Roberts or Valley Isle excursions for Road to Hana

[chris153]

Also posted this on Norwegian , but realized this would be a better place. Does anyone have an opinion on Roberts or Valley Isle Excursion for a Road to Hana tour? Planning our March 2015 cruise.

[punkincc]

I'm sure Roberts is a big bus tour, not sure about Valley Isle. If it is a small tour group, I would go with that. The problem with any tour is that they stop where they want, not where you want. There are many areas to explore along the Road to Hana, but the parking situation will not accommodate a big tour bus.

 

Have you considered driving yourself via rental car? It is really not that bad, not a white knuckle drive, only 20-30 MPH, and many people who cruise do all their touring this way.

[sptrout]

I have both driven the Road all the way around and taken a Valley Isle Tour. Leave the driving to Valley Isle. They use small vans with about 12 passengers, all seated in captain chairs. No bad views in the van and they will stop anywhere if asked (they stop many places anyway). The driver provides nearly non-stop narration the entire trip; you will learn a lot. They also provide free cold drinks (water, colas, etc.) all day long. Just pass Hana, they stop for a lunch break that is very good and relaxing. An excellent company in our experience!

[Gaelic-123]

I have heard so many good reports about Valley Isle Tours that I booked it for Nov. 16th. Our cruise is on Nov. 15th. Anyone going on that cruise.

[nicholasnana]

We just took the tour yesterday with Valley Isle and it was great. As mentioned above, there was constant narration and we learned a lot. Lunch was good and served in a wonderful setting. Frequent bathroom stops too. We had a small van that held 12.....we were a group of 11. It was a wonderful day. You won't be disappointed in Valley Isle

[chris153]

We just took the tour yesterday with Valley Isle and it was great. As mentioned above, there was constant narration and we learned a lot. Lunch was good and served in a wonderful setting. Frequent bathroom stops too. We had a small van that held 12.....we were a group of 11. It was a wonderful day. You won't be disappointed in Valley Isle

 

Thank you so much. Love that you just went on it. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

[cb at sea]

We did a rental car...it's NOT an arduous drive, despite the hype. If there are other things you want to do, do them instead! The Road to Hana is a nice way to kill a day, but I wouldn't do it a 2nd time.

[genealogyfan]

It was a great tour - small bus, good lunch and great tour guide and tour. I would highly recommend it.

[bigb1026]

We are considering either using Valley Isle Excursions, or renting a car for the trip. The excursion offered by NCL is very expensive, and we know someone who went that route, weather was very bad, and they saw nothing....I would be very upset to waste over $300 that way.

 

Does anyone know what the cost of a one-day car rental would amount to in April?

 

Finally, since we are on a cruise ship, we are concerned about getting lost and missing the ship if we go the rental car route. Also, we are no spring chickens anymore. Are our concerns justified? In other words, just how difficult a drive is this?

 

Thanks in advance for helpful responses.

[Susan-M]

Bigb - for pricing, have a look at Discount Hawaii Car Rental's website here - click on Maui Island, Kahului Harbor - then check the rates with a few of the "brands" for your dates.

 

Re getting lost - there aren't very many roads on Maui, and the Road to Hana is one road there and back - but you should still have a map with you. You can get one at the car rental agency. I also like to plan out the route on google maps before the trip - and print it if I think I'll need it.

 

The road isn't that difficult - and the speed limit is slow due to the numerous curves and one way bridges.

 

Since NCL is in port for 2 days, doing the RTH on the first day (which is the day that you should be doing this drive) eliminates the risk of missing the ship.

 

If you rent the car for both days, you can easily do some exploring on your own the following day.

 

There are lots of other interesting sights on Maui, so if you decide that the RTH isn't a priority, you won't lack for other places to explore that involve less driving. If you are going to explore on your own with a rental, suggest buying a guidebook, or picking up one from the library or researching on line to plan your activities so that you aren't struggling once there to figure out what to do.

[Winderdawg]

Bigb - for pricing, have a look at Discount Hawaii Car Rental's website here - click on Maui Island, Kahului Harbor - then check the rates with a few of the "brands" for your dates.

 

 

If you are a member of Costco, I'd recommend giving them a quick look at rental car pricing as well. For Maui, I was able to get a better rate through Costco than I was through Discount Hawaii Car Rental. However, they were cheaper for Oahu.

[cb at sea]

It is not a "difficult" drive....just some narrow roads, and dirt road places...little traffic, so it's not a problem.

[Susan-M]

The road is paved all the way to Hana - and about 10 miles beyond that to O'heo Gulch, where the pools are (at the Kipahulu entrance to Haleakala National Park.)

 

Beyond that point there are sections of the road that aren't paved, and therefore could be prohibited by your car rental company. If you do the same route there and back, per this map, you'll be on a paved road the whole way.

[agabbymama]

Everyone is mentioning the speed limit and curves, but nobody thus far has mentioned "MOTION SICKNESS". A lot of folks know they have sea sickness, but on the road to Hana, a lot of folks also suffer motion sickness.

 

I looked on the map, saw the curves associated with the Road to Hana, as well as the drive up to Haleakala and we didn't go. We have two in our party that do suffer from motion sickness.

 

We found plenty to do in our week on Maui without those two destinations.

 

Have a great time whatever you decide to do.

[Budget Queen]

We are considering either using Valley Isle Excursions, or renting a car for the trip. The excursion offered by NCL is very expensive, and we know someone who went that route, weather was very bad, and they saw nothing....I would be very upset to waste over $300 that way.

 

Does anyone know what the cost of a one-day car rental would amount to in April?

 

Finally, since we are on a cruise ship, we are concerned about getting lost and missing the ship if we go the rental car route. Also, we are no spring chickens anymore. Are our concerns justified? In other words, just how difficult a drive is this?

 

Thanks in advance for helpful responses.

 

I don't know how anyone, could get "lost". :) Hawaii isn't difficult to drive outside of Honolulu. I have driven past Hana several times and always enjoy the drive. Anyone prone to motion sickness, can take precautions by consulting their health care provider.

 

If you head to your library and take out Hawaii travel books, there are several with very descriptive Hana road guides. I like stopping where I want and at my pace. Last trip we stopped and walked the lava tube, that was excellent. It took me three times to find Lindbergh's grave. :) I get a lot of use out of the car with NCL's two day port schedule.