The "Hollywood in Hawaii--Movies & Waterfall excrusion in Kauai or renting a car

[anteaters]

Hi, we're going to be on Princess in January and are thinking about what to do in Kauai. I think it's now between renting a car and driving around ourselves (my husband and me) OR the Princess excursion called Hollywood in Hawaii--Movies & Waterfalls in Kauai which is quite expensive but would probably get us to lots of scenic views. We do love getting out and walking around too, not just sitting in a bus and being taken to places where we would only have a moment or two to get out and snap photos. So I'm wondering if anyone has been on the excursion who would know how much getting-out-walking-around time there would be and if that tour would be better than what we could do with renting a car (we dock at 8:00 and have to be back on board by 4:30 so would probably want to return the car by 3:30) if that gives any idea of how long we'd get to travel around by car. Thanks for any help!

[luvhanalei]

I'd rent a car on Kauai; the island is very small and easy to get around. Visit the waterfalls on the east side and then head either north or south. Check out the Allerton Garden tour in Poipu; it's one of our favorite tours, but you do need reservations. I'd get The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook for good suggestions and great maps.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We went on that tour last December and absolutely loved it (and I'm including my teen who was 15 at that time). I would think it may be our favorite (or close to it) excursion we've ever done.

 

Some of the stops involved walking around (down to the beach where the pilot of Gilligan's Island was filmed or at least some of the shots; another stop meant walking along a path to a waterfall, etc.). So it's a bit relative what you mean by brief as there were many stops (I think the amount of time for each is listed on the Princess website in the description of the tour).

 

Of course, we've done the rent a car thing on our honeymoon (which for both of us were our second time on Kauai) and went all over. The first two cruises to Hawaii, we just basically beached it near the port as my hubby decided he just wanted to relax on port days on those cruises, and certainly didn't want to spend those days behind the wheel.