Hawaii

[GMC]

I will be sailing on the Hawaii 14 day circle cruise in May 06 from San Diego. Our ports are:

 

Lahaina, Maui, HI

Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI

Hilo, Hawaii, HI

Honolulu, Oahu

Kona, Hawaii, HI

 

Anyone have any experience? Anything we need not miss?

 

Thank-you ALL!!!!

[sherry7]

Hi GMC. My hubby and I are also on this same cruise, so I'm looking forward to seeing the answers that you get. We haven't started to make any plans for excursions yet...but I need to get started. :)

[sherry7]

By the way, we have a very active roll call thread going for this cruise. I think at last count, there were over 80 of us posting on the thread. Come join us. :) It's located at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=183811

 

Aloha!

[cryscruiser]

In Kona, you should really try to take a helicopter over the volcano. We drove through it, but didn't see anything as we did when we were right over the crater in a helicopter. Amazing! I don't know how early you arrive in Hilo, but the market very early in the morning is quite fun. Also there are gardens in Hilo, but I don't remember the name. They are beautiful.

On Oahu, I try to avoid tourist-y things such as Polynesian Cultural Centre, but, of course, Pearl Harbor is a must. It's such an important piece of our History. Also, I love driving across the north shoreline drive from Haleiwa back into Honolulu. There are beautiful stops along the way with breathtaking views of the sea. Stop at the Turtle Bay Hilton for a Mai-tai and overlook the Pipeline. Also there are plenty of local places to stop for lunch and shopping. Small local run places that are far from the madness of Waikiki. If you like to snorkel, Honouma Bay is a pristine, protected area that's gorgeous. As far as the other ports, I don't know anything abou them. I really hope this will help you, as it is some of my favorite places on the Islands. Aloha.

[lhh]

My DH and I did a 10k day Hawaiian cruise on the Legend in December, 2004. One of our favorite tours was the kauai Movie Tour. It's a private tour with about a 12 person bus and a tv that shows you many of the locations where movies were made. They give you a list of about 100 movies. As you go, they show a clip from the movie, then show you where it was filmed. We stopped at Coco Palms where Blue Hawaii with Elvis was filmed. It was so heavily damaged in the early nineties that it has never re-opened as a hotel. Anyway we saw lots of the island, many beautiful beaches and ate a decent sandwich lunch at a beautiful beach. My DH has a bad hip and can't do a lot of walking, so it was a perfect tour for us. We really enjoyed it and took many great pictures.

[Cauvet]

We just got off the Infinity for the Thanksgiving Circle cruise. We rented a care in Oahu, Kauaii, and Kona. If they have a lava walking tour DO NOT TAKE IT unless you love torturing yourself in 90+ temperatures over uneven, sharp and slippery lava. It was 3.7 miles to the lava and then back. Only a handful went all the way and some of them were injured from falling on the lava. It is truly a death march. The tour guides push you to go fast as there isn't that much time and you must do the walk and back in about 4 hours. It wouldn't be so bad it you had longer. The people who made it were more impressed with making it than seeing the lava and they all said NEVER NEVER again. I went about 1/3 of the way and said, are you nuts? And turned back. So did my husband. Trust me, take the helicopter!

 

Another time we cruised to Hawaii we went to Mauna Kea and really enjoyed that and I would highly recommend that. Those who took that trip really enjoyed it.

 

I would take a tour of the Arizona Memorial rather than trying it on your own. We did on another cruise and it was organized. Those who tried on their own were not able to get there in time after renting a car, etc. and missed it. It is sinking so this may be your last time to see it for a while.

 

Snorkeling is always good in Hawaii, but there were jelly fish, I heard. Golf is also superb. If you are in Lahaina for a while, I would recommend the Olde Lahaina Luau--book it on line and request traditional seating (on the ground). We booked a couple of months in advanced and were front and center--best seats in the house. On X, we left Lahaina at 3 pm which was the biggest disappointment of the trip. It is a tender port and if your ship leaves early, go into one of the pubs and have a beer or two until the line goes down.

 

Rental cars are a breeze. The shuttles come to the pier and pick you up. You must have reservations though. They only have a couple of pick ups in Kona and one return at 4 pm. We thought this was the only port not worth renting a car.

[MGoBlue2]

We just got off the Infinity for the Thanksgiving Circle cruise. We rented a care in Oahu, Kauaii, and Kona. If they have a lava walking tour DO NOT TAKE IT unless you love torturing yourself in 90+ temperatures over uneven, sharp and slippery lava. It was 3.7 miles to the lava and then back. Only a handful went all the way and some of them were injured from falling on the lava. It is truly a death march. The tour guides push you to go fast as there isn't that much time and you must do the walk and back in about 4 hours. It wouldn't be so bad it you had longer. The people who made it were more impressed with making it than seeing the lava and they all said NEVER NEVER again. I went about 1/3 of the way and said, are you nuts? And turned back. So did my husband. Trust me, take the helicopter!

 

Another time we cruised to Hawaii we went to Mauna Kea and really enjoyed that and I would highly recommend that. Those who took that trip really enjoyed it.

 

I would take a tour of the Arizona Memorial rather than trying it on your own. We did on another cruise and it was organized. Those who tried on their own were not able to get there in time after renting a car, etc. and missed it. It is sinking so this may be your last time to see it for a while.

 

Snorkeling is always good in Hawaii, but there were jelly fish, I heard. Golf is also superb. If you are in Lahaina for a while, I would recommend the Olde Lahaina Luau--book it on line and request traditional seating (on the ground). We booked a couple of months in advanced and were front and center--best seats in the house. On X, we left Lahaina at 3 pm which was the biggest disappointment of the trip. It is a tender port and if your ship leaves early, go into one of the pubs and have a beer or two until the line goes down.

 

Rental cars are a breeze. The shuttles come to the pier and pick you up. You must have reservations though. They only have a couple of pick ups in Kona and one return at 4 pm. We thought this was the only port not worth renting a car.

And exactly what were you expectling from lava walking tour besides walking near/around lava whiich is hot (over 90, probably over 900) and unven? Did you expect them to cool it off for you and take an iron to smooth out the rough spots?

[beachchick]

Have you posted this thread on the Hawaii forum in Ports of Call? That's a very active forum with many locals giving great information. Plus, you can search through past threads (or do an advanced search on that forum only) for specific things.

 

You will love Hawaii.

 

beachchick

[wl2cruise]

did any of your cruises, cruise by the kava flow?