Car Rentals in POA Ports?

[pdcsgirl]

I am trying to book for this July because I understand they run out of cars.  But we are still in the process of deciding what to do in each port.  Any suggestions of where a convertible is the best bet vs a Jeep (wrangler is guess), which I’m told may give better visibility, especially for our kids?  I’m pretty sure I’ll rent in Kahului and Nawiliwili because we are overnighting.  But is it as convenient to rent in Hilo and Kona (tender) and what are folks’ experiences with whether it was too much of a hassle given the time we have to be back on board?  Thanks in advance.

[CruiserBruce]

There are many threads here on renting cars...is pretty easy to rent in all the ports. You just need to do a little reading.

 

Hilo is at the airport. There is a vendor immediately across the street from where you come ashore in Kona, but a very recent post says their rates at that location are pretty high.

 

There is a very recent thread about what kind of car to rent. As I posted in that thread, we have been to Hawaii about 30 times now, driven all over each of the islands. Never even once thought we needed a Jeep. Convertibles are the flashy toy because it's Hawaii, but they are invitations for theft, and they charge more because of that perceived "coolness".

[papa B me]

We are going on the POA Feb 23.  I have rented cars in Honolulu, Maui, and Kauai.  I found the easiest way was to use Hawaii Discount Rentals.  Below is a link to their website

 

https://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

 

I found them recommended a number of times here on CC.  It's nice because they serve all islands, have all the different rental companies, and have information such as shuttle information.

 

I will be posting a day by day thread on the NCL forum when we are on the trip and will report back on the rental car experience.

[SherriM]

Thanks, Papa B Me! Useful info and I look forward to to following your journey!

[Iwannaseemickey]

Be careful in Maui....I think we used Advantage (it was booked either thru discount Hawaii or Costco), but they do not pick up at the POA port. I found that out the hard way. We had to get a cab to go to get the car, and the cR rental guy talked  quickly and with a huge accent that we had no idea what he added and we agreed to. It was just a mess. Maui was by far the worst car rental experience. The rest of the islands were easy. 

[lamchops]

https://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

 

I have always used this site to book rentals in Hawaii based on CC recommendations. I happened to choose dollar when prices are equal as I have Express check in. Make sure the company that you choose has a shuttle to the ship. In Kona, book dollar at the King Kam hotel as it is across the street from the tender pier. The convenience and time saving is worth the extra $10 on a short port stay. 

[czrunner]

What car is best suitable for the Road to Hana on Maui?  I reserved a full-size car at Dollar at the airport in Kahului, because we are big people, but now we are worried that it may be too large for the Road to Hana.  We could probably get by with standard or intermediate car, but it is so hard to determine which cars are included in various categories by the rental companies.  (I couldn't find the thread about what cars to rent that CruiserBruce mentioned above.)

 

Right now we are considering renting a car for the first day the POA is in the port in Kahului, Maui and Nawiliwili, Kauai, and use public transportation or taxi/uber the next day.  Does that make sense?

 

Any advice from you experienced cruisers would be appreciated.

 

Marie

[Linosoup]

On 1/14/2019 at 6:22 AM, papa B me said:

We are going on the POA Feb 23.  I have rented cars in Honolulu, Maui, and Kauai.  I found the easiest way was to use Hawaii Discount Rentals.  Below is a link to their website

 

https://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

 

I found them recommended a number of times here on CC.  It's nice because they serve all islands, have all the different rental companies, and have information such as shuttle information.

 

I will be posting a day by day thread on the NCL forum when we are on the trip and will report back on the rental car experience.

I am very anxious to hear about your cruise experience and especially about your rental car experience on this trip. 

 

We sail on POA in early March.  I am specifically interested in knowing about parking for the rental car overnight on Maui and Kauai.  I know parking at the airport is an option but would much prefer to park near/at the port so we don't have to take a taxi back to the ship the first night and then back to the airport the next morning. There are 4 of us traveling together so that would be quite a hassle.

 

Any info you can give me about where to park/where not to park would be greatly appreciated. As well as how much you had to pay where ever you did park.

 

Thank you!

Linda

[Iwannaseemickey]

Kuaui is easy, just park at the shopping center by the ship. Their is a person that takes money, $20?, and a trolley that you can hop on to run you back, or it’s an easy walk. 

 

Maui is a bit more of a pain. We parked at the airport and taxied back. Maui was NOT my favorite car rental port, but we made it work. 

[antsmarching777]

Have standard rentals booked thru Enterprise for Maui - $95, Hilo - $65 (Halekauila St. not the airport), and Kauai - $101. In Maui and Hilo they'll pick us up, but in Kauai we'll need to just take a Lyft each way.