Hawaii 2020

[poison ivy]

We booked the 9nt Vancouver to Hawaii early this morning around 7am. I was surprised how few cabins were available. The Starboard balconies were practically non existent. We will definitely spend a few nights at Aulani post cruise. Can't wait to start planning.

 

[mike314]

I'm looking to book Hawaii, but I am Silver CC, when I login tomorrow I should be able to select a 2020 itinerary? Any special thing I need to do beforehand? thanks all

 

[slg]

We should start a meets thread!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I'm looking to book Hawaii, but I am Silver CC, when I login tomorrow I should be able to select a 2020 itinerary? Any special thing I need to do beforehand? thanks all

Yes tomorrow is Silver
I would start calling or go online first thing at 7 EST, unless you have a Travel agent... good luck!

 

[dcassetta]

Sorry to hijack this thread, I asked somewhere else and can't remember where (haha) - how close is Aluani to where the Disney Wonder will be embarking in Hawaii?
We booked the 10 night sailing, and want to add a couple of nights at Aluani ahead of time... but really haven't gotten as far as logistics yet...

The cruise ships dock in downtown Honolulu. Aulani is on the west side of the island about 25 miles away.

 

[emilymad]

The cruise ships dock in downtown Honolulu. Aulani is on the west side of the island about 25 miles away.

I am hoping DCL will make a shuttle available so we don't have to rent a car.

 

[slg]

I am sure they will for a cost.

 

[southerngirl528]

so you can expect the resort to be overrun.

Stayed there 2 nights on my DVC points before the 2015 HNL/YVR 10 nt. The resort WAS busy but they generally are as PP have said. What REALLY made the impact was that Aulani had NEVER had the number of checkouts and checkINS on the same day that they had on the turnaround day. MERCY. Bell services was BEYOND overwhelmed. I had booked a car for DD & myself & being girls, we had a lot of luggage so I called Bell Services about 35 minutes in advance. 25 minutes passed and no one. I had stayed at Aulani at least twice before and knew this was unusual so I called back. The poor girl was so overwhelmed and told me it would be a minimum of 20 MORE min. So DD & I gathered up all our junk, and plowed over those carpeted hallways (boy! you love the carpeted floors until you're pushing heavy stacks of luggage! LOL), down the elevator and toward the porte-cochere. When we came off the elevator in the Ewa tower on lobby level, the LINE of people waiting to get on the DCL transportation was crazy! I vote for taxi again.

My understanding is that Aulani runs at pretty full capacity most of the time especially on weekends. At least on the DVC side. I am not sure the cruises will have any real impact on the resort.

You are correct that it does, especially the DVC villas. The biggest impact is the staggering number of c/o and checkins on the same day. They should be much more ready for it all this time. We loved our pre-cruise stay there.

Sorry to hijack this thread, I asked somewhere else and can't remember where (haha) - how close is Aluani to where the Disney Wonder will be embarking in Hawaii?
We booked the 10 night sailing, and want to add a couple of nights at Aluani ahead of time... but really haven't gotten as far as logistics yet...

It's at the Port of Honolulu which is about 40 min from Aulani depending on traffic.

 

[poison ivy]

I'm looking to book Hawaii, but I am Silver CC, when I login tomorrow I should be able to select a 2020 itinerary? Any special thing I need to do beforehand? thanks all

For me, I was surprised it showed up as bookable when I first checked around 6:40 am ET. I'm sure there's more than one way to get to the cruise booking screen, as Hawaii is showing up under "Find a Cruise" in the cruises and destination menu.

But I didn't actually look there first.

Instead, I logged in and just clicked on the early 2020 cruises announcement screen ad with a picture of Mickey and New Orleans on it. This took me to a page for "featured ports and itineraries for 2020" with a link on the right marked "explore itineraries now" - stating advance booking was open for platinum and gold cc members.

I clicked that link, selected Hawaii cruises as my destination, and both cruises appeared for booking.

Worked very easily.

 

[southerngirl528]

I am hoping DCL will make a shuttle available so we don't have to rent a car.

They did have DCL transportation available. They chartered buses.

 

[southerngirl528]

I'm looking to book Hawaii, but I am Silver CC, when I login tomorrow I should be able to select a 2020 itinerary? Any special thing I need to do beforehand? thanks all

When I logged in around 7:35am EDT yesterday there was a thin black banner at the top of the Mickey in NOLA home page welcoming me back as a platinum and said I was eligible to book the new Itin's. But even if you did not see that banner, you should have no issues tomorrow when you log in. Good luck! I just looked and there are only GTD status rooms for verandah right now.... my guess is that there are a LOT of rooms on 3 day holds that will not end up being booked. So be aware of that if there's not much left tomorrow. Good luck!

 

[dclpluto]

I am hoping DCL will make a shuttle available so we don't have to rent a car.

Yes they should but how are you going to get to the airport. Time you pay the Disney shuttle than Uber or taxi you could of rented a car. The store at aulani is very expensive I thin it was 3.95 for a quart of milk. I have a picture of it but I’m on lunch now and have to get back to work soon.update just looked at the picture it’s 4.95 for a quart of milk.

 

[lorimay]

I am hoping DCL will make a shuttle available so we don't have to rent a car.

Yes, they will have one, there were several buses from Aulani to the port in 2015.
They had a great set-up the day before ( like a check in) for all the Aulani guests sailing the cruise. They gave us all the info we needed for the buses the next morning.

 

[FSU Girl]

Yes they should but how are you going to get to the airport. Time you pay the Disney shuttle than Uber or taxi you could of rented a car. The store at aulani is very expensive I thin it was 3.95 for a quart of milk. I have a picture of it but I’m on lunch now and have to get back to work soon.

Is Hawaii somewhere people should rent a car over relying on Ubers? We're planning on staying two days after the cruise and would like to do some sightseeing. I've never rented a car before on vacation.

 

[southerngirl528]

Yes they should but how are you going to get to the airport. Time you pay the Disney shuttle than Uber or taxi you could of rented a car. The store at aulani is very expensive I thin it was 3.95 for a quart of milk. I have a picture of it but I’m on lunch now and have to get back to work soon.

As dclpluto said, YES, DCL will definitely offer shuttle service. We are blessed to go to Hawaii (usually another island) every year and ALWAYS rent a car. ALWAYS. But for those only staying 1 or 2 nights pre or post cruise, it might not be worth the hassle. I surely agree with dclpluto that you should look at all options and it might well be worth just renting a car. Pretty sure that Charley's Taxi still has a set rate to go from Aulani to Kapolei which is super close for any shopping you might want to do.

For our DCL Honolulu to Vancouver cruise in 2015, I just hired a car since we were just staying 2 nights. First time I have ever done that. But it worked great for us in our situation.

Milk and most other stuff IS very pricey in Hawaii. Milk easily runs close to $9/gallon almost everywhere. And it seems smaller sizes are always SO pricey. If you're staying more than a night or 2, I agree that a rental car is the way to go. And btw, Costco Travel gets brought up a lot on the boards, and I almost always find my best rental car rates with Costco Travel. The other great resource for good rates I've found for Hawaii is: www.discounthawaiicarrental.com Good luck and happy planning all!

 

[southerngirl528]

Is Hawaii somewhere people should rent a car over relying on Ubers? We're planning on staying two days after the cruise and would like to do some sightseeing. I've never rented a car before on vacation.

See my post #155, FSU Girl. If you are wanting to do some sightseeing then YES, rent a car! You'll be glad you did!

 

[ThatCOprep]

We have a hold on the 10 night at the moment. Saw a royal suite and wanted to hold to think about it. Price wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

 

[southerngirl528]

We have a hold on the 10 night at the moment. Saw a royal suite and wanted to hold to think about it. Price wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

I would have loved to have booked at Cat T, but just can't justify it right now. But if you can do it, go for it! (Pretty sure all that's left right now for concierge is the Cat V on the 10 night)

 

[ThatCOprep]

I would have loved to have booked at Cat T, but just can't justify it right now. But if you can do it, go for it! (Pretty sure all that's left right now for concierge is the Cat V on the 10 night)

I woke up at 5:30 Mountain and saw a royal, talked to my mother and she said put a hold down and we will look at schedules tonight. Watched a lot of rooms go quickly after that. We were just gonna do a V but a chance to sail a royal on a unique sailing has us trying to do it.

 

[darnheather]

Do you mean Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of America?

We had friends that did it (good friends we made on our first DCL cruise). They didn't like it. They said the attitude of the crew members was markedly different than you get on other cruise lines. Could have to do with the all-American crew they have to hire. And the ship was really not in that good a shape.

Thanks, yes Pride of America. Was that before or after the 2016 dry dock?