skip booking with NCL

I have been on NCL pride of america this month, and i booked all my
excursions with www.hawaiicruiseexcursions.com. They had better prices
than NCL and at each port we visited we did a great tour. Skip paying
the extra that the ship charges and check out these guys, they were
great.

On Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:53:01 -0800 (PST), hawaiigirl wrote:

189.130.5.211

SPAMadvertising all the way from Oaxaca Mexico. lol
--
Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services
I never have nor ever will solicit or accept a booking.
http://www.cruisecompare.co.uk/ USA site due 1Q 2011.

On 1/28/2011 11:53 AM, hawaiigirl wrote:
I have been on NCL pride of america this month, and i booked all my
excursions with www.hawaiicruisexcursions.com. They had better prices
than NCL and at each port we visited we did a great tour. Skip paying
the extra that the ship charges and check out these guys, they were
great.

Better yet, rent a car in each port and drive yourself around.

Bill

On Jan 28, 7:42*pm, Bill wrote:
On 1/28/2011 11:53 AM, hawaiigirl wrote:

I have been on NCL pride of america this month,
They had better prices
than NCL and at each port we visited we did a great tour. Skip paying
the extra that the ship charges and check out these guys, they were
great.

Better yet, rent a car in each port and drive yourself around.

That for us is the usually the easiest/best/cost effective way to
enjoy a port ...

Although in some foreign cities we often search out a car/driver who
acts better than most tour guides ... More expensive than car rental
definitely ... but cheaper than the ship excursions ... and the
ability to say stop here ... pick us up in a half hour ... versus
finding a place to park ... makes the extra cost easier to bear ...

On 1/31/2011 3:49 PM, number6 wrote:
On Jan 28, 7:42 pm, wrote:
On 1/28/2011 11:53 AM, hawaiigirl wrote:

I have been on NCL pride of america this month,
They had better prices
than NCL and at each port we visited we did a great tour. Skip paying
the extra that the ship charges and check out these guys, they were
great.

Better yet, rent a car in each port and drive yourself around.

That for us is the usually the easiest/best/cost effective way to
enjoy a port ...

Although in some foreign cities we often search out a car/driver who
acts better than most tour guides ... More expensive than car rental
definitely ... but cheaper than the ship excursions ... and the
ability to say stop here ... pick us up in a half hour ... versus
finding a place to park ... makes the extra cost easier to bear ...

Yes, but in Hawaii parking was not a problem. And in Maui, where you
have two nights (or at least did when we sailed on PoH), you can rent it
the first day and park for free at the pier overnight, so you can get an
early start the 2nd day and not have to worry about going to get the
car. And my GPS worked great so we did not have to worry about getting
lost. And we got to go to Costco in every island where one existed!

The only foreign cruise port I have rented at is St. Marteen. It's hard
to get lost because the road just loops the island and easy to pick up
at the pier.

Bill

On Feb 1, 3:18*pm, Bill wrote:

The only foreign cruise port I have rented at is St. Marteen. It's hard
to get lost because the road just loops the island and easy to pick up
at the pier.

Yep St Maarten is so trivial to drive around ... St Martin too ... St.
Marteen makes an interesting portmanteau combining the sides ...
You do have the loop around the lagoon also ...
We drove over to the butterfly farm on our circle around ... and went
around SImpsons Bay also ... it took some time though ...

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011 18:06:16 -0800 (PST), number6 wrote:

On Feb 1, 3:18*pm, Bill wrote:

The only foreign cruise port I have rented at is St. Marteen. It's hard
to get lost because the road just loops the island and easy to pick up
at the pier.

Yep St Maarten is so trivial to drive around ... St Martin too ... St.
Marteen makes an interesting portmanteau combining the sides ...
You do have the loop around the lagoon also ...
We drove over to the butterfly farm on our circle around ... and went
around SImpsons Bay also ... it took some time though ...

Careful, when ships are in portt, traffic can be a bitch.
--
Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services
I never have nor ever will solicit or accept a booking.
http://www.cruisecompare.co.uk/ USA site due 1Q 2011.

On Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:18:37 -0500, Bill
wrote:

On 1/31/2011 3:49 PM, number6 wrote:
On Jan 28, 7:42 pm, wrote:
On 1/28/2011 11:53 AM, hawaiigirl wrote:

I have been on NCL pride of america this month,
They had better prices
than NCL and at each port we visited we did a great tour. Skip paying
the extra that the ship charges and check out these guys, they were
great.

I did POAmerica in June. I was perfectly happy to pay for the
excursions from the ship - I did not think they were excessively
expensive. We snorkeled at one of the ports and I would not have
missed that, nor would I have wanted to try to arrange that myself
since it was my first visit. Ditto for the sail boat trip. We did
the luau and that is another one I wouldn't have known that it was
even possible. I would have been afraid to try to drive up Mount
Haleakala myself - I didn't have my husband along to drive and my
sister had warned me against going because of the altitude. [It turns
out that she is really susceptible to altitude sickness and she
assumed that I must be also - but I am not.]

Better yet, rent a car in each port and drive yourself around.

That for us is the usually the easiest/best/cost effective way to
enjoy a port ...

Although in some foreign cities we often search out a car/driver who
acts better than most tour guides ... More expensive than car rental
definitely ... but cheaper than the ship excursions ... and the
ability to say stop here ... pick us up in a half hour ... versus
finding a place to park ... makes the extra cost easier to bear ...

Yes, but in Hawaii parking was not a problem. And in Maui, where you
have two nights (or at least did when we sailed on PoH), you can rent it
the first day and park for free at the pier overnight, so you can get an
early start the 2nd day and not have to worry about going to get the
car. And my GPS worked great so we did not have to worry about getting
lost. And we got to go to Costco in every island where one existed!

The only foreign cruise port I have rented at is St. Marteen. It's hard
to get lost because the road just loops the island and easy to pick up
at the pier.

We rented a car in St. Maartin too. I wanted to get to Grand Case
which was closed the first time we went since it was Sunday, and also
to get back to a lighthouse that I thought I had seen. But the
construction was so bad that we couldn't get there, and the traffic
was also really bad. And it was hard to find a gas station to fill up
before we went back. So we just visited boatyards on the Dutch side.
The next time we went, we just took a taxi over to the lighthouse
(which the taxi people at the pier swore there was no such thing but
there was), and photographed it and came back.

We have rented a car in Barbados on a land vacation, and once someone
I met via the internet rented one there and picked us up at the port
and drove us around. Renting a car isn't a bad idea, but if they
drive on the left (as they do in Barbados), I want someone else
driving - my husband or a friend or a taxi driver -- as long as it
isn't me.

I arranged for a car and driver in San Juan because I wanted to visit
El Yunque and also the Forts in San Juan. Fortunately because of
Hurricane Wilma we didn't go to the private island and had more time
in San Juan so we could do both.

If I'm traveling with my husband and he is driving, it is one thing.
If I'm traveling with a grandchild, I don't want to be driving - I
want to be looking.. I arranged for a car and driver in Naples (to
see Pompeii and the Amalfi Drive with Pompeii first when it was
cooler) and also in Rome. It was cheaper than a car and driver from
the ship and I had twice the time.

I did rent a car in Hawaii when we went back to the Big Island after
the cruise, but I tried to minimize the amount of driving I actually
did.

The other problem someone might have is one that happened to us in
Panama. The car and driver (pre-paid deposit), just did not show up.
They said that they would refund our money, but didn't.

On 2/2/2011 10:20 AM, wrote:

I did POAmerica in June. I was perfectly happy to pay for the
excursions from the ship - I did not think they were excessively
expensive.

Well, in my case I was there with my wife and kids, and I rented
convertibles in most posts. I get a very good corporate rate with Hertz,
in the first port they did not have my car ready so they offered me a
Mustang convertible for $3 more per day, which I forced myself to
accepted. My kids (teens at the time) had to do with minimal legroom but
they were happy to do so. In Maui I had to pay an extra $10/day for the
convertible.

We rented a car in St. Maartin too. I wanted to get to Grand Case
which was closed the first time we went since it was Sunday, and also
to get back to a lighthouse that I thought I had seen. But the
construction was so bad that we couldn't get there, and the traffic
was also really bad. And it was hard to find a gas station to fill up
before we went back. So we just visited boatyards on the Dutch side.
The next time we went, we just took a taxi over to the lighthouse
(which the taxi people at the pier swore there was no such thing but
there was), and photographed it and came back.

We have been to St. Maarten twice on cruises. The French side was mostly
closed both times. Once was some random religious holiday and the other
time was a Sunday. When we go back the next time (tentatively this
December) I am making sure we do not go on a Sunday, and I guess I
should check the religious holiday calendar to make sure I'm not there
on one of those. The good news was I found this really great patisserie
which WAS open, and it had amazing croissants and other French pastries.
It made the drive worthwhile. There was also a flea market that was open
with some interesting stuff. As for a gas station, there was one on the
main road right before the pier when I rented.

Bill