Pride Of America Planning

[Grampyshottub]

:cool: I am trying to plan a once in a lifetime cruise on the POA for my wife and I. They have an overnight on Maui and The Big Island. Do any of you good people have any suggestions as to a one day car rental on each? We are not looking for anything big, quite frankly the cheaper the better. Thanks for keeping Our dream alive.

[GeezerCouple]

:cool: I am trying to plan a once in a lifetime cruise on the POA for my wife and I. They have an overnight on Maui and The Big Island. Do any of you good people have any suggestions as to a one day car rental on each? We are not looking for anything big, quite frankly the cheaper the better. Thanks for keeping Our dream alive.

 

Unless they are changing things, the overnights are Maui and Kauai.

 

There are two separate ports on the Big Island: Hilo first, and then around to Kona that night for the next day there.

[jeanderson]

You must check out the ongoing review by SJMBRUCE titled "Aloha is Love - Review of POA in Hawaii with Pics, Menus & More". Great insight and fabulous pictures.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2341463

[PMOzcruisers]

I have booked our car rental in Maui and Kauai with Discount Hawaii Car Rentals. You can cancel your booking at any time and don't need to pay until pick up. The car rental companies run shuttles to and from the ports.

 

I highly recommend renting a convertible in Maui and driving the Road to Hana on the first day there. Can't recommend enough getting the Road to Hana GyPSy Drive Tour app, it uses your phone/tablet GPS to know where you are on the road and recommends places to stop and gives you some great history. Once you download the app, it doesn't use any data. This was our favourite day on our last POA cruise.

[punkincc]

:cool: I am trying to plan a once in a lifetime cruise on the POA for my wife and I. They have an overnight on Maui and The Big Island. Do any of you good people have any suggestions as to a one day car rental on each? We are not looking for anything big, quite frankly the cheaper the better. Thanks for keeping Our dream alive.

 

You are on the right track with the car rentals. No better way to see the sights than in your own car, and very inexpensive compared to tours. You can probably find one for $30 or $40 for 24 hours. You can even keep the cars overnight in Maui and Kauai and fit in extra sightseeing. So much of Hawaii is simply "drive up". I second the recommend for DHCR. If you find the rate has dropped after booking, simply cancel and rebook, no penalty.

 

See the Hawaii board here on CC under Ports of Call for much specific info on recommended things to see, car rentals, and Hawaii reviews. Also new info on overnight parking in Maui if you plan to keep the car overnight. In Kona, rather than shuttle to the airport, there is an option at a hotel near the pier although it is a little more expensive.

[david46]

Hi we just returned from our cruise on the POA in Hawaii. We rented a convertible in Maui and Kauai thru discount Hawaiian rent a car. They pick the company who will get you the best rate. On Maui we rented a Mustang Convertible thru Budget and paid about $100.00 plus gas used. We did not do the Road to Hana with the rental and I am so glad that we let a professional driver do it. We booked a luxury van tour thru the cruise line. If you do it yourself you will not enjoy it. There are over 600 hairpin curves and alot of one lane bridges. You'll be looking at the road and will not be able to take your eyes off the road. We used the rental and drove to Lahaina and walked around the waterfront then went to the Old Lahaina Luau. Both the town and the Laua were great. Then we returned the car to Budget and got a ride from them back to the ship.

On Kauai we rented the same car only this time it was thru Alamo and paid a little more than $100.00. In Kauai we drove the road to a town called Princeville, along the beaches and saw beautiful water falls and beaches. Later that night we returned it to Alamo and got taken back to the thru Alamo.

We had the best vacation ever in Hawaii. We also enjoyed the cruise on the NCL POA. If I can answer any questions, I will try to help.

[david46]

The ship was just out of dry dock and all the area's that we went thru were looking good. We had good dinners in Cagney's and Teppanyaki, we did not enjoy our dinner at Jefferson's Bistro. We did not eat in the dinning room but eat all of our other meals in the buffet, which was good.https://goo.gl/photos/Z7KjbZ4Ua687XScV7

Edited April 28, 2016 by david46

[greatlakesgirl]

Also check out the Hawaii Port of Call forum located here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

 

Your overnights are on Maui and Kauai. There are two ports on the Big Island, but you sail overnight from one (Hilo) to the other (Kailua-Kona). We also used Discount Hawaii Car Rentals. Good prices.

 

Second the suggestion to read the current ongoing review by SMJBRUCE, a very thorough, picture-heavy review. She's doing an outstanding job! :)

 

Give your research its due diligence. It will pay off! :)

Edited April 28, 2016 by greatlakesgirl

[horseymike]

Hi Dave ,

 

Thanks for posting the Great Pictures of your cruise !!!! :D

 

Horseymike

[greatlakesgirl]

I just looked through them too, Dave! Great pics, thanks for sharing!

[david46]

Any questions about POA that I can help with I'd be glad to do.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Any questions about POA that I can help with I'd be glad to do.

 

Thanks for the offer.

We are doing our 1st NCL on the POA next Feb. We have sailed many times with Princess and understand their Anytime Dining (just go to the dining room and wait to be seated. You can ask to sit at a larger table and they will have others join you. No reservations during peak times of 6 & 7:30.

How does NCL's Freestyle Dining work ?

Also, are the shows at the same time each night and can you reserve those or is it 1st come first served ? We usually schedule our dining so we do not miss the early shows.

Edited April 29, 2016 by D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL

[leastprime]

I need to get back to this thread.

POA June 11.

what to do. Son (single and 31) is accompanying us 66/69. He has his list but How to get to attactions>

[punkincc]

Thanks for the offer.

We are doing our 1st NCL on the POA next Feb. We have sailed many times with Princess and understand their Anytime Dining (just go to the dining room and wait to be seated. You can ask to sit at a larger table and they will have others join you. No reservations during peak times of 6 & 7:30.

How does NCL's Freestyle Dining work ?

Also, are the shows at the same time each night and can you reserve those or is it 1st come first served ? We usually schedule our dining so we do not miss the early shows.

 

No reservations needed for the main dining rooms. Just show up when you want to eat. We did not frequent the MDRs on the POA, but I would guess early rather than later would be the busiest time, but in any case, you should be seated quickly. The thing about NCL is that most passengers prefer to eat with their traveling group only. You can ask at the hostess stand, but don't be surprised if you get no takers for the table mates offer. Your best bet is to join your roll call, attend your meet and greet and try to meet others on board and then just offer an invitation to dinner or try to organize a couple of dinners for interested parties on the roll call.

 

I believe the shows were usually at 7:30 and again at 9:30 each night in the theatre. There will also be other entertainment in the Mardi Gras Lounge, music, comedians, etc, and also live music in Pinks Champagne Bar and elsewhere on the ship. Also a theme party each night somewhere on the ship.

[punkincc]

I need to get back to this thread.

POA June 11.

what to do. Son (single and 31) is accompanying us 66/69. He has his list but How to get to attactions>

 

If you are asking how to get to the attractions on the islands, the easiest and least expensive is by rental car. The driving is easy and nothing is really hard to find. Just figure out what you want to see, take a look at a google map and see where things are, and then decide on an itinerary. You can book cars through the website mentioned above, pay when you pick up the car. Shuttles run from the port to the nearby airports to get the cars. Tours are an option as well. You can usually book independently for a lower cost and a smaller group than the ship offers. Check out recommendations on Trip Advisor and the Hawaii Board in the Ports of Call section on Cruise Critic.

[Grampyshottub]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Hopefully we can pull this off in the next year or so. Would really like to see Southwest start flying to Hawaii. Feel free to continue with your ideas.

Grampy:)

[punkincc]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Hopefully we can pull this off in the next year or so. Would really like to see Southwest start flying to Hawaii. Feel free to continue with your ideas.

Grampy:)

 

I agree about Southwest! If they offered service to Hawaii, that would be fantastic, but regardless, we have twice been able to utilize free SW flights to avoid the really long and expensive Hawaii flights with layovers which are usually part of the itineraries on most airlines. Flights from Chicago to Hawaii on most airlines were very expensive and also required a long layover in California. Probably even worse for you from the E. Coast.

 

What we do is book a free SW flight to Pheonix from Chicago, spend the night near the airport, and then fly Hawaiian Airlines non stop the next am, arriving in HNL around 11 am, relatively refreshed. Or, you could utilize a free flight to LAX or SFO and do the same. We have found that Hawaiian out of Phoenix has twice beaten the prices of flights from other cities. Well worth the cost of a hotel room, and even better if you can use points to book like we do. We are retired, so the extra time coming and going ( we do the same in reverse coming back ) does not eat into our vacation time. So when booking flights, I recommend if possible that you think outside the box.

 

Something else I recommend is to make sure you have the airline credit card when you book. We used a new Hawaiian airlines credit card when we booked our flights with Hawaiian the very first time. I believe they were offering several thousand points on the account to open a new card. After only one r/t flight, and a few other expenditures placed on the card just so we could accumulate the points, we had enough points to get us both a free flight home from Hawaii two years later.

Edited May 13, 2016 by punkincc

[gwsster]

I just got back 5/7 from the POA. Nice cruise and I used Budget rental car through Costco. The cost on Maui was $35.00 a day, Buick Verano. The cost for Hilo was $55.00 a Ford Explorer. The one day Kauai car rental was $42.00. We didn't pay until after the car was turned in. We called Budget, asked for the Costco rate and then got a confirmation #. We didn't book any excursions except for one on the Island of Kauai, there is so much to see and do without the added expense of excursions. You can also grab an excursion after you arrive and they are heavily discounted on shore.

[Lazz]

I have booked our car rental in Maui and Kauai with Discount Hawaii Car Rentals. You can cancel your booking at any time and don't need to pay until pick up. The car rental companies run shuttles to and from the ports.

 

I highly recommend renting a convertible in Maui and driving the Road to Hana on the first day there. Can't recommend enough getting the Road to Hana GyPSy Drive Tour app, it uses your phone/tablet GPS to know where you are on the road and recommends places to stop and gives you some great history. Once you download the app, it doesn't use any data. This was our favourite day on our last POA cruise.

 

Who ever is driving on the Road to Hana may not see much. The road is narrow and very winding. You can not take the rental all the way around the other side. We booked a tour that went all the way around and it was fantastic, and a bit scary at times.

[RevCindy]

I have booked our car rental in Maui and Kauai with Discount Hawaii Car Rentals. You can cancel your booking at any time and don't need to pay until pick up. The car rental companies run shuttles to and from the ports.

 

I highly recommend renting a convertible in Maui and driving the Road to Hana on the first day there. Can't recommend enough getting the Road to Hana GyPSy Drive Tour app, it uses your phone/tablet GPS to know where you are on the road and recommends places to stop and gives you some great history. Once you download the app, it doesn't use any data. This was our favourite day on our last POA cruise.

 

I was wondering if there was time to do this drive. How many hours did you take? Can you return to the ship at any time?

 

Thank you for entertaining our questions!

[Silver Sweethearts]

I was wondering if there was time to do this drive. How many hours did you take? Can you return to the ship at any time?

 

Thank you for entertaining our questions!

 

If you just go to Hana and back, allow six hours or more depending upon traffic and how many times you want to stop along the way. You will have all day Sunday to do the drive since the POA stays overnight in Kahului, Don't really know what you mean by "Can you return to the ship at any time", but if you have a rental car you can turn back any time you want to. Not so, of course, if you are on a tour.

[101Newbie]

We usually book our cars through Costco and always save a lot in comparison to going through the rental agencies directly. I looked and it appears that the same will be true vs. Discount, but I'm not sure about locations in relation to the ports.

[chengkp75]

I was wondering if there was time to do this drive. How many hours did you take? Can you return to the ship at any time?

 

Thank you for entertaining our questions!

 

When the ship overnights, consider it to be a hotel; the door is always open. You can come and go, or stay away as you like.

[upscale111]

We used Discount Hawaii for rentals in Oahu, Maui and Kauai. Relatively smooth process, great service, decent vehicles as promised and they gave us Thrifty for all.

 

I would highly recommend getting the Garmin GPS if you go with Thrifty , which has a driving tour programmed for all the major sites on each island we rented. The tour had every single site I had on my list and took us there with no issues at all. Good thing, because I missed putting directions for some places on my itinerary. Includes some interesting but sometimes annoying commentary, which you can turn on and off as an you like. Still wort a listen! I memory serves it was $13 extra.

 

Enjoy your cruise - ours was truly a trip of a lifetime as well.

[alwalaska]

When the ship overnights, consider it to be a hotel; the door is always open. You can come and go, or stay away as you like.

 

What do you do with your rental car when you return to the ship if you aren't ready to return it yet? Is there parking, or do you leave it with the rental company and pick it back up?