Cruise followed by Aulani?

[OKW Lover]

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I didn't ask before, but the shrimp trucks.... Is this cooked shrimp, or raw to take back to your villa and cook? Also, do most/any of them usually have other stuff too? Only DS and I eat shrimp--DD and DH don't (pfffftt!).

Its cooked shrimp. Usually with some kind of seasoning option like garlic. You eat them right there on picnic tables with paper towels as napkins. A bit messy.

I can't recall what other things are available from the trucks since we stopped specifically for the shrimp. I believe they do have other things, but I'll defer to somebody with a better memory.

 

[amym2]

Shrimp trucks only have shrimp, but some locations have other food trucks nearby. We ended up getting Taco Bell for DD because she doesn't like shrimp (her 1st Taco Bell experience at age 9, so she thought it was a real treat).

 

[gonzalj1]

A couple years ago we spent a few days at Aulani, did the NCL cruise for a week, then went back to Aulani for a few more days. We enjoyed the time at Aulani and the cruise was a nice way to see multiple islands. However, if you're a frequent cruiser you may be disappointed with the activities etc on the cruise itself. As the itinerary has no sea days and very little time where you're on the ship the ship is not built with all that much to do. Sure, there are shows nightly and such but our little ones were not so keen on the shows. We also all agreed that the food was lesser quality than we've come to expect from other NCL cruises. We would not suggest not to do the cruise just to be aware that the cruise has a different purpose than other cruises and therefor some differences in activities etc may exist.

 

[OKWJan]

We are doing the cruise then Aulani in May. I will keep you posted afterward. Can't wait

 

[OKW Lover]

We are doing the cruise then Aulani in May. I will keep you posted afterward. Can't wait

We will be at Aulani in May as well. We've also got several DIS'er friends that will be there during that month. Sounds like its popular!

 

[cgattis]

We are doing the cruise then Aulani in May. I will keep you posted afterward. Can't wait

Definitely come back and give a detailed review!!

 

[cgattis]

A couple years ago we spent a few days at Aulani, did the NCL cruise for a week, then went back to Aulani for a few more days. We enjoyed the time at Aulani and the cruise was a nice way to see multiple islands. However, if you're a frequent cruiser you may be disappointed with the activities etc on the cruise itself. As the itinerary has no sea days and very little time where you're on the ship the ship is not built with all that much to do. Sure, there are shows nightly and such but our little ones were not so keen on the shows. We also all agreed that the food was lesser quality than we've come to expect from other NCL cruises. We would not suggest not to do the cruise just to be aware that the cruise has a different purpose than other cruises and therefor some differences in activities etc may exist.

I've definitely read that, but I really think after exploring the islands all day, we'll just be ready to shower and crash every night--no entertainment required! LOL. I'm really thinking we'll probably just end up eating at the buffet or room service so we don't even have to shower first!!

 

[rsimon]

We are doing the cruise then Aulani in May. I will keep you posted afterward. Can't wait

We are doing the cruise and then Aulani in May also! What dates? Our cruise dates are May 7-14th with the following week at Aulani.

 

[jguner]

We are doing the cruise and then Aulani in May also! What dates? Our cruise dates are May 7-14th with the following week at Aulani.

We just booked May 7 cruise and are undecided as to when our Aulani stay will be. Before or after. This will be our 3rd time doing this. The ship is not great! It will be having renovations done to it this March so hopefully it will be an improvement! The ports are the highlight on this cruise for sure! If Disney did the inter island we would have done that but they don't!

 

[rsimon]

We just booked May 7 cruise and are undecided as to when our Aulani stay will be. Before or after. This will be our 3rd time doing this. The ship is not great! It will be having renovations done to it this March so hopefully it will be an improvement! The ports are the highlight on this cruise for sure! If Disney did the inter island we would have done that but they don't!

Hopefully the renovations are good. We reserved a suite and in the description it said "newly renovated". We figured this was the best way to see all the islands at least once. After this trip (3rd in last 4 years) to Aulani, we may be back for a while as we are going to do some other things.

 

[jguner]

Yes, it is the best way to see the other islands. That is why we keep doing it. There really so much to see at the other islands. We thought Oahu was beautiful until we got on the cruise. Every island just kept getting better and more beautiful!! Our favorites are Maui and Kauai! The Napalli coast is spectacular! If you get the chance to do a Helicopter tour you must. That was our favourite thing we did both times. We did one in Maui and one the next time in Kaui. It is really nice that the ship overnights in Maui and Kauai as there is so much to do at each of those islands. In Maui there is an awesome restaurant called Mama's Fish House. Just down the road from Hana. A crew member recommended it to us and it was our favorite meal of the trip with spectacular beach views!

 

[OKWJan]

We are going on the cruise on the 14th. Will just miss all of you

 

[HairyChest]

What island do you guys recommend to visit? Im planning 1 week so i think 1 island would be comfortable. Im leaning towards maui because i want to see beautiful landscapes and love hotels but im considering oahu for aulani.

 

[OKW Lover]

What island do you guys recommend to visit? Im planning 1 week so i think 1 island would be comfortable. Im leaning towards maui because i want to see beautiful landscapes and love hotels but im considering oahu for aulani.

Both islands have beautiful landscapes (and hotels) so you won't be able to decide that way. Maui has fewer people but Oahu has a bustling city. It kind of depends on what you want.

 

[cleophus12]

While the ship may not be great, it is not terrible either. We cruised a couple of years ago and followed it up with Aulani. Reviews of the ship on message boards had me convinced we would be cruising on a tub, but it was quite nice and the itinerary makes it a great experience. It is a different type of cruise than many others primarily because of the American vibe, but it is undoubtedly the best way to see the islands. We only spent three days at Aulani on that trip and it wasn't enough, so we are going back this summer. Can't wait.

 

[cgattis]

Has anyone ever stayed downtown Honolulu? Any recommendations? Thinking we need to fly in the day before our cruise, and hoping to spend a little time that day and the next morning poking around Honolulu before boarding. Some place with a free airport and/or port shuttle would be awesome!

 

[OKW Lover]

Has anyone ever stayed downtown Honolulu? Any recommendations? Thinking we need to fly in the day before our cruise, and hoping to spend a little time that day and the next morning poking around Honolulu before boarding. Some place with a free airport and/or port shuttle would be awesome!

We've stayed in Waikiki twice. At the Marriott we were right on the water but the view from our room was blocked by adjacent hi-rise buildings. We could see the beach just fine and only had to cross the road to get to the water. At the Sheraton, we had a very high floor and could see the entire sweep of Waikiki Beach and out to Diamond Head. Just beautiful.

I don't think any of the hotels at Waikiki have a free airport/port shuttle, but the cost of a taxi should be very reasonable.

 

[gonzalj1]

We cruise the NCL Pride of America a couple years ago (has it been that long already) and enjoyed it overall. As others have said the cruise is a great way to see a number of islands in a short time period. It's a little pricey but worth it in our opinion. DS (10 at the time) was not a fan of the food onboard. In fact, he is very hesitant to sail NCL again because of the food. DD (12 at the time) enjoyed herself and found some friends in the pre-teens club.

Also, as others have said, the cruise has a different vibe from other cruises that we've been on. There is a little bit of a lack of things to do on the ship. None of the cool water slides, surf simulators etc that are on other ships. This is due mainly to the fact that the ship is designed to get you from island to island rather than entertain you on seas days (there are none on this itinerary). I think they assume that everyone is getting off the ship at each stop - which seems to be the case based on our experience.

This cruise, and the overnight in Maui, was the only way I was going to get to drive the road to Hana. We did it on the first day in Maui which meant we had all the time in the world to get back to the ship as it was docked for the night. No worrying about having to rush to get back which meant we could do the drive at our leisure. That was a dream of mine and cruising that twisty road in our drop top Mustang was a highlight for me. Then an hour spent hanging out in Hana Bay with shave ice was a nice rest before hopping back in the car for the 3 hour drive back. We highly recommend stopping in Paia on the way to grab a picnic lunch to take with you.

Also, highly recommend Maui Zip Line. We had a couple of younguns and they were the only ones who would let our little guy zip line. We had a blast and would certainly do it again. Again, pricey but worth the cost in our opinion.

Thanks for opportunity to relive a couple of great family memories. Just posting this brought me back to that wonderful 2 weeks in paradise.

 

[ski_mom]

We are going on the NCL cruise this summer and staying on Ohau for 2 nights before cruise and 4 nights after. I hadn't really thought about staying at Aulani, but after reading this thread, we're definitely going to have to look into it. I'm very excited about this trip and really need to get into planning the details!