Pride of America excursion plan - Would love input!

[chkesh96]

Hello! I've been reading and gathering cruise information on here for a long time, but this is my first post.

We are frequent RCCL and Disney cruise line vacationers, but will soon go on our first NCL cruise on the POA. I'm prepared for it to be a very different experience, and we are excited! Traveling with a large extended family, but daytime / excursions will just be my family of 5 (DH, and our 3 kids ranging from 8-15).

I've planned a mix of cruise line supervised and flexible touring - we like some independence, but there is also a measure of relaxation when you let the cruise line handle things...I would love your suggestions of places to stop and restaurants and if you have better ideas, I'd love it! We really want to enjoy the beauty and family time and not feel pressure to aggressively tour.

Maui Day 1 - Rental car. Drive a bit of Road to Hana, Stop at a waterfall or two, beach (I have a list of suggested ones....taking a bit of a "see what we find" approach this day)

Maui Day 2 - Snorkeling excursion

Hilo - Rental Car - VNP and Akaka falls. Black sand beach if we have time

Kona - Rest day. Take trolley around Kona, see what we find. Maybe the nearby beach.

Kauai Day 1 - Booked a sightseeing helicopter tour separately. Maybe taxi to a beach afterwards?

Kauai Day 2 - considering a snorkel catamaran or maybe just another beach day? the 2pm departure makes car rental seem like a hassle....

 

Thank you in advance for your suggestions! Our kids are great travelers - we have gone to Europe with only Apartment rentals and Subway tickets in hand and they have rolled like champions - hoping for the same kind of family experience.

[bosnatis]

Here's a link to our POA review this past April with 5 of us.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196172

[punkincc]

Hello! I've been reading and gathering cruise information on here for a long time, but this is my first post.

We are frequent RCCL and Disney cruise line vacationers, but will soon go on our first NCL cruise on the POA. I'm prepared for it to be a very different experience, and we are excited! Traveling with a large extended family, but daytime / excursions will just be my family of 5 (DH, and our 3 kids ranging from 8-15).

I've planned a mix of cruise line supervised and flexible touring - we like some independence, but there is also a measure of relaxation when you let the cruise line handle things...I would love your suggestions of places to stop and restaurants and if you have better ideas, I'd love it! We really want to enjoy the beauty and family time and not feel pressure to aggressively tour.

Maui Day 1 - Rental car. Drive a bit of Road to Hana, Stop at a waterfall or two, beach (I have a list of suggested ones....taking a bit of a "see what we find" approach this day)

Maui Day 2 - Snorkeling excursion

Hilo - Rental Car - VNP and Akaka falls. Black sand beach if we have time

Kona - Rest day. Take trolley around Kona, see what we find. Maybe the nearby beach.

Kauai Day 1 - Booked a sightseeing helicopter tour separately. Maybe taxi to a beach afterwards?

Kauai Day 2 - considering a snorkel catamaran or maybe just another beach day? the 2pm departure makes car rental seem like a hassle....

 

Thank you in advance for your suggestions! Our kids are great travelers - we have gone to Europe with only Apartment rentals and Subway tickets in hand and they have rolled like champions - hoping for the same kind of family experience.

 

 

These are my suggestions. I would ditch the Day 2 snorkel in Kauai and instead walk ( or take the shopping shuttle and walk through to beach ) 2 blocks down to Kealakekua Bay in the morning. This is a beautiful protected bay with lots of trees and grass and it backs up to a shopping area and the Mariott Hotel with a beachside restaurant for drinks or lunch. Be sure to walk inside. The hotel is built around an old garden with ponds and falls and beautiful plants, a real Secret Garden. Beach rentals, outrigger canoe rentals are along the beach. Something for everyone.

 

Kona is where I would snorkel. It has the best water, IMO. We took a taxi from port about 15 minutes to meet the Fair Wind excursion to the bay by the Captain Cook monument. (Ask your taxi drive to meet you again at the return time ). This is a very protected bay with crystal clear water. The crew was great with the kids. The Captain was very entertaining and let them "drive" the boat on the way back. There was time for shopping in Kona before returning to the ship.