I've booked a 7-night cruise w/ 2 young children, ages 10 and 7 to Hawaii via NCL. We've never been on a Norwegian Cruise Line before and I'm not familiar w/ Freestyle Cruising. Is it a long wait in order to get into a restaurant?

Also, for those than have gone with children, will all the restaurants have kids menu, i.e. chicken fingers, pizza, etc. that's normally available in Royal or Carnival's formal dining rooms.

How about shore excursions? I know it's always more expensive to join the ship's excursions. Will there be tour available after you get off the ship on each island?
What are the must see w/ kids on each island?

Lastly, I'm thinking I'll need to stay a couple of extra nights at Honolulu. What would be the best thing to see in a short time w/ kids there?


Thanks,
Liz

We sailed on the Pride of America in February. We did not have any children with us, but since you have not received any responses yet, I will try to help you.
Freestyle Cruising was different for us also. It definitely has its pros and cons. The nice thing was not being tied down to the same dinner time each night. The bad thing was....sometimes the wait for the "main" dining room was very long! Also, the service was not so great once you got in. Compare it to going to a busy restaurant in your hometown on a Saturday night. The best advice I received was...make reservations as soon as you board the ship. I was told the best way to do this was to go to your cabin and call from there. However, when I did that....the phones were not working, so we had to walk from restaurant to restaurant. If you wait to make reservations, all "specialty" restaurants will be booked. You can also make reservations for the main dining rooms. I don't know what ship you are sailing on (America or Aloha). Some of the specialty restaurants have a charge, some do not. I can't tell you much about a children's menu, I am afraid. On the "America" the Cadillac Diner did not have an extra charge, and was never very busy. It is hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. and we liked it very much.
We did not take any shore excursions. We did not see taxi drivers, etc. waiting at the ports (like you do in the Caribbean), but there were local people at each port to assist you, so I am sure they could tell you about tours. We rented a car in almost every port and did our "own thing" for about $60.00 a day!
We stayed in Honolulu a day before and two days after. There is much to do there, but since we did not have children, you may want to post this message on the "USA" board. It seems to get a lot more action than this one does!

Thank you for your response. It is greatly appreciated. I figured it would be a long wait for the restaurants if I don't reserve in advance. I had also heard that the service is not as good in NCL. It is quite expensive to go on the shore excursions, but then my husband and I are not the adventurous type. Thanks again!

Liz

Just a thought, Lizette. Have you checked any of the ship reviews on cruisecritic.com? I got a wealth of information from those. I don't know which ship you are booked on. There are no reviews yet for the Pride of Hawaii, but I am sure the reviews from both the Aloha and America would help you anyway.

Did the POAM in January. The ship was just beautiful and the itinerary great, especially seeing the lava flow from the sea. The port side of the ship is best for that, and also, for seeing the Napali coast.
We didn`t care for the food or service in the main dining room. We usually ate about 6pm, and the wait was usually short. If we ate later, it was a long wait. They didn`t have enough help in the dining room, and sometimes you wondered what happened to the wait staff. Wish we had scheduled specialty restaurants when we first got on. I think we would have been happier that way. We liked the Cadillac diner too, and went twice for burgers. Also went once for porkchops with mashed potatoes and gravy, and it was better than the dining room food. The dining room food was overcooked and dried out, and of poor quality. I don`t remember anything about a kid`s menu but wasn`t looking. We heard the people who got off the Pride of Aloha didn`t like the food or service either. As for tours, when we got off the ship, we just walked past the ship`s tours, and there were people holding up signs, advertising their own tours. Some were the same as the ship tours, at about half the price. In Kona, the main street runs up and down the waterfront, and they had all kinds of tourist trips advertised there. The best part of doing our own tours, was that we only had about 4 other people with us. If you do any ship tours, do the lauau on Maui. The ship was docked clear over on the other side of the island, and it would have been difficult to get there and back on our own, and a taxi would have been expensive, as it`s about a 40 minute drive.
We stayed in Waikiki for two night afterwards, and enjoyed the beach. The water is beautiful and is good for small children, as it`s in a protected area. Also, at night they had a free show right on the beach. If you go to that, bring something to sit on. Sitting on those rocks was murder. We also enjoyed going to the international market, but you do have to bargain there. We also enjoyed seeing the Arizona, and think your kids would remember that for a long time. Hope you have fun!

Thanks Pat. Do you mind if I ask which hotel you stayed at? I have no clue on which to pick and I'm thinking of staying right by Waikiki Beach.

I've heard awful things about service and food at NCL cruises. But at this point, they monopolize the market there and I have no choice. I guess I'm just going there for the sightseeing and not really for the cruise experience.

Thanks,
Liz

P.S. Are the "specialty restaurants" the ones where you have to pay $20 (co-pay)?

Those specialty restaurants all charge different fees. Some only about $10. The Italian one, Mama`s, didn`t charge anything extra. Wish we had gone there, but it was booked up by the time we figured out the dining room was going to be a disappointment.I think the steakhouse is the most expensive, and it is about $20. I had a hard time finding a hotel on Waikiki. I stayed up most of one night, reading trip advisor hotel reviews. We stayed at the Ocean Resort, and wouldn`t stay there again. It was OK and the location was good. If we go again, I will try priceline. That might be a problem since there are four of you though. Don`t worry if the hotel is on North or South Waikiki. I really stressed over that, and found out it`s one continous beach, and it wouldn`t have made a difference if we had stayed on north or south. I like that Moana Surfrider, but it is expensive. By the way, we took a taxi from the airport to the ship, and it was $20. When we got off the ship, to go to Waikiki, it was a $16 taxi ride. they have some shuttles, but with 4 of you, it`s just as cheap to take a cab. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much. I was wondering how much cab fare was from airport to ship.

By the way, did you notice if the sea was rougher there? I've heard that it is and I don't know if it's all the time or just depending on time of the year.

I've cruised many times before, but this last time out of Galveston, TX during Xmas got me sea sick. But once we got out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the Caribbean sea, I was okay. I'm so afraid to get sea sick.

Liz

It was pretty bumpy the first night, but I never heard of anyone getting sea sick. After that, it wasn`t bad. I think the first night we traveled faster, to cover a longer distance. It wasn`t nearly as rough as when we sailed from New Zealand to Tasmania, and you had to hang on to your bed at night. Hope you found a place to stay. I don`t think you need to plan any time away from Waikiki with so little time. We had big plans too, but never made it to most of the places. (just to the Arizona). I think you will have a great time. The buffet does have a kid`s area, where they have hot dogs, etc, and little chairs and tables.