuesday morning]

(2) We leave Las Vegas at 8:35 and get to Los Angeles at 9:40 (Southwest - early bird entry)

(3) We leave Los Angeles at 1:00pm and get to Honolulu at 3:44pm ( United - first class) . We will be using JohnnyCab https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyCabHawaii for our transporation needs to and from the airport and cruise ship

(4) We are staying at the New Otani Beach Hotel – Room $200 a night includes breakfast
2863 Kalakaua Avenue . Honolulu . Hawaii 96815 . USA . Tel: (808) 923.1555 . Fax: (808)
922.9404 . Toll Free: (800).356.8264 Website: www.kaimana.com .
Email: [email protected] (wanted to stay on the beach, but did not want to stay right in midst of tourism)

(5) Thursday– we are touring Pearl Harbor – www.hawiidiscount.com – Harbor Hero’s adventures gold tour ($125 per person)

(6) Everything else is open – we do want to go to Diamond Head one day, but the only planned thing is the Pearl Harbor tour. Still trying to decide if we want to do a luau the night before we board the ship.

(7) Board The Pride of America on Saturday.

(8) We are in a two bedroom verandah wrap around aft suite

(9) Sunday and Monday – Kahului, Maui
Valley Isle Excursions "Tour in Style and Comfort" Road to Hanna 877-871-5224.
http://www.tourmaui.com/tours/road-to-hana-tour/ (~$150 per person)

Monday we are open with no set plans

(10) Tuesday – Hilo, Hawaii
Ricky’s Tours: I’m offering all this itinerary (all in one) for $65.00 per person including the Nat’l Park entrance fee. This combination tour takes 5 1/2 to 6 hours and the Pride Of America normally dock at 7:45 and my scheduled pick up time is 8:30 in front of the Aloha Room within the port. I operate 15 passengers van (15 with the driver) accommodate 13 comfortably. Cool bottled water & chips normally provided courtesy of Ricky’s Tours. I would be more than happy to be your guide for that day. To reserve seats, all I need is full names & cabin number, payments due at the end of the tour either by cash or travelers check.
Mahalo
Ricky
http://www.rickystourshawaii.com/

(11) Wednesday – Kona, Hawaii
Mary Lou tour ($75.00 per person) Mahalo Ken and Marylou
Marylous Big Island Guided Tours 1-509-690-8163 http://www.marylousbigislandguidedtours.com/

(12) Thursday and Friday - Nawiliwili, Kauai
Doing a private Tour with Jay: Tour date: Thursday 2015 start time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (up to 8 hours).Additional hours after 8 hours are $45/hr. ( Not including any traffic issues). Currently we are paying $129.00 per person, plus an additional $ for van rental. https://www.facebook.com/TreadlightlyKauaiTours?pnref=lhc

Friday we are open with no set plans

(13) We debark on Saturday.

(14) We fly from Honolulu to Las Angeles – we leave at leave at Noon and get in at 8:30 PM

(15) We stay at La Quinta Inn & Suites LAX
5249 West Century Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
310 - 645-2200

(16) We depart on Southwest early Sunday morning - I'm sure our house sitter will be glad to get back to their own home :)

[CleveSJM]

Awesome plans! Great job!

I would recommend some time in the Waikiki beach area. Some swimming and the shops. There is a great Shave Ice spot right across the street from the Holiday Inn "in between" two parts of the shopping there. In a kiosk by the street. Yum!

On Maui, do the Haleakala sunrise if you can. It's unforgettable. Also, the best luau in Hawaii is Old Lahaina Luau on Maui and Mama's Fish House is the best restaurant I've ever been too. Rated #13 in the US by Tripadvisor.

Have a great trip!

[LVT]

I hope you will favor us with a trip report. It sounds good. Pretty Please?:thumbsup:

[Imalismom]

So, we are 31 days out from flying to Hawaii, and 35 says out from cruising...

Some last minute tweaking has happened...

Tweak #1

The two girls are flying in from Baltimore, since dear daughter (DD) took a job in Maryland right after graduation, and meeting us at the United Lounge in Los Angeles when they get there about 30 minutes after we do. They will be returning directly to Baltimore after the cruise also, and not going through Houston. Her friend going with us is in Philadelphia this summer so Baltimore was the best choice for them.

I booked us through Las Vegas so that DD could do a little gambling (slot machines) since she is now over 21 - guess her introduction to Las Vegas will have to be at another time... and I will have to wait one more day to see her.

Tweak #2

We added a 6 hour tour on Wednesday (we get there on Tuesday) with JohnnyCab. We are not sure what we are going to see, going to leave it up to him to show us what he thinks are the more interesting things to see...

Tweak #3

NCL upgraded us to the Deluxe Penthouse Suite (Cat SD) from the 2 bedroom suite we had (SI). We lose the ability to close the bedroom door (it has a hospital type curtain that goes around the bed), but we gain 2 sinks in the bathroom, a separate shower and separate toilet area and gain a Jacuzzi tub. We also gain twice the square feet space, and the balcony square feet wise is bigger than the entire SI suite we had booked. We went from the 9th deck port side to the 13th deck starboard side. Port side is better for one afternoon (Friday afternoon), but we can always go on deck to see the sights and then come back to our balcony when it turns around and goes by it again.

Its getting closer, I now just have to get through teaching summer school and our vacation will be here.

[faline]

Also, the best luau in Hawaii is Old Lahaina Luau on Maui

Actually, I like Feast at Lele much better than the Old Lahaina Luau.