What to do on Hilo, Maui, Kona and Honolulu?

We are scheduled to sail on a 14 day Hawaii cruise from Long Beach (LA) CA in December 2018. Honolulu is not that difficult. We know for sure that we will see the Pearl Harbor Memorial as we will be porting in Honolulu on December 7th (how cool is that!).

However, the other ports will be a little trickier. We will need to be able to plan NON cruise line excursions. My son is stationed in the Army in Honolulu and will be meeting us at each of the ports. He's 20 and not big on sightseeing alone, so he won't be of much help on what to do or what to see.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated so we can get a heads up on research and planning!

What a great trip that you'll get to experience with your soldier son. :D

There are so many things to do in each port & what to do will vary depending upon what each of us desire. Which Maui port, Kahului or Lahaina? No stop in the Garden Isle of Kauai? :(

I'd recommend searching the other threads on this forum which have a lot of good information. Whatever you desire to do the best way to travel is by rental car although the great public transportation system (The Bus) is a good option on O'ahu.

Visiting Pearl Harbor on December 7th would be great but also probably crowded. You might want to consider paying the small fee to order tender tickets because they will probably sellout very quickly.

https://www.recreation.gov/showPage.do?name=landing&landing=/htm/pearlharbor/home.jsp&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

In May our cruise ship did an overnight in Maui. We did a tour/lunch at O'o farm (you can google it). The farm is in Kula about 3500 feet up the side of Haleakala. The drive up is nice and the view from the farm is breathtaking. The farm is built on the slope, you start at the bottom and take a leisurely guided walk up through the farm. You get to pick the greens they will serve as the salad during your lunch. About 3 hours for the whole tour/lunch and a lot of fun. Not your typical tourist stop. :D

I suggest a guidebook for you to read BEFORE you start booking anything. Find out all that's available on each island...then, discuss with your son, and decide WHAT to do. Come back and ask HOW to do it, if the guidebook isn't clear on that!

Another tool to research options is the Hawaii Visitors Bureau website to get an overview of what options are available on each island.

http://www.gohawaii.com

Speaking of guidebooks - I have been reading "Hawaii by Cruise Ship" by Anne Vipond to plan my Hawaii cruise in September. It has really helpful information on docking (or tendering) in each port, what to do in each port, and really helpful maps and tons of pictures. It has several pages on Pearl Harbor.

Hawaiian Botanical Gardens, Allerton Gardens, and any hike on Big Island.

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Hawaiian Botanical Gardens, Allerton Gardens, and any hike on Big Island.

 

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Photos taken Friday at the Tropical Botanical Gardens just outside Hilo.

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Continued.....

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In Honolulu we booked a tour on our own with Segway of Waiikiki which was loads of fun. We took Uber to get to the meeting place and back. In Lahaina Maui we also booked a tour on our own with Hawaii Tasting Tours which was also a highlight of our trip. The tour guide took us to 5 different places to eat (one food course and drinks at each restaurant) and told us a lot about Hawaiian culture. Highly recommend. The Road to Hana is also quite interesting but the full loop is a long day on the bus. A fun evening show in Lahaina is Warren and Annabelle's magic show but this often sells out in advance. We would definately do that show again but I suggest just purchasing the show tickets without their food package. FYI In Hilo there is a nice free shuttle from the pier to/from WalMart that runs every half hour where you can buy all kinds of souveniers (coffee, macadamia nuts, knick-knacks etc) at cheap prices.