Kauai, Hi. Docking

[bobnfl]

My wife and I want to rent a car when we get there. We will be cruising on the Star. Where does Princess usually dock at? Do you know which rental companies are close? Thanks for the help if you can.

[Centsless_Cruiser]

There is only one docking location in Kauai at the Nawiliwili port just below Lihue. 

 

There are numerous Rental Car companies with free shuttles from the port to their locations (I believe most of them are at the Lihue Apt about a 10-15 minute drive away).  There is a small shopping center about a 5 minute walk from the port that rents some cute specialty vehicles and maybe some regular cars that we saw about 10 days ago on our Emerald Princess cruise.

 

Just be sure to leave enough time in your plans to get the car back to the rental location with enough time to get back to the port (I would recommend at least 1 hr if you return it to the airport).

[bobnfl]

1 minute ago, Centsless_Cruiser said:

There is only one docking location in Kauai at the Nawiliwili port just below Lihue. 

 

There are numerous Rental Car companies with free shuttles from the port to their locations (I believe most of them are at the Lihue Apt about a 10-15 minute drive away).  There is a small shopping center about a 5 minute walk from the port that rents some cute specialty vehicles and maybe some regular cars that we saw about 10 days ago on our Emerald Princess cruise.

 

Just be sure to leave enough time in your plans to get the car back to the rental location with enough time to get back to the port (I would recommend at least 1 hr if you return it to the airport).

Thanks I found it about 2 minutes before you replied.

[seattleslew]

Just be sure to rent in advance.  Friends on the Xmas cruise had a car rented and when they got to the rental office, all the cars were checked out and gone.  Made for a frustrating day!  This could happen on any of the islands including Oahu, depending on what conventions/activities are in town.

[BarbinMich]

21 hours ago, bobnfl said:

My wife and I want to rent a car when we get there. .  . .

Just curious if you know where you want to go on Kauai.  From the port one can go west and visit Waimea Canyon , their "Grand Canyon" (did an excursion to there on our one cruise to HI).  We're not beach people, but I think there  are beaches (Poipu comes to mind) along that route.  Since our Hawaiian cruise, we've stayed on Kauai several times and usually in the Kaapa area, north of the port.  On the north shore is the Kilauea lighthouse in a spectacular setting.  Further west of that on the north shore are several public beaches.

[jondfk]

Princess reliably docks at the pier at Nawiliwili (Lihue).  There are free shuttles to Hilo Hattie (souvenirs) and to Kmart which is at the major shopping center.  

 

Most rental car companies will have shuttles at the pier, but I too would warn to make reservations in advance, there is no certainty cars will be available without reservations.  Most companies are at the airport though Alamo/National are a mile closer to the pier.

 

The beach fronting the Marriott is <10 minutes walk and is dead calm, easy for wading or swimming.  

 

Final point, the ship makes a 180* rotation in front of the pier with little clearance forward and aft - exciting.  At the pier the ship sits broadside into the prevailing trade winds.  Taken together these explain why Kauai calls are sometimes cancelled:  a) there's little room for error in the rotation and even with thrusters the ship can be pushed out of position and b) strong winds directly abeam can make it impossible to get the ship off the pier which is why you often see people complaining about a cancelled port call here on a "beautiful day" yup - if the wind is forecast to pickup later in the day they won't risk putting in.

 

A few words from a longtime Kauai resident.

 

Aloha

 

[elycelynne]

On 2/14/2019 at 5:10 PM, jondfk said:

Princess reliably docks at the pier at Nawiliwili (Lihue).  There are free shuttles to Hilo Hattie (souvenirs) and to Kmart which is at the major shopping center.  

 

Most rental car companies will have shuttles at the pier, but I too would warn to make reservations in advance, there is no certainty cars will be available without reservations.  Most companies are at the airport though Alamo/National are a mile closer to the pier.

 

The beach fronting the Marriott is <10 minutes walk and is dead calm, easy for wading or swimming.  

 

Final point, the ship makes a 180* rotation in front of the pier with little clearance forward and aft - exciting.  At the pier the ship sits broadside into the prevailing trade winds.  Taken together these explain why Kauai calls are sometimes cancelled:  a) there's little room for error in the rotation and even with thrusters the ship can be pushed out of position and b) strong winds directly abeam can make it impossible to get the ship off the pier which is why you often see people complaining about a cancelled port call here on a "beautiful day" yup - if the wind is forecast to pickup later in the day they won't risk putting in.

 

A few words from a longtime Kauai resident.

 

Aloha

 

Wow, I didn't know that.  Kauai was my favorite island on my recent Emerald Princess cruise and it would be a shame if we had missed it!